FAIR GAME:Park decisions not wise

CORRECTION: Martin H. Millard’s name was misspelled in Friday’s Fair Game column, “Park decisions not wise.”

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And I thought Newport Beach had issues with their passive park!

You remember the passive park that was planned for the area just above the Newport Beach Central Library? I called it Debra Allen Park.

Then, longtime Newport Beach resident, sailing legend and architect Bill Ficker came along with a plan to put city hall on the south corner of that park acreage.

A majority of the City Council didn’t want to hear about it. So, another group has come out against the idea.

Now, assuming the required signatures are gathered, the issue appears headed to a February 2008 ballot measure.

If that’s not enough, next door in Costa Mesa the City Council has decided to make Paularino Park a passive park.

No soccer, no baseball, no football.

Mesa North Community Assn. President Colin McCarthy told the council “neighbors are tired of balls crashing into their windows and soccer players urinating in their bushes.”

So let’s review those complaints.

First of all, if I have someone urinating in my bushes I, too, have a problem with it. And I say that’s a time to get the police involved. But do only soccer players urinate?

Or, is what we’re in fact saying here is we want the “Mexicans” out of Paularino Park?

Look at some of the most recent City Council decisions: They removed the job center, used primarily by Latino day workers; they put an ICE agent at the Costa Mesa Jail to check the legal status of criminals entering the facility, which primarily is focused at Latinos; and they severely reduced funding through CDBG monies aimed at primarily Latino focused nonprofit agencies.

As to the second complaint about balls crashing into their windows, they should have considered and anticipated those types of activities when they purchased their property.

It’s sort of like buying a house in a neighborhood that backs up to a school. As a result, you get your house a little cheaper than your neighbors across the street because of it.

You then complain the school kids are too loud during recess and you want the school moved.

That’s dumb.

There’s primarily one man behind the quest to get rid of the “soccer players” in Paularino Park which leads me to believe it’s race related.

His name is H. Martin Millard.

His writings have been associated for a number of years with racially-charged websites.

And, in fact, he regularly writes a local blog that similarly goes down that line.

But here’s his MO.

Once identified, he raises his hands and claims to be this private citizen who should just be left alone.

He claims nothing could be further from the truth.

And as you might imagine, he then threatens to sue.

When that effort fails, he then claims you’re an out-of-towner and you have no right to enter the fray in Costa Mesa.

He even did this with former Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden, who spent years in this community trying to make it better.

And, if all else fails, Millard just reverts to name calling.

Just ask City Councilwoman Linda Dixon.

He even labels me a liberal, even though I have never voted for a liberal ticket in my life and know if I did so, my dad would roll over in his grave.

But, the decision has been made and Paularino Park will be passive. So Millard wins, again.

I just hope those City Council members who voted for this change did so because they indeed think it’s right and not to exclude certain people.