Mailbag: Unsatisfied with Corona del Mar farmers market changes

Corona del Mar residents wrote letters in advance of the City Council meeting April 15. We lined up to speak during public comments. No CDM resident favored the change from “Corona del Mar Certified Farmers Market” to a “Community Market.” The current vendors and management more than satisfy. Surprisingly, Councilmember Lauren Kleiman, who represents Corona del Mar, joined with the majority for a 6–1 vote. So much for representative government! Thank you, Councilmember Robyn Grant, for hearing our displeasure with the lack of communication by city staff who selected new management, and the lack of opportunity for residents to offer input on criteria for farmers market in our village.

The upcoming Community Market will require vendors arrive early to unload all of their wares then find a parking space somewhere in the neighborhood. This is an inconvenience for vendors (extra time) and neighbors (little parking available on the flower streets). Sitting outside in the sun for four hours will affect the condition of the fruits and veggies. Currently vendors park on-site, set up their table in front of vehicles and replenish produce on the table from stock in their vans as needed. Not mentioned in the Daily Pilot article is the speaker at the council meeting who alleged that illegal communication occurred between applicants and council members during the bidding and selection period. DP Editor, please follow up! Send an investigative reporter to discover if the bidding process was fair and ethical. Council members, find out where the majority of city residents who want a community market live and locate it to that neighborhood.

For years I have walked to the CdM Certified Farmers Market, but I can vote with my feet (car) and drive to a farmers market in a nearby city when Heritage Wellness Collective re-configures the market. And, I will “vote with my vote” for council members who truly represent their constituency at the next election!

Diane Baker
Corona del Mar

Porn signs ‘new low’ for H.B. City Council

Once again the MAGA Huntington Beach City Council sinks to new lows. They are plastering signs throughout the city in opposition to Measures A and B. These signs, in huge, red letters say “Protect our kids from porn” with text below saying “Vote no on A & B.” For anybody not living in Huntington Beach or not informed about local issues, this would seem to imply the city has sex shops everywhere, filled with pornographic films, books and magazines. The reality is they are referring to the city’s award-winning libraries.

I would challenge the City Council (especially Chad Williams) to recite off the top of their heads (without using Google) the legal definition of “pornography.” They can’t do it because it does not match their own made up definition of pornography. I urge the community to research objectively the issues on Measures A and B and vote accordingly. As for me and my family, we are voting “yes” on A and B.

James Dowling
Huntington Beach

For more than 100 years, children of all ages have visited the Huntington Beach Public Libraries. Many of those visitors are now adult residents of Huntington Beach. Have they been exposed to the collection of books in the children’s library section with sexual content and sexual language? If so, these adults seem to function quite well in our community. I don’t see overt, public, inappropriate sexual behavior in my daily interactions with my fellow residents. Are there tens of thousands of our residents who are overly sexualized as a result of their childhood library experience? Is Huntington Beach the nation’s hotbed of deviant sexual behavior?

Cathey Ryder
Huntington Beach

“Mama, read.” We were in the children’s section. My daughter was not yet 2, but she picked up a book in the public library on military strategy in the Civil War. I laughed. I talked to her about the pictures in an age-appropriate way. We discussed booms and fire, rather than bayonets and bullets.

Is a historical weapons book suitable for toddlers? Arguably, no. But as an engaged parent, I decided to speak to my child about a controversial topic in a developmentally appropriate manner that aligned with my family’s values. I had other choices at this moment. I could have told her “no” and put the book away, or I could have read it exactly as it was written.

Books have helped my toddler make the biggest adjustments in her life — moving across the country, living away from grandparents, potty training, starting preschool and welcoming a sibling. They provide comfort and guidance because they reflect a child’s world back at them in a way their brains can understand.

“It’s just like in the book!” These were my daughter’s first words upon meeting her little brother. In the haze of welcoming my second child, that moment stands out.

Reading matters. Books matter. A parents’ ability to choose what books their children are exposed to matters. Every parent should have the right to be the decision-maker for their family. Not the City Council. Not a citizen review board. Those people can do it in their own homes, not in our libraries.

Do you know who is inherently at the library? Involved parents. Parents who sing the songs, do the hand motions and read aloud. These are the parents who participate. Yet, these are the children our City Council is so worried about.

An intellectual argument can be made about what government should and should not control, but ultimately, the upcoming special election concerns parents’ rights and the lack of trust that City Council clearly has in the parents of Huntington Beach.

Vote “yes” on Measures A and B by June 10. This is a matter of protecting choice, not precluding it.

Megan Cicurel
Huntington Beach

It is imperative that Huntington Beach residents vote on June 10 to protect our library from future privatization and an appointed panel to approve books.

One of the claims made by the City Council is that pornography is present in the children’s book section and this false claim arose, in part, from the book, “The Big Bath House,” which tells the story of a young girl who is taken by her mom to visit her grandma and aunties in Japan. The young girl does not know what to expect when they announce they will be going to a bath house, which is an accepted Japanese cultural practice she has never experienced before.

Because of all the drama that surrounded this book, I decided to do my own research. It is available for sale on Amazon, recommended for children ages 4 to 8. It was also chosen as a Book of the Year by the New York Public Library, NPR and the American Library Assn. Does this sound like a pornographic book? I think not.

Some City Council members took exception to the nude drawings, almost cartoonish, that depict women bathing in a pool. As men and women bathe in separate areas, there are no nude men present. One criteria used to determine if material is pornographic is if the content is sexually arousing. I hardly think the little girl would be sexually aroused by seeing the sagging breasts of older women!

What does touch her though is that although she does not speak Japanese and many of her relatives do not speak English, the language barrier is not an issue. Family, camaraderie, community, and most importantly, love, are what transcend any language barriers. If all you can focus on are some caricature drawings, then you miss the beautiful message this book conveys. If you don’t want to learn about other cultural practices, then that is your decision; do not make false claims.

It has been said that words matter. Yes, but the truth and facts matter as well.

Kathleen Bunge
Huntington Beach

Some Huntington Beach residents are misinformed about issues involving our public libraries. Their mistrust stems from a lack of accurate information on the City Council’s clumsy ruling authorizing bans on children’s books. For instance, the book “Gender Queer” was removed from the young adult section five years ago. However, former Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark read aloud from it and others in 2023 at a City Council meeting to shock the community about what she stated was in the children’s section. This was grossly misleading.

Previously, the library categorized books into three sections: children, teens and young adults. However, the teen section was eliminated in 2024, and the young adult section has merged with the adult section. It is illogical to restrict high school seniors to the same books as first graders. Yet H.B.’s new restrictions apply equally to everyone under 18.

Why has the city decided to eliminate different rules for different age groups? Comprehensive sex education begins in middle school. Books on puberty and menstruation may not be appropriate for children under 12, but they are crucial for teenagers.

Furthermore, the members of this 21-member committee (with no specified qualifications) cannot honestly commit to reading every one of the 6,000 books they need to review annually. However, their decisions on any book cannot be appealed!

It appears that this poorly conceived program was hastily assembled as a political statement in support of Moms for Liberty. What is particularly amusing is that it completely contradicts their “we do not co-parent with the government” slogan.

Indeed, this policy does precisely that! Instead of allowing every parent to make decisions for their children, they have established a book committee to restrict the choices available to parents. They are inserting the government between the parent and child. It compels parents to co-parent with the government, whether they desire to or not. This is unacceptable and demonstrates why a “yes” vote on Measures A and B in the Huntington Beach June 10 election is essential.

C “Shammy” Dingus
Huntington Beach

Restore Trestles Beach before LA28

As the 2028 Olympic Games approach, we celebrate your commitment to environmental responsibility. With surfing set to take place at Trestles Beach in San Clemente, California, we urge the IOC to uphold that commitment by funding sand replenishment at this iconic but endangered site.

A recent investigation by the Daily Pilot, part of the Los Angeles Times, laid bare the severity of San Clemente’s coastal erosion crisis. The report documents how decades of development, infrastructure like the San Juan Creek Watershed, and disrupted sediment flows have left beaches dangerously narrow. Longtime residents and city officials describe a coastline that is vanishing.

Efforts to solve the problem are underway, but far from funded. The city’s Measure BB, which would have secured local dollars for beach nourishment, narrowly failed in 2022. While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated some federal support, it is not enough to meet the urgent need. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.

Trestles is not just a surf break — it’s a sensitive coastal habitat within San Onofre State Beach. Hosting an international event will bring weeks of traffic and thousands of spectators, placing serious strain on already-degraded dunes and vegetation. Scientific studies show that this kind of activity can accelerate erosion and damage the very systems that naturally hold sand in place.

The IOC has rightly made sustainability a pillar of the Olympic movement, as reflected in the Paris 2024 Games. But true sustainability means investing in the land, not just offsetting its use.

We ask that the IOC fund sand restoration at Trestles, preserving both the Olympic venue and the legacy of environmental leadership these Games aspire to leave behind.

Sign the petition.

Riley Metcalf
San Clemente

NMUSD special election candidates

I have been so focused on national politics that I haven’t had the energy or interest in getting involved in what seems like local, petty politics. After my involvement in Newport Beach City Council races I was turned off by the tribalism often displayed in our otherwise beautiful haven.

There were two letters in the Daily Pilot that brought back painful memories of political situations in Newport Beach, as well as recent problems experienced in the school district where I taught for 37 years in another part of Orange County. For a short period in my former district, our school board was overtaken by a destructive contingency that made some meetings seem like The Jerry Springer Show. Fortunately, the district only suffered a short period before voters restored order.

Regarding Sunday’s letters about the NMUSD school district, the first issue they referenced is the fact that Andrea McElroy was endorsed by both the Newport Beach Police and Fire Assns. In the City Council races, reference was always made to candidates endorsed by those entities, but frankly, I never saw the connection. Instead, a committee of educators selected Kristin Walsh for school board, ahead of several candidates including McElroy.

Believe me, I have the utmost confidence and respect for our Newport Beach police and firefighters but I do not understand how these endorsements would carry more weight than those of parents or community members. In my opinion, they give unfair advantages to candidates.

There are some “catch phrases” that I gleaned from these letters referring to nebulous concerns that seem to be in vogue — mostly phrases without a specific meaning but carry political weight. The issues of “parental rights” include terms such as “transparency between parents and schools,” “a commitment to community values” and “policies that prioritize achievement and well being.” This implies manufactured problems that result from poor communication. Involved parents, constant communication with their children as well as respect for educators would make most of these perceived problems disappear. Attendance at school activities by board members, teachers and parents is a smart way to foster positive exchanges. And that is what Kirstin Walsh has to offer — a constant commitment to students in the district — the result of her 13 years of NMUSD volunteer service.

Lynn Lorenz
Newport Beach

Andrea McElory’s school board candidacy offers a refreshing vision for our schools. As a conservative, she believes parents deserve transparency in what their children are taught. Andrea will ensure families have access to curriculum details and school decisions, empowering them to stay engaged in their children’s education. If you know her, you admire her strength, her ability to stand strong when others take the path of least resistance. She knows what has to be done and she will do it.

Public safety is another cornerstone of her platform. Andrea is committed to creating secure school environments so students can focus on learning. Her conservative values emphasize accountability and common sense policies that put students first.

Andrea’s dedication to our community shines through her active involvement and listening ear. She’s not swayed by trends but grounded in principles that support families. Voting for Andrea McElory means choosing a school board member who respects parents and prioritizes safety. Let’s elect her to build a stronger, more transparent school system.

Linda Lawler
Newport Beach