Editor:
This letter has to do with the recent vote by the SDUSD Board to permit the installation of athletic-field lights at Point Loma High School.
I read the report of the lights hearing in the Beacon this morning. I attended PLHS (class of ’78) and taught there for seven years before taking a position in another district. I still live in the neighborhood, but not close enough to the high school to be directly affected by events taking place on the field.
It’s disturbing to see that the quality-of-life issues brought up by people who do live near the high school were given so little consideration and respect. Little attention was paid to the testimony of Walter Anderson, who offers first-hand experience of the effects of the addition of stadium lights to the high-school athletic field near his home. Lights (and the activity that they enable) threaten vital everyday conditions: quiet, darkness at night, privacy. People have the right to conditions that promote health and well-being. I was troubled by Dr. Mike McQuarry’s quoted remark, “The value of the lights outweighs other concerns.” The duty of the public servant is to ensure that institutions and businesses conduct their activities in ways that do not undermined quality of life for their neighbors. Excessive, out-of-place noise and lights can have a profound detrimental impact on people’s lives and health. Trustees: Please don’t lose sight of or dismiss the importance of quiet and darkness at night; please recognize the deep stress that accompanies any person’s loss of peaceful enjoyment of his home.
I do understand the position of supporters of lights-installation. It seems unfair that students at PLHS can’t play or compete on their home field at night. But the reality is that homes abut the campus. This puts moral limitations on the modifications that can be made to the field. It is an inconvenience to have to play elsewhere; it is not a pervasive threat to health and well-being, as excessive noise and light are.
I completely sympathize with the position of the residents represented by Mr. Ottilie. How can they believe that the disruptions field lights will bring to their homes and lives will be properly managed?
In closing, I would like to honor my SDUSD elementary-school teachers, whose lessons in civic-mindedness were delivered with dignity and love and have stayed with me: Margaret Parrett, Beatrice Andalaft, Vera Holm, Beryl Dolphin, and Zelma Crider.
Sincerely,
Jean Pehrsson
San Diego