Mobile home park a Newport cash cow...

Mobile home park a Newport cash cow

The Marinapark mobile home park is a cash cow for the city of

Newport Beach, returning several hundred thousand dollars yearly to

the city’s treasury.

It should remain so until Newport Beach citizens approve a plan

for conversion to as-yet undetermined uses and necessary approvals

(state of California, Coastal Commission, for example) are

forthcoming.

JOHN DOWDEN

Newport Beach

Police officers are

the best of the best

Who should and how does one respond to Randy Johnson’s April 16

Mailbag letter regarding the Newport Beach Police Department?

Needless to say, none of the excellent sworn officers will

respond, and most likely the Police Department probably will not, as

it would be deemed to be defensive.

OK, I will.

By way of disclosure, I am a 35-year resident of Newport Beach and

a volunteer in the Police Department for the past four-plus years.

This letter is written as a longtime resident of the city, and the

following comments are solely mine.

I had originally written a long and extensive epistle, responding

to his letter point-by-point. Upon reflection, I came to several

conclusions: that Johnson knows very little about his own police

department; and that Johnson has “issues,” whatever they may be, with

the department.

I would suggest that Johnson apply to the Police Department to

become enrolled in its Citizens Police Academy, so that he might

become a knowledgeable and informed resident before writing such an

ignorant letter; and were he to be accepted, that he attend the

weekly classes (three hours each for 12 weeks) with a receptive and

open mind-set.

In sum, Johnson’s ill-founded remarks and assumptions

notwithstanding, we are truly blessed with an outstanding Police

Department. And yes, our sworn officers and all other staff members

of the department are the “best of the best,” and this resident is

thankful for their presence and excellent service to our community.

M. JOHN LIPPMAN

Newport Beach

El Toro should have been security center

I was appalled to read the news recently calling for a homeland

security center at March Air Reserve Base to help protect the Port of

Long Beach. As usual, this was someone else’s idea in Riverside and

not one of our congressman’s -- Rep. Chris Cox -- own making.

Instead, Cox jumped in to grab some headlines to make him look

good, which has become his standard operating procedure of late.

So, why am I appalled?

An idea was proposed to Cox more than two years ago to have a

homeland security center at El Toro, which is considerably closer to

the Port of Long Beach than March Air Reserve Base is; Long Beach is

right up the San Diego (405) Freeway from El Toro. But instead, Cox

failed to act on the idea, and in so doing, he put the Port of Long

Beach at considerable risk. El Toro’s close proximity to the 405

Freeway would have put homeland security officials only minutes away

from Long Beach, but Cox dropped the homeland-security ball.

In the aftermath of El Toro, one thing remains clear: Cox put the

needs of his contributors first, above homeland security, for which

the congressman should be rebuked and voted out of office in 2006.

ANN WATT

Newport Beach