MAILBAG - Aug. 31, 2006

Nightclub’s ‘booty shorts’ are much too short“Booty shorts” are definitely too risque for a young girl at OC Platinum in a night club setting.

MARGARET DUFFEY

Newport Beach

KOCE is needed in Orange CountyRegarding Tom Johnson’s Fair Game column on KOCE (“I hate to say I told you so,” Friday): My preference is that KOCE should remain as is. No other competing, non-Orange County-based entity will truly care as much about, and devote the resources to, this community. Your protestations about not personally favoring religious broadcasters notwithstanding, I do think it makes a difference where the money comes from. One thing our Western religious cultural tradition teaches us is that it isn’t just about the money; it’s how you make your money, how you live your life and what principles guide you. Saying that the Coast Community College District should sell to the highest bidder, no matter its agenda, is an interesting perspective from a journalist whose professional conduct is ostensibly guided by strict ethical guidelines.

Individual members of the public have been investing in the future of KOCE for more than two decades, and selling the station to private, for-profit interests (regardless of their tax status) is a betrayal of these people as well as general members of the public who support the station. There just isn’t any other station that covers Orange County the way KOCE does, and it’s amazing to me that Johnson can be so glib about disposing of this irreplaceable asset.

SCOTT WESTERFIELD

Costa Mesa

Sale of KOCE should be election questionIt’s possible that the KOCE-TV debacle may not raise the havoc that the “saddened” district lawyer Milford Dahl envisions.

I must assume that our Coast Community College District board of trustees, which decided to sell the PBS station for “academic funds,” should have no trouble dealing with a foundation that has been a steady source of income — and a friend — for years and years.

I’m not sure where Dahl gets his information that “transferring ownership back to the district will be a long and difficult process.” It’s obvious that the incumbent district board of trustees may have seriously erred in its decision to divest the district of control of a TV station that has served the colleges and students so well during all these years.

Needless to say, since three of the five board seats are up for election this fall, a major issue in the election should be the KOCE-TV situation.

LEFTERIS LAVRAKAS

Costa Mesa

Bell Curve always gets straight to pointThe Bell Curve by Joseph N. Bell is a breath of fresh air in Orange County. I look forward to Thursday’s Daily Pilot and enjoying Joe Bell’s column. He always hits the nail on the head — and without the icky, right-wing name calling. Just facts and wonderful life experiences! What class!

PEGGY CALHOUN

Santa Ana Heights

Council should stay out of private propertyI live a few doors down from the mobile home that is being built on a Costa Mesa property, and there is a fence that all but covers it so you can’t really see it from the street (“El Morro home moved on again,” Aug. 5).

In addition, their landscaping, flowers and a small bench are nicer than anything in the entire neighborhood, specifically on that street. I really think that City Council and those angry neighbors who complained should keep their noses out of private property rights.

JOHN REISS

Costa Mesa

Check out who doesn’t support city’s immigration planI find it hard to express how outraged I am at Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor’s lack of effective leadership. Despite the fact that we are enduring an unprecedented rash of gun violence, rising crime in general, streets in disrepair, a lack of adequate facilities for youth sports and the flight of business from this city, Mansoor continues on his single minded anti-immigrant agenda.

I was especially outraged when the mayor used his recent press conference to discuss the increase in city resources being used to suppress gangs.

What he failed to note was that he voted against the enhanced gang enforcement program. He voted against the program simply because the gang program had an intervention component. Apparently, the mayor does not believe in keeping kids out of gangs, only in punishing them after they become active in gangs.

The mayor seems surprised that others do not support his anti-immigrant agenda. He suggests that they do not want to uphold the law.

Perhaps the reason former police chiefs John Hensley and Dave Snowden, the Orange County Chiefs and Sheriff Assn., L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca and Los Angeles Police Department Chief William Bratton do not support local immigration enforcement is not because they support unchecked immigration, but rather because they believe it is a bad policy that will do more harm than good. Perhaps they realize that it is wasteful to duplicate the role of federal immigration officials and to involve the already overtaxed local police to deport undocumented immigrants when the border remains wide open. Clearly, they have recognized that this issue is divisive and could seriously impair the ability of local law enforcement to keep communities safe, much as it has done in Costa Mesa.

I can only hope that in November, voters will support the Return to Reason candidates, Mike Scheafer and Bruce Garlich. Maybe then the city government can get back to the business of making this a great community to live in.

MAGGIE JORTH

Costa Mesa

Give mayor time to explain himselfI am writing regarding articles and editorials that feature Mayor Allan Mansoor of Costa Mesa.

In my opinion, the mayor is being misquoted. Words he stated — basically regarding crime in his city — are being taken out of context.

Why does the Daily Pilot not give equal reporting space to Mansoor himself so he can express his views — in detail — about issues such as crime and its connection to illegal immigration?

The plan which the mayor has proposed — that is to check the resident status of suspected criminals in his city — is merely good law enforcement. It is amazing that his plan is not commonplace in all cities across the nation. Checking the resident status of criminals.

I urge the Pilot to offer up equal reporting time to Mansoor. I have found him to be a reasonable, wise and very dedicated mayor — let the mayor himself speak out!

ROBIN HVIDSTON

Upland, Calif.

Pilot ought to take on a new name this electionThe Daily Pilot has thrown away all semblance of objectivity regarding the election of the Costa Mesa City Council. Columnists Steve Smith and Joseph N. Bell fulminate against Mayor Allan Mansoor with every column, often indulging in crude name-calling. You even called in the publisher to blast away. One editorial after another presumes to give the mayor a lesson in objectivity. As an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy, he could teach you a thing or two about crime and its causes.

The majority of people in this town are not complacent about illegal immigration. But you give no voice to them in this so-called community paper besides the letters column. You ought to rename the paper the Return to Reason Gazette.

NED MCCUNE

Costa Mesa