Tough fields

Re: “Area ballpark fields face vandalism, thefts” [Volume 23, Issue 1 or bit.ly/2jyuicp]

For people with disabilities, the fields have been disastrous to get around before the vandalization! I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be now.

—Suzanne Chappellet-Matez, via Facebook

Right neighborhood

Re: “Letters: Wrong neighborhood” [Volume 23, Issue 1 or bit.ly/2kXWgBF]

You previously published my letter to the editor “No MAD” two issues ago (Volume 22, Issue 12) which indicated that Temple Emanu-El is on 6299 Capri Drive, Del Cerro.

But, Suzanne Ross’ subsequent letter to the editor insisted that Temple Emanu-El is in San Carlos and that it is offending and irksome to say that is in Del Cerro.

However, in a Jan. 24th call to the temple, the person answering the phone was emphatic that it is in Del Cerro. Moreover, a map of the proposed Del Cerro Maintenance Assessment District show that the temple’s street, Capri Drive, is clearly within Del Cerro.

Further, the long-standing Del Cerro Action Council and newly-formed Friends of Del Cerro conduct their meetings at Temple Emanu-El. If the temple is not in Del Cerro, why do these organizations meet there?

I have owned the same home in the Del Cerro highlands since 1971, which even Ms. Ross recognizes is definitely in Del Cerro. But every year since then, my real estate property tax bill has stated that my home is located in the San Carlos Estates. This may explain why Ms. Ross erroneously thinks that Temple Emanu-El is in San Carlos.

—Stuart R. Josephs

[Editor’s note: Thank you Mr. Josephs for clearing that up for us. The Mission Times Courier regrets not catching the error. The issue of neighborhood borders and why some people have different perceptions of them is further explored in this issue on Page 3 in Doug Curlee’s feature “Our four communities and where they come from.”]

Perhaps the writer Suzanne Ross is confusing Temple Emanu-El with the Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Tifereth Israel is located in San Carlos at 6660 Cowles Mountain Blvd., 92119, near Whelen, while Temple Emanu-El is at 6299 Capri Ave., 92120. It is at the intersection of Capri Avenue and Del Cerro Boulevard in the community of Del Cerro.

Hopefully Ms. Ross won’t need to feel so irked now.

—Elaine Evins

I read, with a mixture of bemusement and bewilderment, your “Letters to the Editor” column last month. As a 35-year resident of Del Cerro, I could not believe the comically inaccurate and poorly-written piece by Suzanne Ross, in which she asserts that Capri Drive “never has been, and never will be” considered part of Del Cerro.

This must have been jarring news for the residents of Capri Drive! Perhaps Ms. Ross hadn’t noticed the “Welcome to Del Cerro” sign that greets motorists coming north on College Avenue from the freeway. Perhaps she wasn’t aware of Capri Drive’s intersection with — surprise! — Del Cerro Boulevard, immediately adjacent to Temple Emanu-El (whose congregation should certainly consider themselves a valued part of the Del Cerro community).

I grew up on Adobe Falls Road, on the low-density residential half of the street which is only accessible from Del Cerro Boulevard. From kindergarten to the sixth grade, I went to Hearst Elementary School, at 6230 Del Cerro Blvd. All that time, I fully believed that I was a resident of Del Cerro. Thank goodness Ms. Ross and her letter were there last month to set me straight!

In case there was still any ambiguity about the very clear boundaries of Del Cerro, we might consult with the San Diego Police Department, who conveniently have posted their comprehensive map of San Diego’s neighborhoods online. One look confirms that Capri Drive, as well as all of the community surrounding Del Cerro Boulevard, is officially considered Del Cerro by the police.

The Del Cerro Action Council lists several businesses and community assets on its website, all indicating that the area in question is included within their community. Even that modern-day, all-knowing oracle of cartography, Google Maps, is on board with the notion that Capri Drive is deep in the heart of Del Cerro.

Growing up, we referred to the area surrounding Hearst as “Baja Del Cerro,” a tongue-in-cheek moniker meant to distinguish our little neighborhood from “The Hill.” Call it whatever you like today, but it was widely accepted as part of Del Cerro all the same.

So, take it from me, a native son of Del Cerro, that you don’t have to live atop the hill with the “snobs” (as Ms. Ross calls them) to be part of the Del Cerro community.

—John Robert Crawford

Why didn’t you print a simple correction to the piece that listed Temple Emanu-El as being located in Del Cerro instead of San Carlos? Instead you gave Suzanne Ross a platform to label all of the residents of Del Cerro as “rich snobs” not once but twice.

Community newspapers should be bridge builders between neighboring communities not forums for those who seek to bad mouth others to the detriment of all. I thought Mission Times Courier was better than that.
—Jody Rowley

[Editor’s note: Ms. Ross’ letter, in addition to the colorful comments she made about Del Cerro, did address the issue of Del Cerro’s MAD proposal, which is a topic that the Mission Times Courier has been following in our opinion pages for several months. If it had been a letter only bad-mouthin’ a neighborhood, it would not have been printed. We receive off-topic letters quite frequently and do not print them. Ms. Ross followed all the protocols to get a letter published and it is her right to have her views expressed.]

With all the hate-filled propaganda going on everywhere we look, it would be nice to be able to turn to our “sweet neighborhood newspaper” to see what is going on in our community in hopes of bringing us together. It is extremely irresponsible to include in our newspaper the exact hate-filled nonsense we are trying to escape. It is clear in Ms. Ross’ letter that she is extremely bitter about something that extends well beyond simply where certain neighborhood barriers lie and referring to them by proper name. Really?! And to top it all off, the information is completely wrong. Why in the world, given the position you are in, would you want to spread such negativity in the form of a letter that includes nothing more than impertinent rambling?

In a world that needs more positive change, if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.

Please be more responsible in the future. We would all appreciate it.

—Tina Mickelson-Topacio

In regards to the opinion letter titled “Wrong Neighborhood” written by Suzanne Ross and published in Volume 23, Issue 1 of the Mission Times Courier, I write to request you clarify the inaccuracies published in the letter and refrain from publishing such offensive and unsubstantiated claims in the future.
First, the author has clearly mixed up Temple Emanu El on Capri Drive (firmly and without a doubt located in the Del Cerro Neighborhood) with Temple Tiffereth Israel (located near Whelan Drive as mentioned in Ms. Ross’ letter) in the San Carlos neighborhood. Ms. Ross’s letter is inaccurate and the Mission Times Courier should have fact checked before printing the letter and issuing the Editor’s Note revision.

Second, and moreover, there is no place in our local paper for accusatory and offensive language regarding residents of our local community of Del Cerro, a community that this newspaper serves. Ms. Ross refers to Del Cerro residents as “rich snobs,” and that sending children to preschool at Temple Emanu El in Del Cerro “will comfort them (snob-wise) to offset tuition (i.e. bragging rights)”.
Ms. Ross is misinformed regarding the location of Temple Emanu El and her hate-based rhetoric regarding local residents is disappointing and inappropriate. To quote Ms. Ross’s words, “shame on you for printing such falsehood.”

—Nicole Morgan

Picture this

Re: “A holiday hike” [Volume 23, Issue 1 or bit.ly/2kXWgBF]

I just want to thank you for including the picture and write up I sent to you in the recent issue of the Mission Trails Courier. My granddaughters are going to be so excited when they see it. I’ll have to hit the neighbors up for there issue so I can send them each one. I look forward to getting the paper every month. It has some great articles and stories. Keep up the great work. Thanks again.

—Rick Derkatz