Westside already has received its share of charities

Oh, for crying out loud (A Closer Look, “Rea plan becomes center

of debate,” July 29). For the audience following the most recent

debates in the Pilot on the Children’s Hospital of Orange

County/Newport-Mesa Unified School District plan at Rea Elementary

School, let’s review.

What did those letter writers who oppose the most recent charity

addition to the Westside really say? Well, first of all, no one said

that the clinic was not a “nice thing to do.”

What they did say was to put it somewhere else. Jean Forbath says

there is nowhere else (Sounding Board, “Clinic will serve a valuable

purpose,” Sunday). She says, “That’s where the needs are.” We are not

buying that opinion. Our local charities have created a need and

filled it.

For years, I have watched as buses disgorged masses of people

headed to the various charities -- many of these charities within

blocks of my home. I can assure you they are not all Costa Mesa

residents. I see many of these same folks over and over again, year

after year, as they board buses out of my neighborhood. As they wait

for the bus, I watch them selling and exchanging food items for

[cigarettes and liquor].

If we must have such a preponderance of charities in Costa Mesa,

please let’s not abuse the taxpayers’ kindness and hard-earned money.

Our charity tax dollars should be spent to help fellow citizens, as

my granny would call it, “over a bad patch.” Charity should not be,

as I have seen it become for so many, a way of life.

There may even be doctors and hospitals supporting this new

clinic. It takes the pressure off of them and their hospitals that

are so burdened that they are hemorrhaging red ink and overloading

their health-care workers. Even UC Irvine, which bills itself as a

“safety net” hospital, has announced that it will begin cutting

services for medical services for indigents starting this month.

For the record, and something that everyone seems to forget,

charities are businesses. They employ people. They make money.

Sometimes those who run charities make astounding incomes. I would

suggest that those who give to charities do as I do, check to see

what the salaries are for those running the charities and note

exactly what percentage of their donation dollar actually goes to the

cause of their choice. I think you will be very surprised to know

that in many instances the highest percentage goes to the running of

the charity machine.

Forbath throws in a number of comments that have nothing to do

with the CHOC project. One of which is low-cost housing. What does

that have to do with CHOC? Isn’t it interesting to note that the

ivory tower types who tell us what to do and how to feel do not even

reside in this part of town, yet they have created and maintain the

environment in which we must now live?

Like a rainstorm that goes on too long, eventually the earth

rebels. A disastrous flood results. The earth reaches its maximum

ability to absorb. That’s where we are on the Westside folks.

Please locate this facility elsewhere.

KATHLEEN ERIC

Westside