Mailbag: Let’s remember who was behind Mr. Irrelevant

I read with interest “Mr. Irrelevant plans to ‘keep pushing forward’” (Daily Pilot, June 15). What the article, for some unfathomable reason, failed to mention was that the whole concept of the Mr. Irrelevant idea was the brainchild of the late Newport Beach resident Paul Salata. If it were not for him there would never have been such a celebration. I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Salata for the Newport Beach Historical Society for our ongoing oral history project.

Lenard Davis, member,
NBHS board of directors

Fliers deserve condemnation

An act of racial hatred was committed in the city of Huntington Beach this week. Ugly anti-Jewish materials were distributed at several homes in the city. The representatives of several religious denominations at the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council believe that hate has no place here.

Our council was started some 25 years ago in response to a climate of hate in the city that culminated in a vicious hate crime. Over these more than two decades, the council has sponsored many events and programs promoting understanding between people of many faiths and working toward harmony for the entire community.

We call upon all persons of goodwill to join us in condemning this hateful act and all similar hurtful behaviors. Let us work together to create the society of which the prophet Isaiah spoke, where all people will sit under their vines and fig trees and no one will make them afraid.

Maneck Bhujwala, president,
Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council

Disgusting is one way to describe the antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ+ fliers left near Edison High School. Another way to describe this action is cowardly. Why? Because these people always drop their fliers in the dead of night when no one can see them. If you are so convinced your point of view is valid, then come out of the shadows and show your faces. If you ask me, it’s the least you can do when attacking people you despise.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach

Gun issue requires voter action

Patrice Apodaca in her recent article this month in the Daily Pilot (“We must find effective answers to gun violence,” June 7), takes on gun violence, the number one problem in our country today and the problem that taints our reputation as the “leader of the free world.” Our lack of control over gun violence has resulted in more than 17,444 gun deaths so far this year, Apodaca writes. It has come to the point that people do not feel safe outside their homes.

While any number of solutions has been offered to rid us of this blight on our national reputation, there is no one fix that will solve our problem, other than changing the minds of our government representatives.

The best place to start is at the top, focusing on the institution which most affects the laxity of gun legislation, and that is the Supreme Court. The Citizen’s United Supreme Court decision of 2010 stated that the 1st Amendment prohibits the government from restricting political expenditures by corporations, associations or labor unions and is the decision that gave groups like the National Rifle Assn. unlimited influence. On May 26, 2022, just 72 hours after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas took place, prominent Republicans headlined the NRA convention in Houston. In the 10 years since Sandy Hook, the NRA has donated more than $100 million dollars to elect Republicans, according to Democrats.org.

Consequently, even if Congress and state legislators take meaningful action, there are still the federal courts to get through, many of which are stocked with Republican-appointed judges hostile to gun control. So we need to not only be concerned about legislative inaction but judicial action.

One solution that has been offered for this dilemma is to increase the number of Supreme Court justices to achieve a more balanced court. The time for President Biden to do so has passed. Perhaps it will be a viable solution in the future. For now we must focus on electing candidates who are in favor of solving this catastrophic problem.

Lynn Lorenz
Newport Beach

More thoughts on H.B. politics

It is amazing what happens when you open your mind and at least listen to and consider opinions that may differ from your own. You can learn something new, you may even gain respect for others, you could come to a compromise, or you may just have to agree to disagree on a particular topic. Our democracy was built on compromise and it is sad to see that the Huntington Beach City Council has apparently forgotten that very basic principle. Congratulations to our city attorney and council majority for successfully checking off some of the least important issues facing our city; flags, invocation, settlement with the air show, etc. How about redirecting some of your energy away from advancing personal agenda items and work towards solving community issues that have an impact on the entire population, like homelessness?

Dwight Brandt
Huntington Beach

Great article on access to sex education to prepare young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities with potentially life saving information about their own bodies and rights (Forget the birds and bees. Sex ed series preps young adults with disabilities for life, dating, Daily Pilot, June 16).

Unfortunately some members of our City Council would object to the dissemination of this type of information in our school system. In fact Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark contends that it has been a longstanding problem in public education that children are being exposed to obscene and age-inappropriate materials by adults, many of whom are educators we have entrusted with our children, and proposed an ordinance that materials should be submitted to the city attorney for analysis and evaluation for 1st Amendment protection (Huntington Beach mayor pro tem seeks to identify, stop kids from reading ‘obscene’ public library books, Daily Pilot, June 19). The item, which passed Tuesday, directs the city manager to work with the city attorney on the proposed ordinance identifying obscene and pornographic materials in public libraries and making them unavailable to minors.

The city should be aware that Gov. Newsom, Atty. Gen. Robert Bonta and State Supt. Tony Thurmond recently issued a five-page warning to all California school superintendents reminding them that the U.S. Constitution restricts the removal of books from libraries, and the state education code requires public schools to provide instruction and contribution by both men and women of all ethnic and cultural groups.

Therefore the mayor pro tem should focus her attention on city issues instead of issues outside of her domain and knowledge.

Richard C. Armendariz
Huntington Beach

I attended the June 20 Huntington Beach City Council meeting and spoke in the public comments marathon (albeit at about 11 p.m.) about agenda items No. 18 and 19 (denouncing hate). Concerned community members should realize that the conservative council majority has no interest in addressing and fashioning solutions to our problems. It is a pure exercise in power politics by shoving their right-wing ideology down our throats. There was nothing practical about their push for restricting access to childrens’ reading materials (“Huntington Beach will seek to stop children from accessing library books city deems obscene or pornographic”). It will never be implemented effectively because there is “no there there.” Spouting half-baked moral majority mumbo jumbo and pressing conservative officials to become civic watchdogs was a further step toward the authoritarian regime this dangerous collection of political misfits is trying to impose. Parrying the proposed denunciation of hate by resurgent antisemitic, white nationalist, racist and anti-LGBTQ fear mongers was both sad and infuriating. It is further clear that this council majority stands for nothing but their own authoritarian aggrandizement and will never represent our interests fairly and honestly.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach