Community Commentary:

Electing your dream political candidate is like falling in love. The romance eventually wanes as the object of your admiration eventually falls back to his core persona.

A voter, like a lover who is beseeched eagerly, may fall in love following the attention, the flower petals, the compliments, the caring ways and promises of the suitor. The lengthy list of things they share in common flows like a stream of poetry. If she loves the outdoors, so does he. If she loves Scarlatti at the park, so does he. If she has vegetarian leanings, he gives up steak. She gets to plan a honeymoon in Costa Rica and he promises her a Prius. Their future looks bright and green.

Eventually, the suitor can’t sustain the pretense. His actions no longer match his words. She begins to notice that the promised Prius gave way to a Hummer. That he’d rather be in Vegas than the Galapagos. Day by day, she notices that she is no longer the object of his desire. She is caring for two kids, two jobs and two loads of laundry. He is out playing poker.

She is overburdened, but her relatives don’t know. They only see her husband on holidays and special events. They see him handling the barbecue like a pro, talk about global warming and giving warm embraces to the kids or playing catch with the football. She sees an actor before her, but she can’t convince her friends.

Impossible, they say. He is so caring — just yesterday he was talking about water conservation at the park. He is so elegant — just last week he displayed his diamond-encrusted cuff-links. He has finesse and panache. He is a gentle soul and a true friend of the environment.

Eventually, his words, like those lifted from some else’s resume, reveal a pretense that is hard to maintain. That wife’s experience is like that of voters facing the real politician.

When the councilman is no longer available because he is courting a major developer, the voter gets stuck with the high utility bills and the water shortage. When he is out talking about how green he is, he is probably thinking of his wallet. When he talks about water conservation, he is making sure there is plenty for his swimming pool and development projects in the pipeline.

And so it was Tuesday afternoon, during a discussion of the upgrade of Griffith Manor Park, a newly transformed water conservationist councilman came forth. How can we conserve the water? he asked. How can we find ways to recycle or reuse? The expressions of environmental love were there. But the imagery lasted only a few hours.

At the evening session, an activist posed a question to the City Council. He dared them to disclose publicly their water bills since the official start of the water crisis in July of 2007. The muted response was deafening. It was like the wife confronting her wayward husband to explain the strange lady’s undergarment she found in his glove compartment.

I think we all should demand to see Councilman Ara Najarian’s last 12 utility bills since July 2007. We need to see his conviction in a more revealing way. It’s been a dry spell since he really showed us the love.

 HERBERT MOLANO is a Tujunga resident.