MAILBAG - Nov. 9, 2000

I would like to express my gratitude for the Ocean View School

District’s approval of construction of the middle school gymnasiums. I

hope the board of trustees continues to move forward in the completion of

this goal.

The community has the use of a local gymnasium for its kids. Vista

View will benefit from a gymnasium in so many ways. It will be able to

have school performances on one evening. Everyone will have a seat and be

able to see. I can only imagine how great the band will sound in the gym,

on stage, with a good sound system.

There are events such as back-to-school night, awards ceremonies, the

eighth-grade fashion show, and the eighth-grade promotion and dance that

would only be made better in the gym.

Physical education can take place in the gym. During inclement

weather, the gym provides an excellent place for the kids to continue to

learn. Vista’s volleyball and basketball games will take place in the

gym, and when it is complete, the school will have a cafeteria in the

forum. The students can eat in the cafeteria when the weather is bad.

They can also get in out of the sun, if they choose.

Although my son will have been promoted from Vista View by the time

the gym is completed, I am still very much looking forward to coming back

to Vista to see these events take place.

I have a great sense of pride regarding Vista View. I am grateful that

he Ocean View School District Board of Trustees cares enough about the

children to want them to have the many, many benefits of a school

gymnasium.

JANICE HENNING

Fountain Valley

Downtown parking not a good attraction for visitors

I see an additional issue with regard to parking in Downtown

Huntington Beach than those mentioned in “Planning Commission delays vote

on Downtown parking” (Oct. 12). It is a fundamental issue of how visitors

are treated by the city when they visit.

I have occasion to visit many Southern California cities and have

noticed a glaring dichotomy between cities that charge for parking and

issue many citations, like Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Pasadena,

and cities that promote visiting commercial areas by giving two or three

hours of free parking, such as Claremont, Redlands and La Verne.

In the former, visitors are viewed as money in the municipal funds

base. Parking structures, parking officers and patrols wait for money,

driving errors or merely a few minutes overdue on the meters, waiting to

pounce and affix their welcome to the city. Little chance is given to

protest or fight infrastructure, which, in turn, needs more money,

In the latter, these same people are welcome visitors to charming

cities that haven’t given in to the greed and growing corporate mentality

of larger ones. People are free to come, browse, walk, sit and spend time

not worrying about time on a meter.

I would invite city staff to visit the towns I have mentioned in order

to see what brings people to places where they feel welcome.

JAMES WILSON

Huntington Beach

Ocean Room welcomed in community

I applaud the City Council’s decision to approve the Ocean Room on

appeal (“New Banquet hall squeaks by Surf City council,” Oct. 12). I was

sorry to see the Red Onion close years ago, since it was a great place to

meet friends and socialize.

I own a home nearby, at Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway, and

believe the neighborhood would benefit from a nightclub at this location.

A. SCHERF

Huntington Beach