THE CITY Council of Carmel-by-the-Sea and its insurance carrier have decided that the best way to deal with Jane Miller’s lawsuit against the city is to settle it by paying her $600,000, even as they admit no fault in the way Miller was treated on the job.

But surely the mayor and members of the council realize that this ambiguous settlement leaves many of their constituents wondering what the heck actually happened.

Did city administrator Rich Guillen create a hostile workplace environment? If he did, he should be disciplined, instead of all the burden of making amends for his misdeeds falling on the taxpayers.

On the other hand, if Jane Miller opportunistically fabricated or exaggerated her case to obtain a fancy payday, the citizens deserve to hear about that, too.

Answers, please.

Editorial: Why not go all the way?

A VERY forward-thinking State Senator from East Los Angeles, Gloria Romero, is making progress with her bill, SB 624, to strip Serpentine of its status as the official state rock because the ubiquitous jade-green formation, principally made up of magnesium iron phyllosilicate, can also contain asbestos.

The bill has been passed by the State Senate and is making progress in the assembly.

We hope our assemblyman, Bill Monning, instead of worrying about silly things like the Monterey Peninsula’s never-ending water shortage or the egregious over-reaching of CEQA, is paying close attention to the critical, upcoming vote on Serpentine, and to Romero’s inescapable logic.

“Why, in a health-conscious state like California, do we have a state rock that is related to asbestos?” Romero said.

Certainly, it seems quite obvious that no official recognition should be afforded any vegetable, animal or mineral which is not 100 percent safe for humans to eat, rub on their skin or have in their neighborhood.

But why stop there? Californians, after all, have highly refined sensibilities not only about the rocks beneath their feet, but also about the words they hear.

Accordingly, we propose the word “best” be stripped from “asbestos.” Sen. Romero’s next bill should be to rename it “asbadstos.”