Mayor makes strong points about service...

Mayor makes strong points about service

I read Mayor Steve Bromberg’s letter with great interest (“Bell

Curve missed with swing against council,” Jan. 16). He is right on.

As residents of Newport Beach, we must remember our City Council

members are volunteers. They attend countless meetings both in and

for the city. They walk our neighborhood, they answer our phone

calls.

Don’t criticize them for others’ mistakes. It is just plain

mean-spirited to try and tar these honest and honorable people with

the never-used method someone found at an old voicemail box belonging

to a paid consultant.

Unless you, the Daily Pilot, or the disgruntled whose letters you

like to print can find some evidence that our City Council members

endorse the misleading methods, then stop the guilt by association.

Unless you can prove they did something wrong, let’s move on.

DEBRA ALLAN

Corona del Mar

A plan to help launch boats from beach again

I’d like to see the post at 18th Street that prevents the

launching of small sailboats from the beach, such as Hobie Cats,

removed. It used to be, a number of years ago, that you used to be

able to watch Hobie Cats and other small boats from the beach there,

18th Street, and it was a beautiful sight to see all the

multi-colored sails of the Hobies sailing off the beach, and they all

used to be lined up, and it was a really pretty sight, and I’d like

to see something where we could launch small boats from the beach

again at 18th Street.

GARY DE VINE

Santa Ana Heights

Sad story had a touch

of beauty, too

I would like to compliment you on the beautiful, beautiful,

although sad, content of the article Jan. 15 on the death of this

wonderful dog, Rebar. It was sad because of his untimely death, but

it was beautifully written and everything was said in such a short

amount of space that you couldn’t help but read it and feel a very

warm loving feeling about the whole situation.

And I think it was a great plug for the City Council of Newport

Beach that was brought in to the fact that they acted in such a

positive way. I think Deirdre Newman is a fantastic writer, and I

look forward to more of her articles in the Daily Pilot.

RUTH GARSTONE

Balboa

Article on war protests just part of larger story

We were very encouraged to read the Daily Pilot’s account of the

anti-war demonstrations in Congressmen Chris Cox and Dana

Rohrabacher’s offices. It shows many in Orange County are joining in

the wave of protests that is sweeping our country.

We feel so strongly that this proposed war does not in any way

meet the requirements for a just war and would cause indefensible

death and destruction that we participated in the demonstration in

San Francisco last Saturday.

As we were flying up the coast, we began to ask ourselves if we

were crazy, thinking we could make much of a difference.

When we assembled at the Embarcadero and realized that Market

Street, as wide as it is, was packed with at least 100,000 people

(probably a conservative estimate, because the march started at 11:30

a.m. and two teacher friends of ours from Huntington Beach and

Westminster, who were at the end of the solid mass, didn’t reach City

Hall Plaza until 3 p.m.); when we met and talked to scores of couples

with small children, students, religious people, seniors likes us --

all who came to be counted -- we knew we were in the right place.

It became obvious to us that the vast majority of the people there

had come on their own -- not as a special interest group or radical

fringe, but as people who are so concerned about what their

government is doing that they came from all over the country to say,

“Not in my name.”

Some around us were from Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, San Diego

and as far away as Colorado. There were three busloads of protesters

from Orange County.

One sign said “Surfers for Peace;” another sign held by men in

suits and ties said, “People with Portfolios Against the War.” There

were many banners that read “No blood for oil,” but most of them

merely said, “No War in Iraq.”

We can only hope that our leaders listen before it’s too late and

realize that we show our patriotism and love for our country when we

tell her when she’s wrong.

FRANK AND JEAN FORBATH

Costa Mesa

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Jean Forbath is the founder of Share Our Selves.