Letters to the Editor: Traffic control outside the Orange County Fair baffles this driver

At 7 p.m. Aug. 5, I was asked to drop off some people at the O.C. Fair. They wanted to avoid the congestion in the parking lot, the long walk and the parking fee.

The fair has accommodated drop-offs near the main gate for many years. In fact, I had just done it a week prior for some family members. There was no problem.

This time the intersection at Fairview Road and Fair Drive was a nightmare. Total gridlock, bone-headed drivers blocking the intersection with pedestrians dodging said bone-headed drivers. And not a cop in sight.

OK, it’s the O.C. Fair, Saturday night, you expect crowds. After sitting through three green-light cycles, moving up one car length during each one, I finally crossed the intersection.

Right then a motorcycle cop pulled up and shut down the traffic light so he could direct traffic. That’s all well and good, but he was at least one hour, maybe two, too late. Were they caught by surprise? They didn’t anticipate increased traffic for the O.C. Fair on a Saturday night?

Inexcusable.

As I crossed the intersection, almost all traffic started merging left to enter the O.C. Fairgrounds lot to park. The right lane opened up and flowed normally down to the main gate and the drop-off area.

Great, I thought. Then I saw it.

Traffic control had completely closed down the drop-off area. A row of cones blocked the entrance, plus an officer was stationed there to make sure that no one dared try to drop off any fair-goers. Gee, I wonder if he could have been more useful working the Fair/Fairview intersection.

Randy Stratton

Costa Mesa

What happened to political reform?

In one of the first council meetings this year, Mayor Kevin Muldoon appointed council members Scott Peotter, Diane Dixon and Jeff Herdman to an ad hoc committee to review and recommend reforms to ensure our political campaign laws in Newport Beach can be enforced to protect the public.

What has happened since then? Absolutely nothing.

Normally, the city would depend on its city attorney to enforce its municipal ordinances, but this, in my opinion, creates a conflict since the city attorney reports to the council, and the city attorney claims to lack jurisdiction to enforce our city’s campaign contribution limits ordinance, which was adopted in 1995 and had been deemed enforceable for more than 20 years and 10 election cycles.

The council had the opportunity to address this in 2015, but the majority, including Peotter, chose to wait until a new council was seated before considering appropriate political reforms. As could be expected, in 2016 a second candidate filed a report showing that he also failed to comply with the city’s campaign contribution limits. Once again, the City Council and the city attorney did nothing.

All citizens, no matter which faction or party they may align with, have a right to expect that our laws will be fairly and fully enforced. Peotter and the City Council have failed the residents by not making the campaign contribution limits enforceable by a third party, such as the new Orange County Ethics Commission, a special prosecutor or the city attorney.

Kristin M. Cano

Corona del Mar

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