But what disappointed me were the questions that the League asked and did not ask. For instance, Prop 23, although an excellent question for a statewide race was inappropriate for a City Council race. That is like asking how you feel about a woman¡¦s right to chose whether to have an abortion or give birth. This is settled law on which Republican Harry Blackmun wrote the majority opinion and Democrat Byron White wrote the dissenting opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court.
However, conspicuously absent were questions regarding the two most important Propositions in the upcoming Menlo Park election. These are Proposition L for true pension reform and Proposition T for the Bohannon project. Why did the League of Women Voters not ask these questions? The answer is obvious. The League of Women Voters, even though it does not endorse candidates, has had in recent years, a left of center agenda. It supports measures that their ¡§unendorsed liberal candidates¡¨ support and by doing so they indirectly support their privately chosen (but not publically endorsed) liberal candidates.
Heyward Robinson and Richard Cline have seriously put the financial viability of Menlo Park at risk by giving the City employees egregious pension increases. Measure L seeks to mitigate the harm caused by them. But if the League of Women Voters were to pose that question it would make Heyward Robinson and Rich Cline look bad. Something they did not want to do.
Measure T is another example. Dave Bohannon wants to develop land which will turn a good profit for him. I am a strong believer in individual property rights ƒ{ but not at the expense of the residents. Is it fair to ask the residents to underwrite the increased infrastructure costs? I don¡¦t think so. However, this question, if asked, would make Heyward Robinson and Richard Cline look bad. They support Measure T because Gail Slocum supports it and believe me they will do what Gail asks them to do because they owe her.
The League of Women Voters has not been objective in recent years and for it to avoid the most pressing issues of the day so that Heyward Robinson and Richard Cline won¡¦t look bad goes beyond the pale. The League should be proscribed from hosting further candidate forums until it can regain its objectivity. It has lost its way.
