‘DEAR RON’ LETTERS

I don’t shop at the Huntington Beach mall, and I’ve never been in

Montgomery Wards or Burlington, or any of the others. I’m just wondering

why Ron Davis doesn’t like anchor stores (“‘Warm and fuzzy’ editorial

ignores business rules,” Oct. 19).

Don’t we have “anchor stores” at all our shopping centers, whether

they are Ralphs, Target, Wal-Mart or others? Did someone inform South

Coast Plaza that anchors are dead? Lots of little businesses seem to

cluster around them. Isn’t the movie theater complex an anchor, or is

Davis proposing we get rid of all the anchors everywhere? Then we can get

all our shopping done at 7-Eleven?

I thought eminent domain was supposed to be used for the public good,

such as a flood channel or a bridge, and where there was the potential

for the loss of human life or property. There is a difference between the

public good and developer welfare. Although, for Wards and Burlington,

eminent domain does involve the loss of property.

Now Davis talks about how these retailers fail to operate by the

rules of business. You know about rules. These retailers were operating

by what is called leases. Davis might remember those from his fist year

of law school. Business owners used to make deals with a smile and a

handshake, but that doesn’t seem to stand up in court anymore. That’s why

we have legal documents for property ownership and leases. They’re

supposed to stand up in court, like other legal documents called the

Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Maybe we should use eminent domain on all the single-story homes so

they can be replaced with two-story homes, so we can get more property

tax, or maybe the city should stick to the business of a city, like our

streets, sewers and parks.

I wonder why David Biggs, the city’s head of economic development, is

working so closely with big developers on this type of plan?

My point is not to disparage, but to ask Davis, who got to him?

Finally, Wards’ time has come and the money is about to roll in. And

now he wants them to leave? That would be like quitting work a year

before receiving your pension, when you can reap what you have sown. It

is easy to attack the big corporations and sympathize with the

mom-and-pop operations, but let’s think about this.

I don’t care about the “dark times” at the mall or the 30 years Wards

has stayed with this. I do care about Americans, new and old, who work

hard so they can become a Wards -- and fail or succeed on their own merit

without government interference. It’s not about what is in the best

interest of Wards or Burlington it is about business, and it’s none of

our business.

It is not up to the city to bail out the mall. No one wants to buy

government cheese when they can buy it at their market.

JINX VERONA

Huntington Beach

Police officers do receive good pay, benefits

Ron Davis would have us believe that the city unionized police

officers are underpaid and that they have poor benefits (“Catching cops

with vinegar a sticky situation,” Oct. 26). If that is so, then the

Police Department would want to publicize the police salaries and

benefits, it seems.

Davis seems to think that he knows more about police pay and benefits

than the City Council.

I think the City Council has more experience and better judgment in

the matter of police salaries than Davis. I have noticed that

occasionally a columnist with this or that Huntington Beach newspaper

will get a little name recognition or “fame” and then will use that to

run for the City Council.

The Huntington Beach police have a cushy, easy and safe job with good

pay and benefits, and as testament to that fact, I do not think that a

single Huntington Beach police officer has been killed in a shootout --

despite all that emphasis on guns and shootings and danger in our Police

Department.

JOHNNY B. MULLINS

Huntington Beach