Mailbag: Statements about John Wayne Airport tenant are incorrect

Gary Sequeira’s assertions (“Why John Wayne Airport needs more competition,” Feb. 24) are flat-out wrong. What is extremely ironic is that while he tries to portray himself as an authority on Signature Flight Support, his airplane is based at Atlantic Aviation, the other national fixed-based operator at John Wayne Airport. Furthermore, unlike Signature, Atlantic has amassed complaints, including those voiced at Airport Commission meetings during the RFQ process.

I have worked for Signature for 25 years, and I personally submitted our response at JWA. I also signed the lease, which we were presented with because we ranked No. 1 in the request for quotation (RFQ) process. John Wayne Airport has a signed lease on file from Signature that includes both a substantial rent increase and formula pricing that protects the pilots of the small propeller-driven airplanes for which Mr. Sequeira advocates.

Additionally, for corporate jets that fly across the U.S. and the world, our national pricing provides greater fuel discounts than ACI Jet can, since they do not have any locations outside of California. As to facility upgrades, Signature has invested $4 million in our JWA leasehold to create the best private aviation facility on the airport. To say otherwise is simply wrong.

I call on Mr. Sequeira and ACI Jet to stick to the facts and review our lease.

Eric Hietala

The writer is Western Regional vice president of Signature Flight Support, which serves John Wayne Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and others.

Demographic data are too old

The Daily Pilot article of Feb. 18 regarding adjusting trustee areas failed to mention that the population data they are using is from the 2010 Census. There could be a significant discrepancy between the 2010 data and today. Adjusting trustee areas and the method of voting should have been begun shortly after the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law in 2003. This law makes fundamental changes to minority voting rights.

Presently, each Newport-Mesa school board trustee area is voted on by all the voters in the district, which is an at-large system rather than being voted into office only by the people in the trustee area they represent. By changing to a system of only voting for the trustee in your area, we might have had a Latino member of the school board elected to represent the minority population of this district.

Martie O’Meara

Costa Mesa

We made requests for meetings with congressman

Re. “Demonstrators take their call for a town hall to Rohrabacher’s house,” (Feb. 24): We, the undersigned, find it interesting that Ken Grubbs, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s spokesman, states that the Costa Mesa congressman “prefers to engage in dialogue.” He also states that the congressman spent time with constituents at his Huntington Beach office. If he is referring to the recent week in the congressman’s district, how many constituents did he see? We went through the stated proper channels (a form, emails, giving of our names and contact information, questioning by his staff as to our purpose) to request a meeting. We stated that we have deep concerns about certain actions currently being taken by our government.

These concerns make reference to experiences by one of our number who went through the authoritarian leaderships in Poland. After many attempts, we were told that “we were on the list” for a meeting sometime. Mr. Grubbs seems to deride the movements by those who were attempting to gain a town hall, in other words, the opposition. Who else could they contact but their representative? We were not asking for a town hall, nor are we affiliated with any of the groups named (“Linskeyites” or “Indivisibles”). We were simply asking for an audience with the only representative we have in the federal government as voters in his district. We would still like the opportunity.

Christine Stamper

Jeannie Osborne

Linda West

Judy Mader

Newport Beach

Protesters at congressman’s house crossed a line

The evening of Feb. 23, as I was leaving, about 25 people gathered in front of Mariners Library. After listening to the usual, “I’m a victim, you’re a victim, we’re all a victim” slogans, I couldn’t figure out what the protest was actually about until I caught the words, “Affordable Care Act.” Bear in mind, the administration and Congress have yet to do one thing to change the act, and the insurance companies are bleeding red ink so profusely, they are now abandoning the exchanges like so many rats fleeing a sinking ship.

After 10 minutes, the leader announced the group was going to march over to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s home. Now, I’m all for 1st Amendment rights, but I really take exception to the notion that an elected official’s family is fair game when it comes to these protest rallies. Neither the congressman, his wife, their young children, nor their neighbors, should not have to live in fear of their safety. Take it to the district office during normal business hours.

Ann Watt

Newport Beach

Home visit was the only way to be heard

Marching to the home of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) may seem a heavy-handed way to communicate, but how else can his constituents, who are not loyal Republicans, express to him their concerns about the actions of the current administration? These actions include cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, potentially eviscerating the Affordable Care Act and hounding immigrants, among other indignities.

I wrote to the congressman expressing my fears that people with preexisting conditions would be denied insurance and questions about Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Tom Price, I received a boiler-plate response that did not even acknowledge the specific points in my letter. Certainly the job of congressman includes listening to all his constituents. I’m wondering whether Rohrabacher is afraid to face questions from the public in a neutral setting. Is he going to hide out for the next two years?

Barbara De Groot

Corona del Mar

Demographic data are too old

The Daily Pilot article of Feb. 18 regarding adjusting trustee areas failed to mention that the population data they are using is from the 2010 Census. There could be a significant discrepancy between the 2010 data and today.

Adjusting trustee areas and the method of voting should have been begun shortly after the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law in 2003. This law makes fundamental changes to minority voting rights.

Presently, each Newport-Mesa school board trustee area is voted on by all the voters in the district, which is an at-large system rather than being voted into office only by the people in the trustee area they represent.

By changing to a system of only voting for the trustee in your area, we might have had a Latino member of the school board elected to represent the minority population of this district.

Martie O’Meara

Costa Mesa