Lack of runway activity at North Island makes it prime airport land
“Use it or lose it” seemed to be the criterion for the recent closing of military bases across the country. With that in mind, it is difficult to see how the Navy’s North Island facility was able to escape closure given the small amount of runway activity there.
Perhaps members of the latest airport authority should take some time off and spend it on Shelter Island and talk to those who bring their motor homes and campers for the day and wonder, as I do, about the lack of activity on the runways on North island. On most days, a handful of take-offs and landings seem to be the norm.
For the panoramic view of the Navy’s facility on North Island, authority members might stop by the Cabrillo National Monument atop Point Loma and gaze down upon the vast, sprawling wasteland of under-utilized runways.
At the same time, one can look across the bay to Lindbergh Field where a combined daily total of airplane arrivals and departures reaches approximately 600 flights using a single runway, with 48,000 passengers per day arriving in San Diego, according to the airport’s PR department.
Things have changed a tad since I arrived here in 1925.
As detailed in recent letters to the editor, San Diego has never denied the Navy anything it asked for. Perhaps San Diego may share some of the blame for the adamant stance now taken by the Navy, for in the act of acquiescing to the Navy’s wants, the city has conditioned the Navy for “receiving,” as opposed to “giving” or even “sharing.” This might account for the quick, off-the-cuff “no” when the authority spoke of sharing. Could this be a sort of “I’m on board, pull up the ladder?”
However, the airport authority should not be lobbying (excuse the expression) for a share of North Island, given the lack of runway use there. Rather, North Island should become the sole, exclusive site for San Diego’s new civilian, international airport. The Navy’s new airport should be 20 minutes away by air and east of the Laguna Mountains. A portion of the island could be retained by the Navy for servicing aircraft carriers and helicopters, which do not use the runways.
In appreciation for the support of the Secretary of the Navy in this endeavor, his name could be emblazoned over the main entrance to the airport terminal.
Charles Plummer, Point Loma

Restaurant walk is good alternative to party for fund-raising
I applaud Discover Pacific Beach and SavePB.org for seeking an alternative to the PB Block Party and the proposed PB Street Fair. There are other ways to raise funds in our community that include the recipients of the funds in the planning and implementation of the events.
Last month, Friends of Pacific Beach Elementary (FOPBE) and FOPBSS (Friends of Pacific Beach Secondary Schools, which supports Pacific Beach Middle and Mission Bay High schools) sponsored the Taste of North PB, a restaurant walk showcasing the wonderful restaurants located in North PB. While 630 tickets were sold, more than $8,500 was raised for the three participating schools. This is approximately 1/6 of the money raised through the PB Block Party without all of the negative impacts on the community.
The event was family-friendly and it truly highlighted our beautiful community. No police coverage was needed and 200,000 people (or 75,000 with the proposed Street Fair) did not descend upon our neighborhood creating traffic and parking nightmares. There were no reports of trash littering the streets. It involved no alcohol. Most importantly, we could proudly attend as a family and know that our children were also benefiting from the funds raised.
There are alternatives to the mayhem that has been created by the PB Block Party. The proposed Street Fair should not happen here in our community.
Laura Daly, President, Friends of Pacific Beach Elementary

Block Party, community events benefit neighbors
Last week as I sat at my desk overlooking my fairly quaint residential block, a policeman pulled over a late model sedan directly in front of the apartment I share with my husband. Before long, the officer cuffed the middle-aged driver and sat him in the police car.
The officer searched the sedan, talked on his radio then released the man. As the man walked back to his car, he turned and said, “Thank you. Thank you sir. You know my history. I rob houses. I wouldn’t do that.”
Community events are our best defense against people who only “rob houses.” I don’t even want to think about the act the thief didn’t commit. It is events like the Pacific Beach Block Party that bring us together as neighbors resulting in a better community for us all. So get out there, meet your neighbors and listen to some music.
Deborah Hatch, Pacific Beach

Ban alcohol on beaches
Dr. Shawn Evans tells it like it is in Pacific Beach, and Mission Beach too. These communities are simply drowning in alcohol, and responsible action by residents is necessary for change.
One simple action Dr. Evans mentions, an action that would be much more effective than curtailing the Block Party or shutting down a few bars out of the scores in the beach area, would be to get the alcohol off the beach.
Residents who haven’t lived in or visited numerous beach communities in Southern California are possibly unaware that crime rates elsewhere are much lower, visitors are under control and drunks don’t roam the neighborhoods.
There are more than 50 beach cities in Southern California, from Santa Barbara county to the Mexican border. I know of only three that allow drinking on the beach; San Diego, Del Mar and Solana Beach. If you’ve ever taken a close look at Solana Beach it’s clear why they have no problem. For openers, there’s no beach at high tide. Most beach access is by narrow stairways down a cliff that ranges from 25 to 50 feet high, and there’s almost no parking available.
As for Del Mar which, unlike San Diego, doesn’t exactly welcome outsiders, almost all of their very limited parking is paid by the hour, much of their beach access is also down a cliff and over railroad tracks, there’s no boardwalk, no liquor stores and few bars near the sand, and the beach is full of rocks. Yet their city council has seen fit to ban booze on the sand on the July 4 holiday.
Is it any wonder we have a problem? We host all the beach rowdies in Southern California. I know what you’re thinking. As former council member Michael Zucchet loved to tell me, this was settled in 2002 by a referendum when the voters turned down a ban on beach alcohol.
Well. it’s not quite that simple. What happened was that a divided City Council passed a confusing, temporary ban on alcohol at some beaches but not others. Then, when the alcohol industry financed a referendum campaign, those council members who supported the ban suddenly went mute, as did the police chief and former mayor Dick Murphy. The measure still lost by the narrowest of margins. Next time the outcome could be far different, if the politicians were to stand up for their own decision.
Bill Bradshaw, Mission Beach