Weighing In on 2nd District’s Sullivan, Silva Supervisorial Race

* In response to the articles about the Orange County Board of Supervisors race in the 2nd District, I must say that I am offended by candidate Dave Sullivan’s campaign message.

He is sending a message to the residents of the 2nd District that our interests should be ignored [in favor of] the big-money interests of South County.

His anti-El Toro airport stand is the antithesis of the will of the voters in the 2nd District. We are proud to support the El Toro airport.

Sullivan will soon get a taste of some very bitter medicine when on Nov. 3 we send a message that the 2nd District is not for sale.

BRAD WHITE

Huntington Beach

* Orange County voters need to realize the importance of the Board of Supervisors historically.

It is their responsibility for bringing about the horrible financial debacle of Orange County’s bankruptcy; permitting the building of toll roads all over South County, a new and dangerous precedent for the rest of the state and a travesty of public trust; and trying to foist an expanded jail complex and an international airport on highly populated residential areas.

In what way has Jim Silva upheld the public protection with which his office has been invested? As supervisor, isn’t Silva supposed to be a watchdog for the quality of life for all Orange County residents?

The saying “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” obviously is not a part of the Board of Supervisors’ vocabulary. Do they really believe that turning Laguna Beach into another Playa del Rey, where airplane noise prevents enjoyment of the beach facilities, is in the best interest of the residents living there? Is it right to even contemplate converting Irvine, Lake Forest or Leisure World into another El Segundo?

When voters choose supervisors and [other] public officials, they should make sure they are not in the pocket of private interests, but are there to serve all whose quality of life they are entrusted to protect.

Surely North County cannot be willing to splinter this county by alienating the south. Would North County residents wish to have toll roads, jails or international airports close to their homes? If voters think about their neighbors when they cast their ballots, this whole county will be much better off.

MYLA LICHTMAN-FIELDS

Irvine

* Re “Sullivan Far Ahead of Silva in Funds,” Oct. 6:

Supervisor Jim Silva states: “If I am defeated, the El Toro airport is dead--end of story.” Where do I send the money to defeat Silva?

WENDELL SCOTT

Irvine

* In the Oct. 6 story about the 2nd District supervisorial race, you fail to point out one very important fact about candidate Dave Sullivan.

Why was his flip-flop on the El Toro airport issue not mentioned? Opposition to the airport is the centerpiece of Sullivan’s campaign.

Readers are entitled to know that Sullivan supported the airport until last year, when he decided to run for the Board of Supervisors and realized that South County special interests would fund his campaign.

In 1993 he voted to write a letter in support of the El Toro airport. In 1994 he served as liaison to the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority. In 1995 he voted to send a letter supporting legislation facilitating the airport. In 1996, he voted to adopt a resolution strongly supporting the El Toro airport, which found the airport was “the only reuse scenario that is consistent with the Orange County General Plan.”

Voters need to know that candidate Sullivan is trying to buy this election with South County’s interests in mind. This should serve as a wake-up call to every voter in the cities of Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Cypress, Stanton, Los Alamitos and Costa Mesa that we need to vote for Supervisor Jim Silva, a man who has always represented our interests.

DAWN STANTON

Huntington Beach

* I have known Jim Silva over 10 years. He is a good honest family man. I would trust him to handle all my assets if needed. I truly believe not a single penny would be misused as long as he is in office. That is why I trust him as best qualified to be the supervisor of Orange County.

When he was Huntington Beach mayor, I asked him to come and look at Greer Lake; my wife and I live right next to it. The lake was full of algae with a pungent odor. I asked the city for years to do something about it.

Silva personally came to see for himself. He said it had to be done as soon as possible. The very next council meeting they decided to redo the complete lake with a better filtering system; we have never had a problem since.

VILJO OVASKAINEN

Huntington Beach

* I am writing to criticize your biased reporting of the Dave Sullivan-Jim Silva race for county supervisor.

While you write that a majority of Sullivan’s contributions come from South County residents, you point this out negatively by emphasizing that this has sparked “complaints from many people in his district.” However, in your article about Silva, you call the support from Gen. William Lyon “solid,” while not even mentioning that he owns one of the largest South County homes, in Cota de Caza. Even more incredibly, you never mentioned that [many] of Silva’s contributions are from wealthy Newport Beach developers, also outside the 2nd District.

I, too, live in Cota de Caza, and I have organized a residents group against the airport and in favor of Sullivan. We are offended and outraged that our most “prominent” resident, Gen. Lyon, would so callously disregard the feelings of the vast majority of his neighbors, and would do it in such a disrespectful way as hosting a fund-raiser for a proponent of the airport. It is very disappointing that you would then not even call him to the carpet for this supreme act of betrayal against his community.

Oversights your paper has committed serve only to fortify the resolve of those of us in South County who are committed to preserving our quality of life and ensuring that an airport will never occur at El Toro.

JEFF METZGER

Trabuco Canyon