Letter to Mayor Jerry Sanders
Thank you for the Family Disaster Plan and Personal Survival Guide I received in the mail today. It is an excellent idea in this day of disasters; one never knows of possible future calamities.
I voted for you in the hope you would be able (with help from the Council) to bring the city out of its sad state into solvency. So far I have been sadly disappointed. However, if you can spend $4 million that we don’t have on lifeguard stations, I have a suggestion how to proclaim our thankfulness to the Veterans of all wars both alive and dead with no money involved.
It was brought to my notice by the attached copy of a letter to the Beacon that the Soledad Cross be deeded to the Veterans. In that way the Religious issue would be solved and the veterans would realize how much we appreciate them.
It boggles the mind that lifeguard stations (while they are important) come before many more urgent concerns of the city and the caving in to the auditors for something they hadn’t even accomplished. Please restore my faith in elected officials doing what is best for the city.
Ada May Powers, Point Loma
Parking tickets, headaches
I feel a strong need to write about parking tickets in Ocean Beach.
Living in Ocean Beach for 16 years has turned into a parking ticket mecca for the City. Rents went up over the years, hence more people live in a rental to afford living here.
Now this creates more cars on curb street parking. You have to read which days the street is to be swept, even when it isn’t, and never be one inch over a red spot on the curb. Meter Maids are now on the beach streets at 6 a.m., checking for cars in private spaces being one foot over a sidewalk.
The 5000 block, south side, of Santa Monica is posted for street sweeping, yet there are weeds knee high growing betweet the cracks of the black top road.
Alley parking during the heavest part of the summer for tenants used to be possible. Beach communities have tolerated a lot because the ocean is for everyone. Parking 3 blocks from your residence is bad enough however those spots are taken too. Beachgoers from other counties come here and think it’s fun land, they leave their monster trucks in front of your house for days, they scatter trash all over, and drink beer til 3 am screaming up and down the alleys.
We tolerate and tolerate, but give us a big break on parking here. If someone is parked on a lawn, or over a sidewalk or in a alley, common sense tells you there isnt any place else to park.
Paul Daughtery, Ocean Beach
The man in the van
Most mornings I ride my bike to Kevin’s Coffee in OB (Bacon & W Point Loma) to get my morning cup of Jo. The other morning I observed something odd that caught my attention. A man jumped out of his van with a spray can, sprayed a sign, and other objects along the road, then jumped back in his van, and continued down West Point Loma Blvd doing much the same. At first I thought this guy had some nerve tagging in broad daylight. When I arrived at Kevin’s, I mentioned this to him and others, and low and behold, the “Man in the Van” showed up again and we all observed him tagging another sign!
Upon further inspection, we realized that he was NOT tagging the sign, but covering up some previously tagged graffiti on the back of the sign. So, we thought that maybe he worked for the city. Curiosity got to me, so I rode up to him to find out more. He said with much passion that YES he was covering up recent graffiti made by taggers and NO he did not work for the city. Instead, he was doing this on his own time and as a gesture to not let these taggers take over and destroy his town of which he was very proud! He also said that he knew exactly who the taggers were, a gang from South of the Border. He said that he’s been doing this for years and will continue to do this on his own time, using his own money. He also said that he wanted to remain anonymous. I went back to Kevin’s to update everyone on the news and we all thought this was the neatest thing! So, Kevin gave the “Man in the Van” a free cup of Jo! The locals at Kevin’s coffee want to say THANK YOU to the “Man in the Van”! We need more locals like him, that’s for sure!
Lori Boyters, Ocean Beach
Fireworks noise is a problem, not display
You have at least one reader who displays a reading comprehension problem. Proponents who wish that SeaWorld convert their fireworks launching system from using explosive powder to one using pressurized air do not wish to stop the nightly display. We just wish that SeaWorld make the conversion.
Disneyland made the conversion in July 2004. Disney stated they did it to “reduce the noise, smoke and safety hazards” and that they wanted to be “good neighbors.”
This past Tuesday, a San Diegan with a coach full of out-of-state relatives visited Disneyland. In response to questions about their fireworks display and their launching method, he replied that the fireworks display was great, that there was no “booming,” just “wooshing” in launching them.
SeaWorld, become a “good neighbor.” Make the conversion. Stop “booming” us, start “wooshing” us.
Karl Kortum, Loma Portal
