MAILBAG - Oct. 19, 2000

While reading a paper on a park bench, I turned to my neighbor and

made a comment about the coming Nov. 7 election. He said, “I don’t care.

Why should I vote? What’s in it for me?”

I thought about the times and places when people could not vote, did

not have a voice in their government and could not rise in a ground swell

of human endeavor to take care of some need.

Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “This generation of Americans has a

rendezvous with destiny.” Think of what we have accomplished together. He

meant you and me. We need every senior to vote on every issue and every

position on the ballot. We may disagree, but we must have a significant

number of seniors expressing their opinions with everything on the table,

from council member candidates to health issues in the tobacco settlement

funds.

We are senior, we are citizens, and we must vote and have our voices

heard to continue our rendezvous with destiny.

DICK WHITE

Vice president

Huntington Beach Council on Aging

Gyms article should tell ‘all’ facts’

When I studied journalism in college, we were taught to get all of the

pertinent facts when reporting a story. By simply describing the many

speakers’ comments at the Oct. 3 Ocean View School Board meeting as

“emotional” residents concerned about traffic and noise, your reporter

failed to mention the many concerns voiced (“Ocean View to work with

residents on new gyms,” Oct. 5).

Those include discussions of a year-round rental of the facilities

until 10 p.m., as well as the the possible use of this rental income to

pay off the cost of construction.

It’s also possible, these gyms won’t just be for the middle school

kids, nor only for school events. The majority of hours, could be for

non-school use, including high school and older. This add a whole new

dimension to our concerns. The vast majority of residents in adjoining

neighborhoods only learned of these ideas in the past few weeks, and it

wasn’t from reading the Independent.

The board is moving very rapidly on this, yet the only way the public

can get details is by digging about 50 pages into the board’s agenda, or

by attending the meetings and hearing the comments for themselves.

The Independent is a good local newspaper. It owes its readership all

of the facts, not just a selected few.

PAT MATZKE

Huntington Beach

EDITOR’S NOTE: The district’s discussions of renting out the school

gyms in previous editions of the Independent.

PCH traffic signal a good idea

The traffic countdown display at Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street

is a good idea. But I think it would be greatly improved if the light

turned green when you’re supposed to go.

I’ve seen a number of people stand there in confusion and watched one

person start across with only two seconds left. If I were a lawyer and a

client of mine got hit at that intersection, I would sue in a minute.

CLEM DOMINGUEZ

Huntington Beach

City should finance humane causes

The City Council OKs millions for new centers, redevelopment, etc. --

why not use some of that money for a worthwhile humane cause?

The residents of Huntington Beach have already shown their concern for

the wetlands, wildlife center, dog park and dog beach -- it’s time for

the city to recognize the need for our own animal shelter and animal

control officer, not to mention the revenues from license fees.

TOM AND JANE PETERSON

Huntington Beach