Mailbag: Hoping plans for more ‘White Lives Matter’ rallies go away

Re: Huntington Beach exhales after ‘White Lives Matter’ rally fizzles out, it is my hope that the KKK-inspired “White Lives Matter” rally did flop. It’s not that all lives don’t matter, of course they do. The point is that statistics reveal a systematic disregard for Black lives. For example, the National Academy of Sciences released a report on August 5, 2019 that indicates that Black men are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than is a non-Hispanic white man.

This is a disturbing and unacceptable condition in a democratic nation where all people are guaranteed equal protection by law under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Ben Miles
Huntington Beach

O.C. loses an education advocate

Our dear friend Sandy Asper, who contributed commentaries to the Daily Pilot, died on Tuesday, April 20. She had escaped the COVID-19 pandemic but couldn’t beat cancer for the second time.

Sandy’s career was as an educator (although she probably would have preferred the title teacher), and after her retirement from the Newport Mesa School District, she became a fierce and tireless advocate for students and teachers.

We will sorely miss her.

Chuck and Nancy Remley
Balboa Island

Re: Mariners Mile development heads to Newport Beach City Council, Daily Pilot, April 22, Newport is a community of villages. Its unique character and charm are on display in the villages surrounding Newport Bay: Balboa Peninsula, Lido Marina Village, Mariner’s Mile, Balboa Island and the Islands of Newport Harbor.

Mariner’s Mile is an indispensable seaside center whose significance must not be undervalued. It presents a unique opportunity to create a “Mariner’s Village” for an active pedestrian retail district to serve adjacent neighborhoods, visitors and existing marine uses. It offers public views and access to Newport Bay for all to enjoy. The current structure for such a “village” is already present in the existing uses, pattern of streets and alleys and current relationship to neighboring uses.

Will the proposed development at 2510 West Pacific Coast Highway create a precedent? It is impossible to overstate the profound change the project and all proposed high-density property development projects will have on that stretch of highway. Overall, the plans represent over one-third of Mariner’s Mile and will forever determine its destiny.

The industrial box design and density of the 2510 project is out of character with Newport-style development and Newport Bay marine design. This proposed project would take away protected views, fail to address safety concerns as demonstrated by the number of serious accidents in the area and endanger schoolchildren.

Mariner’s Mile is at a crossroads: Will the City Council sustain the character and charm of the neighborhood, or will our community’s foundational core values be eroded by high-density development that is out of harmony with the surrounding villages on Newport Bay?

Patrick Gormley
Former President
Bayshores Community Assn.

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