Mailbag: Hoping for an HB skate park

Regarding “Developer challenges skate park plans,” Jan. 27:

Oh, yes, yes, yes and yes! Come on now, how could we be called Surf City if we don’t have a skate park for our kids? The only one we had was rudely taken away from us, and schools and businesses complain about our skaters all the time. This could stop if we get our very own.

It made my son’s eyes light up when I read the article to him. Let’s do this — and, for goodness’ sake, it’s free! We don’t need another senior citizen complex. Nothing against seniors, but we need the skate park first. If Garden Grove could have one, why can’t we?

Yvonne Macedo

Huntington Beach

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Surf City a perfect location

Would Huntington Beach benefit from a skate park? To me, that the answer is obvious. Of course, HB should have a skate park! Huntington Beach is the perfect location for a skate park, and anyone would have thought that HB would have been the first to have one, although, still, HB is way overdue and behind in the race of staying current with today’s trends and today’s young society.

I live on Brookhurst and Adams, and before they built the new Kohl’s, I would say to all my friends, “Hey, wouldn’t a skate park be the best thing to build in that parking lot?” It is surprising to find out that the plans were suggested so many years ago and that the city would prevent such an obvious idea. I am a mother of a 4-year-old, and I just hope that I don’t have to take my daughter to Orange (across from a jail) to go to a skate park as soon as she becomes of age.

It makes no sense to have such an elaborate Main Street and all its shopping, etc., but nothing really for our youth to do. How can we expect them to stay out of trouble? It is so great that Vans would allow the skate park to be free! If there is anything myself or any of my neighbors, friends or fellow parents can do to help Vans make this long-overdue project a reality, we will do it.

Jessica Peters

Huntington Beach

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Done with driving to Orange

We need this skate park. HB used to be known for skating too, and not being able to let the kids skate where they want is sad. The closest Vans is at the Block at Orange, and I’m over driving my son there. Staying in town would be fantastic!

Vans has a great setup; there’s stuff to do for the whole family. It’s great to watch your kids have fun and be comfortable at the same time; it’s also safe to drop them off for a few hours. There’s a party room for birthdays, etc. No more housing! We’re getting too crowded as it is.

Gina McMillen

Huntington Beach

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Fighting DUI starts at the bar

If you really want to do something about the drunk driving problem in HB, then you need to go to the source where most of the potential DUI situations first begin. And that place, of course, is the bars.

Just recently, I was in a downtown Main Street bar and there were two guys at the table next to us, who, in just about an hour, consumed four Irish car-bombs each! And not once did I witness the waitress, bartender or manager ask these gentlemen who was driving them home.

It’s just plain common sense that anyone who pours alcohol in HB should be required by law to take the LEAD (Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs) online training program that is offered free by our great state. It really would be that simple to put a dent in our growing DUI problem.

Bartenders and operators are our first line of defense, and yet we don’t require them to take any responsibility for the product they pour. The course is free and takes only about three hours to complete, so there would be no cost to the city or the bartenders.

If I was mayor of HB, I could have this law drafted up in a week and ready for implementation shortly thereafter. So how about it, Joe Carchio? Think you can get it done?

Tom Zimmerman

Huntington Beach