Our Representatives Have Spoken

Rancho Palos Verdes residents went to the polls in 2009 and 2007 to elect or reelect the current City Council members who sit to represent them in matters residents used their initiative to cast their votes for the representation they expect and want.

Marymount wants to take that away from the residents, and allow themselves to represent the residents without any responsibility to the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes.

The Marymount Plan's Initiative takes the right of the people who tasked their representatives to represent them and gives it to Marymount representatives who were not voted for and are not beholden or responsible to the voters of the city.

By unanimous vote, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council formerly voted to oppose The Marymount Plan's Initiative and Specific Zone Plan. The members also created the means for drafting a Resolution stating their concerns about The Marymount Plan and why they feel, as a body, the Marymount Plan's issues must be voted down on November 2, 2010.

The two major issues that City Council members voiced their opposition to were the placement of high-density population housing (resident halls) in a low-density neighborhood AND the elimination of oversight and responsible representation by the Council in lieu of almost total control of all aspects of The Marymount Plan being turned over to College representatives.

I think we have seen something of a similarity in recent weeks when a non-government entity attempts to rest control over and issue instead of allowing elected representatives the rights and responsibilities voters challenged those representatives with by their election to office.

It only took days before BP called for government representative intervention into its Ocean Horizon disaster after it ultimately lost control over its own oversight, of its project it sought to stay in control of.

With issues like the failure of Executive Live, many banks and financial institutions, and the near collapse of our economic structure do to private control over representative oversight, I hope we all have learned our lesson that, with The Marymount Plan, we must not allow the fox to guard the hen house as Marymount supporters wish.

When our elected representatives and those they appointed to be on the Planning Commission have offered reasonable, responsible, realistic, and respectful means by which Marymount College could have a successful facilities expansion project, yet Marymount seeks to have its own control and oversight, it demonstrates to all of us what are Marymount's real intentions are and those intentions are to do just as they want, with no one looking over their shoulders or keeping the residents of Rancho Palos Verds from interfering with what Marymount ultimately demands.