Readiness, response to fire disaster
Following the wildfires that burned across San Diego County last month, a recurring concern involves the state’s readiness and response to the disaster. Fortunately, those concerns will be explored during a Dec. 12 public hearing in San Diego.
I am vice-chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security, which is holding the forum to review the inter-agency disaster response and find ways to improve it. The hearing will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of San Diego, Mother Rosalie Hill Hall auditorium (Room 116), School of Leadership & Education Science, University of San Diego (USD), 5998 Alcalá Park.
The public is welcome to attend and may park in West Marian Way Parking Structure. Guests may then walk or take a tram up the hill. Hill Hall is the first building on the left at the top of the hill. View a campus map at http://www.sandiego.edu/maps/index_flash.html
A similar response followed the 2003 fires, when the governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission reviewed the state’s response and made recommendations to address problems. I served on that Commission, which made 49 recommendations. Many of them were implemented, including the expansion of seasonal firefighters to year-round, the purchase of new fire trucks and communications equipment, improving coordination among various agencies, and speeding the dispatch of trucks and aircraft.
All agencies involved learned many lessons after the 2003 fires, such as devoting more resources. Since the 2003 fires, CalFire added the following to San Diego: two fire stations; 11 volunteer stations; 21 firefighters; 21 fire engines; four rescue vehicles; and five water tenders.
These additions cannot prevent wildfires but they helped reduce the number of deaths and destroyed properties in 2007 compared to the 2003 fires. We know we can never do enough when people’s homes are burning and firefighters are risking their lives, but these hearings will go a long way toward reducing future damage.
Senator Christine Kehoe, Sacramento

Arguments get more and more bizarre
The arguments presented in favor of paid parking at the La Jolla Community Planning Board meetings are getting more and more bizarre. As each argument fails the reality test, another is pulled from the hat. In spite of their desperate attempt to force paid parking in La Jolla at any cost, the proponents are losing.
First the argument was that paid parking would improve parking access. That didn’t fly. Then they claimed that it would be a financial bonanza. That didn’t fly either. Now it’s down to ‘voluntary block-by-block opt-in throughout zone or opt-in/opt-out plan.” They must be kidding!
Don’t be fooled by the double talk. Our streets should not be privatized en mass or piece by piece. Enough is enough.

Tanja Winter, La Jolla

Personal observation, and a firm protest
I wish to ask a few questions and provide a few answers based on my personal observation on a daily basis for more than 11 years as a resident of La Jolla village.
1. Who parks on the streets of La Jolla? (in particular, Park Row, Prospect Street, Prospect Place, Exchange Place, Virginia Way, Silverado, Cave and Ivanhoe)
Employees of the restaurants, hotels, and shops; business personnel, sales persons, financial and real estate brokers, supply personnel for restaurants, stores, etc., briefcases in hand; visitors walking into the village to shop, sightsee, eat; beach-going families (with kids in tow, carrying boogie boards, ice chests, food containers, etc.); surfers with their surfboards. Others include gardeners, maintenance personnel and repair people, residents visiting other residents, and most important to me, my family and friends who come for short and extended visits throughout the year, but especially during all of the holidays.
2. When do they park?
“¢ Weekdays
The streets begin to fill up during the week around 9:30 a.m. At the time of this letter (it is now past 10 a.m.), I walked out front to observe that there are easily more than a dozen available spaces on Park Row and down on Prospect. No one is walking down from Virginia Way, because there are numerous places available on Prospect Place.
But on the days when it is full up, everyone seems to have no problem finding a place, including my friends, visitors (planned and unexpected), and family members. No one is on a metered parking and has to worry that they will be ticketed while performing their business transactions, which benefits La Jolla Village, or enjoying the company of friends and family.
“¢ Weekends
Visitors, beachgoers who have chosen not to pay for parking in the available parking lots, which I have observed, only too often, are not full. The cars cruising on Prospect, Herschel, Girard pass up the paid-for parking and are looking for free parking spaces.
“¢ Holidays
La Jolla is beautiful and quiet much of the day, on all of the streets.
“¢ Evenings
These vary ” most are for dinner and enjoying the village nightlife but no street mentioned above is without ample places to park. Those who walk into the village make a conscious choice not to use the valet services nor the available paid parking structures.
3. How long do they park?
The various working personnel arrive for their shifts or appointments around 9:30 a.m. They come and go all day with most leaving around 3:30 p.m. There is parking somewhere at any given time of day. No one has to worry about parking tickets.
Putting parking meters on the streets mentioned above would be intrusive handicaps for residents, employees, visitors and sales personnel, and all of us living and working in the village.
The parking structures always have available space for those who choose to pay. Signs are needed at Prospect and Cave indicating the location of the parking lots on Cave, Herschel and elsewhere for visitors who choose to pay. Valet parking is available. The existing on-street parking time limits work as they are.
The Parking Advisory Board must consider the concerns of the residents as well as all of the business owners and it has so far failed to do so. On-street metered parking is not the solution.
Its only apparent purpose seems to be to raise more revenue from those of us who live and work in the village. Why? There is a huge amount of money going to the city already from the businesses and residents of La Jolla.
As a resident and one who prefers to support this very wonderful and special village of merchants and restaurants, rather than driving to all of the other shopping locations with free parking, I firmly protest the Pilot Parking Program proposed by the La Jolla Parking Advisory Board.
Barbara Cotter, La Jolla

Tip of the iceberg
I read the letter by Roger Wiggins (“Something is going to give again,” Village News, Nov. 22, page 8) and I agree with his conclusions about the impact of traffic on the stability of the Mt. Soledad flank in the landslide area. This is only the tip of the iceberg of this problem.
Many areas on the Mt. Soledad flanks have been significantly disturbed by development and traffic. There are many more landslides to come on Mt. Soledad and, make no mistake about it, the value of real estate on Mt. Soledad has been significantly impacted forever.
Traffic on a number of roads on Mt. Soledad has definitely resulted in serious damage to a number of locations. People should be very careful to monitor cracking and fracturing of their neighborhood streets in case of landslide occurrence.
Kent Trego, La Jolla

Ban volume drinking, not responsible actions
Although I strongly oppose a total ban, I do believe that banning common sources of alcohol and volume consumption activities such as kegs and liquor, and possibly limiting the quantity of one-can beer purchases, would help to curtail the excess we have witnessed. This also includes activities designed for high-volume consumption such as ice luges, beer pong tables, beer bongs, etc.
Those of us who drink socially and don’t participate in these inflammatory activities should not have to pay the consequences of a minority of immature consumers of alcohol at our beaches.
Evan Mignogna, Pacific Beach