Mailbag:

Let City Councilman Devin Dwyer be penalized and pay up like everyone else (“No ticket snub for councilman,” Oct. 8).

Back when I was working on the construction of the Chevron gas station at Seventh Street and PCH, the posted times for street sweeping were 8 to 11 a.m. and the sweeper came by about 8:30.

Local residents and the beach crowd, seeing the water on the street as an obvious sign that the street had already been swept, moved in to park on Seventh Street. About 45 minutes later, a parking enforcement officer came by and ticketed every car.

As we were leaving the site, I asked her, “Didn’t the sweeper go by almost an hour ago?” and she replied, “We enforce the time limits on the signs.” I asked her if the intention was to keep the streets (and ocean) clean or as a revenue stream for the city, and she got very indignant that I would ask such a question.

I’m sure the city of Huntington Beach did a careful cost (and a secondary environmental) analysis of the benefits of regular street-sweeping when it increased the sweeping from once a month to bi-monthly about 10 to 15 years ago.

Every day I give thanks that I live in Fountain Valley (but the antics of Huntington Beach make for great entertainment)!

Is Dwyer fit to be city leader?

Councilman Devin Dwyer’s “street-sweeping tickets” matter as reported (“No ticket snub for councilman,” Oct. 8) would be comedic except when the broader issue is considered.

Should someone incapable of marking and tracking dates on a calendar be involved in any type of role influencing or making decisions regarding the public at large? Additionally, what does it say about his judgment skills when he decides to publicize his failings? As to the latter, I’m reminded of the saying, “Better to keep your mouth shut and look the fool than to open it and prove it.”

Harvey Milk’s legacy is not one of sexuality

The Orange County Board of Education misses the point of having an official commemoration titled Harvey Milk Day on May 22 of each year (“Board opposes Harvey Milk Day,” Oct. 1). Milk’s legacy lives on not through his sexual orientation so much as in the example he has set as a courageous leader in the advancement of civil rights. Learning about Milk’s life would be a lesson in tolerance and understanding for some; it would be an inspiration to others.

After all, people come in various colors, with different orientations and genetic predispositions. Each of us is tempered through our particular culture and family configurations. The world we share is big enough for us all, if only we open our minds to the realities of human nature. Orange County consists of a diverse population of millions of people. It’s past time for the Board of Education to enter the Orange County of the 21st century.

Sexual orientation is a matter of choice

Scientific history was made in the Independent’s editorial Oct. 1 when it claimed, “[H]omosexuality is not a ‘lifestyle,’ but a genetic state of being, the same as ethnicity, height or hair color” (“Civil rights, intolerance”). This statement, without benefit of laboratory results or research, concludes sexual proclivities have been declared inherent. Unfortunately, ink and paper alone do not make it fact. Your readers should not be led to believe “if you publish it as so, it must be so!”

Sex is volitional. The kind, way, sort and preference of sex is an intentional decision. Just as the decision “not” is equally elective. And in my opinion, “not” is most often the best decision, an elective we must assure our children are taught at home and in school.

Each and every one of us possesses the same individual rights to life, liberty and property regardless of government. Additional extra special “gay rights” are not needed — one size fits all! People who define themselves by variant sexual gratification already possess the right to their own being, endowed by God. The state cannot give what it does not have.

Hetero, homo, bi, trans, metro, multi, incest, etc. These classifications of sexual satisfaction all have laws covering age, time, place and never-not-at-all. This is appropriate and as it should be. And these laws reflect the voluntary nature of sexual preference and practice. It is not genetic.

‘Fringe media’ call conservatives racist

To the many who do not subscribe to the liberal press, A.K.A. “fringe media,” attempting to brand we conservatives as racists (“Neocon is racist pack of fools,” Sounding Off, Oct. 1), this is my reply.

How can the “fringe media” call us racists when it is widely known that Caucasians helped elect our current president?

And, Bill Clinton was called the first black president by the liberal press, a.k.a. “fringe media.”

We conservatives who come from all walks of life, whether black, brown or white, have respect for the Constitution. We have respect for life. We want less government. We believe in personal responsibility. We believe in a strong national defense.

We do not apologize for policies or actions that have served to free more and feed more people around the world than any other nation on the planet. As a first-generation American Mexican, I reject the attempt to call me a racist.