Sports park the clear answer to field...

Sports park the clear answer to field woes

I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry while reading the story

about the athletic fields at Estancia High School (“Difference in

fields called ‘discriminatory,’” Saturday).

I have a freshman boy at Newport Harbor, and I can’t imagine how

disappointing it would be to see him playing on substandard fields.

Then I wanted to laugh at the idea that the school district is

spending more money at Newport Beach fields than Costa Mesa fields,

considering I just returned home from working all day on a Newport

Harbor High School baseball field.

There are two reasons the fields look different. Number one is the

joint-use agreement has non-high school groups from the city using

the fields, and the city will not do the proper job to repair the

turf. Number two is that Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar boosters

are putting in thousands of dollars of their own money into the

fields, and the fields are used only by high school teams.

I hope at the upcoming elections, tthe residents of Costa Mesa

will vote into office people who will build the sports park that the

city needs, because this problem is only going to get worse.

CHARLIE MASSINGILL

Newport Beach

Habitat project should

be scaled down a bit

Regarding the proposed Habitat for Humanity homes (“Low-cost

housing project stirs neighbors”), here again, it’s a nice,

meaningful project. However, as your paper stated, the project called

for a general plan amendment. How many times do we have to do that?

Of course, it’s nice to have a change to low-density, but to me it

doesn’t sound like it’s low-density. And then also, it’s going to

affect Wake Forest Drive. That’s a nice area now.

So, I would think they would think twice about this. Instead of

having the great number of houses, perhaps they could scale the plan

down to have fewer homes. That would probably work better, and you

wouldn’t have the neighbors being put upon. I know the plan sounds

like a good idea, but when you disrupt the lives of the people who

live in the neighborhood, I don’t think that’s right either. It just

depends on how you look at it, I guess.

The need is so great for housing, but also you just can’t

disregard the existing neighborhood. Who knows what the outcome will

be, but it addresses the needs of the neighbors first and then the

project.

JUNE MCKINZIE

Costa Mesa

Marinapark timeshares won’t improve the area

I cannot agree with Alan Silcock that a hotel and timeshares at

Marinapark would provide an excellent improvement for our city (Daily

Pilot Mailbag, Sept. 12). Is it legitimate or even principled to take

land that is in city ownership -- land that belongs to the city

taxpayers -- and give it to a developer for his private enrichment?

West Newport is already many acres short of what it should be for

recreation/environmental open space. No on Measure L is the only

responsible vote that should be cast on Nov. 2.

LOUISE S. GREELEY

Newport Beach

Newport ought to

take care of its own

Regarding “Difference in fields called ‘discriminatory’” in the

Daily Pilot Saturday, real discrimination is the very existence of

the Newport- Mesa Unified School District. Plainly, it is not the job

of Newport taxpayers to subsidize those who choose to live and breed

in Costa Mesa.

Forcing Newport taxpayers to pay for the education of kids from

Costa Mesa is an outrage. It is pure Marxist creed -- from each

according to his ability, to each according to his need.

This injustice foisted on Newport taxpayers by closet communists

in Washington D.C., as a means of income redistribution, is morally

and politically wrong. It behooves Newport to stand up to the

socialists in D.C., and tell them to keep their handouts, reject and

dissolve the combined school district, and develop a Newport-only and

Newport- funded school district. Our kids would benefit from this

demonstration of courage and backbone.

WILFRED KNIGHT

Corona del Mar