Menifee Residents Confused Over Districts
At the city council meeting this evening, several Menifee residents spoke out voicing confusion over the city's new city council distric...
http://www.menifee247.com/2010/12/menifee-residents-confused-over.html
At the city council meeting this evening, several Menifee residents spoke out voicing confusion over the city's new city council districts, asking the question, "Who is my city councilman?"
When Measure AA passed, barely edging out competing Measure DD, it put in place a system of four city council districts, with a mayor elected at large, who also acts as the city's fifth city councilman.
The city council officially adopted the results of the November 2nd election this evening, thereby officially adopting the new district boundaries.
Which means as of today, the new District 1, which is mostly Sun City Core has no city councilmember. The new District 3 has two city councilmembers, Fred Twyman and Darcy Kuenzi. The new District 2 has two city councilmembers, Tom Fuhrman and Wallace Edgerton. The new District 4 is the only district with one councilmember, John Denver.
Adding to the furor is that City Hall itself couldn't answer the many calls it received on the issue. City Attorney Karen Feld didn't know how to answer the question either. However, she did say that they have hired Doug Johnson, who created the district boundaries for the former five-district system, to provide analysis, and that by January 2011 they should have answers.
But that didn't satisfy several Sun City residents who complained that they couldn't get a hold of John Denver, who they believed to be their city councilmember representative. City Hall gave them his city e-mail address, however many of them don't have computers let alone Internet access. When they asked City Hall for Denver's phone number, they were told that such information was private and could not be given out. Denver would not provide any of his contact info at the city council meeting.
However, Fred Twyman did. He held up a sign that displayed his cell phone number (951) 378-5458. He went on to say that he's given out his number many times before, and yet gets very few calls.
Anne Pica, who ran against Denver, and who's been active in the fight over districts and at-large representation, spoke to Denver saying, "We only have to wait 90 days before we can start a recall".
Grant Yoders, a Sun City resident, spoke out arguing that the council spent too much time trying to find a way to eliminate district representation. "It's time to take off your at-large clothing, and start serving your constituents", he also went on to say, "As we used to say in the Navy, shape up or ship out!"
John Smelser, a Heritage Lake resident, perhaps attracted the most attention when he addressed the council very angrily, charging that members of the council have referred to his wife as a "liar", committed voter fraud, siphoned some $420,000.00 in city funds, and have yet to provide city staff with a mission statement. He went on to say that he's provided the names of all five city councilmembers to both State and Federal officials, including the FBI and the CIA, and even said the FBI has put all five of them on their watch list.
When Measure AA passed, barely edging out competing Measure DD, it put in place a system of four city council districts, with a mayor elected at large, who also acts as the city's fifth city councilman.
The city council officially adopted the results of the November 2nd election this evening, thereby officially adopting the new district boundaries.
Which means as of today, the new District 1, which is mostly Sun City Core has no city councilmember. The new District 3 has two city councilmembers, Fred Twyman and Darcy Kuenzi. The new District 2 has two city councilmembers, Tom Fuhrman and Wallace Edgerton. The new District 4 is the only district with one councilmember, John Denver.
Adding to the furor is that City Hall itself couldn't answer the many calls it received on the issue. City Attorney Karen Feld didn't know how to answer the question either. However, she did say that they have hired Doug Johnson, who created the district boundaries for the former five-district system, to provide analysis, and that by January 2011 they should have answers.
But that didn't satisfy several Sun City residents who complained that they couldn't get a hold of John Denver, who they believed to be their city councilmember representative. City Hall gave them his city e-mail address, however many of them don't have computers let alone Internet access. When they asked City Hall for Denver's phone number, they were told that such information was private and could not be given out. Denver would not provide any of his contact info at the city council meeting.
However, Fred Twyman did. He held up a sign that displayed his cell phone number (951) 378-5458. He went on to say that he's given out his number many times before, and yet gets very few calls.
Anne Pica, who ran against Denver, and who's been active in the fight over districts and at-large representation, spoke to Denver saying, "We only have to wait 90 days before we can start a recall".
Grant Yoders, a Sun City resident, spoke out arguing that the council spent too much time trying to find a way to eliminate district representation. "It's time to take off your at-large clothing, and start serving your constituents", he also went on to say, "As we used to say in the Navy, shape up or ship out!"
John Smelser, a Heritage Lake resident, perhaps attracted the most attention when he addressed the council very angrily, charging that members of the council have referred to his wife as a "liar", committed voter fraud, siphoned some $420,000.00 in city funds, and have yet to provide city staff with a mission statement. He went on to say that he's provided the names of all five city councilmembers to both State and Federal officials, including the FBI and the CIA, and even said the FBI has put all five of them on their watch list.
