Mailbag: Truth about dredging and sea water intrusion
The article “The Fading of the Grand Canal” (April 27) contains a lot of truth.
Newport Beach used to dredge it every decade or two. I was a child living on the canal, and I remember watching the work. Workers did it correctly, at high tide only, taking sand from the center and piling it up under water so it could compact properly and stay put.
The last time workers dredged the canal, in about the 1980s, they did it fast and incorrectly. They dredged at any time, and the sand wasn’t piled up under water. Consequently, it did not compact and stay in place for more than a couple of years.
Since then, nothing has been done. The recent raking away of the slimy green stuff is a silly, pointless cosmetic gesture.
The article’s mention of sea water coming in under the sea wall is important. It may be the water under the wall, rather than over it, that ends up erasing Balboa Island from everything but our fond memories.
Dariela Wilson
Newport Beach
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Alternative post office locations
As my husband and I were doing our errands around Newport Beach, we chatted about the potential loss of the post office on Riverside Drive.
He brought up two locations that have ample parking and would serve the community well: the site of the now-defunct Promeli’s Westcliff at 17th Street and Irvine Avenue and, with even more parking, the former McDonald’s on Bristol Street between Birch Street and Jamboree Road, in the plaza near Sgt. Pepperoni’s Pizzeria & Deli.
As plans are sorted out, perhaps these suggestions will inspire city planners when they consider alternatives.
Vicki Zimmerman
Newport Beach
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It’s OK to fence Adams Elementary
I want to thank Newport-Mesa School Board Trustee Vicki Snell and Principal Gabe Del Real for the tour of the fencing plans for Adams Elementary School.
I was especially impressed by Del Real’s explanation of the students’ view of the field as their school, their yard. He said that during play, they move easily from the blacktop to the field. I realized that I don’t want to segment their school.
I now support fencing the full school property and remove my name from the petition requesting a small fencing footprint. I can’t imagine that a safe, fenced school in our neighborhood will affect property values.
In Mesa Verde we are blessed with nice homes, and we do fence our yards, sometimes even our front yards. Let’s not withhold that safety and sense of security from schoolchildren in our neighborhood.
Margaret Mooney
Costa Mesa
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Veterans deserve final resting place
Re. “Shape of veterans cemetery panel displeases some,” (April 25).
Excuse me? We are in a severe drought, and this guy is building thousands of homes with big, grassy backyards at the Orange County Great Park?
I’d certainly rather see the water be used for grass at a military cemetery. Feng shui be darned. Could we just once consider our finest citizens?
This is our country, and the fighting men and women who would be buried there gave some of their most important years to making sure this country stayed free, the great attraction to the world. I’m sure the builder would still make a profit even with an “exponential” drop in property values.
Maybe then the progeny of our veterans could afford to buy there.
Connie Johnson
Oceanside
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Set fundraising limits
Money isn’t free speech! It is time to get unlimited funds out of politics so elections can’t be bought! This is not what our founders had in mind when they wrote the Constitution. It is past time to overturn Citizens United.
Charles Benson
San Clemente
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LED lights make biking safer
As an avid cyclist living in Huntington Beach for nearly 25 years now, I have seen my share of altercations and near collisions between drivers and cyclists.
I have found that the vast majority of drivers are courteous and attentive, as long as you pay them the same respect and follow the rules of the road.
As a driver, I cannot believe how some cyclists camouflage themselves to the point where it is almost impossible to see them, wearing black clothing at night with no lights on their bike, for instance.
For a small investment, every cyclist who rides in Huntington Beach could be much more visible. Recent advances in technology have developed ultra-bright LED flashers designed to attach to the bike. Every bike should have a red flasher in the rear and a white strobe flasher in the front.
When I attached the white strobe light to my bike, I felt, for the first time, that drivers actually saw me coming. These lights are designed not just for nighttime use but are so bright that they are very effective for daytime also. Even during sunlight, a bike can be hard to see because of shading and the position of the sun, at sunrise and sunset especially.
How many lives could be saved by a small investment?
Dan Cohen
Huntington Beach