Mailbag: In favor of honoring Sumner with naming track field

Our son ran for Bill Sumner for four years and graduated from Corona del Mar in 1996 with the Coach’s Award and the MVR (“Corona del Mar alumni rally to rename track field after longtime coach Bill Sumner,” Daily Pilot, April 4).

I cannot say enough on how Coach Sumner “ran” his program along with his assistant coaches. Bill was all about making the kids work hard and run at their fullest potential. His program produced friendship and support for each participant, he was a funny story teller and was kind, friendly and informative to the parents.

He is a very special person and I would love to see the track field named after him.

Patty and Jeff Gwin
Corona del Mar

Stop breeding and buying, shelter dogs are dying

It’s pathetic that Orange County residents will spend from $4,000 to $12,000 for a French bulldog, for example, which would likely cost thousands more of vet bills.

Since volunteering in shelters here in O.C., I’ve seen hundreds of sweet dogs who were either dumped or abandoned; even puppies, all waiting to be loved.

I remember the look in their eyes waiting and hoping someone would get them out of doggie jail. They don’t know why they are there or what happened to their person.

French bulldogs are known to have costly genetic health problems. They are targeted by thieves who know they can make a “quick buck” selling them.

Alternatively there is nothing like a mixed breed, which would be most grateful and loyal if you saved him or her from death row.

Adoption fees would be a mere pittance of the cost of a French bulldog. Your new best friend will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped.

Please make adoption your first option.

Lynn Copeland
Huntington Beach

Outside money is supporting measure

According to campaign records kept by the Newport Beach city clerk, as of April 1st, close to half of donations to the “Yes” side of Measure B (the Elect Our Mayor ballot measure) come from people listed as residing outside our city, in some cases, even from outside our state!

If a $5,000 loan from Councilman Will O’Neil is included, 49% of all “Yes” donations come from either the councilman or from out-of-town donors. In contrast, donations to the “No” side show only one donor from outside of Newport Beach, and that person was an involved resident of Newport Beach for many years.

It begs the question — why does so much money from donors living outside our city want to see Newport Beach have a directly elected mayor? What do outside special interests have to gain if Measure B passes?

Newport Beach does not need its elections decided by money from people who live outside the community. If Measure B passes, this is just a preview of what is to come in the future. Stop the power grab and vote “No” on Measure B in the June primary election.

Homer Bludau
Newport Beach

Voters should choose their own mayor

This June, the voters in Newport Beach will have an opportunity to approve a charter amendment that would enable all voters and all community members in the city to directly elect their own mayor.

Presently in the city, voters elect a council member for each district and then this small group of seven people goes into a back room in City Hall and literally picks the mayor themselves. And each passing year a group of seven council members revisits the process, and they pass around the mayorship like pinch-pint at a barbecue, regardless of the community’s opinion or that persons past performance.

Maintaining this system is the real power-grab! Such an archaic process promotes the game of political favors — “Make me the chief today, and I’ll make you chief tomorrow.”

People opposing Measure B are headed up by some of the same culprits of the past. You know them … many of the city’s well-connected “good ol’ boys (and girls)” and “insiders.” These are the same folks who gave us a $131.4-million dollar Taj Mahal. The same ones who aided and abetted the overproliferation of drug rehabs throughout the city. Many of these folks are ex-council members who couldn’t get reelected in their own districts or even to a second council term — those same old insiders!

The irony is, when you read the actual ballot question you will see just how simple the issue is. But don’t take my word, here’s how an impartial city staffer wrote the ballot question:

… Shall Article IV, City Council, and Article X, Elections, of the Newport Beach City Charter be amended … to provide for the direct election of the Mayor, who would be nominated (and elected) by residents and registered voters of the City of Newport Beach …

In actuality, Measure B will decentralize power and put it back in the hands of our voters and community members.

Let’s send a message to the Insiders and end their power-grab. Vote Yes on B!

Bob Rush
Newport Beach

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