Who is Scott Peters kidding?
In the Aug. 10, 2006, edition of the UC/Golden Triangle News, Scott Peters makes a feeble attempt at drumming up support for his “Difficult Decision” from his constituency (Council Corner, page 6).
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
Shed cloak of outrage
I wish to publicly thank and congratulate Mayor Sanders and the members of the City Council for their votes and their leadership for voting in favor of the Regents Bridge (“Bridge issue still divisive,” UC/Golden Triangle News, Aug. 10, page 1). I am certain that our neighbors who oppose the bridge put a great deal of pressure on them to vote their way, but they demonstrated courage, wisdom and intellectual integrity in voting for the only truly viable solution.
I cast no aspersions on our neighbors who live on the west end of University City, but it is clear that their opposition is based only on their wishes to preserve the tranquility of their neighborhood. While that is understandable, it completely ignores the stark and undeniable realities of the traffic and public safety. The mayor and most of the City Council have recognized the essential truth that, for an overwhelming number of reasons, widening of Genesee is not the answer, and they are to be commended for it.
It is now time for our friends on the west end to shed the cloak of outrage and abandon their histrionic overstatements of the impending ecological destruction of Rose Canyon, recognize that, for better or worse, San Diego has joined the big leagues of urban traffic congestion, and bear with the rest of us the burdens of commercial growth and population density.
Joseph and Barbara Andrilla, University City
Hey, ho, Peters must go
Scott Peters should resign. Although I originally supported him, largely because of his self-proclaimed environmentalism, his conduct on the city council has been increasingly dismaying. He has consistently supported commercial interests over the environment in La Jolla, Torrey Pines and now in University City with the Regents Road cut-and-fill bridge.
And now, for me at least, the Kroll report is the last straw. He has never admitted to ever making a mistake and his response to the Kroll Report criticisms are no exception. As he did with Mike Aguirre’s criticism, his reaction has been to attack the messenger, then try to put the critique “behind us.” It will not wash anymore. We voters have had a belly-full of noblesse oblige from the White House and have no patience for it in our City Council President.
I must also agree with Mike Aguirre that Mr. Peters (and former Mayor Dick Murphy), as beneficiaries of an elite legal education, may not credibly claim that naïveté, not calculation led to their complicity in the infamous pension plan deal. They knew what they were doing and should "fess up." A majority of the current City Council, under Mr. Peters’ control, has continued the back-room dealing favoring insiders that has gotten the city into the financial mess we suffer today.
It is time for San Diego city government to work for the people and not for the powerful. Replacing Scott Peters would be a substantial step toward reforming city government. If Mr. Peters will not resign, then the people in District 1 should initiate a recall effort.
Mr. Peters has to go. Now.
Charles Pratt, University City
McMillan rebuts NTC airport suggestion
There are some glaring omissions in Pauline O’Malley’s letter (“Leave Lindbergh well enough alone,” University City/Golden Triangle News, June 22, page 6) claiming that the Naval Training Center should have been used as a site for a second runway at Lindbergh Field, rather than be redeveloped into Liberty Station.
First, the city, community and Navy spent more than five years and hundreds of public meetings to determine the reuse plan for NTC. To say that “somebody wasn’t using their head” would be to condemn the thousands of people who participated in that process. Was Ms. O’Malley part of that process? Did she suggest a runway at the time?
Next, the Navy gave the land at NTC to the city under an Economic Development Conveyance, which carried with it very specific criteria for its reuse. The reuse plan, per the EDC, must return dollars and jobs to the community thats left with the 25,000 sailors living and working here. A runway through the middle of Point Loma would do the exact opposite. And imagine the congestion through Point Loma with an expanded Lindbergh Field.
In addition to $125 million in infrastructure work in and around the project, including city approved road improvements, there are now 349 families living at Liberty Station.
There are an additional 500 military families living on adjacent former NTC land. Hundreds of children go to school here. Dozens of companies with hundreds of employees are doing business here.
Soon there will be a marketplace, a refurbished golf course, a 46-acre regional park and an arts and culture center that will be home to dozens of non-profit groups.
We think the people involved in the reuse planning for NTC did a superb job and we are proud to implement their vision.
Greg Block, Community Relations Manager
The Corky McMillin Companies
South SD bay airport site
There have been several letters published on the proposed relocation of Lindbergh Field over the last few years. Recently, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority suggested they may consider The Tijuana International Airport because ¦it could relieve pressure on Lindbergh Field.” However, since apparently the Airport Authority has also stated that they will recommend joint usage of Marine Corp Miramar Air Station, I decided to submit again. Of all the letters published on this subject, a few have mentioned the south San Diego bay as a possible airport site. I proposed that area to the Regional Authority, the Port District and the mayor of Chula Vista two years ago.
I felt that a sketch of the area will help local citizens to visualize how the proposed two parallel airport runways would be constructed. The runways would be primarily built on the The Western Salt Works site. The salt works are expendable and are of another era. The orientation of the runways will be the same as Lindbergh Field. The runways are 12,000 feet long and the enclosed area is 3,000 acres. The runways will point at 270 degrees toward the ocean and cross the old U.S. Naval Communiscation Station, which traces back to the 1930s and should be deactivated. The South San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge will not be impacted.
Airport terminals and parking would be built along the north side of Palm Avenue and west side of Saturn Avenue. Both areas are currently under-developed. I think this site is the most economical, feasible and accessible, and could be constructed in a relatively short period. (The V-runway would only be for general aviation, if desired.)
William A. Daly, La Jolla
Seeing past disabilities
MDA summer camp is not just another camp. From June 19th to 24th, more than 50 kids and adolescents ages 6 to 21 that have Muscular Dystrophy gathered along with volunteers at Camp Cuyamaca in Descanso to ride horses, play soccer and show off their skills in the camp talent show.
For children living with neuromuscular diseases in the Southern California area, this was a week when hardships were forgotten. Leg braces, surgery and fitting in with other "normal" children at school took a back seat to the new friendships made and very competitive soccer games.
This week-long camping experience is cost-free. Funds raised by MDA in events such as the annual Jerry Lewis Telethon help generate the funds required to send these kids to camp. Please remember these campers this coming Labor Day weekend when our famous national chairman, Jerry Lewis, will be asking you for donations during the one-and-only MDA Telethon.
On behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, thank you for helping to make this a memorable experience.
Jenelle Allen, MDA Regional Public Affairs Coordinator