Mailbag: We knew utilities were above ground when we moved here

We knew utilities were above ground when we moved here

There has been a lot already said about the issue of undergrounding of our utilities. I wanted to express my views so I might add to the conversation.

I personally don’t think we need to underground utilities. I really don’t want to spend the money to make the change.

All of us who have moved here knew the poles were where they are, and it did not stop any one of us from making the move.

We don’t really know if any proposed cost provided will even be accurate, as problems are discovered and costs go up when you begin any major project such as this (think of the cost overruns for our own City Hall project).

I now know many neighbors who do not want undergrounding either; many of them are in a fixed-income situation and would be hurt financially to put out that much cash.

Has anyone asked, “Where was the 10-year advanced financial plan for this?”

In other cities, the utilities put away a small portion of their receivables to take care of this without a large onetime cost or an even higher homeowner cost over time that includes a lien against your property.

There are already over 41% of the homeowners in Assessment District 114 that are against this with another five to 10 homeowners who have now become aware and will join in the opposition against this. I think that this is a waste of time and money that is driven by a few that wish to benefit from the change at the expense of their long-term resident neighbors.

I ask the City Council to do the right thing and end this mess.

Tom Newman

Newport Beach

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Let your grass die

My wife is not upset that our lawn is turning brown, although she hates how it looks.

She is, however, upset that so many of our neighbors’ lawns are still as green as they ever were. Come on, people.

Mike Dunn

Costa Mesa

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Scott Peotter’s gay-marriage stance

My question is this: Why aren’t the available remedies being pursued by Newport Beach to remove this man from office?

Ralph Sims

Newport Beach

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The U.S. just doesn’t get it on guns

Between 1984 and the present, hundreds of innocents have been killed in mass shooting rampages in the United States.

Incongruously, now that guns can be carried just about everywhere — malls, churches, theaters, government buildings, universities, etc. — the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and our elected officials have created a culture ripe for those who hate and suffer from mental maladies.

The rest of the industrial world gets it, but we seem lost in the mist a self-induced convoluted haze. The axiom, “we reap what we sow,” could never be more accurate or more sad.

Randy Lewis

Laguna Beach