Mailbag: ‘Beach’ turns out to be a rather important word

In the article regarding replenishing sand to Orange County beaches (Groundbreaking held for Surfside-Sunset Beach sand replenishment project, Daily Pilot, Dec. 14), a quote from Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill reading, “Without sand, Newport Beach would simply be just called Newport” triggered something rather interesting. At times people refer to Newport Beach just as Newport or Huntington Beach only as Huntington or Laguna Beach as just Laguna. There are, however, some beaches in O.C. that necessitate using the word “beach,” or the first word could very easily refer to something entirely different. Take for example the most northern beach in O.C., which is Seal Beach. If the word “beach” was left out of that, one would say, “Hey let’s take a drive up to Seal.” And your buddy would most likely reply, “Seal what? Seal an envelope or one of those slippery creatures that swim in the ocean?” Or how about Sunset Beach? Driving to just Sunset could easily denote chasing down a setting sun out in the ocean and being romantic with someone while enjoying the closing of a day. Driving north on PCH from Sunset Beach, one enters L.A. County and the city of Long Beach. Can we shorten Long Beach to just Long and assume that people know the difference? I think not. What about an extreme example of some friends planning on taking a drive from San Diego to Manhattan Beach just above Redondo Beach in L.A. County with someone saying, “OK, we’ll see you in Manhattan in a few hours.” A few days later the Manhattan drivers arrive in New York on the East Coast wondering what happened to their friends. The moral of all this is just that certain beaches require the word “beach” for total and correct completion or we take the chance of winding up a few thousand miles off course.

Bill Spitalnick
Newport Beach

Mayoral selection sign of the times

You really can’t truly appreciate the appointment of Gracey Van Der Mark as mayor without considering Huntington Beach’s descent into complete municipal madness. Before November 2022, it would have been difficult to envision just how far our community has regressed.

Sure, outsiders always remind Huntington Beach residents of our city’s fraught history of racial tensions and ties to extremism. Still, for most H.B. residents, this is simply our home. And while our community has an unfortunate habit of attracting out-of-town zealots, miscreants and kooks, most of us simply avoid or ignore these unwanted interlopers. Now, however, this undesirable element is unavoidable. Once extremists took control of the Huntington Beach City Council, they gleefully set aside all existing norms and policies to appoint one of their own as mayor.

Before last December, our city government had largely been spared the nonsensical culture wars of today’s American politics. While there were many disagreements and some controversies, most City Council discussions attempted to focus on common municipal issues. Discussions of infrastructure, community services, public safety and funding sources consumed most public meetings. Established norms and traditions were followed, and the everyday work of running a city went on without much notice or fanfare.

Unfortunately, that unnoticed competence of local governance is no longer a given. Reckless and extreme choices made by H.B.’s new leadership have left our community at risk, and the recent exodus of senior city staff speaks to the dysfunction taking hold. The loss of administrative and subject matter expertise was always going to be a liability, but when you combine this with multiple “own-goals” like the secretive multimillion-dollar payoff to a political ally, an irregular and seemingly haphazard budget roll-out, the needless attempt to micromanage library services, conspiracy-inspired restrictions on consumer choice, and the deliberate violation of state law, our community finds itself in a perilous position. The long-term consequences remain largely unknown, but the reality and our prospects are stark.

Electing cosplaying culture warriors rather than responsible individuals committed to competent public service was always going to be problematic. Now, the residents of Huntington Beach are left only to wait and reap what was sown in the elections of 2022.

Steve Shepherd
Huntington Beach

Thank you for your detailed coverage of the far right extremest take over of Huntington Beach. In the last months, citizen’s rights have been trampled and our city has become severely divided. There is no effort by our council majority to compromise with or even to simply listen to residents with a different viewpoint. Instead of working on improving infrastructure, solving our homeless problems and providing for public safety, this backward majority is bent on attacking librarians and restricting access to books in our public libraries. Even more worrisome is their gutting of our human dignity statement and the dissolving of the human relations committee that served our city well for more than 20 years. Now, with public input disregarded and disrespected and with extremist groups like Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty welcomed, please continue to actively report on our city. Our new mayor, Gracie Van der Mark, refuses your interviews as she and her three colleagues thrust us toward dangerous, dark ideologies. Help us bring back a family-friendly, democratically run city. The expert journalism offered by the Daily Pilot and L.A. Times gives us hope. Please continue reporting on the travesties.

Nora Pedersen
Huntington Beach

They’re quiet on vote for a reason

On Wednesday of this week the House of Representatives, by a narrow margin, voted to impeach President Biden. Among those Republicans who voted to impeach the President were two Orange County representatives who are facing difficult elections next year, Young Kim of Anaheim Hills and Michelle Steel of Seal Beach. Both representatives know that their vote may be unpopular with their constituents and as a result, have not made significant remarks about impeachment.

The Republicans in the House justify their votes to impeach, claiming that Biden benefited from his son’s overseas’ business dealings. Absent specific information or proof, Kim and Steele are treading in difficult waters with their votes because both represent districts that went for Biden in 2020. In fact, a majority of the population in Orange County is now Democratic.

Being a Republican is no longer a sure win in federal, state or local elections proven by the victories in recent years of Harley Rouda and Katie Porter to the House of Representatives and Dave Min, and Cottie Petrie-Norris, to the state legislatures, and Katrina Foley’s election to the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The biggest coup of all for Orange County will be if Katie Porter gets elected to the U.S. Senate Seat made vacant by the death of Diane Feinstein. It is unfortunate but not surprising that Steel and Kim have little to say about the current impeachment proceedings, perhaps because they know that many of the people they represent do not like to see politicians going on this futile and time-wasting journey. Many constituents feel that they should be working on serious issues that the country is facing such as passing a budget or providing desperately needed aid to Ukraine.

Lynn Lorenz
Newport Beach