MAILBAG - Jan. 28, 2007

Archaic regulations to blame, not technology

Peter Buffa asserts that the proliferation of cellphones is responsible for the need to split or overlay the 714 telephone area code (“Cellphones to blame for 657,” Jan. 21). This is a common misconception. A few years ago, everyone was blaming fax machines.

Orange County has two area codes now, 714 and 949. Each can accommodate approximately eight million numbers (theoretically 10 million, less some for reserved prefixes like 911).

To exhaust this supply, every adult and child in the county would need to be using about five numbers each. Not five phones, five different numbers.

It ain’t so.

The problem is the archaic method the Public Utilities Commission uses to assign phone numbers.

Each company offering service must be allocated at least 1,000 numbers in every “rate center,” even if they only have a few customers in a rate center. (A “rate center” is the geographic area that determines local toll boundaries. There are about 40 in Orange County). A few years ago, the rule was 10,000 numbers per rate center per company.

Many of these companies do not charge local tolls. None of them need to. It is ridiculous to pay more for a local toll call than for long distance to the East Coast. But the agency’s rules create a huge waste of numbers by insisting on a minimum allocation of numbers in every rate center.

Rate centers are an artifact of mid-20th century technology that persists only because the telephone business is regulated in the “public interest.”

Eliminating them would not only save phone numbers, it would also result in lower prices to consumers.

DAVE CLOSE

Costa Mesa

City doesn’t need more low-income housing

Would someone tell Steve Smith that we do not need any more low-income housing in the City of Costa Mesa (“High-rise decision lacks foresight,” Jan. 20)? The school district quantifies nicely the level of low-income residences we already have. Of the 12 elementary schools that serve primarily Costa Mesa, in 11 the majority of the parents cannot afford to send their children to school with a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich for lunch. In four of the elementary schools, the majority of the parents do not have a high school education. Three of our schools are failing to meet the minimum standard that the federal government mandates. Yes, we have some of the worst schools in the entire nation.

Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who has a broad-based civil litigation practice, should understand our shortage of housing is not at the low end.

JAMES J. JONES

Costa Mesa

Decision to waive fees is against city’s interests

What were Mayor Allan Mansoor, and City Council members Wendy Leece and Eric Bever thinking when they voted against imposing an affordable housing requirement on the developers of the new high-rise condos (“City approves plans for five high-rises,” Jan. 17)? They certainly weren’t looking out for Costa Mesa’s interests.

The price of renting an apartment in our city is so high now that teachers, nurses, public safety personnel and other city staff — and many others who contribute so much to our community — simply cannot afford to live here. Other cities in Orange County (such as Newport Beach, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach) face the same housing challenge but they are doing something about it. All these cities require developers to make a contribution toward building affordable housing in exchange for the right to build market-rate housing. That contribution is typically an agreement to make some percentage of their units “affordable” (meaning priced low enough that families with very-low to moderate incomes can afford to live there), or the developers make a financial contribution, called an “in-lieu fee for affordable housing.” In Newport Beach, a developer must designate 20% of its units as affordable or pay an in-lieu fee. Costa Mesa, in comparison, comes off as a chump.

Our timid, accommodating council majority (Mansoor, Leece and Bever) quavered at the thought of imposing the same kind of requirement on developers in our city. Why?

The five developers of these high-rise condo projects asked for, and got, a huge favor from the City Council: adoption of general and specific plan amendments that will allow high-density housing (125 units per acre) in an area that was not zoned for residential use. These changes will bring astounding new wealth to already-rich developers. According to the staff report, the developers’ property, now collectively worth $34.5 million, will have an assessed value of $1.4 billion at build-out. Yet Mansoor and his council allies did not think it “right” to require any contribution to the public good from the developers. Their naivete is distressing.

Only council members Linda Dixon and Katrina Foley had the practical business sense and gumption to support imposing on the developers an affordable housing requirement just like Newport, Huntington, Irvine and Laguna would have done. I applaud their vision, and can only hope their three colleagues will one day wake up to our city’s desperate need for affordable housing — and to the council’s responsibility and power to remedy that crisis.

KATHY ESFAHANI

Costa Mesa

Majority puts its agenda ahead of residents

What is happening to the city that I have lived in my whole life and that I love dearly?

I am so proud of the opportunities Costa Mesa offers its residents through the parks and recreation department. The youth-ingovernment program sounded like another great addition. It is so refreshing to know that we have young people in our city who are interested in our local government. And why not offer them the opportunity to see how it all works?

Unfortunately, they did learn a lesson in politics last week (“Youth program axed,” Jan. 18). It sounds to me that the majority of the City Council is spending some time on political payback and not looking out for the best interests of Costa Mesa residents. Shame on them for putting their agendas before the interests of our residents. I hope the kids learned enough in their first meeting to fight for their program!

MICHELLE CHRISTENSEN

Costa Mesa