Will they have the audacity?
With the resignation of Peter Wagener from the La Jolla Community Parking Board, there is a unique opportunity for Promote La Jolla to appoint someone who can rebalance the Parking Board. As in any constructive debate, there is a need for people to contribute equally from all sides. The current Parking Board is comprised of people who support the institution of some form of parking meters in La Jolla.
There are many local business owners and residents who find the idea of paying while shopping at our distinctive businesses, Burns, Adelaide’s, Meanly Bros. or Warwick’s, as quite appalling.
If the eventual solution is to satisfy not only the owners of large restaurants and parking facilities but also everyone in La Jolla, then everyone ” including residents and small business owners ” should be recognized as a stakeholder.
PLJ now has a unique opportunity to end the wrangling and shift the debate from us vs. them to a collective solution. PLJ should reach out of its small circle in the business district to the many small business owners of the Village of La Jolla who may have other ideas. While it is easy for PLJ to endure the ongoing onslaught of public criticism and then to merely sign the contract with a meter company and take a percentage of the revenue, there are other solutions, e.g., the distribution of maps of available parking, negotiated parking rates for employees in the district, etc. Many small business owners are motivated to bring such ideas to the discussions of the Parking Board.
If PLJ again appoints an insider, then their motivation will be clear: to install parking meters to gain revenue and not to address the parking needs of LJ. Will they have the audacity to thumb their collective nose at residents and small business owners yet again or are they willing to begin a constructive dialogue?
Please call on PLJ to appoint a village representative with ideas on how to make LJ more conducive to small businesses rather than someone with the same old idea that the solution to increase available parking is for you and I to “pay the man or get out of town.”
Bill Shirley, La Jolla

Precious resource will be maintained, improved
The following is a copy of a letter sent to Patrick Ahern, chair of the Scripps Park Project.
The La Jolla Conservancy has reviewed your current plan, and we understand that you are near the completion of your review process with the local planning groups.
We commend you and support the expertise and dedicated work that you and your committee have put into the oversight of the SPP. We applaud you for the openness of the process, and for involving the local community, park users and other interested groups. This approach has allowed for the important input of constructive criticisms and creative new ideas. As a result of this process, you have formulated a plan that makes certain that Scripps Park, which is a precious community resource, will be maintained and improved so that it can be enjoyed by all of its many users for years and decades to come.
The La Jolla Conservancy supports you in moving forward toward final approval by the City Council, and we are proud to have been one of the early technical advisors and a financial sponsor of this planning process.
The La Jolla Conservancy also looks forward to working with the City, with the La Jolla Community, and with other public and private entities to identify the necessary funds and resources to allow the SPP to be approved and implemented.
Doug Dawson, President, La Jolla Conservancy

Children’s wishes are being ignored
It is bizarre that a woman swimmer and her attorney have succeeded in winning a lawsuit for the benefit of adult swimmers, divers, waders and snorkelers rendering it obligatory for the city of San Diego to spend huge funds for the reconfiguration of the Children’s Pool and its upkeep.
The concept that the pool should be maintained for the use of “people” completely excludes the population for whom it was intended.
Children’s wishes are being ignored! Today they prefer to watch the seals as they sleep, swim, play and mind their babies. One can confirm this by asking any adult who has accompanied a child along Ellen Browning Scripps’ seawall or the overlook from the sidewalk above. Many years of change have occurred, both in nature and the availability of swimming pools.
If the only way out of this dilemma is for the city of San Diego to cede the Children’s Pool back to the state of California for a nature preserve, then this should be done! It will still be a pool for the benefit of children, albeit in a manner different than first envisioned.
Helene Peck, La Jolla

Just don’t understand
I have nothing against kids. But do we really need to take away this little piece that’s left for the seals along our SD beach for kids?
It is very important that the seals stay where they are. We have so much beach in SD and kids swim anywhere! Seals feel protected there ” that’s why you don’t see them in North County!
I just don’t understand!
Laura Lisauskas, Bankers Hill

Would it be that hard on your life?
It blows me away that the people who want the seals removed continue to use a bunch of legal talk to justify the removal of the seals. This obviously shows that they are educated individuals, just not educated enough to realize that the seals don’t understand the court system. There are plenty of other beaches in the area. Would it really be that hard on your life to go hang out at one of those?
Steven Kline, Ocean Beach

Don’t mix wildlife and people
Thanks for your article on the conclusion of the legal action on the Children’s Pool (“Court upholds restoration of Children’s Pool,” Dec. 6, page 3). I hope that this experience of trying to create an artificial harbor seal colony for tourists in La Jolla has taught us not to mix wildlife and people so phony animal activists can sell seal souvenirs to the tourists.
As was brought out in the court case, rescued harbor seals from rehabilitation status were released too close to the La Jolla kelp beds as to create this artificial colony of harbor seals at Seal Rock in La Jolla. They should have been released out to sea near the Coronado Islands, where they would relocate and be in an isolated offshore location where people are not permitted. The whole thing got out of hand and we ended up with a colony of domestic harbor seals acclimated to people like in some zoo or ocean theme park attraction.
The harbor seals will be in their natural environment when they relocate away from human contact.
Kent Trego, La Jolla

Tailgate Tales has a fan
Thank you so much for supporting employees that not only look for the news (nationwide), but also participate in new technologies that support a cleaner world. Joe Connor is showing us that doing the right thing can be difficult, but has become what is needed to fix the world’s problems. In his writing he tells us of challenges, which most sports participants/ supporters understand, while showing a real commitment, another thing fans deal with continually.
I hope you will continue to support his adventures as he gets back here to San Diego. Thank you for going “green,” and most of all, thank you for looking into the future.
Daniel Beeman, Clairemont