Mailbag - April 22, 2000

In the article on the new traffic measure (“New traffic measure to

counter Greenlight,” April 18) Councilman Gary Adams is quoted as saying,

”...this is an affront to our representative form of government.”

My response to Adams is that the only affront to our representative

form of government is representatives like him who ignore the wishes and

needs of those they represent. The Greenlight initiative and the

coalition of Homeowner Associations rising up against the proposed Dunes

Resort project are ample evidence of the groundswell of feeling in

Newport Beach to preserve the quality life, not to become a mecca for

tourists or business.

We don’t want to clog our streets with traffic or diminish our

skylines with commercial buildings. We don’t want to become another

Marina Del Rey.

I am appalled at the total disregard of public opinion by our City

Council and Planning Commission. I find Adams’ comment almost as

ludicrous as that of another councilman who stated that he has no problem

with the traffic on East Coast Highway.

I hope they have the honesty to repeat this garbage at reelection

time.

DOUG MUNCY

Newport Beach

Is bureaucracy real culprit in reef dilemma?

In your article, (“Coastal commotion,” April 15) you report that the

State Coastal Commission wants the removal of the marine habitat that

Newport Beach volunteers have planted near the Balboa Pier. The

accusation is that the marine habitat is located near a sewage outfall

and may contaminate the fish.

Then what about all the people who fish, surf and swim each day in

these waters? Are these waters really contaminated by the treated

effluents of the Orange County Sanitation District 6.5 miles away? And,

if it is not true, who is benefiting from the false information?

As a Newport Beach resident, I am anxious to know who is the polluter?

Is it the local people who plant seaweed and shellfish that cleanse the

waters or is it the politics of the state bureaucracy?

These days, the fastest-growing pollution seems to be the bureaucratic

pollution.

RICHARD M. HIGBIE

Newport Beach

Why not turn El Toro into a drag racing track?

The controversy over the El Toro Airport does not appear to have a

solution. There’s the Millennium Plan, which is popular with the NIMBYs

in South Orange County (even though their back yards are 10 to 12 miles

away). There’s the El Toro International Airport plan, which is popular

with the North County John Wayne Airport neighbors (back yards less than

a mile away). For a compromise, let’s look at an alternative that has not

been proposed or explored. Leave the El Toro Airport runways and the area

surrounding them virtually unchanged (no permanent subdivision,

buildings, etc.). Use some of the Millennium Plan -- parks, golf courses,

riding trails, but add one more sport activity. The biggest spectator and

participant sport (which means money) in the US is drag racing. Using and

maintaining the runways for this activity and adding minimum structures

would allow the facilities to be returned to an airport should the need

arise in the future (putting an end to a “I told you so.”). With all the

major automotive companies locating their design groups here in Orange

County, a racing facility seems appropriate to promote the automotive

industry.

Orange County, what do you think?

JACK VALLEY

Costa Mesa