Fireworks light up Costa Mesa candidates forum...

Fireworks light up Costa Mesa candidates forum

At the candidates forum on Oct. 7 at the Costa Mesa Senior Center,

many important concerns were voiced by seniors.

As a well-informed senior, I asked about a dozen penetrating

questions in the name of all seniors. The problem of illegal

fireworks was discussed. Costa Mesa is one of only five cities still

hanging on to fireworks on the Fourth of July and other times.

Banning legal ones will help annihilate illegal fireworks.

Just think of the possible injuries, pollution, fear, destruction

of property, etc. Why can’t the 18 fireworks stands from high schools

disappear? Let these students plan their own fundraisers and make

them a success. Lastly, will the nine candidates who are not elected

in November still be interested in city concerns -- the homeless,

banning fireworks, planning low-income senior housing?

ANNE HOGAN-SHERESHEVSKY

Costa Mesa

‘No on L’ an argument

with run-down answer

I can’t get over how the “No on L” folk are so concerned with

preserving the parklands of Newport Beach that they have polluted

Newport Beach with their signs. They’ve even placed them in the city

parks, forcing the city to take them down.

If they could do half as good a job of explaining how they propose

the park will be maintained and improved as they do at plastering the

city, they might get some votes. But they are making a purely

emotional appeal, not an intellectual one. Unfortunately, they may

win -- and then what? Trailers and a run-down park.

BILL DEAN

Corona del Mar

One vote flying to Foley for a seat on the City Council

Katrina Foley will be a strong City Council leader on airport

issues.

In response to Costa Mesa City Councilman Allan Mansoor’s

commentary, “Daily Pilot endorsements not the right development”

(Oct. 7), I disagree. Foley is all about addressing issues that

affect our daily lives -- countywide. As a member of AirFair, I have

worked with Foley and know she is committed to resolving airport

issues.

She knows John Wayne Airport’s passenger levels have increased

every month for the last year. If the number of travelers using John

Wayne continues to climb at these rates, the airport will reach its

cap within the next two years. She understands that the current cap

limits passengers to 10.8 million per year by 2015. I say lock the

gate at 10.8.

Foley supports AirFair and its policy of no future expansion of

John Wayne Airport beyond the terms of the present Settlement

Agreement. She has assisted AirFair in organizing neighborhood

meetings and met with leaders in both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa to

encourage them to begin negotiations now in order to keep these

limitations in place when the settlement agreement expires in 2015.

Foley also has worked with AirFair in its efforts to meet with

congressional representatives to amend federal laws to provide local

control and limitations of airport operations.

Foley will be an asset to the Costa Mesa City Council in working

with other public agencies to find a solution to our air

transportation needs without further destroying our residential

neighborhoods. To learn more about John Wayne Airport, visit

https://www.jwairfair.com.

Foley has also been actively involved with our local schools and

in many other local community activities. I ask for your vote for

Katrina Foley for Costa Mesa City Council.

RACHEL PEREZ-HAMILTON

Costa Mesa

Care is necessary

on Measure L vote

For more than 30 years, some dedicated residents have worked to

keep our city a beach community of charm and style.

Their efforts have nothing to do with moneymaking and their hours.

No, years of work are at their own expense and time. How many of our

current population remember the “Freeway Fighters,” who managed to

halt a freeway from bisecting Newport Beach? If built, this would

have run through what is now the area of the Oasis Senior Center.

Then there is Stop Polluting Our Newport, whose goal has always been

to maintain a charming beach community. Can any of us forget the

magnificent fight waged by Frank and Fran Robinson to save the Back

Bay?

It is disturbing to see the Greenlight group denigrated by

unthinking or uninformed critics. The Marinapark project may be an

attractive plan, but should the city’s master plan be changed to

accommodate this development on public land? What is to deter another

development to ask for the same treatment? And who can ensure this

project will be successful?

Surely the Balboa Bay Club was given a windfall on the use of

public land by an acquiescent City Council many years ago. How much

of a view do we now have of the bay? The so-called public access is

also less than negligible.

Please think carefully of the ramifications of Measure L before

you cast your vote.

MARGARET RYCKOFF

Corona del Mar

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Margaret Ryckoff is the widow of former mayor and

councilman Paul Ryckoff, who passed away earlier this year.