REBUTTAL

The following is an open letter to Costa Mesa resident Don Knipp in

response to his letter printed in the Community Forum (“More debate on

Heights annexation,” Nov. 30):

Is the “snob-appeal smell” really that bad? Living in Newport Beach I

occasionally smell something that I have always assumed was hydrogen

sulfide, but now I guess it is really “snob appeal smell.”

We Newport Beach residents pay good money to enjoy that smell. Being that

this smell is a gas coming from the ground and that it is lighter than

air you are absolutely correct in your assumption that a “Berlin-type

wall” would not keep the smell from wafting your direction when the

weather is right.

As for the soil, we Newport residents pay really good money to live on

top of abandoned oil wells and right on the edge of a very large

earthquake fault. If Costa Mesa has such bad soil, how come your yard is

so lush? My dog seems to like Costa Mesa soil just fine.

And finally, let’s talk about the sun. We Newport Beach residents pay

gobs of money to live near the beach and enjoy the “late night and early

morning low clouds near the coast” that some days never clear up. It

seems to me that there are lots of days where I have to travel a whole

mile inland to find the sun shining brightly. I believe there might be

more sunny days in your neighborhood than there are in mine.

To give you some background, I was born at Hoag Hospital and I’m sure

that I was kicking and screaming as I was dragged back into Costa Mesa to

live. I enjoyed my life as a Costa Mesa kid.

I currently work and live in Newport Beach with a bunch of neighbors and

friends who say it’s worth every penny spent on the real estate. With my

neighbors as the example, I find it hard to believe that the majority of

Newport Beach residents are anything but terrific people, who share much

with the people of “Goat Hill.”

In closing, Dad, can’t we all just get along?

TODD KNIPP

Newport Beach