Nichols comments don’t speak for Newport Last...
Nichols comments don’t speak for Newport
Last night, I watched coverage of a past Newport Beach City
Council meeting, much of which was spent listening to the defenders
of Councilman Dick Nichols. These people were defending Nichols’
comments regarding the integrity of the planning commissioners. I
understand that everyone makes mistakes and that you make your
apologies and move on.
However, Nichols’ latest comments regarding the increase of grassy
areas at the beach are clearly unacceptable. He opposes adding grassy
areas because “Mexicans claim it as theirs, and it becomes their
personal, private grounds all day.” I am of Mexican heritage and I am
embarrassed that Nichols is on our council. The last time I checked,
the Corona del Mar State Beach belongs to everyone, not just those
that Nichols deems worthy.
His ignorant, elitist comments are not representative of his
constituency.
GARY W. BORQUEZ
Newport Beach
Councilman’s words sound a bit too familiar
Congratulations to Corona del Mar’s City Councilman Dick Nichols
and his comments about Mexicans. He has finally articulated a view
held dear by many in this progressive little part of the good old
U.S. of A. I suppose it’s fine for Mexicans to pick his fruit, mow
his lawn, wash his car, change his oil, make his burritos and bag his
groceries while all along staying far from his nice little Corona Del
Mar abode, but if they choose to lounge on the beach like the rest of
us, “Then, my goodness, these lazy people have just gone too far!”
I thank the Daily Pilot for doing the story, but why not drop the
objective journalist bit and just write an op-ed piece about what an
archaic little twirp this guy really is?
ROBERT FAY
Costa Mesa
An El Toro airport under LAX is a good idea
The city of Los Angeles has a very good idea. Just transfer El
Toro to the Department of Transportation, which will lease it to LAX
as an airport.
This will save everybody because under the present argument, the
land can’t be transferred until the Navy cleans up all the toxic
sites at El Toro. This may never happen.
But an airport can be run at El Toro without the cleanup problem.
So let’s get to it.
ROBERT M. WOLFF
Newport Beach
Let those women wait on a bench for the bus
Coming off the freeway and turning left on Ford Road to San
Miguel, we invariably see older women either sitting on the grass or
on the curb waiting for a bus (the area is across from our new
baseball park, which we can use).
What kind of mentality do we have that allows the people who clean
our $1-million homes -- that we can drive by in our $50,000 cars --
and not even provide them with a bench?
BRENT and PEGGY OGDEN
Newport Beach
A bigger picture needed for condo project
Re: “Condos are not what residents want,” Letter to the Editor,
June 5. The author professes to see the big picture, but did not
address it in the letter. The 1960s slogan “Think globally, act
locally” may be more appropriate today given the globalized nature of
our world.
The big picture is that we are developing our open spaces and wild
lands at an alarming rate. Southern California has set the standard
for urban sprawl and, unfortunately, many other municipalities have
followed suit. There are very few solutions to this tremendous
environmental problem. Primarily, global human populations must be
held in check; we are rapidly moving past a reasonable carrying
capacity for humans on this planet -- with no real signs of reducing
the trend. At present, we may have more control over where we place
human developments. We ought to work toward refurbishing our downtown
and inner-city areas to fully utilize existing infrastructure.
This brings us to the 1901 Newport condominium project. All of us
can think of many reasons why this project (and others like it)
should not be built. But let’s look at the big picture. Every
downtown condominium project that we build saves open space
somewhere. When people live near shops and markets, we diminish the
total number of car trips per day. In some cases, people will be
living closer to their jobs, so we cut down work-related commutes.
Our decisions about projects like these speak volumes of our view of
ecosystem protection. Is more congestion and higher human density in
our cities an appropriate price to pay for expanded environmental
preservation? It depends upon whether we are really trying to see the
big picture and whether our current narrow views are bringing about
the desired long-term results.
J.B. LITVAK
Costa Mesa
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