Editor:

Politicians claiming Eureka's citywide elections provided, "a more responsive city council" are delusional.

Ignored for decades, residents suffered sewage contaminated homes, businesses, greenbelts and Humboldt Bay during crab season, resulting in fines from the California Water Board. Citizens' demands to repurpose blighted properties are disregarded, leaving our neighborhoods with increasing arson and vandalism that repels tourists, businesses and residents. Eureka's response to record-fatalities of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists is a campaign to "be more careful."

"There's no money" to effectively address public health, destitute families, safe streets, affordable housing and emergency services because the development industry bankrolls costly citywide elections, winning representatives who refuse to advocate for or enact sufficient regulations, fees, fines and ordinances for all construction long before the impacts become intractable.

Until we have publicly financed elections, Measure P will give every Eureka adult a fair shot at a council seat and begin placing the common good above industry greed.

George Clark, Eureka

Editor:

Vote no on Eureka's Measure P. This is the ballot measure proposing to take away your right to vote on all of the city council members in future elections. Three of the five current city council members voted to put this measure on the ballot under the guise of the possibility of a lawsuit for disenfranchising minority voters. Don't buy that. We are too small a city to divide and vote for only one council member.

We are a small city, not like the ones in the Bay Area or Southern California where these lawsuits are occurring. We currently have the best of both worlds, where a candidate needs to live in a ward to run for that seat but the entire voting population of Eureka gets to elect them. This way, the good of the entire city — like economic development, general planning, and budgetary matters — is taken into account. No on P.

Mike Newman, Eureka