Mailbag: Who was that guy at the Spaghetti Bender?

When my son Ryan was younger, still single and without a spouse and kids and still going to college we used to frequent the Spaghetti Bender often for the excellent food (Spaghetti Bender serving its final plates after 55 years of nourishing the community of Newport Beach, Daily Pilot, Feb. 28).

I vividly remember one such night while he was still attending law school sometime between 2001 and 2004 we were at the Bender sitting at our table waiting for our meal to come, when Ryan out of the blue, and with no forewarning, asked me a sports question. “Dad, do you know who were the two baseball players that hit three home runs in a World Series game”?

What we were talking about prior to that escapes me, but I was floored by that question and did not have a response. He said to me very casually, Babe Ruth was one of the players and the other guy is sitting right over there across the room at a table by himself. I said, “What are you talking about?” I looked around and saw some guy at a table by himself and named the other guy who hit three home runs in a World Series game.

I didn’t recognize him at all, but it was indeed a former player and one of the most controversial who ever played the game. The Pilot’s article regarding the closing of the restaurant states, “Regulars at the Spaghetti Bender includes a former pro baseball player who often sought special treatment.” And owner Michael Hoskinson said, “I would never put up with his s—.”

The article did not however give the actual name of the baseball player, but the coincidence in seeing him there at that time leads one to conclude who it might have been. No matter, because the Spaghetti Bender is now history. Thousands of memories will have been made there along with the consumption of thousands of good meals, and the good thing about memories is that we can recall and relive them anytime we want.

Bill Spitalnick
Newport Beach

Commentary made an impact

I am a 13-year-old who grew up in Huntington Beach. I am an avid beachgoer and have never heard the story told in “Blackened dreams: recalling the Pacific Beach Club a century after the African American resort in O.C. burned” (Daily Pilot, March 2), by Erik Skindrud. I think the events that happened were horrible. I hope the rest of my city reads this story and realizes what happened. This is what local reporting is for.

Thank you for reporting on news like this.

Abraham Gaglio
Huntington Beach

On H.B. council’s MAGA leanings

An op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal described the Huntington Beach City Council as “the Trumpiest Council in America,” a title the council is, no-doubt proud of as its members continue to fail to govern while spending time pushing a political agenda.

In recent weeks, the council has ignored and apparently attempted to discredit, via surreptitious surveys, petitions regarding the city’s library and the council’s recently established committee to censor books, if not ban them outright.

In the process of establishing the library committee, council members disparaged our professional librarians, even to the point of suggesting that our librarians had an agenda of making homosexuals or transsexuals of children. Furthermore, the council usurped the authority of parents, suggesting that parents are incapable of guiding our children to make acceptable moral and ethical decisions. Council went so far as to judge one of their own a pedophile for merely stating that he would allow his child to read a particular book which the council majority deemed unsuitable. Such bullying, sad to say, has become the norm in city politics.

One assumes that former mayor Gracey Van Der Mark would explain her censoring the library as a move to teach children right from wrong. Perhaps, then, she should have thought what she was teaching children by her “gifts” to outgoing council members following the November elections — images of Donald Trump — not a good-natured joke but blatant “in your face” gloating.

Of course, if the council members really wanted to clean up vulgarity from the library, maybe they should have begun with cleaning up their own language, especially that of current Mayor Pat Burns, who called fellow former council members pieces of s— over a live mike in a public meeting and later classlessly refused, so far as I know, to apologize.

More recently the council-appointed Community & Library Services Commission, not surprisingly, by a 6-0 vote approved placing a MAGA plaque at our Central Library, ostensibly to celebrate the library’s 50 years serving our city. The vote followed a public comments portion of a meeting in which speakers opposing the plaque outnumbered speakers in favor by 40 to six, according the Daily Pilot of Feb. 13. Did the 6-0 vote to approve the plaque speak the voice of the people?

Mark Wimbish
Huntington Beach

Our library can teach us many things. For example, consider the mythological story of Narcissus, who could only gaze upon his own reflection until he wasted away to nothing.

The vanity of the H.B. City Council is so deep that they fail to see the needs of our own community. Our city is wasting away and our council does nothing but congratulate themselves for their failure.

They will stare at their MAGA plaque that does not celebrate our library but their political point of view. The council members cannot see how it divides our community.

Our citizens provided the City Council with two petitions that reflect the will of the people, to leave the library alone. The council could accept these petitions, but it does not.

Instead, the council impugns the reputation of library volunteers with surveys and intimidates them for doing their civic duty. We have lost all our senior librarians to the council’s folly.

The money wasted on an unnecessary election and frivolous lawsuits could purchase many years’ worth of books for kids, fix the library facilities and provide programs. By spending the money to enhance their own self image, the council takes away from our community to give to themselves.

No more is this vanity obvious than when they placed a Trump statue on the dais of the council chambers. Just like that statue the policies of the Seven Zeros are nothing but a bust.

Larry Hersh
Huntington Beach

Children’s center issue ongoing

Orange Coast College student and mother Megan Richards fought back tears as she addressed the district’s Board of Trustees: “I was homeless for seven years of my childhood. I know all about basic needs. Childcare is a basic need.” The board members, seated above the crowd, remained unmoved. (Parents, teachers rally to stop proposed cuts, layoff at OCC Children’s Center, Daily Pilot, March 2).

After the meeting, parents gathered in frustration. Board clerk Lorraine Prinsky approached Megan, offering false reassurance: “At least you’ll still have childcare since you’re a student.” Megan replied, “Actually, that’s the opposite of what I just explained.”

Under new plans announced by OCC Vice President Madjid Niroumand, Megan, an OCC Child Development Education major and mother of four, will lose childcare for her youngest, who falls outside the new age range for the Children’s Center. This decision, made without input from the Harry and Grace Steele Children’s Center or OCC’s Office of Instruction, devastates 189 families relying on the center’s high-quality, affordable programs.

Once a thriving infant-to-Pre-K program with over 204 children enrolled, according to an email to me from a faculty member, the center will shrink to just 48 spots, prioritizing OCC students and displacing more than half its families. At least eight longtime educators will lose their jobs.

“The Children’s Center is our village,” said a parent who signed the petition. “It’s where our babies grow into kids and where we’ve grown into parenthood. Without it, our kids lose essential early education, and our jobs are at risk. Waitlists for quality care are years long. This decision could put families out of work and out of their homes. Where is our money going? The demand for this center exceeds OCC’s overall demand. Is this not an incredibly shortsighted business decision?”

Families and faculty are left speculating about the financial reasoning behind Niroumand and President Angelica Suarez’s choice. Conflicting deficit figures and time lines have surfaced, leading to demands for investigation. Explicit notice of the deficit was only recently shared with faculty, staff and families, raising concerns about a lack of transparency in the decision-making process.

“We’re asking for time, transparency and a chance to turn this around,” said Courtney Prouty, petition organizer and children’s center parent. “We’re a community of bright students, professionals and caregivers. We want to make this a model program for others — not a contributor to a national crisis.”

With over 2,400 petition signatures and mounting pressure, the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting on March 10 will determine the fate of the center and the 300-plus people whose lives depend on it.

Desireé DeLattre
Huntington Beach

Costa Mesa’s feral cats

The Feb. 21 Daily Pilot article, “After 7 years, a plan to legally trap, neuter, return feral cats in Costa Mesa may see the light of day,” and the Sept. 14, 2023, article “Dozens of cats on vacant Costa Mesa property have rescuers, city animal control at odds” both reported my efforts to help save feral cats on West 20th Street in Costa Mesa.

Over the years, I have developed a strong passion for advocating for those who cannot speak for themselves, particularly animals and children. The situation on West 20th made me realize the city’s failure to address the issue and the urgent need for a proper Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program.

The lack of response from code enforcement, animal control and other city officials was shocking. The city’s easiest solution seemed to be euthanasia, which is not an effective way to manage the feral cat populations. We can and must do better.

At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, many of us showed up in numbers too large for the council to ignore. I was incredibly impressed and deeply grateful that Councilmen Manuel Chavez and Arlis Reynolds recognized the urgency of this issue and requested this topic be placed on the council’s agenda.

On the other hand, I attended the Animal Services Committee meeting, and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. The city waited until the last possible moment to research which organizations were legally allowed to release pets. It was baffling that staff didn’t know Priceless Pets was legally allowed to perform TNR. This is unacceptable.

I hope the Daily Pilot will continue to press the city for answers on why, despite overwhelming community support, it continues to drag its feet and make excuses instead of implementing real solutions. However, I also want to commend the council members who spoke out, because now, finally, we feel heard.

The reality is that TNR is already happening in Costa Mesa, whether the city acknowledges it or not. The question now is whether it will be part of the problem or part of the solution.

Megan Robison
Costa Mesa