Council Quorum

One citizen’s thanks to Barry Horstman and the Los Angeles Times for reporting on the latest shenanigans of the City Council (“Close but No Quorum,” July 17). It is interesting that all four of the council members who should have been at the meeting on time to provide at least a quorum to do the business they get paid for--Ron Roberts, Wes Pratt, Bruce Henderson and Bob Filner--are also running for reelection this fall. A curious way to demonstrate your value to your constituents.

But perhaps more interesting are the excuses offered for tardiness and absence. None tops Mr. Henderson, who explained he was “campaigning door-to-door in his district” that afternoon. Excuse me? Campaigning during a regularly scheduled City Council session? Is that what we pay the City Council members for?

The City Council already gives itself a one-month recess in August. It’s bad enough we will be paying for some of them to campaign then. But apparently Bruce Henderson can’t wait. After spending most of last year replacing one gerrymandered council district map with another, he finds, two months out from the election, that he needs to go door-to-door in his “new” district. While half the City Council sits idle waiting with the public for a bare quorum to show up, Mr. Henderson is out trying to get reelected.

The City Council regularly grants “excused absences” pro forma to members missing council meetings for legitimate reasons. They should not grant such a courtesy for campaigning on city time.

JAY POWELL, San Diego