DEAR STEVE LETTERS -- Readers chime in on Steve Smith

I felt it was encouraging to see in print the same thought that’s been

running through my head and probably many other Orange County residents’

lately (What’s Up -- “It’s time to reap our war dividends,” Oct. 27). Why

isn’t El Toro given back to the Marines so it can be used for the purpose

it was intended? We don’t deserve the gift of El Toro as long as we have

supervisors and special interest groups whose only vision is what can be

seen out of the cockpit of a 737.

Nor do we need another perfectly sanitized great park, which, by the

time the rules will be posted, would only serve the least scary members

of society -- mothers with baby strollers. With our hospitals and other

public health and defense facilities so compromised due to budget

cutbacks, all that space, let alone the housing capacity of the hangers,

could prove vital to our ability to care for the sick, the wounded, the

homeless and displaced peoples that may result from this war that is

being waged on our home turf.

The nagging and growing fear many of us are feeling from the events of

Sept. 11 and the anthrax scare could be greatly alleviated if we ever saw

our elected public officials demonstrate real leadership -- the kind that

takes guts and fortitude to make decisions for the betterment of the

common good, and to heck with the real estate moguls, airport developers

and others who have run this county long enough. Like Steve Smith

suggested, I hope Reps. Chris Cox and Dana Rohrabacher and Assemblyman

John Campbell are paying attention.

CAROLYN CLARK

Balboa Island

Let’s see now. Pilot columnist Steve Smith was against Measure A, the

bond campaign we all worked so hard on to raise the many millions needed

to rebuild our aging schools.

And Smith is against an airport at El Toro.

And now he’s come out solidly against Jim Ferryman (“Leaders need to

do, as well as say, what’s right,” Oct. 20). Seems to me Ferryman ought

to take that as a compliment.

CHUCK CASSITY

Costa Mesa

You write so well, Steve Smith. The Oct. 27 airport article is one of

them. The last few months, the content of your articles seemed all great

to me, but I suppose you were weary of the criticism you have received.

Well, good man, don’t let other people’s words defeat you or your ideals.

ADA COLE

Costa Mesa

Jim Ferryman’s refusal to return phone calls to Steve Smith is the

first indication he may get through the DUI arrest that envelopes him and

his community. I doubt that Ferryman has any problems that the

chronically morally superior Smith can fix. Smith has diagnosed Ferryman

as being in denial, and then throws around the word “enabler” as if he

knew something about the subject.

As one who has guided hundreds of troubled persons through structured

diagnostic interviews in my 25-year career employed in hospital-based

treatment centers, I can attest that it isn’t a job for puffed-up

newspaper columnists. The judgmental need not apply.

If Ferryman has a problem with alcohol, and thousands of persons have

been forced into this jarring admission through such crisis as he finds

himself in, then that means he may be addicted to a substance that

impairs his judgment, which means getting behind the wheel of a car while

intoxicated would not be a moral issue, it’s a medical condition that

needs to be treated. Yes, I know, we hear the rednecks out there gasping

whenever we say that, but try to get over it. No one is saying that

alcoholics get a free pass to commit civil crimes and others.

If Ferryman ends up surrendering his job, it isn’t the end of his

community service, it could be just the beginning.

On the down side, Ferryman is not doing himself any favors by trotting

out that tired old “I’m just human” and the politician’s favorite, I made

a “mistake.” Crimes are not mistakes, they are crimes.

So with all my experience in treatment, plus a 30-year membership in

12-step groups, you’d think I’d have a pretty strong opinion on whether

he should lose his job. Well, I don’t. It seems his role on a school

board should, at least, be put on hold while his case winds its way

through the courts. Should he face his problems, he could still be a role

model to school kids. Role models take time to develop, and then emerge.

You can’t be one just by saying you want to be.

GARY DRIES

Costa Mesa

I have read with great disdain Smith’s continuing diatribe against Jim

Ferryman. I have known Ferryman longer than most. I know him to be an

intelligent, caring and giving human being -- one who has always made

balanced decisions and done the right thing. I know, as well as do

countless others, the many contributions he has made to his community. In

his recent column, Smith demands that Ferryman make a “perfect

statement.” My question to Smith is: Who imparted to him the parameters

of perfection?

A person should be measured by the contributions and failures of a

lifetime. Ferryman’s contributions are countless, his failures few. He is

a very capable leader who offers much to our community. Let him continue.

Smith has violated the first principle of journalism -- objectivity --

and has, at the same time, miserably misjudged a man. Let it be.

HOWARD NATHANSON

Costa Mesa