COMMUNITY COMMENTARY -- Al Willinger

I am writing in response to Editor Tony Dodero’s From the Newsroom

column in the Daily Pilot on July 9 (“Finally, it’s time to start making

those Crystal Cove reservations”) pertaining to Crystal Cove.

Dodero may be an excellent editor but he fails as a visionary. He

hopes to be on the waiting list to reserve a cottage for $100 a night.

Prepare to wait for an eternity.

The state of California Department of Parks and Recreation is not

prepared or financed to deal with the restoration of the cottages.

Past performance by the department is a clear indication of future

results. Just look at the six cottages that have been vacant for the past

several years. State parks had every opportunity to prove their ability

while these cottages were in their custody. These six cottages have

deteriorated beyond repair.

They have been vandalized. Vagrants have occupied them, and the agency

just observed these actions without taking any affirmative action. State

parks missed an excellent opportunity to preserve and restore the six

cottages to prove to the public that they had the ability to do what they

are now promising.

After more than 22 years of ownership of Crystal Cove, California

State Parks is still trying to determine if the cottages have termites,

lead paint and asbestos. What a bunch of idiots. The termites are holding

hands together to maintain structural integrity of the cottages.

I believe that the agency may have a hidden agenda. Spend multiple

years in planning and souring financing and, in the interim, let the

cottages self-destruct. Destruction by abandonment.

If you ever stay at Crystal Cove overnight, it will be in a sleeping

bag on the beach. No, that won’t work either because you can’t stay on

the beach after sunset.

If Dodero can get a reservation for a cottage at Crystal Cove for $100

per night in the next 10 years, I will be happy to pick up the tab.

He may have an ability to write on current events, but he fails

miserably to predict future events.

* AL WILLINGER is a Newport Beach resident and former resident of

Crystal Cove.