Regarding the Last Word on Dec....

Regarding the Last Word on Dec. 22 (“Farewell to the ficus

fracas”): You thought it was the last word. It’s funny that the city

of Newport Beach and the Balboa Arbor Society came to an agreement

after nearly all of the trees were cut down.

The city of Newport Beach had full knowledge of a pending

injunction (against cutting the trees down) when they ordered the

trees cut down; and only now do they enter into a contract that they

will break whenever it stands in the way of their objectives. Talk

about closing the barn door after the farcical horse has run out.

These trees were not domestic, environmentally essential trees,

but, rather, exotic introduced trees. They had no ecologic reason to

be where they were except that man put them there. If they had been

domestic, indigenous trees, the result would likely have been the

same (after all, this is conservative Orange County). The point is

the city of Newport Beach was unethical (if not unlawful) in not

waiting for the court’s decision. Is this how our governments act

when their arguments lack both moral/ethical conviction and evidence

of a logical thought process?

J.B. LITVAK

Costa Mesa

One tree out of 25 remains standing. And this is a concession?

Perhaps the remaining tree will serve to remind us all how lovely

Balboa’s Main Street once was. No amount of fancy sidewalks will ever

make up for the loss of the ficus trees.

WANDA KEPHART

Balboa Peninsula