Not your tax dollars, but ours
I am a resident of Palomino Circle, and have had to weather hundreds of delighted “La Jolla haters” trespassing across my property to take pictures of the misfortune sustained by my neighbors.
There seems to be a huge misunderstanding among the public about who will foot the bill to help my neighbors rebuild their lives. Non-La Jollans feel that their tax dollars are paying for “rich” people, without realizing how much tax dollars La Jollans actually pay every year to the City.
Let’s assume that the average price of a home in La Jolla is $1.4 million (very low I know, but that is the 2007 median price).
Further, let’s assume there are 10,000 homes in La Jolla (although there are probably 15,000 homes, let’s just keep our numbers low).
Further, let’s assume property tax is only 1 percent (although property tax is slightly higher).
Then, every year, 10,000 La Jolla homes pay the city $140 million each year in property taxes (10,000 x .01 x 1.4 million).
So, if the City ends up paying $20 million to La Jolla landside victims every year, non-La Jollans have nothing to complain about, since La Jollans are clearly paying for their own. It is not your tax dollars paying for La Jolla landslide lawsuits, it is our tax dollars.
Note also, Easter Cross haters, that La Jollan property tax dollars clearly pay for the City’s losses on Easter Cross lawsuits.
Further, non-La Jollans, try walking around La Jolla residential streets and note:
(1) La Jolla has ancient, leaking City sewers and City water pipes that the City refuses to fund with La Jollan property tax dollars;
(2) La Jolla has ancient aboveground utilities that the City refuses to bury using La Jollan property tax dollars;
(3) the City regularly sends letters to La Jollans telling us that if we do not fix old, crumbling City sidewalks in front of our house then we are liable ” that is, people who trip on City sidewalks in front of our house can sue us.
And what do La Jollans do about this? Without complaining, we hire plumbers to find the leaks for the City (since they refuse to find the leaks themselves) and we fix the City’s sidewalk in front of our house with our personal funds.
And by the way, last year, my daughter’s La Jolla public school class had 20 students. Only six of her classmates were La Jolla residents. The other 14 were “choiced” into my daughter’s school via a citywide choice program. So don’t even mention the fact that our $140 million a year is getting us great schools, because we are happily sharing our schools with non-La Jolla residents. And for those who are curious, the 14 choiced-in kids did extremely well in school, with two of them being top in the class.
Godspeed to my neighbors who are trying to rebuild their lives.
Terry Kellerman, La Jolla

What’s the lesson?
I have just learned of UCSD’s intent to despoil the coastline with yet another boxlike, high-rise housing structure. UCSD is clearly acting to enhance its revenue at the expense of one of the last remaining areas of natural California coastline. By fabricating lies about the impact of the proposed structure when they apparently have no data gleaned from experts in any field other than corporate greed, UCSD is publicly demonstrating their willingness violate the delicate ecology of the coastline.
A 14-story eyesore underscores the importance of greed at the expense of the environment. That they are willing to destroy the beauty and safety of the Torrey Pines Glider Port places UCSD in the same reprehensible category as those who want to log the redwood forests and build hot dog stands and T-Shirt shops in Yosemite.
What is it that UCSD is teaching their students? “Greed is good”? “Ecology and environment are immaterial if profit can be made from plundering them”?
I suggest that UCSD be compelled to submit environmental impact statements to every governmental agency and commission in the state of California before they put even ONE shovel in the ground. If UCSD is truly concerned about “students who are denied the full college experience,” then UCSD should act responsibly and demolish existing dorms and replace them with larger ones.
The rest of the country admires and follows the lead California has taken on environmental issues. UCSD is going backwards and taking California with it. It’s unthinkable ANY organization would consider placing such a structure on the coast at Torrey Pines, and even more unthinkable that a state-supported public institution has not been stopped from proceeding with this proposed environmental disaster.
The people of San Diego must stop UCSD from ruining more of the beauty of the San Diego coast and from ruining one of the last remaining places for parasailing. UCSD cannot simply make up “facts” and use them as pretext for greed-driven expansion.

S. Ward, Peekskill, N.Y.

Better use for wasted funds
Now, more than ever we need the San Diego City Council to support Councilman Kevin Faulconer and pass an alcohol-free beach ordinance and stop spending up to $1 million for police overtime pay and enforcement costs for the Fourth of July.
Those wasted funds should go into our infrastructure and public safety, like what has happened just in the last few days: the Mt. Soledad landslide and water main breaks in PB and Mission Bay.
District 2 needs that kind of help, not the continuing disgrace dealt to it by FreePB.org and the current alcohol status quo
Steve Sherrard, Mission Beach

Humans before animals
The Casa Pool has been a wonderful place for children and I am so glad the judge decided to rule for the children and not the seals. The Casa was designed for children to have a safe place to swim. The seals remained on the rocks to the north and were still viewed by tourists and locals.
When do we put animals before humans? This in no way will hurt tourism or business. We had a very good business on Prospect for 20 years and before the seals and after and the flow of tourists remained constant.

Marilyn K. Robertson, Prudential Ca. Realty, La Jolla

Don’t keep paving paradise
Thanks are due to the San Diego City Council for joining other California cities in opposing a toll road extension that would run through a state park and an unspoiled watershed before ending in Northern San Diego County. Your resolution against the proposed extension of the 241 toll road sends a strong message that San Onofre State Park and the world-famous surf breaks of Trestles are worth saving as special places enjoyed by many San Diegans.
Special thanks to Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who kept an open mind after initially opposing the resolution, and even toured the area to gain further understanding of the issues at stake.
Sure, transportation issues between San Diego and Orange County require attention and action, but is the best answer we can come up with in 2007 to just keep paving over a highly used and naturally beneficial open space like we did back in the ’50s? Are we really going to start running highways (toll roads!) through our state parks? Great weather and beautiful outdoor spaces are what make California special. People don’t fall in love with our great concrete.
Thank you, San Diego City Council Members Scott Peters, Kevin Faulconer, Donna Frye, Brian Maienshein, Toni Atkins and Tony Young for voting to protect one of California’s special places.
Ken David, Clairemont
Executive Committee Member, Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Chapter

Other traffic alternatives
I want to thank the City of San Diego for listening to its citizenry and for supporting a resolution to protect San Onofre State Park from a six-lane toll road. The passage of this resolution is important because it proves the council understands there are better traffic alternatives than building an enormous toll road though the fifth-most-visited California State Park.
Councilmember Kevin Faulconer deserves a lot of credit not only for reintroducing the resolution, but for taking the time to learn more about the issue and touring San Onofre State Park to see what’s at stake.
Mr. Faulconer is my representative and I am so pleased he is listening to his constituents; and that he is taking his role on the Natural Resources and Culture Committee very seriously.
Thank you, City of San Diego, for protecting our beaches, parks and open spaces for current and future generations.

Stefanie Sekich, Point Loma