MAILBAG - Oct. 7, 1999

West Side plan needs to move forward

Your articles state that a distinct group of Costa Mesa citizens have

been left out of the planning process (“Stronger Latino outreach urged,”

Sept. 16).

The lack of knowledge and involvement cited by Maria Elena Avila goes

way beyond the Latino community. An informal poll of my local friends and

neighbors indicates a general lack of knowledge concerning the West Side

redevelopment project.

Either the city of Costa Mesa failed all residents and business owners

regardless of race, creed, or socioeconomic status, or -- as usual -- the

people’s desire for the government to take care of everything has left

some holding the bag. In this case the bag is held by the residents of

the West Side’s rundown, low-cost housing. These are the folks who may be

forced to move if all goes according to the current plan, and

understandably they don’t like this possibility.

While it may be true that many of those who will be affected are

Latino, it is shameful to imply that the situation is in some way

racially motivated. Along these lines, I urge the City Council to stay

the course, and avoid buckling under thinly veiled claims of racism.

The city has done what it could to reach out to its citizenry, and as

you note, made special overtures to one distinct group (Those who now cry

foul). Let’s not condone a waste of additional taxpayer dollars to

assuage a particular group, which during the last year did little to

voice its position at the official public meetings.

Those who are interested have been in attendance at planning sessions,

and have worked hard to come up with a plan that makes sense. Out of

respect for those who have given of their time, let’s try to resist the

urge to start running in circles with the West Side planning process, and

instead move forward and improve our unique city.

ERIC BEVER

West Side Costa Mesa

How popular is the Millennium Plan -- really?

In July, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority mailed some 405,000

flyers to Orange County voters concerning its Millennium Plan.

Public records show that there was a 3% response. Of the 3% response,

63% were from South County, which means that 37% of the 3% -- or less

than 1% -- were from North County.

Judging from the response rate, the “Award-Winning Millennium Plan” is

very popular at Irvine City Hall -- and nowhere else.

LEONARD R. HALL

Newport Beach

Money for school officers should go to books instead

Gay Geiser-Sandoval was right on target with her column regarding the

Newport-Mesa school district’s decision to spend $87,500 on police

officers to patrol the campuses of Newport Harbor High, Corona del Mar

High, and Ensign Middle School. This is a huge expenditure of district

money that will offer negligible results. What really infuriates me,

though, as a parent of two children at Costa Mesa High School, is the

message that this decision sends to the children that attend Estancia,

Costa Mesa and TeWinkle schools.

Are they less valuable than the children in Newport Beach? Evidently

the district thinks so. Here is a crazy idea: Why not spend a little bit

of that money on silly things like textbooks for our schools.

I was actually asked to participate in yet another fund-raiser on

back-to-school night to help buy books for my daughter’s Spanish class. A

fund-raiser for textbooks? What’s next for the second-class citizens in

Costa Mesa? Taking up a collection to pay the school’s light bill? I’m

sure our kids would be willing to forgo the luxury of on-campus police if

they could have a textbook that they could take home instead.

CATHERINE IRWIN

Costa Mesa

El Toro money going down the drain

I continue to be amazed with the amount of money and effort being

spent on something that the majority opposes (“City gives nearly $400,000

more for El Toro fight,” Sept. 29). In Orange County, we currently have

four airports within 60 minutes and additional two airports within 90

minutes. That is a total of six airports.

In my opinion, that is more than enough. We simply don’t need a

seventh airport, big or small.

My suggestion is that the city of Newport Beach should be spending

$400,000 on programs that are needed and stop flushing our money down the

drain.

DEAN WIENER

Corona Del Mar

Community should get behind school bond

Concerning the article in the Sept. 24 issue of the Daily Pilot, I was

encouraged to read the next-to-last paragraph in the article which

stated, “The district must find long-term solutions to its maintenance

problem, so, in the words of several committee members, ‘we never have to

do this again.”’

As the committee grapples with the difficult problem of bringing the

schools in Newport--Mesa up to an acceptable and safe level, it must also

find a path to convince the voters to again approve funds to do so. I say

again, because prudent management would have allocated annual funding to

maintain these facilities that were previously approved for construction

and renovation by the voters.

Time and again we are faced with serious and urgent needs to repair or

replace public facilities and infrastructure. Part of the responsibility

of a business is to set aside depreciation--based funds each year to pay

for repairs and replacements of capital facilities in the future. Why

this has not been the case with our schools is, I presume, due to

previous management decisions to use such funds for other purposes. No

matter how urgent such other uses might have been, there can be no excuse

for this lack of sound management impacting the quality of our school

facilities to the detriment (and possible risk) of our children.

I strongly recommend that the committee take this into consideration

when formulating the persuasive information to be given to the voters in

order to obtain approval of a bond issue. Unless this is addressed, and a

plan included to preclude such problems in the future, this bond issue

will appear as just another item in a regular panic-based funding cycle,

which might well result in insufficient approval of the bond.

ALAN SILCOCK

Newport Beach

Wilson’s proposal a sign of bad leadership

So Supervisor Tom Wilson wants to remove a sign from the baggage claim

area at John Wayne Airport that describes the planned future of El Toro

(“A bad sign?,” Sept. 30). As usual he is responding to many e-mail, fax

and telephone messages he received from a well-orchestrated group of his

supporters.

Wilson decried the divisiveness of the El Toro issue and then compared

the sign to the Berlin Wall and himself to Ronald Reagan. Another speaker

said the sign was Nazi propaganda. Get a grip, Wilson. Does anyone have

to tell you how insulting these words are to so many people living and

dead? You say you don’t like divisiveness but promoting it seems to be

your job.

Anyone so offended by the sign can stay out of John Wayne Airport,

possibly eliminating the need for El Toro.

By the way Wilson, you are no Ronald Reagan.

THOMAS A. BUTTERWORTH

Balboa Island