Letters From OC Weekly Readers

CAMPY-Y!
What a load of BS. A mini-mall is a mini-mall no matter how it's packaged [Michelle Woo's "The LAB Man," Dec. 9]. The good people of San Clemente were able to see the truth of the matter and send 'em packing. Anaheim is the perfect place for this "developer" who will stop at nothing to get his way.

Mr Salty, via ocweekly.com

I love the Camp and the LAB! They offer so much, and the places and the people there are way cool! The food places and the shops—all awesome! I've met Shaheen, and he's cool, too! People need to lighten up and chill out. "Boo hoo, he stole my idea! Boo hoo, he called me names!" Get over it! 

I'm way excited for the projects in Anaheim. I heard there's going to be an Umami Burger—I'm there!

Heynha, via ocweekly.com

The most useless toll road in america

I used to travel Newport Coast Drive as a quick way to get from the Inland Empire to Huntington Beach to Laguna and points south. Now it just takes you from one freeway to another with a time savings that doesn't justify the extra cash out of my pocket [R. Scott Moxley's Moxley Confidential, "Highway Robbery," Dec. 2]. This road was built to provide access to the exclusive Newport Coast and the new community of Aliso Viejo. I'm sure most of the people who live in Aliso Viejo don't have the means to travel the 73 on a daily basis, so that only means more traffic for the rest of the roads and freeways.

The thing about construction jobs is they are only a temporary solution because once the road is built and the strip malls are in place, where does that leave the construction worker? Looking for a job in the service industry in one of the wonderful, new strip malls, making barely enough money to put gas in their car and pay for rent, let alone pay for tolls.

Moxley is correct in his assessment of the 73 as being a rich man's folly. The private business that had been running it went under for failure to meet its revenue projections, and it is now run, maintained and policed by government agencies. This article sums it up at the end, with the bureaucrats at the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road wanting to slap huge, onerous developer fees on certain airport businesses. The same service-industry businesses in the airport that will employ the former construction workers who helped to build the place. It again has the appearance of government sticking it to the little guys, when, in reality, it's just the same old OC machine lining its own pockets. Don Bren could help out these new job-creating businesses by paying the onerous developer fees—but then again, he doesn't [even] want to pay child support for his own children.

Jim Beam, via ocweekly.com

FULLERTON METAL JACKET
Wow, I had no idea all of this was going on in Fullerton [Marisa Gerber's "The Bullies In Blue," Nov. 25]. Ron Thomas should really be proud of himself for not backing down and keeping his son's death in the spotlight. As for the guy committing suicide in jail, that investigation should be reopened. It's a shame the city's money will be spent on paying out to victims (who do deserve it), instead of improving the city by building parks and fixing roads. There wouldn't be lawsuits if these dirty cops would have been dealt with long ago. Great article!

949girl, via ocweekly.com

Why can't/don't they just fire the ones who are obviously breaking the rules? Like the smashing of the audio device? Or turning them off repeatedly? Or not calling a woman officer to pat down a female? They don't reinforce anything at all, and less than two weeks of leave isn't going to change anything. It would be so much simpler if they just fired the ones who are obviously doing things wrong and inhumanely.

CSB, via ocweekly.com