ELECTION CAMPAIGN grins and groans (Shutterstock).

Editor’s note: Second part of Retort’s new “Kudos and Komplaints.”  Here are the Komplaints. Read on for the Delights and Disappointments.

I don’t care for campaign signs. I realize that “name recognition” is an important factor in voting. If we’re not familiar with the issues or the personalities involved, we tend to vote for a familiar name.

What I don’t like is a) people stealing or vandalizing other candidates’ signs. How can you claim to be doing your civic duty while you are committing a crime? 

And b) the placement of candidate signs outside of religious institutions. There are a tonne (Canadian spelling) of temples and monasteries across Garden Grove and Westminster festooned with colorful placards advocating for This Candidate or That Candidate.

Churches and other religious institutions are granted tax-exempt status on the premise they not take part in political activities, and especially in the endorsement of candidates. 

Frankly, I doubt the Almighty is closely watching the Midway City Sanitary District race.

Delights and Disappointments: The Candidate Forum held Saturday in the Courtyard Center for those seeking the positions of mayor and city council of Garden Grove as well as Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education went great.

(Full disclosure: The event was co-hosted by Marilyn Tortolano, co-owner of The Orange County Tribune).

It started right on time, was held before a near-capacity house and had good snacks (always important to free-loading press people).

What ground my gears a bit was how little some candidates knew about the jobs they were seeking. Two of the hopefuls for city council advocated for improving education and making curriculum changes.

The problem with that is that the city and city council have zero control or authority over those topics. Zero, as in none. How I wish I could have fact-checked those folks!

And finally, while some of the candidates for all the offices spoke intelligently and knowledgeably about local issues, just as many spoke in generalities such as lower taxes, homelessness. crime etc. without any specifics as to how they’d meet those issues. 

Sigh. Maybe that’s why we have all those signs on every street corner.