Keep the PDO ” reject Bird Rock Station
Make no mistake ” the Bird Rock Station project scheduled to be heard at the Planning Commission on June 12 is a blatant attempt to circumvent the current code. It is a blatant attack on the will and the intent of the majority of the community. The community has denied this project in every committee, every local planning group, and every community vote – including the vote of the so-called “Form Based Code.” The Planning Commission is not a legislative body and has no authority to change existing law. If the community desires to change its Planned District Ordinance, PDO, it can do so with the same process it used to create the PDO.
The Bird Rock Station project is not “special” nor does it provide anything “special” to the community. If this project is approved, then in fairness, there can be no denying any other three-story project that decides to ignore the existing code in order to increase profit by a few more dollars. The applicant’s claim of providing “public space,” “specialty grocery stores,” and “public parking” is just nonsense. If the Planning Commission approves this project on this specious argument, then it is simply declaring itself to be a legislative body. If our city government approves this project, then it will again be practicing the same deception that has led to a total mistrust of city government we have today.
Please do not misunderstand me ” I know this project is about the restriction to two stories and is not about the 30-foot coastal height limit. However, the words of the Supreme Court have remained with me over the years. These are the words used when the 30-foot height limit decision was handed down. The Supreme Court actually said, “Communities can zone themselves as they see fit.” Our city government should respect the law and the community’s will, and summarily reject this project.
David F. Little, Member LJCDP Committee, Trustee of LJCPA

Thanks for fashion page
I commend you for the addition of Diana Cavagnaro to your May 22 issue (page 14). I hope we see more of her.
My daughter, who lives in downtown San Diego, and some of her friends follow her column in the San Diego Downtown News faithfully. She shares Diana’s column with me.
We all enjoy Diana’s fashion knowledge, the photos and the latest buzz in what San Diego is doing for fashion. It is good to see her in our paper as well.

Margie Hastings, La Jolla

Unconventional candidate a breath of fresh air
To those of us who remember the spirit of protest in Ocean Beach in the 1960s, [mayoral candidate] Eric Bidwell is a breath of fresh air (“Mayoral long shot shakes up the establishment,” Village News, May 29, page 7). By playing along with the Sanders campaign and publicly exposing its attempt to corrupt him, he revealed the true Sanders administration in a most powerful way. Maybe he can wake up the apathetic public to what is really going on in our city government.
Mr. Bidwell has displayed the conscience to know right from wrong, the smarts to beat Sanders at his own game and the guts to actually do it. Well done!
After years of watching San Diego turn into a high-rise live-in Disneyland for wealthy yuppies, run by land developers and crooked politicians, I had almost given up hope for our city’s future. Eric Bidwell has given me new hope. With Mr. Bidwell around, I think this city might have a fighting chance to survive intact. I expect to hear a lot more from him in the coming years.
Michael Williams, Ocean Beach

Pittsburgh’s difference
A difference between the immigrants I grew up with in Pittsburgh is that the steel mills hired “legal” immigrants, while CA employers think that is not a responsibility of theirs (“Immigration raid nets 18; UCSD protest planned,” Village News, May 22, page 5).
It seems to them that is the Border Patrol’s responsibility! Duh!
Walter C. Tice, Pacific Beach

Combination of love and courage
The water is never terribly clear right off Children’s Pool, just because it is so shallow. You may float there, and a gray torpedo shape materializes, headed right at you. He knew you were there, he can hear you breathing, especially on scuba. Usually, though, he judges you uninteresting and veers off, still on some errand, like Alice’s White Rabbit. Or one will stop, take a sip of air and drop to contemplate your oddness. I slowly raised the camera and in the viewfinder I saw ” A nostril. No, go back! But there he is, peering into my facemask like a friendly puppy. I had no gloves and he noticed my hands were oddly pink, unlike my black rubber “hide.” He rubbed his whiskers across my hand to feel it, and then scampered away. “Of course, dummy,” I thought. “What else would he use”?
The only decent picture I have gotten was one investigating my fins, which seem to fascinate them ” they must wonder how we grow and discard them so fast. A seal will tug on fins just to see a diver turn around. They know they can mess with us because they know we lack peripheral vision, among other skills. They are one of the few animals with a sense of humor.
Sometimes I can interest one by doing a trick, like a barrel roll, and he will imitate, but inevitably, he will stop and stare, as if to say, “You aren’t very good at this, are you?” and dash off to find better entertainment. I still am learning.
I found a dead seal, lifeless on the bottom, hidden in a pile of kelp. Now what do I do? After a while the dead seal quivered and floated up to take a hit of air. They can nap underwater! Then I began to take notice and sure enough, they will lodge themselves under a ledge and snooze.
Once I saw a camera on the bottom below the seawall and dropped down to reach for it, worthless as it would be. I had not noticed a big seal lodged under the ledge. He cracked open one eye and reached down with a flipper to fling sand at me; a mild rebuke in seal language. It is like being an aquatic Jane Goodall.
I wish I could take some of you with me, to meet the most friendly, funny, intelligent animals that be, on their own terms, to know some of their true nature, but you have to get wet, and cold, and be yelled at and publicly harassed, and ignore the pollution signs. It takes a combination of love and courage. I should prefer to remain anonymous, because if a person can be prosecuted for rescuing a seal, who knows what penalty entertaining one might bring?
J. Leek, San Diego