Provision of services the prime factor
I am writing concerning your article “Mystery solved: Who really lives in La Jolla?” (Village News, March 9, page 13). Your correspondent does not understand how the boundaries of an independent La Jolla will be decided upon. City of San Diego-drawn community planning areas and U.S. Postal Services ZIP codes will have little bearing on the final boundary.
The state law that governs special reorganizations, which an incorporation of La Jolla would be, gives complete discretion to the Local Agency Formation Commission to determine boundaries. To get the process started, the proponents of reorganization must summit a proposed boundary to the commission. The decision on the final boundary will be made by the San Diego County LAFCO at a public hearing where any organization, or individual, will have equal standing with the proponents to propose alternative boundaries to the commission.
In preliminary discussions between members of Independent La Jolla and San Diego LAFCO staff, the only guidance staff could provide is that their recommendation to the commission on where boundary should be will be based on what staff thinks makes sense from the viewpoint of the efficient provision of services.
Your article also contains two errors. The Hyatt Regency La Jolla is not in the 92037 ZIP code, and in 1963 La Jolla could not have “crept into” a not yet existing University City. It is closer to correct to say when the City of San Diego created community plans and community planning associations, portions of La Jolla were put in the University City Community Planning Association’s area.
Richard Smith
La Jolla

Your neighborhood could be next
We had previously written to you regarding the installation of 17 cellular telephone antennas on the rooftop of the La Jolla Alta Clubhouse on Alta La Jolla Drive (Letter to the editor, “Perception equals devaluation,” Village News, Feb. 16, page 8). There are many residents who oppose this installation for the reasons we previously outlined, i.e. loss of property values and perceived health and safety issues.
According to the City of San Diego Telecommunications Policy, residential neighborhoods are the least favorable location for these cellular telephone towers. There are other less-invasive sites that will provide reception which the Department of Development Services should consider instead.
On coverage maps produced by Verizon and Cingular, there are additional areas in La Jolla and Pacific Beach that they claim have spotty cell coverage. These other neighborhoods will soon find themselves facing the same situation that we find ourselves in. If you feel that it’s OK in someone else’s neighborhood, be aware that it may soon be coming to yours.
If you care about your family and your property values, please e-mail your La Jolla City Councilman and/or the Department of Development Services and let them know that in keeping with existing San Diego City Policies, you are opposed to the installation of these towers in residentially zoned neighborhoods.
“¢ Kevin Faulconer, City Councilman Dist. 2, (619) 236-6622
[email protected]
Matt Aubrey, area rep for Mr. Faulconer, (619) 236-6622
[email protected]
“¢ Scott Peters, City Councilman Dist. 1, [email protected] (619) 236-6611
“¢ Natalie De Freitas, Development Services project manager, [email protected]
(619) 446-5427
“¢ Karen Lynch-Ashcraft, Development Services, (619) 446-5351 [email protected]
For more information, call Jean, (858) 454-2205; Tandis, (858) 454-5203; or e-mail [email protected].
Concerned Citizens of La Jolla Alta South:
Ms. Debra Madden
Dr. Jean Spengel
Mr. Rob Arjmand and family
Mr. and Mrs. Jamie Banayan
Mr. Sean Sullins
Ms. Feri Tirandazi
Mrs. Joy Sworder
Et al

Reverse discrimination
Scott Peters announced that he is in favor of installing a Jewish fence, or an Eruv, around the Village of La Jolla. This pandering for the Jewish vote is an odious example of reversed discrimination. The Jewish community has been heard to complain that it was previously excluded from living in La Jolla. If true, that was wrong.
However, the Jewish community is now amply represented. It has since constructed three synagogues in the neighborhood. There is now no such prejudice. However, it has adversely asserted itself in the community in three ways. First, it wishes to construct a student center in this residential community, upon Site 653. Site 653 is city open space, too small to accommodate the size of this proposed project which is to contain a restaurant. Such a project is not contemporaneous with a residential neighborhood. There is insufficient parking space to accommodate a student center with a restaurant in a residential neighborhood. In addition, Site 653 has always been reserved as city “open space.” It was never meant to be for high density development. Secondly, in anticipation of that project’s approval, the Jewish community has converted a nearby private home into non-conforming office space and car park for this student center. Thirdly, the Jewish community wishes to encircle much of the village of La Jolla with an Eruv, a religious fence, consisting of interconnected 20-foot-tall metal poles. This will place much of La Jolla within “a designated Jewish territory,” known as “a shtetl.” This “reverse discrimination” is the product of a politician’s pandering for votes and the chutzpa of the Jewish Community.
A.P. Winter
La Jolla

Tribute to seal intelligence
The Village News misled its readers with the headline “Wild Seals select remote, isolated locations” (Guest commentary, March 9, page 7) above an opinion piece written by anti-seal activist Kent Trego. In this opinion piece, Mr. Trego, whom I am advised is a part-time volunteer in the invertebrate department at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, offers his argument that the La Jolla harbor seals are not wild, citing a 2002 article in Marine Mammal Science as his basis and then applying convoluted logic.
Mr. Trego writes that “If wild harbor seals normally select isolated and remote locations for haul-out activity, then the harbor seals at the Children’s Pool cannot be considered wild animals.” This non-sequitur conclusion is Mr. Trego’s alone, not that of any marine mammal scientist. Had the Village News bothered to check the article to which Mr. Trego referred, it would have been noted from the article’s Abstract that “Harbor seals abandoned the haul-out in the presence of the predator model “¦ suggesting they possess a threat image for terrestrial predators and avoid hauling out when it is perceived. These [reported] results support the hypothesis that harbor seals select isolated sites to reduce exposure to terrestrial carnivores.”
In the La Jolla rookery, two primary threat images for hauled-out harbor seals are dogs in close proximity (even if on a leash), and humans approaching the seals across the sandy beach or cutting off the seals’ seaward escape route by swimming across in front of them. The presence of either of these types of threat image often results in a large “flush” of seals off the beach, clearly demonstrating the wildness of the seals and reducing the opportunity for recreational seal-watching. The fact that the seals do not flush from the presence of people on the seawall is a tribute to seal intelligence: they have figured out that people do not climb down the side of the seawall to approach them. They also have learned that terrestrial predators such as coyotes, wolves, bears and mountain lions do not prowl the beaches of La Jolla.
The lesson to be learned from the scientific article cited by Mr. Trego is that harbor seals will avoid and/or abandon a rookery or haul-out if there are frequent terrestrial threat images such as Mr. Trego himself has been known to present to the seals.

James Hudnall
La Jolla

Take a little with you
Ahh! America’s Finest City. And many of us claim to live in the finest community in America’s Finest City. But, as I commute and travel around University City I see way too much trash and litter on the shoulders and in the streets.
Some of this is from open trucks with trash in the back that flies out as they drive around. Some of it is because of people coming into the community every day have little pride; no doubt some is deposited by our own locals.
There isn’t really much that anyone can do to prevent this. Trash happens. As I walk around areas of University City I see dozens, perhaps a few hundred other “walkers.” I suggest that as we walk we take a plastic bag with us and pick up a few pieces of trash each time out. Let’s restore the area to a pristine condition and make our community truly one of the finest in America’s Finest City.
Maurice L. Loucks
University City