Mailbag - March 14, 2000

Dunes balloons convince some residents

We were surprised to see how low the Dunes hotel silhouette will be after

seeing the test balloons this weekend. From the critic’s hype, we were

expecting to see something objectionable.

What we saw was clearly suitable for the location. Each and every year

this hotel will add a minimum of $1 million of new tax revenue directly

to Newport Beach’s general fund, while providing a much-needed resort for

our city.

This is a project we all can be proud of, and it should be approved.

BRION AMENDT

CHRISTINE AMENDT

Newport Beach

Reader asks Greenlight questions

I’ve just read an article (“Is Greenlight really a red light?” Feb. 21)

in the Daily Pilot, and I have a comment. Why don’t your paper’s articles

on Greenlight more evenly report on this initiative?

For example: Have you reported that Greenlight is the citizen’s response

to the City Council’s recent weakening of our previous traffic protection

law, the Traffic Phasing Ordinance?

Have you reported that our economy is in its 89th month of expansion, the

longest expansion period in our history, and has challenged the City

Council to live within its existing revenue as opposed to always seeking

additional revenues? Have you asked why any tax-supported entity (such as

Newport Beach) is not operating at a surplus in view of above?

Have you had an article discussing what will happen when the city is

“completely built out”? Will Newport be a house of cards that comes

tumbling down, when it can no longer grow?

I urge you to present a more balance report.

STEPHEN TITUS

Newport Beach

School test scores are not always fair

My sons attended Andersen Elementary School in the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District. Furthermore, I was the reading specialist at Andersen

School.

While it would be easy for me to expound the glories of stellar teachers

and magnificent curriculum, I am afraid what the “scores” show is a

demographic chart -- in which highly professional people with impressive

salaries, most with advanced degrees, pass on those genes and their

enriched environments to their offspring.

How can one expect Santa Ana Unified School District to compete, when

prevalent factors -- such as migrant populations, students who speak

English as a second language, many parents with poor education and

environmental conditions -- are incongruent to educational achievement.

As usual, numbers are numbers and statistics report through numbers. As

citizens, we are left to ask ourselves, “What do these numbers mean?”

Note that some schools with the highest scores omitted the learning

disabled population while others include those students.

Do these factors affect the results? You bet they do.

JO SKIBBY

Newport Beach