Letters From OC Weekly Readers

'Too Bad the Corporate Handlers Weren't There When Bren Was Sticking His "Company-Owned Trade Secret" in the Kid's Mom'

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to letters@ocweekly.com, or mail to Letters to the Editor, c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.

RINDING THEIR TEETH
I was touched by your article [Gustavo Arellano's "The Last One," May 23] and moved to write you. It is a sad day when Mr. Ignacio Lujano has been treated without the respect he has earned as a true representative of our town. This story needs more publicity, and I hope you will consider submitting this article to the Capistrano Dispatch. On another note, I want to thank you for being the only other paper (besides the Dispatch) that appears to uphold the true values of journalism without resorting to "slant" in order to increase circulation.

Lennie DeCaro, via e-mail

With reference to the issue of Gustavo Arellano's "The Last One," featuring diminishing orange groves: It is sad to see our agri-business throughout Southern California gradually succumb to higher-order, higher-value land use. This area is not unique, as this is occurring throughout the country.

Community land-use development can incorporate mixed-use commercial, agricultural and residential use of property through allocation and favorable tax treatment. Land for agriculture can be preserved and nurtured, sustaining the natural advantages of the land with green space. Today, money chases money. The "ceremonial" or "token" orange grove is almost an insult.

It may be too late for the Orange County groves, but this should be a wake-up call for well-thought-out land-use development. Eventually, we will push our agri-business farther away to less suitable lands or all to overseas growers. Our economy is still dependent on agri-business, and it does support, through trickle-down, many other businesses as well.

Charles B. Jones Jr., Atlanta

I read your article on the plight of Ignacio Lujano and the shame the city should feel. No loyalty or commitment to our elders and the people who make California and Orange County what it once was and is. A moving article of another government bearing down on the working man. This county owes Mr. Lujano his last wish to allow him to die where he has worked for several decades. A further shame is that the city is just letting the trees die before the man's very eyes.

Matthew Darling, via e-mail

This article was so moving and sad. I love those orchards and have often taken walks by the land. Is there nothing people can do? Can't we petition or write to so-and-so to help to keep the ranch as is and to let him stay?

Stephanie Williams, via e-mail

BREN THERE, DONE THAT
Excellent article [R. Scott Moxley's "The Family Business," June 6]. It pulls a lot of covers. I paid all my child support and had to rent a room in a house somewhere to afford it. Too bad the corporate handlers weren't there when Donald Bren was sticking his "company-owned trade secret" in the kid's mom.

But the real question is, what kind of municipally employed idiot would you have to be to grant any concessions or favorable assessments to that outfit? Keep the heat on.

Peter Kelly, via e-mail

PLEASE RETRACT YOUR ANNOYANCE
I received a copy of your defamatory article from my daughter [R. Scott Moxley's "OC's Most Annoying Neighbor," March 28]. The reporter who wrote it needs to hasten to the nearest class of "Reporting 101." You are at fault for publishing it. It is slanderous. I demand an apology and a retraction.

You might want to buy your reporter a pair of sunglasses. He saw a nonexistent dog lying under "Old Glory." Not only was it nonexistent, but you wrote about it having certain qualities. I'm 81 and have lived in Santa Ana for 61 years. I've never heard of nor seen your paper, though I subscribe to both the LATimes and Orange County Register. From the article you published about me, I conclude your publication is a "slam sheet."

Catherine Cass, Santa Ana

TURN ON
Dave Segal's reviews are always dead-on ["Dime Box," June 6]! He makes me interested in music I thought I would never like. Thanks Mr. Segal, and keep up the fantastic writing!

Michelle Castille, via e-mail

PRISON STATE
It's no surprise that California has become a prison state. Putting people in prison has become a business [R. Scott Moxley's "CSI Games," March 14]. As a Mexican-American woman, I am appalled at how many young Mexican-Americans are put in prison. It saddens me because I am the mother of a young Hispanic man who was put in prison for 15 years. My son had a drug problem and a hearing disability, but those things were never brought up—he is just another victim of this prison state. Why give someone 15 years in prison? Do you know it costs $45,000 per year to house an inmate? There are thousands of young Chicanos being railroaded and herded into the jail system.

I am saddened by James Ochoa's plight, and I thank God there were compassionate and honorable people who assisted him. I recommend he sue the county of Orange for pain and suffering, unjust torture and cruelty, and justice.