Letter to the Editor: Boycott the Boycott

Byline: Marc Jons

Personally, I am not happy about the city of Newport Beach’s proposed gargantuan private dock fee hike (increasing fees on private docks from a flat $100 per year to 52 cents per square foot, which would amount to a whopping $400-$3,000). And I do not know any harbor homeowner who is happy about it. But I cannot go along with the effort some locals are putting together to boycott the annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade and Ring of Lights home decorating event.

Sure, I suppose it is one way to finally get noticed by local politicians who have not paid much (if any) attention to residents’ concerns on this issue. But “canceling Christmas” does not seem to be a logical solution.

The boat parade is an economic powerhouse for the community, in addition to being a wonderful holiday tradition that makes our community truly special. Making this event fail would, as the old saying goes, be nothing more than cutting off our nose to spite our face.

We would all be the worse for it, and I cannot see how it would bring any change to the minds of those who are hell-bent on raising our taxes … err, I mean “user fees” on our private property — something that we used to call “taxes.”

Marc Jons
Corona del Mar

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