MAILBAG:

Let’s keep it local! We do not believe the federal government should have to pay for dredging our Back Bay (see March 25, “City may gain lobbyist”), and definitely do not believe in hiring a lobbyist to promote the same.

If the federal government were asked to pay for dredging some body of water in every state, it would be ridiculous. How about a local campaign in Orange County, especially Newport Beach, to raise money?

Maybe some corporations and small businesses could help out. I’m sure many people could donate a lot more and some less.

We are willing to start with a $100 donation. Who else will get on board?

Fran and Dud Pfaff

Newport Beach

DUI checkpoints not effective, or cheap

Costa Mesa police spent a lot of officers’ time and taxpayers’ money Tuesday to arrest zero drunk drivers out of 289 cars stopped and inconvenienced at a DUI checkpoint (“2 vehicles towed, 11 drivers cited at DUI checkpoint,” March 26).

In the fight to get drunk drivers off the roads, California law enforcement agencies would likely make far more arrests if they spent their available patrol time roaming the streets looking for drunk drivers, rather than standing at roadblocks waiting for these drivers to come to them.

Because they are highly visible by design and publicized in advance, roadblocks are all too easily avoided.

Conversely, the number of DUI arrests made by roving patrol programs is nearly 10 times the average number of DUIs made by checkpoint programs, according to testimony by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation official.

Costa Mesa residents and taxpayers would benefit from employing the most effective tactics to catch drunk drivers: roving police patrols.

Sarah Longwell

Managing Director

American Beverage Institute