Steve Smith -- WHAT’S UP

I’m sorry to hear Newport Beach Mayor John Noyes has locked his

colleagues out of “his” office. The City Council may want to check with

the Newport Beach Library. I hear there’s space available over in the

fund-raising department ...

*

The vacant lot over by the old Edwards Cinemas near Harbor and Adams

looks like it will not become a housing tract after all. That’s bad for

me because it has deprived me of the chance to shed my anti-development

stigma. I see nothing wrong with adding the homes, especially when the

alternative could be more retail. It’s also bad news for the theater

because those homes would have meant more patrons. By the way, that “all

‘G,’ all the time” theater idea is still alive and kicking -- maybe now

is the time to test it there ...

*

What’s a writer supposed to do? I came out strongly suggesting a specific

campaign to limit the expansion of John Wayne Airport to be run parallel

with the pro-El Toro campaign, and I’m labeled anti-airport. I thought

the whole idea was to stop the expansion of John Wayne. Or is there

something else going on here?

*

Three cheers for our four local elementary schools for their nominations

as California Distinguished Schools. My favorite, Victoria, certainly

deserves it. Several weeks ago, Principal Judy Laakso tried to reach me

to get my input on the distinguished school proposal, but we never

connected. Fortunately, the school got the nod without my help.

Coincidence? I hope so ...

*

The day after the Jan. 11 school board meeting, I wrote a column that I

put on hold because the day laborer situation at Harbor Center was making

the news and I had also decided it was time to suggest a campaign to

limit the expansion of John Wayne Airport without the El Toro rider. But

now that the storm has passed, it is time to return to the subject of

that delayed column.

Prior to that board meeting, both the Daily Pilot and yours truly

reported that locals were about to be asked to bail out the school

district with a tax of approximately $163 million. That figure, as was so

proudly proclaimed at the meeting, was wrong. The actual figure is around

$110 million. Gee, I feel a lot better.

The fact is, the district actually needs the whole $163 million, but $53

million is expected to come from Sacramento in the form of matching

funds. So, yes, I was wrong on the bond amount, but right on the amount

of tax required to fix the repairs that our school board has neglected

for so many years.

There are several key issues here. One is that a few people were more

concerned about making Steve Smith print a correction of the dollar

amount of the tax than they were insistent on making the school board

accountable for the sorry state of our schools. Whether it’s $163 million

or $110 million, this is a lot of money.

The reason the school board is requesting it is because it has allowed

our schools to fall apart for years. As any person in maintenance,

construction or repair will tell you, the longer you wait to fix

something that is broken, the more it will cost to make it right.

Costs to repair a plumbing problem, for example, go up exponentially when

no action is taken. So, instead of asking us for, say, $30 million

several years ago, facilities were allowed to deteriorate.

While our kids went to schools with leaky roofs and unusable bathrooms,

the board was busy working up the nerve to ask us for a loan.

Then there is the idea that the remaining $53 million coming from

Sacramento is somehow free; that all the legislators have to do is go

behind the Capitol building and pick it off the money tree. The fact is,

that money is tax money, collected from hard-working people up and down

the state in towns such as Cathedral City, Arvin, Berry Creek and from

folks right here in the twin cities.

Now, when do we find out who is going to stand up and take the

responsibility for this?

*

Here’s a huge “thank you” to the Ritz Brothers for sharing the wealth.

They recently passed out sizable donations to four local charities,

including the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter, which is helping keep

families together and putting people back to work.

Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you very much ...

*

I like soccer, but I love baseball. Baseball teaches so many skills, one

of the most important being a lost concept called “patience.” At a time

when our packages reach destinations as fast as our hamburgers get to the

drive-up window, baseball is wonderfully slow. This is a reminder that

you still have a small window of time to get your kids signed up for

Little League.

Baseball may be slow, but you have to hurry to sign them up.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. He can be

reached via e-mail at o7 dailypilot@latimes.comf7 , or call our Readers

Hotline at (949) 642-6086.