Mailbag: Treatment of air show, library a study of contrasts in H.B.

The air show is all about money. Our City Council only sees the Benjamins, no concern whatsoever about what the residents feel or want. I’m a 40-plus-year resident and homeowner in H.B. and today I had to keep windows and doors closed and sit and hold and try to console my terrified dog. The noise pollution is horrendous. There are sick people, children, pets and veterans suffering from PTSD who don’t think the air show is swell. In Newport Beach there are noise regs because of airport noise. I plan on trying to complain on a state level. Wish me luck.

Joanne Piccolo
Huntington Beach

I am sorry that Kevin Elliott took it personally when citizens objected to the infamous air show settlement (Pacific Airshow set to zoom back into Huntington Beach, where reactions are mixed, Daily Pilot, Oct. 3) To me, it looks like Elliott was only doing what any red-blooded businessman would do. He materially supported the election campaigns of the city attorney plus some inexperienced candidates for City Council. Then, City Atty. Gates and newbies Strickland, Van Der Mark, Burns and McKeon won. A few months later, after suing his hometown, Elliott met with them and ended up with a settlement deal he couldn’t refuse. Good business for him.

Your article quoted Elliott hoping that “time will heal these wounds, and people will realize that ... the airshow should be for everyone.” As it stands, he’s got that wish locked up: H.B. citizens are legally and financially committed to a 40-year exclusive with Code Four airshows come Hell or low clouds.

Buzz McCord
Huntington Beach

H.B. City Atty. Michael Gates taunted the wrong direction when he said “the state can go pound sand” (Daily Pilot, Oct. 4).

Gates should have said that to Pacific Airshow executive Kevin Elliott in answer to the lawsuit against Huntington Beach and then-Mayor Kim Carr.

Once again, Gates focuses his attention the wrong way.

Paula A. Schaefer
Huntington Beach

Everywhere you look in Huntington Beach you see signs to “Save Our Libraries.” Save them by voting for this person or that or by voting for ballot measures.

I can’t speak for you, but I can say this for me: Our libraries don’t need to be saved — they need to be left alone!

I think about it. Two years ago no one was saying that our libraries needed saving. We had respected librarians, a great collection of books with a known system to manage them, great programs that benefited the community.

Then Van Der Mark, Strickland, Burns and McKeon came to be, and what do we have to show for it?

Book Bans: Books have been pulled from shelves, but based on definitions pulled from Google, not any professional expertise. An ordinance so flawed that the state has now passed a law to oppose it.

Privatization: This effort is not dead. City Council is simply waiting for the petition to be resolved before they give the business to LS&S. The finances are simple — the city’s savings are the equivalent of paying a $10,000 bill by not buying one $20 pizza.

Librarians leaving their posts: Librarians have been called pedophiles and groomers just for doing their job. Our city has done absolutely nothing to support them or refute these claims. The librarians are leaving our libraries and going where they are appreciated. The damaged has been done

What can you do? It’s as easy as 1-2-3:

1) Sign the petitions: The petitions to place charter amendments protecting against book bans and privatization need signatures. Sign them and give yourself a voice in the outcome.

2) Support Moser, Kalmick and Bolton, not the “HB3”: A vote for the “HB3” is a vote to continue the chaos that degrades our libraries.

3) Vote against Measure U: This flawed initiative has nothing to do with the libraries; the signs suggesting otherwise are a lie. We do not need to lose another costly lawsuit for flawed legislation. We need to fix the fountains.

Leave our libraries alone!

Larry Hersh
Huntington Beach

City Atty. Gates doesn’t like the state telling him what to do. Well, there are many residents here who don’t like the council majority telling them how their schools and libraries should be run. Why is the council afraid to let residents vote on these matters if they truly believe in freedom as they all claim? And of course, our city will spend even more residents’ tax dollars trying to fight AB 1825.

As with a true authoritarian government, residents were not allowed to vote on the ordinance restricting public library book access or having a review committee which could override any children librarian’s books orders. When the motion was made that would have allowed residents to vote before management of the library could be outsourced to an outside company, the council majority vetoed it.

That is why a group of dedicated library supporters from Protecthb.org have written two library petitions hoping to give our residents a chance to vote on these important library issues. Should a politically appointed committee have the ultimate say in what books can and cannot be in the children’s library? Should residents’ approval be required before the city can outsource library management and privatize its staff? Regardless how one feels about these issues, they should be allowed to vote on them. It’s their library, their vote, their choice. I encourage all H.B. residents who support our award-winning library and believe all H.B. registered voters should have a say in what happens to their library to sign these petitions. Until we can get the privatization petition passed, put on the ballot and voted upon, our library is under threat. Our council could enter a no bid contract with LSS at any time and there would be nothing residents could do about it. To loosely quote Joni Mitchell, “Don’t it always seem to be, you don’t know what you’ve got, ‘till it’s gone. They’ve paved paradise and given you a substandard library and book collection.“

Barbara Richardson
Huntington Beach

The current Huntington Beach Council majority continues to push an extreme MAGA agenda over good governance. As a voting bloc of four, it forces through unpopular policies unrelated to effectively running the city.

Thankfully, the democratic citizen-led library petitions now offer Huntington Beach voters the right to choose how they want their popular public library to be managed. Four council members shouldn’t have sole power to choose the fate of an institution as essential and treasured as our public library.

The first petition, issued in May, has more than 17,000 signatures. It will give voters a voice on whether to allow a library review board of political appointees “final” and “non-appealable” authority over book selection. The second petition is not far behind and would allow voters to decide if a for-profit corporation should manage library operations. (No other public library in Orange County has taken on this business model.) Signatures for the second petition will be accepted through the third week of November.

Please cast your votes for Rhonda Bolton, Dan Kalmick, and Natalie Moser for City Council and Regina Blankenhorn for city clerk. All four of these candidates support keeping our award-winning library as it is.

Carol Daus
Huntington Beach

All eyes in Orange County and elsewhere will be looking at Huntington Beach this November for a couple reasons, neither good.

The first is the City Council election. If the council majority slate wins, all seven members will be cut from the same MAGA cloth. Along with MAGA City Atty. Michael Gates and the possibility of a new MAGA city clerk being elected (Lisa Lane Barnes), there will be no guard rails on how decision-making is made.

The second is the resulting fallout if this scenario comes to pass. The citizenry could be at the mercy of bad decisions in taking on the state over voting, housing, the environment and a host of other issues. An enormous cost in terms of lawsuits, restrictions, penalties and loss of local control could haunt us. The community wouldn’t know if the arguments of the council are constructed of straw or sticks until the Big Bad Sacramento Wolf blows our house in. The stakes in the election couldn’t be much higher.

The right-wing forces which have built their grievance-driven machine over the past few years to dominate local politics in Surf City may have reached the pinnacle of their power this year. However, if the result is a tsunami of bad decisions for the community that wash away all we have built and threaten our future through state retribution, the residents here are in for the proverbial “bumpy night” for the next two years at least. Other communities will be watching to see how this all plays out.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

Tank Farm vote reveals a lot

According to the Daily Pilot the Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously to approve the Magnolia Tank Farm project at its Sept. 19 meeting. This project has many virtues, not the least among them that a full 20% of the proposed units in the mixed retail-housing development would be reserved for the very people who would work at the restaurants, the hotel, and the shops of the project. These will be actual units occupied by actual families, living stable, productive lives in our community.

But many of my fellow residents disagree. Vehemently. The one constant political truth in southeast Huntington Beach these last seven years is that there is a well-organized opposition to the Tank Farm project. And they had what seemed in 2022 a set of well-funded candidates for City Council who would take care of their interests. Of the “Fab-Code-Four+Gates” candidates in 2022, every single one of them have betrayed that trust. I am not sure that the current mayor, the mayor pro tem, Councilman McKeon or even City Atty. Gates fully understand what they have done, or really why they do anything they do. The mastermind of the group has always been Tony Strickland. And should Janet Nguyen win her campaign for county supervisor, the voters of CA-Senate District 36 should know a salient fact about Strickland.

You may imagine that Strickland is “your candidate” when you cast your ballot. But the reality is that once Strickland is in office, you are “his voter,” and he will do whatever is in his best interests to you and with District 36, as he has done with the city of Huntington Beach.

Galen Pickett
Huntington Beach

Not crazy about guns

It strains credulity to see how the gun show promoter would suffer irreparable injury from being forbidden to sell firearms, firearms precursors and ammunition at its scheduled Nov. 30 O.C. Fairgrounds show. I used to attend this event decades ago before America lost its mind over guns and the 2nd Amendment. Find another venue to hold your event at, just not at the state‘s county fairgrounds. I’m tired of the gun mayhem in this country, especially when the gun industry does everything in its power to continue to perpetuate the problem instead of being part of the solution.

Mike Aguilar
Costa Mesa

Liking Mancuso in Laguna

Judie Mancuso would be an excellent City Council member for Laguna Beach. Having devoted much of her life to public service, she has gotten 27 bills passed in our state capital to protect animals, our natural environment and much more. Mancuso knows how to get things done and would be a good ally when working with Sacramento on the issues that matter most to us. Currently vice chair on the Environmental Sustainability Committee, she carefully researches topics before offering a solution that’s based on the facts. Smart, engaging and driven, Mancuso has great ideas. She’ll work collaboratively to accomplish goals, including residents early in the decision-making process. Her no-nonsense, straightforward approach to solving our complex problems is just what we need now.

Trish Sweeney
Laguna Beach

Choices to make in Newport Beach

Even though I am far away in China, I am excited about the upcoming U.S. elections. We also have some notable people in our local Newport-Mesa elections.

Finishing my dozenth degree at Coastline College and an accelerated master’s of education at Cal State San Bernardino, I can see how politics and education are closely intertwined. Sometimes, they work synergistically; sometimes, they work antagonistically.

I am no stranger to politics. I was part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Congressional Affairs division in 2004. Although it was 20 years ago, I vividly recall the excitement of a presidential and congressional year. I worked very hard to ensure my team of capable lobbyists got the best information. We were quite successful, with the highest performance of any PAC in the country.

I hope voters can look carefully into the candidates we vote for or even champion. From firsthand experience working right next to the White House, I can say that integrity, a commitment to excellence, and a genuine hard work ethic can persevere. Leading by example is the only true form of leadership. Seeing year after year, certain families run for city council, mayor, and school board leadership, I voted not only on what they said but also on the track record and personality qualities they put forth.

One reason I championed Max Ukropina in the primaries was precisely because of the admirable qualities of him and his family: innovative, down-to-earth and loyal. Beyond a track record of business success, their track record of being good people who remember people and their needs gives confidence in their leadership abilities. Titles, good looks, and charisma abound in Washington D.C., Sacramento, and Newport Beach, but we need to look into a person and evaluate their character to see who is best fit to lead. While David Min had strong ties to my alma maters, Brown University and University of California- Irvine, I championed Max because I knew his conduct and character were exceedingly stellar.

Going forward, I hope this newspaper and our entire community can have robust debates about the issues and the personal qualities that make up our candidates.

Joseph Klunder
Beijing

I told myself this election season that I was going to focus on national politics, having been disappointed too many times by Newport City Council elections being won by people who used them merely as a springboard for other positions. The current council’s recent violation of the Greenlight Initiative shows their disdain for the democratic process. We need to elect people who are sincerely interested in our city and who will vote independently with the desires of their constituents in mind.

Two people I know who will do this have histories of being very involved in city matters, one having already served on the council where he proved that his prior experience as an educational leader prepared him for a leadership position in the city. In his previous service on the council, I knew I would always get a clear view of issues if I consulted him. His speaking and writing skills are excellent, qualities that set him apart from some other council members past and present. Perhaps most important of all, he always tried to be available to his constituents. I am speaking of course, about Jeff Herdman.

During the last four years Herdman has been working diligently with the SPON (Still Protecting our Newport) and the Newport Beach Arts Foundation boards.

He also helped lead the successful campaign against Measure B. Between 2016 and 2020, Jeff represented District 5 on the City Council.

Herdman is so knowledgeable about the current council’s controversial plan to exceed the state’s requirement of 4,863 new homes by 50%, that he has laid out specific plans to satisfy the requirement without exceeding the mandate of the state. He refutes the council’s current decision to amend the Land Use/Housing Element of the city’s General Plan without voter approval.

The other candidate that I support enthusiastically is Nancy Scarborough, whom I have known for several years and with whom I have shared concerns about our Newport Heights’ neighborhood. In addition to having been a close associate of Jean Watt, one of the all-time most respected leaders of the Newport Beach community, Scarborough has advocated for residents regarding airport noise, planning issues and traffic noise.

She even has a site NancyForNewport.com in which she discusses important issues such as one-night rentals, the lack of sufficient police patrol cars in Heights/Haven to enforce traffic laws, more sensible control of e-bikes, and state and Newport plans for high-density housing. Scarborough also desires to work to limit future overly ambitious developers’ plans for Mariner’s Mile. She is independent and her low-key approach to problems makes it easy for her to work with others. She brings the best of both worlds to City Council.

Scarborough’s opponent is actually abandoning her seat on the school board to run. In my opinion, the position on the board is every bit as valuable as that on City Council if not more so, especially considering the current trend of trying to politicize public schools.

In contrast both Scarborough and Herdman have no desire to use a council position as a stepping stone to other positions. They want to serve the community and bring fresh ideas and other viewpoints to a council which too often votes as a block, often on unpopular ideas.

Lynn Lorenz
Newport Beach

It’s been a dizzying election cycle for people like me who believe in small “c” conservatism. Presidential candidates one-up each other’s vicious rhetoric while our nation is rocked by one crisis after another. But thankfully our local elections provide a refreshing contrast.

Mayor Pro Tem and current District 6 City Council Member Jeff Harlan has earned my vote by representing Costa Mesa’s Eastside with humility, intelligence and grace. He has championed public safety by restoring the Costa Mesa Police Department’s staffing and resources cut by previous administrations and voting to make our street infrastructure safer for all users. He campaigned hard to revitalize Jordan Park and he helped secure over $400,000 for the long-awaited renovation of Brentwood Park. He stood up for the community and successfully fought to maintain public access to Harper Park’s fields. And he’s a voice of fiscal responsibility: He recently voted against salary increases for City Council, breaking with the majority to do so.

But Harlan’s most impressive accomplishments are in housing. Drawing on his background as an attorney and a former Planning Commissioner, his thoughtful approach reflects three clear principles: keep families in their homes during rapid inflation, respect private property and individuals’ housing choices, and be humble about the government’s role in the housing market.

And he has held firm to these principles even in the face of criticism by the more liberal members of the City Council.

In other words, Harlan’s approach reflects the balanced governing philosophy I look for in a candidate. He respects individuals and their aspirations while defending our public spaces and striving to make them safe and welcoming. We are fortunate to have a proven leader representing us on the east side. I urge you to join me in supporting Jeff Harlan for reelection.

Jenn Tanaka
Costa Mesa