Letters to the Editor

Opposition trying to confuse voters on Measure Q

Some are trying to change the focus on the Measure Q ballot initiative. There’s an attempt to say the word ELECTORATE and VOTER are not the same. The jury is back, they’re the same. So what? It’s an attempt to negate the initiative, making a majority vote more difficult. 

“Electorate” has always meant “All of those who actually voted in the election.” That is the context where the word is used in Measure Q. 

In other contexts, the word can also mean, “All adults who could be eligible to vote” or “All of those who are registered to vote,” but not in the context of where an election was won or lost. Only the people who vote in an election get to decide who wins or loses. 

1) An article in a journal from the Harvard Law School states, “Once an initiative measure is passed by the electorate, the legislature cannot alter that measure without the electorate’s consent.” In this context, the article clearly refers to those who actually voted to pass a ballot initiative.

2) Google the term “passed by the electorate.” Hundreds of legal documents use “Electorate” in the same context as Measure Q – “All of those who actually voted.”

3) A local example is that the Costa Mesa ballot initiative also uses the word “Electorate,” and it has not been challenged there.

4) The attorney for Laguna Residents First recently cited several major court cases where the ambiguity was resolved to mean “All of those who actually voted.” The attorney stated that “An interpretation of Measure Q as prescribing, without any elaboration, an unprecedented majority approval requirement in this state is simply unsupportable in light of the weight of this legal authority.”

5) Use your common sense. We all watch election returns on TV. Has anyone ever seen an election where the winner was anything other than a majority of the electorate; meaning “All of those who actually voted?” That is how elections are run in this country. Falsely claiming that “Electorate” means something else in this context is distorting reality. 

David Raber

Co-Founder of Laguna Residents First

Laguna Beach

Disappointed in claims of previous letter

I was highly disappointed that such a partisan and divisive letter was published in Stu News this week. It appears Denny Freidenrich has been “off the grid” for the last six years. There were incessant claims from DNC leadership, Obama, Clinton, Biden, Biden Administration personnel and DNC media hacks that President Trump was “illegitimate” and “stole the election.” Where was Denny Freidenrich for the last six years? His attack on “millions of people” and supporting President Biden’s “call to action” is detrimental to our civility and our Country. Incendiary rhetoric based on the demonization of one political party over and over never ends well.

Freidenrich, President Biden and media operatives would be wise to read and embrace President George Washington’s Farewell Address. Many of the issues we face today and, together as a Nation, he prophetically advised future generations so that we could remain a cohesive and prosperous Country. One of the key points of the Address was the warning that the worst enemy of government was loyalty to party over Nation. 

Both sides of the aisle need to study this invaluable Address.

John Jenal

Laguna Beach