Community Commentary -- David Goss and Bill Folsom

“800-Pound Gorilla.” That is the way RV owners are portrayed by a

cartoon in the Pilot’s March 10 edition. We can only surmise that the

newspaper was following the lead of the mayor and some council members

who have publicly accused us of intimidation.

Such actions on the part of our elected leaders and the press serve no

purpose other than to foster divisiveness, pitting neighbor against

neighbor.

The vast majority of us are decent people. We are mostly middle-class,

middle-aged and older, married with kids and own a home that doesn’t

move. Our RVs are the core of family recreational activity and our second

home on wheels. We are as dismayed as the rest of the community is over

reports of threats and other outlaw acts.

In the interests of cooperation, we have made numerous pleas to the

council for a citizen’s committee of owners and other residents to work

out our differences. All have been denied.

Some of you have voiced your dislike of RVs parked indefinitely on

your neighborhood streets. We understand and most of us keep our vehicles

in storage when not in use. What we ask in return is the time at home to

prepare for travel and to unpack and clean up when we return.

For a long trip, that can take up to the 72 hours allowed under the

existing ordinance.

There are obviously those who abuse the 72-hour rule, which the police

say they are unable to enforce as written. That is the crux of the

problem.

The solution seemingly favored by the council majority is a new

ordinance that punishes the law-abiding majority along with the

scofflaws. It requires that we go personally to the Police Department for

two permits, one to load and another to unload, each time we use our RVs.

The same permit requirement applies to the trailers that your boats,

jet skis and motorbikes are on. It also makes it illegal for a visitor in

an RV to park on the street to grab a Big Mac or to stop at your home,

even for a brief chat, unless you go to the department for a permit.

It makes no provision for people whose RV is their only vehicle.

Managing the permits will require substantial police resources better

spent on more important protection and law enforcement concerns.

The council’s police staff has proposed an alternative that will

modify the existing ordinance to make it enforceable. It avoids the

complex, costly and burdensome permit system entirely.

The council will make the choice. Some of them have said that their

goal is to make the majority happy. How simple it would be if that were

all that is required. A vote against the RV owners would be the easy

call. We are the minority, but this is not a popularity contest.

Government has a higher calling than that: a duty to assure equal rights

for all.

If you are unconcerned because none of this affects you, then consider

this: one of the options presented to the council is a total ban on

street parking between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Adoption is unlikely but it

could happen. Be concerned.

Join us in supporting a reasonable and cost-effective solution to this

problem. The police staff proposal provides that. Join us at the council

meetings or watch them on TV, but don’t expect to see any 800-pound

gorillas.

* DAVID GOSS AND BILL FOLSOM are Costa Mesa residents who own

recreation vehicles.