Where’s the beef -- er, traffic?...

Where’s the beef -- er, traffic?

We attended a garden party this past weekend and someone raised

the question of the validity of the traffic problem that the

Greenlighters are constantly carping about. Several were of the

opinion that it is a “fake problem” designed to aid them in their

effort to take control of the City Council next month.

My response was that indeed there is one traffic congestion

problem here on the peninsula. It essentially is brought to us by

none other than the self-proclaimed “Father of Greenlight,” Allen

Beek, whose brother, Seymour, runs the Balboa Island Ferry.

Throughout the year, day and night, customers are lined up on both

landings blocking traffic and pumping exhaust fumes into our homes

and businesses while the ferries move back and forth across the bay

belching black diesel smoke into the air. We have watched this

problem steadily increase for almost 25 years. Why would we now want

to vote for a man who gives us traffic congestion and pollution, and

happily takes our money, but gives us no hope for improvement or even

a receipt?

GEOFFREY DAVIS

Balboa

Double jeopardy in voting record coverage

Thanks for printing my recent letter about Madelene Arakelian’s

voting record and the Daily Pilot’s error in implying she had the

opportunity but failed to vote in the Koll election, which, as your

writer noted, wasn’t true.

Unfortunately, you did it again. Your Sunday editorial, “Do as

they say, not as they vote,” says that Arakelian didn’t “cast a

ballot during last year’s Koll expansion election,” implying that

Arakelian had the opportunity to vote in the Koll election but failed

to do so.

That wasn’t the case, as you knew when you wrote the implied

indictment of Arakelian’s voting record, since your next paragraph

states that she couldn’t vote in the Koll election because she wasn’t

registered to vote in Newport Beach that year but was only registered

in Laguna Hills (I presume you didn’t expect her to illegally

register in two cities).

So far, in your defense, I can only imagine that the Pilot

believes that a resident who registers to vote in Newport Beach must

be registered here for X number of years before you’ll approve that

resident’s participation in local politics. If that’s the case,

what’s the magic number?

Without a more compelling reason, how about an apology to

candidate Arakelian and to the rest of us for misstating the facts

twice, by implication, and then correcting the misstatement within

the same piece, and doing that nasty trick twice within a one week

period?

And, for the sake of civics and journalism students (and me) who

might read these pieces, please explain what logic compelled you to

even once (much less twice) print the implied indictment against

Arakelian and then the withdrawal of the indictment each time within

the same piece as relevant fact. You must have a reason. Perhaps

Arakelian didn’t vote in Laguna Hills that year, but that isn’t what

you state. You say she didn’t vote in the Koll election and you say

she didn’t because she couldn’t legally do so. That is not a relevant

fact concerning her candidacy for Newport City Council.

MARK DAVIDSON

Costa Mesa

It is very important to learn English

This is in response to the letter written by Geoff West. West

points to the need to learn English, writing “it is hard to imagine a

more important single issue for the city of Costa Mesa than the

integration of the Latino population into the mainstream of our

community.” I agree. This is my story of how I did it.

Dec. 8 will mark 50 years that I have been in America. My mother

came here without me from the Aland Islands near Sweden when I was 2

years old and started to work as a nanny and kitchen maid. She

learned English by associating with people who spoke English and

started reading.

When I came here at age 16 I didn’t know my mother and barely knew

my sister, who had come here two years earlier. I was here for two

weeks when my mother informed me that I was in America now and should

speak English and no more Swedish. I was then enrolled in emersion

study in English.

We had one American English-speaking teacher. There were students

in the classroom that spoke at least six different languages. We all

learned passable English in a couple of semesters. As soon as we were

able to follow, we entered regular classes. Unfortunately, that

school closed and I didn’t complete high school at that time. Later,

I did earn and receive my diploma. I felt it was very important to

have it.

I started to work when I was 18. I met my husband and got married

when I was 19. My husband is an immigrant from Egypt and he spoke

English, French and Arabic upon arrival here. We have both worked at

many different jobs, such as waitress and bellhop. I worked on an

assembly line and my husband has worked for the post office and other

jobs. I later did child care so I could stay at home with our

children. For over 25 years we have worked in our own business seven

days a week.

We have lived in many different places over the years and most of

the time we have rented. We owned a home for only one year in our

lives. No matter where we have lived we have always taken care of the

property where we lived. There was something I noticed when I came to

this country as I was walking on different streets that I could not

understand. People were sitting on their front steps and around their

home was nothing but plain mud. I thought a packet of flower seeds

doesn’t cost much and it would not take a lot of work to make it look

a lot nicer and cleaner.

Our children have all learned the importance of hard work and

understand how difficult it is for immigrants that are starting a new

life here. They have known people from many different countries and

cultures and understand the importance of all to this great country.

They have also learned the importance of learning English. That

doesn’t mean you forget your native language or your heritage.

To help our new immigrants we must help them to learn English by

immersion and assimilation in schools, places of worship and

community places. Then they will be able to get involved and help to

make their community a great place to live. I strongly believe that

my son, Allan Mansoor [who is running for Costa Mesa City Council],

has the background to understand all people in Costa Mesa.

MAJ-GUN MANSOOR

Costa Mesa