Mailbag: Proposed advertising board is a bad deal

Two weeks after Cheryl Brothers was anointed mayor of Fountain Valley and just days before Christmas, the City Council on Tuesday may give Clear Channel Communications the ability to construct a massive two-sided, highly intrusive commercial advertising LED billboard.

Merry Christmas to the poor citizens and homeowners of nearby Costa Mesa and the uninformed and unaware citizens of Fountain Valley.

The city says it needs the revenue, apparently no matter how garish or intrusive the lighting or the questionable content of the advertising. Did you also know that the city will have no legal control over the messages broadcast over these commercial advertising boards for the next 30 years? Good luck, Fountain Valley, in going to court trying to regulate or pursue broken promises against a multibillion-dollar advertising company like Clear Channel.

The city says it will receive $150,000 in revenue from Clear Channel every year. That’s quite a bargain for Clear Channel. This means the city will receive $17.12 per hour while Clear Channel is able to broadcast close to 1,028 commercial advertisements per hour between the two LED boards.

In my opinion, it is devious, underhanded and sad that this issue is being handled in this manner by Fountain Valley city management, the Planning Department and the City Council.

Leston Trueblood

Fountain Valley

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Putting desalination plants near San Onofre raises concerns

I read the article “Poseidon’s Carlsbad desal plant in test period as H.B. plan waits in the wings” (Dec. 3). The article described the status of the Carlsbad and Huntington Beach desalination plants.

However, the article did not address the potential risks associated with the desalination plants being near the nuclear waste being stored at the decommissioned San Onofre nuclear power plant.

Consideration must be given, even if low probability, to the potential impact of a nuclear leak into the ocean water that could be taken in by the desalination plants. If that occurred, it could contaminate the desalination plants and the water and pipes leading to other water facilities and homes, not to mention the potential health risks of drinking the water.

The only one I know of who has thoughtfully expressed this concern is 48th Congressional District candidate Suzanne Savary, and she supports steps to eliminate, or at least significantly mitigate, this potential problem.

Charles Mooney

Costa Mesa