Mailbag: Let’s teach more cooperation, less competition for a kinder world

Whether on a battlefield or on a sport field, competition — along with the dichotomy and struggle between winners and losers — is bound to promote aggression and even dehumanization among a certain segment of the population.

Certainly this does not excuse such ugly behavior as the racist incident at Portola High School, but it does perhaps help us to better understand and address these unacceptable incidents. Maybe dialogue and cooperation should be promoted in our schools as much as competition and winning. In a kinder community we all become winners.

Ben Miles
Huntington Beach

Who’s behind recall petition effort in H.B.?

We don’t know much about the people constituting “Save Surf City,” which wants to recall five members of the seven-member Huntington Beach City Council. We do know they represent a miniscule fraction of some 201,000 Huntington Beach residents and assume they are conservative. We know their flyer sent to residents reads “Help Stop City Council Corruption” and states “Stop Rogue Council Members From Violating the Law.” No real details of any offenses are given. We know the flyer is glossy and that the faces all have “RECALL” across their brows like Wanted Posters and that two members, the conservative, Erik Peterson and H.B.’s first Black councilwoman, Rhonda Bolton, are not included in the recall. And we know that Russell Neal and former Mayor Dave Sullivan are members and that the former supports post-audits of all Orange County elections. Oh, we also know that Mike Posey, Kim Carr and Barbara Delgleize‘s terms end this year and Dan Kalmick and Natalie Moser‘s terms end in 2024. One must ask, “What’s the real reason of this recall, and, indeed, the point of removing three whose terms end in 2022?”

Jim Hoover
Huntington Beach

The adjective “jaundiced” can be defined in civic terms as “affected by bitterness, resentment or envy.” The term perfectly describes the right-wing Save Surf City supporters who attempted a political coup in trying to recall most of the City Council members over perceived slights to their ideological cause. It also explains the bile and intemperate resentment directed at councilmembers during meetings in the performance of their decision-making. The first part of this contemptuous crusade against local government proved unsuccessful when the recall petition effort fell well short of the signature goal needed to put the recall of two members on the November ballot. The second part of this cynical grandstanding ploy will no doubt succumb to the same fate in the effort to oust three more council members in the next couple of weeks. We should not be fooled or frightened by bullying from those who have no allegiance to facts or the truth. I predict they will eventually turn yellow and run.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

How will we know who’s vaccinated?

California’s mask mandate is set to expire. Everyone who lives in Laguna, Newport, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach who is fully vaccinated and boosted can finally shop indoors again without face coverings. The only glitch is this: Unvaccinated people still will be required to wear masks indoors. Unless the unprotected are wearing something like a bright orange patch complete with the letters U.V. printed on them, how will anyone know who is and isn’t vaxxed?

This year marks the third year in our war against COVID-19. Now that three vaccines are readily available, the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths occur among the unvaccinated. I, for one, don’t want to spend another day wondering if an unmasked shopper passing me in Ralphs in Costa Mesa or Macy’s at Fashion Island is vaccinated or not. Starting next week, I’m guessing fully vaxxed and boosted shoppers will feel the same way I do.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.