Long Beach

There are many things I like about the weekly community newspaper – time to make interesting stories about the people of Long Beach, waiting for the newspaper to appear on porches and newsstands on Thursday morning, seeing people reading Grunion on the weekends and further.

But there’s one thing I don’t like. Published only once a week.

This is especially difficult when we are preparing for important elections. This year is a good example – Long Beach is going to elect a new mayor, three other citywide offices are holding competitions, there are five seats on the board, and two seats on school boards.

And this is only a municipal election. There are important county races, the open state assembly and races in Congress that affect Long Beach residents.

But after this edition, there are only three Grunions left before the election day on June 7. And the last one, June 2, is a forbidden political zone so as not to give anyone an advantage at the last minute.

Of course, through mailing and early voting, some people will hand in their ballots long before election day. This makes it difficult to offer them a complete picture of the candidates.

That doesn’t stop us from trying. Starting this week, you’ll find stories of people wanting to serve the public as elected officials in a variety of positions. In particular, the next two weeks the newspaper will be full of such stories.

And while that should help, perhaps the best way to understand what a politician is advocating is to listen to their own words – and to what they say and what they don’t say. I took on the role of Grunion to provide a platform for these words by offering space for short statements by candidates.

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but a large number of candidates accepted us on this offer – too many to put them all on this opinion page. So this week and, if needed, over the next two weeks, we open more pages for these views. My goal is to print every statement I receive.

Read and digest these sayings, dear reader, is up to you. Probably not a reminder that these are opinions (about yourself) and not weighted stories. They are not editable other than grammar. Personal attacks have been banned, so you will find little about opponents here.

I find it good to use for our limited space. I hope you think so too.

And please vote.