Mailbag: Offerings from Irvine? No thanks

Whomever is responsible for coming up with the stupidest of ideas that Newport Beach and Irvine have anything in common must be heavily partaking from his homegrown pot plants. The only things in common between these cities have been Bergeson, Campbell and a disgraced former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. None of these have been of any value to the people of Newport Beach when push came to shove.

Jack DeLuca

Newport Beach

Checkpoint could have saved his life

I commend the Costa Mesa Police Department and its DUI checkpoints. My family has been impacted by a drunk driver with fatal results. What is a few minutes missed of a football game if the checkpoint saves just one life? A football game consists of more than the first few plays, and the game is not over until the final gun. What I wouldn’t have given if there had been a police checkpoint the night my son was killed by a drunk driver. Keep up the good work, Costa Mesa Police Department.

Mary Dorn

Costa Mesa

Outsourcing would slow service

I love it! A Newport Beach resident wants his city to be more like Costa Mesa (my city) with fewer public employees to serve the citizens (“Sounding Off: City expenses must be controlled,” Sept. 23). He would outsource everything except police and fire services.

Great idea! Contract out building plan check, and you can take a trip around the world while you wait a full year, as I did, for approval of plans for a home remodel. Cut code enforcement and you can freely make a mess of your neighborhood before the city gets around to telling you to stop. Potholes will greatly help to slow traffic on residential streets. Don’t bother cleaning the beaches – the litter will discourage visitors from out of town and leave more parking for the residents.

Best of all, your home values will plummet, and I’ll be able to afford to buy property in Newport Beach. But then, why would I want to?

Eleanor Egan

Costa Mesa

On JWA, how ‘bout a compromise?

Understandably, our neighbors to the south don’t want the noise of a major commercial airport in their backyard anymore than we do. How ‘bout a compromise? If we could move private aviation out of John Wayne Airport (Lear jets, Piper cubs, etc.) to El Toro, JWA would be quieter and safer. And perhaps we could persuade them to accept freight traffic, which would be a real job creator for South Orange County.

Bob Schmidt

Corona del Mar