Mailbag: Fond memories of a delicious dessert

Re A restaurant marks 100 years in newport beach (March 8)

Thank you for your eloquently worded tribute to the Arches Restaurant.
Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s we went there on special occasions.

I have lived here for a long time, and you omitted my favorite memory. It was not the tuxedoed maitre d or the premium steaks. It was the bananas Foster that was set ablaze tableside. The burning rum, melting butter and brown sugar was what kept us coming back.

I believe the fire marshal was the one who put a stop to that, but it was a treat and a show like no other. I am sure I am not the only one who has fond memories of that decadent dessert.

Mike Tubbiola
Newport Beach

Noncitizen voting is rare

This Huntington Beach City Council pursued voter I.D. legislation and spent considerable taxpayer money in court.

Did this council fully consider the ramifications — what forms of I.D. would qualify, whether this conflicts with state law — or was this driven purely by Trumpism?

Here are the facts. The right-leaning Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Database — one of the most active organizations tracking voter fraud — documents just 68 total cases of noncitizen voting since the 1980s, according to the non-partisan- American Immigration Council.

Noncitizens already risk five years in federal prison and deportation for registering or voting illegally — and experts agree the deterrent works.

Violations are rare, prosecuted when detected, and there is zero evidence of systemic fraud or false-identity voting. The evidence is clear — but not to this council. Noncitizen voter fraud does not exist at any meaningful scale.

This council swallowed a Trumped-up lie, weaponized it into a voter suppression scheme and sent Huntington Beach taxpayers the legal bills. Taxpayers have footed the bill for all of their irresponsible decisions.

Before your next bright idea becomes policy, have your great staff run it through a SWOT analysis: This would limit your reckless lawsuits and bad decisions— billed to us. That ends in November!

Andrew Einhorn
Hunntington Beach

americanimmigrationcouncil.org

The distorted perception of danger

Re Huntington beach business leaders talk shop at mayors breakfast (March 13)

A recent article about the mayor’s breakfast event touched on an issue that resurfaces especially during an election season: crime and the persistent gap between public perception and statistical reality.

The Paseo Hotel’s general ganager made a pointed observation — that potential guests cite fears about crime in Huntington Beach when booking or declining reservations, even though those fears don’t reflect the data. It’s worth asking: where does this myth come from?

I believe the answer is politics and media. Opposition parties out of power have long found crime fear to be a reliable rallying cry and a press culture that prizes alarming headlines over measured context does the rest.

The result is a distorted picture that real businesses pay a real price for.

To the hotel manager’s quote — that visitors have chosen not to come because they don’t feel safe, and “we know that is not the truth” — I’d offer a gentle but important correction. Feelings are neither true nor false. They simply are and those expressed in the article need to be addressed by civic leaders.

As long as Huntington Beach’s elected officials remain silent when white nationalists march our streets, attend rallies and chant hate — offering no immediate rebuke, no clear statement of the city’s values — the feeling of being unsafe will persist.

Not because crime statistics warrant it, but because silence from leadership is its own message.

Tourist dollars are going elsewhere. The city’s reputation is suffering. The fix begins with leaders who are willing to speak up.

Patricia Goodman
Huntington Beach