Public transit vision must get on track...

Public transit vision

must get on track

Regarding the piece in the Pilot July 1, on the purported lack of

support for light rail, here are some of the issues with the light

rail project as it stands (“Light rail could be left up to voters”).

Orange County citizens support better transportation options, and

we voted to pay for them with Measure M. However, the proposed

solutions need to make sense. Our local legislators do not have a

vision for a transportation network. They are throwing a lot of

dollars at a problem without addressing it in context of the total

need.

If Rep. Dana Rohrabacher considers public transit and rail lines

to be social engineering, then he needs to turn the mirror on himself

and Congress. Most of the money Congress appropriates is for projects

that promote social engineering: Social Security, tax codes that

promote marriage and home ownership and roads. And automobiles and

highways represent the biggest social engineering project ever,

leading to the death of downtowns and the growth of suburbs, where

citizens lock themselves away in gated communities.

If the ability to ride a subway and bus to your location on

excellent public transit -- as in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco

-- is social engineering, then bring it on.

Also, the proposed route does not go directly to John Wayne

Airport or the South Coast Plaza, which means that few people will

consider it convenient or use it.

There are other options, such as super-bus routes, which act as

virtual street cars, and dedicated, safe bikeways, which are more

flexible and should be considered.

LAURA C. CURRAN

Newport Beach

Airport use should

trump local decision

The Daily Pilot editorial on July 4 has some of the facts about

the Orange County airport situation correct but others which need

revision (“Airport alternative must stay on radar”).

It is now generally acknowledged that John Wayne Airport’s

passenger traffic is increasing at such a high rate that the limit of

10.3 million air passengers per year will be reached by summer of

2005.

However, according to the settlement agreement between Newport

Beach and the Federal Aviation Administration, this cap continues

until the year 2011. With the demand continuing to rise, and the cap

in effect, where will all of these passengers go?

Clearly, Orange County needs a second airport to meet its need for

air transport.

The obvious solution to this problem is to open the El Toro

airport. With its four runways and control tower intact and no

residential housing in the noise zone, El Toro is ready to open. El

Toro airport is not dead as your editorial suggests. At present, the

location of the contaminants is not completely known. There may be

more under the concrete runways. Cleaning contaminated land is tricky

business, for there may be some contaminants remaining which could be

hazardous to health.

Because of the uncertainty about the base clean-up and the

recognized need for a second airport in Orange County, the federal

government can overrule the local decision to convert the air station

to non-aviation use. The sooner everybody agrees to this sensible

solution, the better off we all will be.

Let us get our second airport now, El Toro.

SHIRLEY A. CONGER

Corona del Mar

Not pleased with the

lack of Latino names

Your mixing up or splashing several names and more than a dozen

photos in the two pages of your July 6 newspaper devoted to

Newport-Mesa Schools Foundation grant award winners was revealing

only if you were the individual mentioned or a member of his or her

family.

Certainly, the Newport-Mesa School Foundation deserves recognition

for sponsoring a number of winners, but in reviewing the names of

those selected, I couldn’t help noticing that Latino names were all

but non-existent. For awards presented in 2004, the failure to

identify Hispanic students who have also achieved academically is

symptomatic of a continuing failure on the part of the local school

district to bring about improvements in their academic performances.

Let’s hope that this situation changes in 2005.

LEFTERIS LAVRAKAS

Costa Mesa