Mailbag - March 7, 2002
We would like to express our appreciation to Mayor Debbie Cook for
doing away with the invocation before the City Council meetings.
Not only is there a constitutional issue of the line between church
and state, the usually Christian prayer has become, in Washington as
well, an anachronism in a society as diverse as ours.
It excludes Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, other religions and
nonreligious humanists, and in a democracy like ours, freedom from
religion is as important as freedom of religion. This is a hard lesson
for many to learn, but whether they wish it or not, it is becoming truer
each day.
JACK and JEAN BROOKHART
Huntington Beach
Mayor Debbie Cook’s decision to stop holding an invocation before
Council meetings is both correct and appropriate.
If people need to say a prayer before a public meeting, I suggest they
do it before the meeting begins, in their personal time.
As for Shirley Dettloff’s comment that she felt it was a “nice way to
start the meeting,” I respectfully disagree. Rather than the invocation,
the Pledge of Allegiance is a more fitting ceremony since the flag unites
all Americans.
Mayor Cook’s decision to stop holding an invocation reestablishes the
appropriate relationship between government and spiritual beliefs. I
would hope that those in favor of the invocation understood that it made
many good citizens of the city uncomfortable.
JODY COOK-FISHER
Huntington Beach
Editors note: Jody Cook- Fisher is the son of Mayor Debbie Cook.
Coyote problems highlights bigger issue
In regards to the coyote article published Feb. 21st (Coyotes plague
Bolsa neighbors” This article can be viewed as a testament as to why
there should be no more building on or around the Bolsa Chica wetlands
and mesa.
Those of us fortunate enough to have lived in Huntington Beach for
many years have been happy to welcome new neighbors and share this
wonderful area with them but we have also watched open spaces disappear
tract by tract, year after year, until only small portions remain.
Every person who lives here should be so thankful that there is some
room left for wildlife and understand that what coyotes do is hunt for
small animals to eat. They do not differentiate between a squirrel and
someone’s beloved cat. I learned that hard lesson many years ago.
Coyotes are a minor danger to cats compared to the dangers of vehicles
in the streets, cat fights, which can cause major damage, or the danger
of contacting diseases from other cats. Feline diseases are running
rampant in suburban areas according to the Humane Society. Responsible
owners confine their pets to their homes.
The bike rider who was pictured taking a ride through the trails of
the Bolsa Chica (with an unleashed dog?) must be aware of the signs along
the trails. Bicycles and dogs, leashed or not, are prohibited on these
paths. The rules need to be enforced to protect the wildlife and the
nature lovers who come to revel in the open space. Most of us consider it
a privilege to get a rare sighting of the coyote.
LOIS VACKAR
Huntington Beach
I think it’s ridiculous the way people are carrying on about the
coyotes. These animals have been here forever. Leave them alone and they
will leave you alone. Don’t leave food out and bring your small dogs and
cats in.
I’ve lived around coyotes all my life. If you just leave them alone
they’ll leave you alone. I just don’t believe the way people carry on.
It’s like they’ve never seen anything before in their life. They see an
opossum and people think it’s a rat. They have a right to live too. This
just infuriates me, I’ve been sitting here angry for two days over this
stupid article.
CONNIE TUTTLE
Huntington Beach
Fees will hurt not help Downtown’s image
Regarding the new fees for redeveloping the Downtown area. It’s
absolutely ridiculous for the city to tack these fees on.
It seems that every time a derelict house is brought down and two nice
new homes go up, our city is improved. This would completely stop this
from happening. Our housing values are coming out of reach to start with
and this would just add that much more onto them.
I am adamantly opposed to this. I think they should start looking into
their own closets a little bit and examine their own system at city hall
and start doing a better job. It’s just ridiculous.
This city was once described in West Coast Magazine as the ugliest
city on the coast.
These people at every opportunity seem to stop aggressive improvement
in the Downtown area. If you drive the coast, we are the most pathetic
Downtown.
I remember growing up here and Seal Beach was considered a slum hole
and look at Seal Beach now because of city fathers that cared about their
city and were determined to improve it. We need improvements here so we
need to make sure this doesn’t happen.
ART COOPMAN
Huntington Beach
Sanitation district bleach program not the best answer
The Orange County Sanitation District is putting three Rose Bowls full
of partially treated sewage a day into the ocean.
On Feb. 11, when its study showed the plume (six miles long, three
miles wide and 100 feet thick) was within a half mile of Newport Beach
they decide to bleach it.
The Clean Water Act demands one standard for the water but the
sanitation district claims that if it had to abide by that it would
result in too many trucks on the road and more pollution to take the
“sludge” away.
Well guess what? By its own calculations, trucking the bleach to the
sanitation district to bleach the effluent is going to have the same
number of trucks as taking the sludge away would have. The Orange County
Sanitation District admits this bleaching is a temporary measure until
they find a permanent solution to the contamination problem.
As of its meeting Feb. 27 the cost for the bleaching is $14 million
and counting.
Why is the Orange County Sanitation District clinging to the waiver?
Officials say they don’t have the money? They should review their
budget and forget this willy-nilly grabbing at any method to clean the
sewage except for the proven and lawful treatment that is demanded by the
Clean Water Act.
EILEEN MURPHY
Huntington Beach
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