Commentary on ‘The OC’ just doesn’t suffice

Dear Mayor Ridgeway:

With all due respect, the Newport Beach Conference and Visitors

Bureau and you made a mistake by bringing “The OC” media circus to

Newport Beach (“Community Commentary,” Tuesday).

You endorsed “The OC” as being representative of life here in

Newport Beach by bringing the actors and actresses here, imprinting

their hands in stone for installation on a Newport Beach Walk of

Fame, giving them a key to our city and making it front-and-center

local news.

Promoting tourism? When I read the article, tourism never even

occurred to me. I suppose now those people “throughout the country

and even abroad” who think “The OC” is great television will desire

to come to our fair city to experience first-hand “The OC” lifestyle

you’ve promoted exists here.

Heaven forbid. I think Newport Beach has so much more to offer

than that. It seems to me that when many concerns were raised about

sending the wrong message, you folks should have listened to your gut

feelings and not caved to the desire for “name identity” for Newport

Beach.

We don’t need to be identified with “The OC.”

If it is not the way we really live, then why are you planning to

install “The OC” cast’s tiles on a Walk of Fame? Let some other

Orange County city that really wants to be associated with this show

install them.

Lastly, it seems to me that receiving a “key to the city” should

be held for those people who have done something substantial in

support of our city, not degrading.

Fortunately for you, the residents of Newport Beach are a

reasonable and forgiving bunch when we hear a sincere “Oops, I messed

up.” We are not so forgiving of the selfish, misguided “I did nothing

wrong” attitude so often heard from people such as the characters

played on “The OC,” Dennis Rodman, Greg Haidl and yourself in your

Daily Pilot commentary on Tuesday.

How about the first tiles installed on the Walk of Fame be those

Eagles Scouts instead?

ANNE S. DAVIS

Corona del Mar