REBUTTALS

MATTHEW HARPER, Huntington Beach

In answer to Peg Riche’s letter [“Forget about mosquitoes, what about

coyotes?” June 29], coyotes were here first. So were the possums, skunks

and mountain lions.

If you live near a wildlife area, you are going to get wildlife. Learn

to live with them or move to San Diego.

The animals are not the problem. Too many people are the problem. We

have encroached on their habitat, and they have nowhere to go. When

people have tried to kill off coyotes, they get overrun with rats.

Which do you prefer?

My suggestion is that you appreciate all the beautiful animal species

we have now, because if man has his way, they won’t be there much longer.

MAUREEN SHRUBSOLE

Huntington Beach

Harman nomination is all wrong

Tom Harman, Shirley Carey and Paul Arms [“Blanket primary won heart of

voter,” July 6] have it all wrong. They just don’t get it.

Tom Harman is making an illegal claim on the Republican nomination in

the 67th Assembly District.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the bizarre blanket primary law as

unconstitutional, which gives the state courts an opportunity to right

this wrong.

Democrats and other liberals, including big-money labor leaders,

outspent [Jim] Righeimer by hundreds of thousands of dollars to hijack

the Republican primary in our district by calling on Democrats and other

non-Republicans to raid the nomination process “to prevent Jim Righeimer

from winning.”

To allow nonparty members to determine the outcome of a party

nomination is to deny voters their 1st Amendment freedom of association.

Voters are allowed to freely choose their party affiliation, including

Harman, Carey and Arms. This is true whether it be the Republican,

Democrat, Libertarian or Peace and Freedom Party in question.

With his caustic rhetoric against Republicans like me, it’s no

surprise that Tom Harman couldn’t get the votes to win from Republican

voters (just as Shirley Carey couldn’t in 1995). Even Tom Harman’s poor

attendance records at Orange County Republican Party Central Committee

meetings shows his disdain for the GOP.

I honestly don’t understand why he doesn’t just get the signatures to

be placed on the ballot as an independent candidate if he wants to be an

assemblyman so bad.

However, I think there are enough lawyers and worn-out city councilmen

in the state Legislature.

Whatever happens in the courts, I can say one thing for sure and

that’s that I’ll vote for the real Republican nominee, Jim Righeimer. And

I’ll do it even if I have to write in his name on the ballot.