MAILBAG - Sept. 27, 2006

Check which endorsements have people behind themI am amazed at how much coverage the Daily Pilot has given the police and fire association endorsements. Between the two there may be three to four dozen people residing in our fine city. Of course, they have a huge stake in the outcome, both are in the final year of their employment contracts and both are working under interim chiefs in part due to employee unrest.

However, on another hand, barely any mention has been given to the Democratic and Republican Party endorsements. Mirna Burciaga, and only she, has been endorsed by the Democratic Party representing 15,378 registered Costa Mesa resident voters. Wendy Leece and Allan Mansoor have been endorsed by the Republican Party, representing 24,394 registered Costa Mesa resident voters. That is more than 39,000 represented between them, who live, raise families, pay taxes and have a stake on every issue, including crime, infrastructure, landscaping, home additions, recreational programs, fields, quality of life and our municipal fiscal strength.

Kudos to all the endorsed candidates and the endorsing groups for getting involved. As our State League of Cities slogan states: “All Politics is Local.” Let the games begin.

GARY MONAHAN

Costa Mesa

So much of what residents complain about involves a few people. They would take my right to enjoy the ocean away with their parking permits. Residents do not own the ocean or the streets. If they want a sterile environment they should take one letter writer’s advice and move to a gated community. Living in a public paradise has its costs. Also, they should talk more about ticketing folks who break the law instead of penalizing those of us who obey it.

SANDRA KASZYNSKI

Costa Mesa

How about a parking pass for scooter usersI think we should have parking permits for locals, and I also think that since I live in Corona del Mar that if you take a Vespa scooter down to the beach with a sticker you should be allowed to park for free.

Some of us locals, we just go down there to hop in the ocean for an hour and leave, and I think locals should have some kind of pass that we can show to the guard if we are on a scooter because we are not taking up a parking spot. I hope the parking permit passes.

ROBIN CHRISTENSEN

Corona del Mar

The price of living in paradise is worth payingAs a resident of Balboa Village, I see many cars left overnight on my block as their owners head for Catalina for the weekend; however, I am against the idea of parking permits here or anywhere in Newport.

The real issue is enforcement of existing laws. The beaches are closed at 10 p.m. and police have trouble enforcing the law. If they have trouble enforcing that, how are they going to monitor illegally parked cars? Every single car would have to be checked on every street, every night. That can’t be easier than just monitoring the beach. People also need to remember that this law would also apply to their guests, so if there is no parking between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., for example, that means their guests would have to be out by 10 p.m.

Beverly Hills has a system that allows homeowners a certain number of free temporary permits per month. But that involves a burdensome system of calling in, holding and waiting for a permit number that has to be placed on your dashboard — which then has to be checked by the police during the night for validity. These are only available to residents of multi-family units. Frankly, I’d rather have our police force protecting our safety, maybe catching drunk drivers, not checking parking permits throughout the city.

Most people who moved to the peninsula, Corona del Mar and Balboa Island knew what they were getting into when they moved here — Newport has been a tourist destination for 100 years now. But I feel a tough parking situation two nights a week, three months a year is a small price to pay for the privilege of living in such a beautiful place. If you don’t like it, most neighborhoods in Irvine have strict parking regulations. You should be happy there, and you’ll always be welcome to visit our beaches. I don’t even care if you stay past 10 p.m.

CRAIG DIXON

Balboa

When will Pilot stop blaming mayor for world’s ills?I read Tom Johnson’s article about his dog and while reading kept wondering how he was going to blame the dog’s hip problems on Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, but he did not. I then read Steve Smith’s article and wondered how he was somehow going to blame Mansoor for his problems, but he did not. I had my hopes up that the Pilot’s writers had quit blaming all of the world’s problems on Mansoor, and out comes the Bell Curve on Sept. 14 (“Family is a far cry from criminal”) to decimate my hopes.

I feel that it is condescending of columnist Joseph N. Bell to think that a story about a hard-working illegal immigrant family is news. Is he implying that illegal immigrants are not hard-working, or is he simply saying that being hard-working is newsworthy?

I think that it is wonderful that a woman earning a living as a cleaning person can send four children to college without relying on help from the government. She must have paid for her own insurance and hospital bills when her four children were born and never got assistance from Medi-Cal, food stamps, free school breakfasts, lunches or any other kind of assistance. I am sure that while she managed to do all of this, she was paying taxes on her income. Even if all that was written about her is true, though it may be newsworthy, it has nothing to do with Mansoor’s immigration enforcement proposal that only targets illegal immigrants who commit serious, violent felonies.

JUDITH BERRY

Costa Mesa

No one owns the beaches, the streets or paradiseWhen I was in school I went to the beach at Corona del Mar at least three times a week, at 4 p.m., to study and watch my children play. What is parking now, $10? I could never have afforded to pay that much for parking. I always parked in the neighborhood and walked up and down that hill.