Mailbag - Aug. 19, 2000

Regarding Joseph Bell’s column (“GOP’s ‘compassionate conservatism’

should extend to gays,” Aug. 10): Speaking personally, the Republican

view on gays is “just plain dumb.”

In touting compassion and challenging hypocrisy, Bell echoes the work

of Jesus and his followers. I hope all who profess Christianity can soon

catch up to this standard. It’s tremendously freeing and spiritually

uplifting to discover, as did the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, that we can

receive gay family and friends as good citizens, as co-worshipers and as

beloved community.

GARY BARMORE

Pastor

Fairview Community Church

Ensign Intermediate will miss Mucerino

This is in regard to Allen Mucerino leaving Ensign Intermediate School

in Newport Beach (“Newport-Mesa’s principal problem concerns parents,”

Aug. 10).

I have a daughter entering seventh grade in the fall, and we are so,

so, so disappointed. We have already built a relationship with Mucerino

through our school, Kaiser Elementary.

We did approach him and ask him if he was leaving Ensign to go to

Newport Harbor High School, and we all thought as a group that would be

OK because then our kids would have him for four years.

But it is a huge loss, and I cannot believe that the district is

letting go of people like him, of such quality. He’s such an intelligent

person who has placed such a high standard on education.

And now I just hope that we will have the same quality that we have

had. We are very disappointed at what is happening at Ensign and at the

loss of Allen Mucerino.

LYNN SIMONS

Costa Mesa

Is city listening to park paving ideas?

For many weeks I have observed letters in the Daily Pilot pertaining

to the paving of the natural trails in Fairview Park in Costa Mesa.

I have seen only negative comments for the paving plan and have yet to

see any that think otherwise.

If the city goes ahead with this very unpopular plan, could it be that

Costa Mesa pays no attention to its citizens?

DUKE GALLAGHER

Costa Mesa

Landscaping will not solve traffic snags

The residents on East 19th Street between Irvine Avenue and Newport

Boulevard must have been surprised to see (“Inside City Hall,” July 31)

that Newport Beach was going to pony up $200,000 to hire an architect to

help install landscaped islands to slow drivers on Santiago Drive and

Holiday Road, between Irvine Avenue and the city limits at Tustin Avenue.

Would that the city of Costa Mesa could rise to the occasion and use a

similar formula to cure the traffic problems on 19th Street. Only, the

stretch from Tustin Avenue to Newport Boulevard would add considerably to

the cost, if landscaped islands were to be installed.

As I recall, the section of Santiago was formerly the east end of 22nd

Street. And, as such, it lacked the up-market address of Newport’s

Santiago Drive.

A coterie of property owners in the Irvine/Tustin block petitioned for

a name change. Now they are seeking more special treatment at the

taxpayers’ expense to cure a traffic problem which, in all probability,

nowhere near approaches that of the people who live on East 19th Street.

I hope Costa Mesa officials will watch the progress of the “landscaped

islands” on Holiday and Santiago and see just what, if anything, it does

for solving traffic problems.

If the islands are to serve any purpose at all, I believe they will be

difficult to maintain -- given the width of the streets -- and interfere

with ingress and egress to/from the houses and bring about the

elimination of the cycle paths.

Two hundred thousand dollars for an architect? How about a contract

for an intelligent traffic flow engineer instead? How about a chat with

some landscape maintenance people on how to take care of an island

surrounded by vehicles that are already a “traffic problem”?

DAVID A. W. YOUNG

Newport Beach