Act now on airport site
Wake up, La Jolla and Del Mar ” time is running out.
Or from 6 a.m. to midnight every day you will be hearing the thundering noise of commercial jets departing Miramar every day of the year. There is a well-funded and politically active group determined to have Miramar replace Lindbergh as San Diego’s main airport. While they are focusing on Miramar, the airport is not the real problem. They seem determined to transfer the almost century-old noise of departing aircraft from Point Loma to La Jolla/Del Mar.
Lindbergh’s air traffic has always departed to the west because that is the direction from which the wind blows, and planes must take off into the wind. We cannot mandate the wind.
A couple of years ago, the Airport Authority reported there were more than 290,000 air operations at Lindbergh; there are probably more now. Half were departures. Breaking that figure down into an 18-hour day, we would get approximately 20 aircraft an hour departing over La Jolla/Del Mar.
The standard FAA flight path from Miramar is called the Seawolf departure. While the runways at Miramar are pointed directly at La Jolla, the flight is altered to make the least annoying route for the towns. Even then the path goes over thousands of homes, apartments, condos, a major shopping center (UTC), four of the area’s municipal hospitals, many medical and health-related companies, the Salk Institute, office buildings and major hotels. In addition, there is UCSD with a projected student population of 59,000, the Jewish Community Center, La Jolla Country Day School, religious institutions and the intersection of interstates 5 and 805.
The most disastrous result, besides the noise, would be plummeting real estate values which, in turn, would lower the values of most homes in the area and, in turn, lower property taxes and revenue to the city. No one would want to live under the constant noise of jet engines ” as Point Loma has had to endure for almost a century.
While there seems to be a major effort to take over Miramar as the San Diego airport, there doesn’t seem to be much effort to counter the move. Do not count on your councilman for help or leadership. His actions, or non-actions, on the potentially devastating threat to both towns have not been apparent. He doesn’t seem to have a clue that a problem even exists. The La Jolla Town Council and the Del Mar City Council should take the lead. In addition, the Real Estate Brokers Association (REBA) should get into protecting the way of life that exists in this area. A decision must be made in the next couple of months ” the time to act is now, before it is too late.
Tim O’Neil, La Jolla

Advice to would-be condo owners
People contemplating the purchase of a condo would be well advised to consider the following important factors:
Age of the building. If “old,” its infrastructure is progressively deteriorating, necessitating constant, expensive repairs.
The financial reserves of the homeowners association. If low, the board of directors would have to impose “special assessments” (in addition to monthly maintenance fees) to pay for repairs such as new roofs, leaky pipes, electrical breakdowns, termite eradications, etc., etc.
Watch out for proposals made by a few wealthy residents for so-called “improvements,” jeopardizing the low reserves and interests of the majority, thus ensuring the imposition of “special assessments” ad nauseam.
The resulting performance of members of the board is only as
good as the general membership.
Alfonso de Borbón, La Jolla

Let’s change pay-to-play
It seems whenever Washington talks about doing something about energy and high gas prices, it ends up costing the taxpayers.
Congress passed a huge tax break for the oil companies which they obviously don’t need, but it was a payback for campaign contributions. Now President Bush wants to weaken environmental protections to allow his pals in big oil make even more money.
The local connection is that we have an opportunity to help stop the corporate giveaways which drive up the federal budget deficit even higher.
The current “pay to play” corrupt system won’t change unless we vote for change. And of the three congressional candidates, Brian Bilbray is the one who will continue the status quo.
Corporate America is cleverly backing Brian Bilbray by contributing not directly, but through GOP leaders. No wonder Dick Cheney came here to host a $2,100 a plate fund-raiser for Bilbray.
Bill Collins, Pacific Beach