Mailbag:Putting parking lot in place of ‘back nine’ would be a great loss

My husband and I have enjoyed the Newport Beach Golf Course for 30-plus years. We believe that eliminating the “back nine” at this course would truly be a tremendous loss of beauty and golf history to Orange County (“Newport council votes to oppose golf course idea,” May 9).

Our grown children, 34 and 37 years old, learned to play golf at this course. I learned to play golf at this course. The loss of this part of the course will definitely affect many folks. It would eliminate the back nine golf league that I play in each week. It is also my weekly opportunity to give thanks I can still make this walk and play the game as part of my post-cardio bypass rehab activities. We’ve asked the Newport Beach City Council and the Orange County Board of Supervisors to look elsewhere for a more appropriate location to put another parking lot. We strongly support a lease renewal at Newport Beach Golf Course. We hope our pleas, petitions and e-mails do not fall on deaf ears.

PATTI McCREADY

Ferguson’s real estate days deserve attention

Although much was made of the late Gil Ferguson’s political life in the media coverage of his passing, Gil’s life before politics requires more attention (“Ferguson ‘held firm,’ ” May 8).

As vice president of corporate communications for The Irvine Co., Gil brought the company from its days as a rancher into its modern incarnation as the major real estate developer in Orange County.

Gil established the Corporate Communications Division with departments emphasizing public relations, community relations, government relations, marketing and homeowner association relations.

He established the weekly newspaper Irvine World News, the monthly magazine New Worlds, and television programming on the company’s then-owned Community Cablevision.

When I joined The Irvine Co. as director of public relations in 1973, Gil was no longer there. But he came to see me and gave me advice that I regret I did not follow.

He asked whether I considered housing prices to be high. I answered “yes.” His advice was, “Stretch as far as you can financially and then stretch beyond that — you will never regret it.”

I did not stretch nearly far enough.

MARTIN A. BROWER

Where’s the saving in rebuilding city hall?

It seems so easy. Newport Beach needs a new city hall and can’t afford it? Just sell the present city hall and use the proceeds to rebuild on other land we already own. But wait: We start with a city hall and a piece of land and finish with a city hall, period. Where’s the saving? That depends on how you value the forfeited asset, and it’s an interesting question because the land has never been valued. As a social asset it was never intended to be developed. So in that sense it is invaluable.

What would you do if your house deteriorated? Repair or rebuild, I imagine. But why relocate? If the city hall is to relocate for fear of a tsunami, what does this say to the thousands of permanent residents and businesses on the peninsula and of the city’s own investments in it?

TOM MOULSON

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