Council should hear commission plans immediately
A few weeks ago, the North County Times published a story about a dozen residents taking the time to go to a City Council meeting to speak out about the changes the Coastal Commission made to the Solana Beach Land Use Plan and urging the council to hold a hearing on the plan, (“Bluff-top residents ask council to reject state plan,” June 14).
It looks to me as though the council has not moved forward on this, and I’d love to know what the hangup is.
The California Coastal Commission clearly overstepped its authority when it made major last-minute changes to the Solana Beach Land Use Plan before approving it last spring.
Why is the City Council allowing Coastal Commission staff to dictate local land use policy and make major changes to the approved plan? The LUP submitted to the Commission was the result of years of hard work by residents, businesses and city officials, coming together to design a plan that was in the best interest of our city and its residents. The Coastal Commission can’t just substitute its own priorities after this yearslong process.
The council must immediately docket this item for discussion and action, and stand up for the plan they approved. We expect nothing less from our representatives.
Tom Di Noto
Solana Beach
Grateful for letters’ insight
President Obama has delivered his faith-based political opinion on the hopelessness of the capitalist system and the anti-American Democratic position of his party (see Sen. Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi) to a receptive mainline media.
Letters to the North County Times helpfully give us all a reading of this acceptance in our local readership. I am grateful for this insight into our local society.
Vincent Morrison
Oceanside
Thank you to Vista’s finest
My daughter, husband and I want to make sure that everyone knows how very much we appreciate the Vista Police Department and emergency personnel.
Our 15-year-old special-needs grandson wandered away, became disoriented and was lost on the trails of the Buena Creek hiking area in Vista last Sunday afternoon. Within five minutes of making the call “you never want to have to make,” the police were there and ready to bring out the helicopters and mountain bikes to find our grandson.
We also want to thank the family that helped us and actually found him. I didn’t have the presence of mind at the time to get their names, but I hope they read this and know how grateful we are.
Thank you to the emergency operator, Officers Reed and Hanks and the family that found him.
The Lord’s blessings on you all.
D. Anette Lowery
Vista
Outsourcing?
We just read an article in the North County Times relative to the Parks & Recreation employees in our city, (“City considers outsourcing parks maintenance,” July 14).
Our office is on State Street in the Village and has been these past 17 years. Up until the past 10 years, State Street, Grand Avenue and Carlsbad Village Drive were pretty neglected. Then, the city did a very wise thing. They hired Greg Dauss to maintain the area. Such a wonderful difference. The Village greenery and flower boxes are always beautiful.
Many times around 5 a.m. we have spied Greg downtown watering and weeding.
It’s hard to believe that outsourcing his services is even being considered, and we urge the City to take a second look prior to making a final decision.
Liz Ferguson
Jeanne Herrick
Ferguson Salon Management Inc.
Carlsbad
Overflowing potties not a tourist attraction
It is hard for me to believe what I read in the North County Times. Did the bureaucrats of Oceanside really slime our pier and beaches with overflowing Porta-Potties? I would expect that in any Third World country, but never here.
It is easy to assume that travel agents counsel customers to avoid Oceanside..
Pat McDonald
Oceanside
The death of capital
Barbara Saad is largely correct in her letter of July 18, in which she states “No president can ‘fix’ the economy or create jobs,” and then goes on to describe how people are reluctant to spend money in an atmosphere of so much uncertainty.
True. However, she proposes a choice between two directions for the country: “government providing fairness,” or a country “where people thrive based on their own efforts.” Actually, we have some of both: a government that attempts to level the playing field (despite special interests writing legislation to the contrary) and a capitalist system that rewards some players extravagantly (and rather unfairly, as in the banking industry). We will always have industrious people and slothful ones. The real problems stem from incentives that create adverse consequences for society.
A highly recommended analysis of our country’s financial system is Michael Lewitt’s book “The Death of Capital.” The Amazon book description says, “As a result of our failure to understand the true nature of capital, we have developed a financial and regulatory system that does exactly the opposite of what it should be doing —- favoring obscurity over transparency and fomenting instability rather than growth.” Please read it.
Philip Loizeaux
San Marcos
Maybe it’s climate change
In several recent articles in our local San Diego County papers, the LA Times and The New York Times, it is claimed that natural disaster areas, because of drought and excessive heat, now affect crops in 1,297 counties in 29 states, or 61 percent of the continental U.S. Further, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reports that 77 percent of the corn and soybean crops are in areas designated as drought-impacted.
Natural disasters? Amazingly, in none of these articles, has climate change even been mentioned. Isn’t it time to recognize the connection and start doing something about it?
Milton Saier
Professor of biology, UC San Diego
Encinitas
Don’t blame Bain
“The worst thing an employer can do to its workers is fail to make a profit.” That aphorism belongs to Samuel Gompers, the “father” of the American labor movement. Now, ironically, employers are finding it necessary to move overseas or out of state in order to make a profit, due, in part, to the American labor movement.
Even more responsible for “outsourcing” jobs and capital are our political moguls, at all levels, who relentlessly drive up the cost of doing business through their misguided mandates, taxation and regulation. The political class and their lap-dog media conveniently overlook the fact that business corporations are specifically organized “for profit,” along with the peaceful purpose of selling products or services to willing buyers while making money for their shareholders. To accuse a corporation of greed when it succeeds at its dedicated task is on a par with accusing a successful baseball franchise of greed when it wins the World Series.
Any outsourcing Bain Capital, or any other corporation, may have done was merely a defensive reaction to the offensive actions of those political powers that be. If we want to blame someone for outsourcing, let’s look to Washington or Sacramento —- not to business corporations such as Bain.
Grant Kuhns
Carlsbad
Thanks for plastic bags for newspaper
Just wanted to say thank you for delivering the daily paper to us in a protective plastic bag. Please keep it up.
Without the bag, the paper would lie “naked” on our driveway, exposed to ants, spiders, bird and bug droppings, dust, spores, dew, and ashes from fires, as well as droppings from larger animals, maybe coyotes. It would be unthinkable to bring the resulting filthy and germ-laden paper indoors to our kitchen table. The risk of dirt, disease and allergies would simply be too great.
These things are usually overlooked by environmental activists, who want to outlaw these bags, without consideration for people’s health and well-being. Our bags are all recycled. If logic doesn’t prevail, and these very useful bags end up outlawed, we hope you will find some other way to protect the paper.
Barry McElmurry
Vista
Romney will restore America
Don’t vote for a candidate for president who has honor, openness, pride and excellence, HOPE, and has gotten where he is by merit, achievement, success and patriotism.
The plan to “fundamentally change America” (B.H. Obama 2008) can’t succeed if integrity is allowed to enter the arena.
Mitt Romney will help restore America to its former self as an independent free country with liberty and justice for all.
If you want to continue to change the U.S. by failure and subservience to other nations with no hope of success in the future, don’t vote for Romney.
President Obama’s plan is working, but you have to vote for him and his like (Democrats) if you want to continue to destroy America like Europe is destroying itself.
Fred Schuster
Vista
What freedoms are we missing?
In regards to Maureen Guffanti’s letter, (“Thankful for President Obama,” July 17). I just have a few comments and questions for her.
First off, four years ago Barack Obama was not president, so I am not sure how she woke up as a result of any of his actions. But that is not my point: Can she or any other Tea Party member please tell me one single freedom or liberty we no longer have?
Guns? Still got them. Freedom of speech? Yep! Religion? Check.
The Constitution is still intact as far as I know. Did I miss something?
Finally I would like to know what exactly has Ms. Guffanti done to restore our freedoms and prosper our nation? Military service? I did 20 years! Run for office? Or just write letters and meet once a month to complain about all of the freedoms we have lost? Oh, wait —- that’s a freedom, isn’t it?
John Hanco*ck
Ramona
Trade seniors and criminals
This is in response to Thomas Elias’ column (“Prison realignment gripes mostly about money,” July 16) about California prisons griping about the money they are missing out on.
Why not put our senior citizens in jail and the criminals in nursing homes? That way the seniors would have access to showers and walks. They’d receive free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment. They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly if they fell, or needed assistance. Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed. A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and they would have family visits. They would have access to a library and spiritual counseling, and clothing, shoes, slippers and legal aid would be free. They’d enjoy private rooms, with an exercise yard and gardens. Each senior could have a personal computer, television and daily phone calls. There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct.
The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised. Lights off at 8 p.m. and showers once a week. They’d live in a tiny room, pay $5,000 a month and have no hope of ever getting out.
Justice for all.
Scott Coyle
Temecula
The goddamn particle
There is so much excitement concerning the recent “discovery” of the Higgs boson particle (referred to in our press as the “God particle”), that I would like to add some clarification here.
The physicist, Peter Higgs, did the math to show how the particle would behave and what it would “act like.” But that was all on paper. In the meantime, the little bugger has eluded empirical discovery. Even now, its existence has not been confirmed positively. It was so elusive that a physicist (Leon Lederman) originally coined the name “Goddamn particle,” and wrote a book about it titled: “The Goddamn Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?” Lederman’s publisher insisted that the book title be changed to “The God Particle,” and the rest is history (www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivare/2012/07/god-and-the-goddamn-particle/).
Peter Higgs is an atheist and is displeased that the Higgs particle is nicknamed the “God particle,” as he believes the term “might offend people.” The word “boson” was coined by Paul Dirac to commemorate the contribution of the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose, who worked with Albert Einstein on the statistics of this class of particle.
Sorab Ghandhi
Escondido
