What Came and Went While I Was Gone?

Just like going through the mail, it's always fun to catch up on the local news after a vacation. (I know, I need to get a life.)

In scanning some of the bigger stories in my recent absence, I'm feeling a definite "yeah

So, in no particular order

Yeah, I understand why Irvine wants the final say-so in what gets spent to build the Great Park. After all, the park lies within the city, and the city spent plenty of brainpower and money to keep the park idea alive. It's a city that, in many ways, has shown it knows what it's doing

But it's impossible to argue with numbers. And the numbers are that a mere three members of the Irvine City Council can control park expenditures. That's a pretty low number for such an immense ongoing project, not to mention that city elections roll around and council members come and go.

Yeah, Irvine has a pretty good track record of getting things done. And, yeah, sometimes a smaller governing body can do things more efficiently than an unwieldy larger group of bureaucrats

But running a city is different than running a world-class park, which is what Irvine and Orange County residents are expecting. And despite what Irvine keeps telling itself, most residents probably envisioned a representative, countywide governing body making key decisions for the park. The recent Orange County grand jury says it sees potential conflicts of interest and various other possible pitfalls. It also found that the arrangement is "incompatible" with the intent of Measure W, the countywide vote in 2002 that finally killed the international airport idea and forwarded the park plan.

Yeah, I understand why Sheriff Mike Carona, flush with election victory, quickly cashiered the lieutenant who had challenged him and discredited his leadership. That's what corporate execs do when they win power struggles, and Carona is a corporate exec with a badge. Not a lot of CEOs would listen to an underling trash them for months and then embrace them

But we're talking about a public office, not private business. Lt. Bill Hunt was the police chief in San Clemente -- hardly a throwaway assignment within the department. If Hunt was qualified to handle the job before the campaign, it's pretty lame to argue that he became unqualified just because he trashed his boss. If someone from within the ranks can't challenge an incumbent sheriff without fear of losing his job, who can run -- only those with no inside knowledge of how the department operates?