Mailbag: Voting no on football this fall

Back in April, I asked a dozen of my USC fraternity brothers, most of whom have been season tickets holders for more than 50 years, should the Trojans play football this fall? Almost without exception, they said, “Yes, despite COVID, SC should play.”

Now jump to Tuesday when the PAC 12 and Big 10 commissioners formally voted to postpone their 2020 football seasons. They were the first to join the Mid-Atlantic Conference after it made its historic announcement the previous Saturday.

As painful as these decisions were, the commissioners were right to vote the way they did. While I understand why players want to take the field this fall, you can’t overlook this inescapable truth: Football, by definition, is a contact sport. Teams huddle and line up inches from each other. Sometimes it takes two to tackle a ball carrier. In the time of a national health pandemic, how can anyone safely play a game that ignores the importance of social distancing? Simply put, you can’t.

To date, all California high school football has been postponed until spring of 2021. Now that much of college football will not be played this fall, I wonder when the NFL owners will be forced to admit the obvious? For the safety of all the players and coaches, it’s time to punt on the 2020 season.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach

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Gas station’s plan would uncork trouble

The 76 Gas Station located in Corona del Mar at 2201 E. Coast Hwy) has plans with the city to demolish the service building and replace it with a two-story convenience store. The owner of the lot and station want to partner with 7/Eleven and sell beer and wine. This can essentially place Korker Liquor’s more-than-60-year establishment in jeopardy and my family-owned shop out of business. I hope to get the support of residents in Newport Beach to prevent this from happening.

We must list reasons on why this is a terrible plan. This will heighten the homeless issue within the area. The gas station’s proposed hours are 6 a.m. to Midnight. Korker is located right next door and closes at 9 p.m. every day.

There can be an increase in traffic accidents going in and out of the lot. The gas pumps will remain, and the 7/Eleven will increase cars entering the lot with insufficient parking.

It can also affect real estate pricing by having a 7/Eleven turn off and deter potential buyers.

Please feel free to add any other reason. The staff report will be made available online Aug. 14. The planning commission is set to meet Aug. 20 to discuss this with the public. Please email Chelsea Crager in the planning department at ccrager@newportbeachca.gov with your concerns before Aug. 20!

Garen Yegenian
Corona del Mar

Let’s follow the 3 Ws

Twenty-four new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Orange County as of this writing. At last, Huntington Beach is getting serious about spreading the message that masks help prevent the spreading of this illness.

While we lack effective national leadership in controlling this disease, Surf City has finally taken a meager step toward mitigating the corona contagion. As piecemeal as it may be, something is better than nothing. Better late than never. Even though it’s clearly too little, too late (especially for those who’ve lost their lives and for those who are grieving their loss).

Remember the three Ws: Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Watch your distance.

Ben Miles
Huntington Beach

Thoughts on 2 local council races

Here are ways voting consistently as a team or a block in a nonpartisan council can undermine democracy, explaining why Costa Mesa has 12 “new” candidates running for City Council, while Newport Beach has two:

1. If council members rely on others to make their decisions, constituents are not being served by independent thinkers ( thus independent voters).

2. As a result, voting as a bloc can imply that your council member is putting the opinion of other members above the consensus of his/ her constituents.

3. Voting as a bloc or team also suggests that there might be some outside influences putting pressure on the team to vote a certain way.

4. A community is less likely to get quality people to run for office because people can feel pressure running against the member of a team and because the cost becomes prohibitive.

5. Members of a bloc do not always perform at an optimum level because they know they will be carried by their team members.

6. A bloc is only as strong as its weakest link.

7. The strongest member of a bloc can consistently dominate other members.

8. A team that enjoys being the dominant force in a Council will usually resist change because they fear that new ideas and progress might weaken their power.

9. Blocs can give members such a sense of security and power, that they can turn non-partisan issues into partisan ones.

10. Blocs or team endorsements of a candidate especially in “at large “ elections can make elections less democratic.

Lynn Lorenz
Newport Beach

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