Mailbag:

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the American Civil Liberties Union are again costing the taxpayers of Costa Mesa money at a time when every dollar is needed (“Police sweep spurs lawsuit,” Feb. 3). We agree with our mayor and the council, along with the police action.

Yes, everyone has a right to work, but they do not have a right to disrupt and denigrate a neighborhood and break the law. Our ordinances are for the purpose of protecting the people in Costa Mesa. We view the undocumented issues as the underlying cause of the lawsuit. Again, we agree with our mayor, council and police department, when undocumented workers were deported.

That said, perhaps there is a way for documented workers to receive guidance as to where and how to find jobs. It is a daunting task for the unemployed to get work.

Perhaps something as simple as a card with resources could be made available at various locations. This would also allow us, as a city, to evaluate what we have to help these folks find employment. The people who hire the day workers on the streets are as much to blame as the workers, and these day employers are not all from Costa Mesa.

Keith and Lois Raffel

Costa Mesa

Writer is full of hot air herself

For crying out loud, what are we becoming, a nation of whining, bellyaching wimps? According to Carole Wade (“Sounding Off: Leaf blowers need to be banned,” Feb. 3), leaf blowers are causing medical horrors, interference with sleep, work and communication and extreme stress long after the leaf blowing subsides.

According to Wade, it also threatens our environment, costing California billions of dollars a year while placing heavy demands on our medical system. Are you kidding me?!

I shudder to think what the noise caused by laughing children on the school ground, skateboards, landscape sprinklers, Friday night football games and barking dogs will do to our poor, vulnerable, weak, politically correct psyches.

These noises are little more than the beautiful signs of life around you. If they cause you extreme stress, then you would do well to reconsider your priorities.

Jeanne Broadway

Newport Beach