Newspaper slanting down swampy path

Bob Polkow

What do you usually call a publication that only exposes opinions on

a one-sided basis personally approved by the controlling editor? I

would call it a political voice of one-sided political propaganda,

not a newspaper that enjoys our Constitution’s guarantee of a free

press. Should the Fair Political Practices Act be applied to a

publication that hides behind “Letters to the Editor” and only

selects those that please his or her opinion?

The Independent continually publishes articles submitted by the

same “no-growth save the land for swamps” group that only represents

a small minority of those that do not want their view blocked by

development that would benefit the majority and call for the state to

spend our tax dollars to buy land “for the birds.” The southeast area

along the coast is a blight, not because of the AES plant but by

presenting such a stark contrast between the view when traveling

north from Newport Beach and entering Huntington Beach. From upscale

restaurants and businesses to swamp and dry weeds. The swamp lovers

that really want to protect their ocean view want the area from

Brookhurst north to be saved for the birds. The only birds I have

seen in that area are transients using it for a makeshift home,

occasionally routed out by our police. Additionally, it has been

proven that the Talbert marsh in this area is a major pollution of

our beach.

The Bolsa Chica groups on the other side of town have been busy

for the last 30 years assuring that those traveling from Seal Beach

to Huntington Beach enjoy the same disgusting contrast. Their

influence has consumed so much attention from our city’s

administration that our own infrastructure has been ignored and

allowed to disintegrate. Take Barbara Boskovitch. She worked

furiously to keep Wal-Mart from being a boon to our city, and then

her loyal, well-organized swamp lovers got the vote out and managed

to gain her a seat on the Ocean View School District board. Now,

disguising her actions as working for the school children, she wants

to declare as surplus and sell land the district owns in the Bolsa

Chica area to the state at “no cost to the taxpayer”. The state does

not earn any money, where does she think the state money is coming

from?

The Independent, in the usual biased pattern publishes many

letters, all submitted by well recognized swamp lovers, rebutting an

article, which slipped through, criticizing Boskovitch for using her

position to influence action to appease her fellow “no-growth” group.

I have a suggestion. Let the swamp lovers have their way but when

monies are dwindling in the city’s general fund let them contribute

the shortfall that would have been filled by revenue producing

development that they denied in order to create more swamps.

The Independent will not publish this article because it opposes

their “biased” editorial insight. I am just one of those people that

keeps banging my head against the wall because it feels so good when

I stop. If I may, one more suggestion. Why doesn’t the Independent

change its name to the Swamp Lovers Gazette? It would save those of

us that are for business and prosperity time as we would not waste it

reading swampy propaganda.

* BOB POLKOW is a Huntington Beach resident. To contribute to

“Sounding Off” e-mail us at [email protected] or fax us at (714)

965-7174.