Mailbag: Social issues are rooted in homelessness

I had an experience recently that has weighed on my mind. I was at a drugstore waiting to pick up a prescription when a man, somewhat disheveled, with a black shoulder satchel and pants that hung lower than low passed behind me and disappeared down an aisle. Something didn’t sit right, and I peaked around the corner to see him taking items off the shelf and placing them into the satchel. I walked down another aisle to the front of the store to see if he would pay for the items. When he didn’t appear, I peaked down another aisle and saw him placing other items in the satchel. As he walked out the store I followed and called 911. Fifteen minutes later he was apprehended by Costa Mesa police.

What struck me is that this individual thought he could get away with this crime with total impunity. I am confident that this isn’t his first “shopping” visit to Walgreens and likely other shops. And I am sure he is not the only one. It is quite likely he is homeless or at least indigent, economically disadvantaged, possibly mentally impaired and impaired by drug use. I didn’t get the sense he was a veteran.

I think so much, but not all of this, is rooted in the homeless problem that plagues us. I can think of no issue that adversely impacts our society as much as the scourge of homelessness. We must demand of our elected officials a city, county and state solution — that a public private partnership. I’m not saying this will be easy.

Seeing it firsthand, and the indifference the store employees take (because they are instructed not to do anything) has made an impact on me in a profound way. I will be looking for ways to be part of, and press for a solution to, the problem of homelessness.

Mark Herschthal
Costa Mesa

He’d make a good speaker, but alas

The article in the March 3 Daily Pilot & TimesOC, “Tackling Sports a passion for monthly O.C. group” was more than interesting. It told of a group of sports folks who meet once a month in Corona Del Mar at the OASIS Senior Center. The group is open to the public and only has three rules: no dues, no politics, and anyone wanting to be heard will be heard. The meetings feature guest speakers covering various aspects of sports. Future guest speakers include Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Julie Jacobs.

Two statements in the article caught my eye : “I’d also love to get a race car driver in here. I know some people who know some people.” Those two lines in a very subtle manner kind of pertain to me. I went to high school and graduated in 1959 with a guy by the name of “Joe” who was very into sports and played on the football team as the quarterback, the baseball team and the basketball team, all on the varsity team, naturally. This guy Joe was also known for his souped-up fast cars, which he drove all through our high school years. Anyway, we all graduated and went our separate ways, with Joe staying in sports and winding up as the head coach of the then-Washington Redskins, winning three out of four Superbowl appearances, each with a different quarterback. And yes, his name is Joe Gibbs, and after spending about 12 years as coach of the Washington team Joe went into a different profession, that being a NASCAR owner with four cars racing each weekend.

The lines again, “I’d love to get a race car driver in here. I know some people who know some people,” would be fantastic if I was close to Joe. I could ask him if he could be a future guest speaker. But alas, I saw him once after graduation in 1991 when the team now called the Washington Commanders came out to play the Rams when the Rams were still in O.C. He did however remember me, which made my day because my 14-year-old son, Ryan, got to meet him. But to ask him to be a guest speaker at the Tackling Sports meeting just because we went to the same high school in Santa Fe Springs, just wouldn’t do it after all these years. He did however sign two of my high school annuals, which I still have.

Bill Spitalnick
Newport Beach

H.B. election a cynical ploy

It is unfortunate, but the cold-blooded attempt by the conservative Huntington Beach City Council majority to use the low voter turnout in the recent primary, on Wednesday at 23.5%, to jam its noxious charter amendments down the throats of Surf City residents was largely successful. The ploy of using hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to strangle the will of the community instead of waiting until November paid off at our expense. Big money went into the yes on A, B and C campaign, most of it partisan and pandering. It was a power grab of epic proportions. Now we’ll see what our despotic leaders will do with it. If they are true to form, they will not exercise it to better serve and represent the Huntington Beach citizenry but rather exclusively cater to their MAGA base. They will seek further restrictions and indignities to our social, cultural, and civic norms. Their handpicked candidates for the City Council election in November are not only cut from the same cloth but possibly more extreme and unhinged. It is an existential crisis the voters of our city will now be forced to grapple with. Further negative impacts and fallout from the election may befall us down the road. We’ll see what the county and state have in mind. The bottom line is that Huntington Beach is moving backward and not forward. It is moving further into darkness. It is important for our population to see this, the turning from democracy into autocracy. Only when this becomes clear will we be able to correct our vision and pursue a positive and productive course for the future.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

Hope after voter turnout

I was initially disappointed by the low turnout of the primary election, believing in it to be the reason for the passage of the charter changes. However by Wednesday afternoon, when the no votes on A and B only trailed by 273 votes with thousands of mail-in ballots yet to count, I felt much better about the election in general and the community as a whole. After all why would we need voter ID, when we showed our ID at registration and why would we discriminate against minority groups by refusing to fly their flags?

We know that votes by mail take longer to tabulate because verification is a long process, but overall the difference in the passage or failure will be much closer, which restores my belief in the city’s progress. The Daily Pilot’s reporting is what locals can rely on to understand what is taking place in our city and is very much appreciated.

Richard C. Armendariz
Huntington Beach