Here is another roundup of some of the most thought-provoking reader comments of the week. Comments are selected by our editors and subject to editing for grammar, spelling, clarity and length.
Click on each topic’s headline to see the article in question.
A Bike-Friendly Santa Ana?
Well, there’s a way to decrease the population in the city. It’s going to be like shooting fish in a barrel. The majority population cannot even obey the pedestrian crossing signs out there, and now they will ride their bikes all over the roads ignoring the safety and rules?
This is a great idea, but you better get people educated on where to ride and ticket them for not obeying the rules.
More deaths are coming by cars hitting pedestrians on bikes — guaranteed.
— Notbrown
I live in Santa Ana, so when I want to go biking, I drive my bike to the Santa Ana River trail. It’s too dangerous to bicycle the few mile from home to the trail. I’ve been cut off and honked at too many times trying to negotiate the streets.
If you ride the sidewalk, you have an obstacle course of poles, signs, benches and strollers, not to mention the cars coming through the alleys without stopping and looking.
No, Santa Ana is only bike-friendly on the river trail.
— DAD77
Bike riding on the streets, especially in Santa Ana where a large number of motorists are unlicensed drivers, is dangerous. Why is Michele Martinez encouraging residence to risk getting injured bikeriding in Santa Ana? This is another example of Michele Martinez’s poor judgment.
— Watchdog
Befriending a City in Vietnam
[From Voice of OC:] “Janet Nguyen, who is also a Republican candidate for the State Senate, said Nha Trang arrested journalists for exposing corruption…”
She suddenly thinks that’s a bad thing?
— David Zenger
Secret Lobbying to Ease the Rules of Political Donation
Would anyone be interested in starting discussion about an initiative to require public notice and vote by the body concerned before public funds of any amount could be spent for legislative advocacy?
The incidence of “accidental” discovery of undisclosed expenditures seems to be increasing lately, the latest before this article being Anaheim’s sponsorship of an initiative to revoke the repeal of redevelopment and replace it with an incarnation even more destructive of private property rights.
It is absurd that financial support using taxpayer funds can be given almost anonymously while a largely symbolic vote of support requires public voting and notice.
— BigBoxOfRedWhine
Facing Up to Deportation
Looking to President Obama for an answer to immigration issues is a giant mistake. He is a big part of the problem. And his administration is now deporting teachers!
And while it is true that most Republicans are unfriendly to immigration reform, it is also true that Obama held both houses of Congress when he was first elected for two years, and he did nothing to resolve these issues.
— Newsantaana