San Bernardino, Civic Groups

The Oct. 10 article about San Bernardino (“A City Racked by Woe”) was a cheap shot. You might have said the same things about any number of communities in Southern California. If not now, then in five years. The entire region suffers from the same maladies which trouble San Bernardino: incompetent local government, a decreasing tax base, declining job opportunities, an influx of needy people who overextend public services and a dangerous crime problem complicated by an inability to deal with serious offenders.

As a San Bernardino resident and a professor of social work at Cal State San Bernardino, I should point out that affordable housing and services, genuinely nice people and easy access to other parts of the region make life here far more pleasant than your article would have the reader believe. A balanced job of reporting would have made the article helpful rather than offensive to San Bernardino residents.

MORLEY D. GLICKEN, San Bernardino

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Re “Join a Bowling League, Save the Nation,” by Tom Plate, California Prospect, Oct. 3: Bravo for hitting the nail on the head! My husband and I have frequently discussed the decline of civic organizations and organized religion in recent years. Your article confirms our observations about what has occurred in the San Bernardino Valley area of Southern California. We have watched the trend of being individualists over the past 15 years and feel that it is detrimental to our community-based way of life.

Two comments I offer. One, it seems that many immigrant groups do not become involved with civic organizations. There are probably many reasons for their non-involvement; however, as our demographics become more diverse, it adds to the decline of the traditional groups.

Second, the saying that “it takes a village to help in successfully raising a child” is commonly espoused these days. Civic organizations and religious groups provide a web or network which has been the means to provide support for children and youth in most communities. When civic organizations die, it is detrimental to the community’s ability to fill this need.

SUSAN WATTS, Mentone