The buck doesn’t stop here

While at Corona del Mar State Beach with the family, as a good father

and family man, I let my 3-year-old daughter crawl over the cement

ring of the fire pit, where she severely injures herself. Not only

does she burn herself terribly, but the emotional devastation and

ensuing stress irreparably harms me and my wife. We love our daughter

and now we are saddled for the rest of lives with this terrible

tragedy.

As an adult with a young child, I feel no need to have to watch a

3-year-old or protect her from harm. It is not my responsibility to

attend to a youngster when there are so many distractions on the

beach. How can my wife and I be expected to watch our daughter every

minute, even if she is playing next to a hot fire pit? The demands of

everyday life are overwhelming, and we go to the beach to relax and

enjoy ourselves, not to play guard over a 3-year-old.

It is the responsibility of the city of Newport Beach, which

operates Corona del Mar State Beach, to protect our daughter from

harm. At the very least, the city could have an attendant or

lifeguard to watch our daughter and warn us if she was in danger. At

the most, the city should pay for our lawyer in order for us to sue

the city so we can collect damages for the city’s negligence.

As a responsible adult and a loving father, with the advice of my

attorney, this is what I deserve: a large settlement from the city of

Newport Beach so I can attend to my daughter’s needs after the city’s

total disregard for a child’s safety in a public place.

And speaking of public places, the trees on San Miguel are owned

by the city of Newport Beach, but my community association, with my

monthly dues, pays the trimming contractor for additional trimming.

So what if I want them trimmed literally next to death? Heck, I’m a

big shot, and if I want to go yell at these poor workers trimming

trees for minimum wage, I will. After all, my association fees and my

powerful position on the association board give me the right to do

this. Who the heck are these lowly workers anyway to have given me

resistance to my demands that they disregard city guidelines for

trimming? I’m a big shot, and these little people probably don’t even

live in Newport Beach.

I hope those trees die anyway, so they no longer block my view

that I pay so much for.

* PAUL JAMES BALDWIN is a resident of Newport Beach.