Dear Editor,

From: Sandra Beebe
Santa Monica

My husband and I spent most of July in our former hometown of Morro Bay.  I immediately fell into the pattern I had for the many years that I lived here – watching Channel 20.  I was incredulous at what I saw occurring at the City Council meetings.  

First, I think Councilman Smukler should be nominated for sainthood.  I could not tolerate the petty behavior that he is enduring from the other members of the Council.

It appeared to me that the least offensive member seemed, at the two meetings I watched, to be George Leage. He gave the impression that he did not quite understand what was going on.  He looked as though he only responded, more or less, when prodded to by outgoing Mayor Yates.

It was quite another story for Yates and the two women members on the council.  Their tone and attitude towards Councilman Smukler was beyond disrespectful.  Do they not know that the voters, who overwhelmingly voted for Councilman Smukler, are watching their behavior? I can only surmise that they never plan on running for office again and were playing to the petulant voting viewers in Morro Bay.  They certainly will never win the votes of anyone who  admires civil behavior.  Did I overreact to what I felt were frequent barbs at Councilman Smukler?

My humble advice to the three of them is to stop heeding the advice of their puppeteer — and we all know who he is — and behave in a more mature manner.  A show of good sportsmanship is expected of our youngsters in defeat and certainly is expected of elected officials.

Photo by Vince Cicero
Morro Rock Morning

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Morro Rock Morning

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Quiet Day at the MB Harbor

Photo by Linda Tanner

Harmony Pottery

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From: Jan Surbey
Morro Bay

Just a few words of thanks to you and Jack McCurdy for your objective investigation into the candidates running for mayor and city council in Morro Bay.  Your subsequent endorsement of Jamie Irons for mayor and Noah Smukler and Christine Johnson for council may well have helped these fine candidates win the election outright, eliminating the need for an additional election in the fall.

I was particularly pleased to see that the endorsements were based on FACTS, rather than FEELINGS or opinions, and Jack even mentioned the “downsides” of these candidates (i.e. Jamie’s intent to recuse himself from votes concerning the power plant due to his employment there).  

So, again, thank you for basing the endorsements on facts and although I doubt any of these candidates can change the weather here in Morro Bay, I’m looking forward to brighter days in our community.

Marina Sunrise by Marlin Harms

Opinions given are not necessarily those of the Journal, its contributors, or any person on the planet other than the writer.