Floating airport idea could fly
I want to compliment the vision of Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Dr. Walter Munk and UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering’s Dr. Frieder Seible for a floating airport off San Diego harbor “Scholars float idea for airport,” Village News, Aug. 17, page 1). This is a great concept paired with a MAGLEV train connecting Lindbergh Field to Camp Pendleton, John Wayne Airport, Long Beach Airport and LAX.
General Atomics could produce this work product. We have been at war since 9/11 and it is imperative that we do not compromise our military assets. The War on Terror has not ended and may further escalate on the global stage. Please let the decision makers know at the ballot box that the highest and best use for Lindbergh Field has far from been achieved.
Let’s preserve our quality of life, the sounds of freedom (F-18s et al) from Miramar are far better than 24/7 commercial jets over 92037.
Edward Mracek, La Jolla

Who is Scott Peters kidding?
In the Aug. 10 edition of the Village News, Scott Peters makes a feeble attempt at drumming up support for his “Difficult Decision” from his constituency (Council Corner, page 8).
He goes to great lengths to describe how he, as the elected representative of the UC residents, put an end to the Regents Bridge/Genesee Avenue widening debate with his difficult decision. Who’s he kidding?!! His support of the Regents Bridge project was a blatant slap in the face to the University Community Planning Group and residents of UC, who less than three weeks earlier and in many community meetings over the past three years, overwhelmingly voted 11-3 against any such projects. Which UC residents was he representing?
Scott Peters then attempts to justify his appreciation of Rose Canyon and how it played into his decision by comparing it to the Yosemite Valley. Does he even get the point? Clearly the hillsides of Rose Canyon are no comparison to Half Dome. The point is unmanaged growth.
He claims how beautiful growth is by pointing out how “we are developing near Carmel Valley and Rancho Penasquitos, where the voters in 1998 approved huge new growth.” Obviously Scott Peters has not driven the I-5 or the I-15 corridor in the past six years to notice how beautiful open space has been converted to resemble a massive condominium complex. This type of beauty will soon change the San Diego landscape to that of Irvine, or worse yet, Los Angeles.
Scott Peters and the City Council seem to have no problem approving a $30-$40 million project that in no way benefits the rest of San Diego and is not supported by the local residents. Heck, it must seem like a great deal after paying $20 million for an inadequate audit report on the mishandling of the city’s pension fund.
Scott Peters now asks for UC residents to come together and support his decision. No way!! Let Scott Peters look to the developers and short-sighted business community who he really represents for his support.
The fight has just begun and I’m sure when Scott Peters needs the support of his district’s voters in the future, it will be an easy decision for us!!
Marshall J. Varano, University City

Real reform needed at CPA
The La Jolla Community Planning Association, Inc., the city’s official advisory planning board for La Jolla, is now revising its bylaws and structure as a result of a lawsuit brought by La Jollans for Clean Government, Inc., a watchdog group created by La Jolla residents to investigate corruption and conflict of interest (Go to www.LaJollaWatchdog.org). The settlement of that lawsuit required the CPA to institute certain reforms to make it more democratic and transparent in its operations.
A key point of this restructuring involves a proposal by present CPA management to dissolve the existing CPA (a corporation) and create a new unincorporated association to take its place. The problem with this is that the present CPA management wants to control the new association by keeping the same officers and directors as dominate the CPA now by refusing to hold an election for the board members of the new entity.
There is no basis in law or otherwise which allows the former management of a dissolved quasi-public corporation to take control of a new quasi-public entity without an election. It is crucial that any new CPA organization fairly represent all the people of La Jolla, not just real estate speculators and land development interests. To that end, it is critical that an election be held to elect all of the directors of the new CPA entity. The fact that the present CPA management is afraid of letting the people of La Jolla vote for the new CPA representatives speaks volumes about their true motivations.
Steven W. Haskins, Esq.
La Jolla resident, Attorney for La Jollans for Clean Government, Inc.

Population dynamics limiting factors
The concept: Natural populations tend to increase until they encounter one or more “Limiting Factors.”
Limiting factors are typically such things as inadequate food supply, disease, predation and interaction with other populations. These concepts are well understood by professional ecologists and wildlife managers.
Over the past 60-70 years the limiting factor for the Children’s Pool seals has been mainly the balanced co-use of the area by humans and seals. Over that period of time, food was in good supply and the seal population stabilized at a sustainable level.
Removal of a limiting factor allows populations to increase. Here, exclusion of humans would be the factor being removed. The seal population would thus begin increasing. This is apparently the case over the past four to five years. What remains to be seen is if the local environment can healthfully carry a substantially larger population.
An expanding population will continue to grow until it hits the next limiting factor. Thus, the more important question is: “What will be the next limiting factor the seal population encounters?” Inadequate food? Disease? Fouled environment?
Natural populations in urban settings exist in artificial environments, and should be managed. The management concepts are well understood and practiced by professional ecologists and wildlife managers. It would be equally inappropriate to afford no protection for such populations as it would be to allow the population to expand beyond the optimum size appropriate for the area. “Management” thus means creating optimum conditions for all the populations in question and, just as with concerns about human overpopulation, not creating conditions where a population increases beyond the capability of the environment to healthfully sustain it.
A sensible step now would be to return the Children’s Pool beach and surrounding waters to co-use by both seals and humans. This would provide a “limiting factor” to contain the seal population at a level sustainable by the local environment (as it had for the past 70 years or so). Such an approach would certainly be preferable to allowing the seal population to increase beyond the environmental carrying capacity, and then having to apply more aggressive measures such as culling the population.
Steve Roberts, La Jolla

Agony of a lovely city
Once beautiful Tyre, 50 miles south of Beirut and Lebanon’s fourth-largest city, traces its roots back to the Phoenicians. They were great explorers, circumnavigating Africa and founding cities like Carthage, Rhodes and Crete. They had strong trade links with kings David and Solomon, exchanging cedar wood used in the construction of Solomon’s Temple.
In the present Israeli-Hezbollah war, leaflets dropped by Israeli warplanes urged the civilian inhabitants to flee the slated bombing of Hezbollah outposts, resulting in widespread destruction, death and countless wounded and refugees. Tragically, innocent old men, women and children of both countries are victims of this war.
During WWI, King Alfonso XIII of then-neutral Spain personally intervened with Turkey to spare the Jewish population in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, which were part of the Ottoman empire.
Whether the present fragile truce will hold and lead to real eventual peace negotiations, not just a pipe dream, time will tell.
Alfonso de Bourbon, La Jolla

The power not to buy
The Union-Tribune carried a story on Aug. 2 about how the Chinese government killed 50,000 dogs after three people died of rabies. The five-day slaughter spared only military guard dogs and police canine units. Dogs being walked were seized from their owners and beaten to death on the spot.
It will not be easy but I commit to never buying another product that says “made in China” and I invite you to do the same. It will be difficult because almost everything you pick up in the United States is made in China.
We have the power not to buy and I for one am going to exercise it.
Trish Hausman, San Diego

City not yet safe for all
The recent hate crimes of verbal assaults and physical beatings of five men in Balboa Park as they were leaving the LGBT Pride Festival reminds all of us that there is yet more to do to make this city a safe place for all people. At Metropolitan Community Church San Diego, we ask everyone to lift up in prayer the victims and their families as they struggle to recover physically, emotionally and spiritually from the vicious crimes that were perpetrated upon them. Please also hold the attackers in prayer, remembering that, as Christians and people of faith, we are called to act with love even toward those who hurt us.
Metropolitan Community Church San Diego is encouraged by the peaceful attitudes that are reflected in so many of the citizens of San Diego. And, we are grateful we live in a time when the all of our city officials are aggressively working for justice in this matter and searching to find the assailants.
With God’s help we will continue to live with courage, walk in love and move forward in hope.
Pastor Lee Bowman, San Diego