Give Councilman Steel a little credit It...

Give Councilman Steel a little credit

It seems that the Daily Pilot is spitting into the wind with the

Thursday editorial, “Council must avoid special election.” After

years of critiquing Chris Steel to the point of harassment, now the

Pilot is purporting that Steel exemplify some sort of “Profile in

Courage” and betray his ideals and supporters so that the city can

avoid a “costly” special election. By the way, now that it seems

imminent, has anyone determined how much this costly special election

is going to cost?

Does the Pilot really believe it can taunt Steel into changing his

vote so that council members Libby Cowan and Gary Monahan, along with

“new” Councilman Mike Scheafer, can create a majority then thwart

every initiative Steel may come up with for at least a year and an

half? It seems from the articles it publishes that the Pilot feels

Steel is lacking in intelligence, but come on.

ERIC CHRISTENSEN

Costa Mesa

* EDITOR’S NOTE: The election’s estimated cost is about $30,000.

Pilot misses meaning of improvement

It is amazing how far off the Pilot can be. After five years of

writing to you to express our position on the issues facing Costa

Mesa and the Westside, the so-called “improver” groups continue to be

misunderstood.

It is also of interest that with the numerous issues facing all of

us, you state (incorrectly) that we support some sort of eradication

of the “charities” and the building of “upscale” housing only. This

is untrue.

The “improvers” that I am familiar with recognize the need for

many (perhaps not all) of the charities; however, we do push for

their better management so as to be less damaging to the area they

propose to help. It is true that we support housing over junk yards

and toxic/polluting factories. In the future, before you attempt to

categorize and simplify a complex topic such as “improvement,” please

ask the involved parties, not the misinformed observers.

MICHAEL W. BERRY

Costa Mesa