Mailbag: ‘Easy Riders’ make life in Newport uneasy

Re. “Newport Beach council may OK heavily increased fines,” Feb. 14:

I find it interesting that the Newport Beach City Council may finally impose stiff fines to reel in the noisy bars and restaurants in some areas of the city, even though the number of residents affected by this problem is relatively small.

Wouldn’t it be great if the council would finally step up to the plate to do something meaningful about a noise problem that affects thousands of Newport Beach residents every day? That is the unbearable noise generated by the thousands of illegally modified motorcycles that roar through our neighborhoods, disturbing the peace and decreasing the quality of life for most everyone.

Try to walk along Coast Highway in Corona del Mar on any given sunny day. Try sitting at an outdoor table at Starbucks or Zinc Cafe when one of these modern day “Easy Rider” idiots comes blasting by with pipes so loud that you think the fillings in your teeth will fall out.

Hey, City Council: If you want to improve the quality of life in our fair city, do something about these two-wheel terrorists. Start protecting all Newport Beach residents from unwanted noise, not just the handful who live close to some restaurant or bar. How about $1,000 first offense fines, $3,000 for the second and impounding the bike on the third?

Allen Drucker

Newport Beach

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Check council’s motives

I do not trust the motives of the Costa Mesa City Council majority regarding its proposed charter. I believe they do not consider what the majority of the citizens of Costa Mesa desire.

They have demonstrated this by not appointing then-council candidate Chris McEvoy as a replacement council member when former Councilwoman Katrina Foley resigned, in spite of the number of votes he received and the number of citizens who attended the council meeting and requested his appointment. The appointment of Councilman Jim Righeimer as mayor pro tem, instead of Councilwoman Wendy Leece, is another example of this council majority doing what it wants to, in spite of what the citizens requested.

This proposed charter is suspect in that they have not divulged who created this draft. The speed at which the council is pushing its draft is irresponsible, expensive and unnecessary. I support a commission of a mixture of Costa Mesa residents to draft and create a charter with the best interests of the Costa Mesa citizens instead of whatever special interests or motivations of the majority of the current council.

Proponents of the proposed charter say 100-plus California cities are now charter cities. How long did it take those cities to create their charter? What process did they use? How does it compare to what our council is trying to do?

I am not for, or against, a charter for Costa Mesa. However, we need a transparent process for this important decision that will affect our future generations.

Melissa Lippand

Costa Mesa