Letter to the Editor

I am a resident of Fullerton and have been closely following the

skating issue in Newport Beach. I’ve attended Parks and Recreation

Commission meetings, City Council meetings and Newport-Mesa Unified

School District meeting regarding this very issue.

My company is a start-up company that provides security racks for

skateboards during school hours and times of nonuse. All three bodies

spoke about skaters and emphasized there is no place in Newport Beach for

“that type of individual.”

I support skateboarding. It is a great sport, demanding excellence in

coordination and balance. I also enjoyed this sport as a youth.

Skateboarding has been around for more than 50 years and is not going

away. Newport Beach must hear the requests from its constituents. Most

young skaters are old enough to ride their boards down the block to a

skate park, yet are not old enough to demand their parent take them to

the City Council meeting.

If they could, most would be in the council’s face at every meeting.

Dragging parents to a city meeting is just not possible. All I can do for

these skaters is attend and speak on their behalf. I will be their voice

as needed.

Businesses make and spend billions every year supporting this sport.

Newport Beach is world famous for its beaches and surfing. Skateboarding

has grown out of the sidewalk surfing activities started back in my days

of the ‘60s. How unfortunate it is when this premier city is shutting

down one of the very things that has made it world famous.

Skaters are stereotyped as “those types” and “vandals.” Only Martha

Fluor, a trustee on the school board, sees skaters as they really are,

good people having a great time sliding around on a fun and exciting mode

of transportation. These kids are not wasting away staring into

brain-numbing video monitors but are out exercising and socializing.

The city is creating the problem from within. Good kids will turn bad

if told “no” often enough. Families offer their young children a board in

hopes of moving their bodies from the video monitor to the great

outdoors. Their driveway soon became complacent to practice in. The

skilled skaters are ready to expand their abilities. First around the

block and eventually to the parks, skate parks if they’re available.

But in Newport, they are told no riding in the parks, no riding in the

streets, no riding on the hills, no riding along the beach. And

absolutely no skate parks in Newport Beach.

It’s not long before these skilled riders grow angry, looking upon the

city as the enemy -- an enemy that must be ridden upon and a message must

be told that we the skaters are here to stay.

This city of Newport Beach is at a turning point. It can either

develop the premier skate park for a few hundred thousand dollars, about

the cost of mooring a yacht for six months, or it will continue to ignore

the community’s voice, promoting youth anger and disrespect.

All of Southern California is watching. Now is the time for the

community to be heard. Get involved and make things happen. Our children

will be better for it, and your city of Newport Beach will benefit as

well.

RANDY DORN

Fullerton