EDITOR: Oh my. It
’s been so many years since Peyton Place reared its ugly head in
Morgan Hill. I had hoped those days were over with the deaths and
Diaspora of the more extreme members of Caught Again and their
ilk.
EDITOR:
Oh my. It’s been so many years since Peyton Place reared its ugly head in Morgan Hill. I had hoped those days were over with the deaths and Diaspora of the more extreme members of Caught Again and their ilk.
Several months ago, I defended council member Hedy Chang against less than chivalrous conduct by council members Greg Sellers and Larry Carr and Mayor Dennis Kennedy. Now we’ve come full circle, and it is council member Chang who has apparently behaved in a less than honorable manner toward the city manager, the city attorney, her fellow council members and the citizens of Morgan Hill. If nothing else, she has shown execrable judgment in this instance. When you throw in the questionable and often erratic judgment of years past, you have to wonder.
Sorry Hedy, but in my opinion you have now lost all credibility. It’s time to step down and find another, more constructive, outlet for your energies.
Then there’s Bruce Tichinin, former environmental/slow-growth champion-turned-developer. Sorry Bruce, you’ve done a lot of good in the past, but speaking of loss of credibility. This points up why Cynthia Cook had me return your campaign contribution the last time she ran for council. Somewhere along the line you appear to have lost your bearings, but this is ridiculous. Especially the part where you hire a skate-boarding-troglodyte-leg-breaker from Santa Cruz as a “private investigator” to, as far as I can tell, set up the city manager.
Now, for some of you out there who have reacted one way or the other to this drama: John Quick and Robert Mitchell have expressed, I think, balanced thoughtful, albeit deservedly harsh, opinions based on their personal interactions with all players.
But as to a couple others: Oh, Puh-leez. Lorraine Barke and John Sorci, who have waxed gleeful over this whole mess, were both recalled from office several years ago, and for good reason. They are both, I think, less than unbiased observers. They both admit to being near the front of the spread of the rumors that brought this about. Their letters and comments in the papers should be discounted for the self-aggrandizing sour grapes and “beauty shop rumors” that they are.
Mayor Kennedy, council members Sellers and Carr, and City Manager Ed Tewes are less than my favorite officials these days. However, Ed Tewes has done nothing to deserve this vicious attack, nor has Helene Leichter, whom I hold in high regard as second only to Gary Baum in her performance as city attorney, nor have their families, who are the real victims of this fiasco.
Sellers and Carr have done their best to present a balanced report to the council, and it is obvious that neither of them enjoyed this task. Despite my previous analysis of months ago, they have behaved discreetly and as gentlemen throughout this process, and I have to commend them for it whether I like it or not. Mayor Kennedy has shown his usual restraint, and as a whole, the council has acted in an appropriate and conservative manner during this process.
Essentially, this tempest in a teapot should be put to rest. Again, I call on Hedy Chang to step down and move on. I call on Bruce Tichinin to apologize to the city, the council and especially to Ed Tewes, Helene Leichter and their families, and drop all this nonsense. I call on the council to do what they see as best for the city. And I call on everyone else to let it go, trust the council to do what’s appropriate and concentrate on the things that are truly important in your lives.
Steve Harkness,
Morgan Hill
