City shouldn’t spend money to raise taxes...

City shouldn’t spend money to raise taxes

City management gives us “poor mouth” regarding the state’s

reduction of funding. However, they can find the funds to send an

employee that is paid about $300 per day to Sacramento to help boost

our auto license fees.

In other words, our taxes are being used to promote increasing our

taxes.

There are alternatives that don’t require tax increases.

Most of the cities in southern Orange County already contract with

the county for fire and police protection at a considerable cost

reduction over having their own city departments. Santa Ana is

currently proposing to do the same to lower their costs. Our firemen

would love it as they would be better paid under the county.

Is the city manager against such contracting because he would

direct fewer people and thus either deserve a smaller salary or have

to take a pay cut?

Certainly makes one think, doesn’t it?

JIMMY MACLARDY

Laguna Beach

Prompt action returned his view

Thank you to Laguna Beach School District board member Kathryn

Turner for prompt action concerning my view loss or view problem

caused by the trees that grow behind the (high school) gymnasium,

which have not been kept in check. Her action is an outstanding

example of how neighbors must be considerate of each other.

Shortly after I wrote to her and explained my problem, Connie

Belda, school district grounds manager,

phoned. A few days later she stopped on her return from lunch to

both view the problem and also to examine a photo that showed what my

view of the Main Beach had been prior to the runaway growth of the

trees.

Belda stated that she would establish a maximum height limit at

which the trees would be trimmed or topped. This maximum would be put

in effect at the normal scheduled trimming as well as the future

ones.

Hopefully, this will prevent unreasonable growth in the future

from becoming the offensive problem that has taken most of my

desirable view from me.

Again, thanks to Turner and Belda for their help and cooperation.

LEE REYMER II

Laguna Beach

Time to take care of sign vandalism

The South Laguna Civic Assn. meets at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10 in

the community room of the Adventist South Coast Hospital for its

annual meeting featuring Mayor Toni Iseman and others.

It’s ironic since last week Orange County beaches and parks

reported the coastal access sign at the beach stairway just south of

Camels Point has been torn off the pole 10 times in recent years and

they don’t want to put another one up. The last one was mounted 20

feet in the air hoping to discourage what they believe is a

neighborhood vandal.

This is the same stairway Supervisor Tom Wilson (now chairman of

the county board of supervisors) walked and said would be repaired in

2000. Apparently it will take a act of God or Buddha to repair this,

the No. 1 most un-safe (especially for older walkers) beach stairway

in Laguna Beach.

ROGER CARTER

Laguna Beach

Pharmacy at Pavilion’s good news

I have been a long-time local of Laguna Beach, and before that

spent time here in Laguna dancing with Ballet Pacifica in the 1970s.

I have been going in and out of McCallas Pharmacy since I was 10.

I now live in town with my own three children and husband. My

parents were also on Susie’s account. I am so pleased that Pavilion’s

has taken them on. I hope all Lagunans and visitors will stop by and

use her pharmacy as she is so knowledgeable and very friendly.

Good luck Susie and Eddie.

ALLISON CARRACINO

Laguna Beach

Affordable housing more important

Affordable housing makes much more sense than spending $200,000

each on 60 camping sites or a total of $12 million of taxpayer’s

money.

The state should concentrate on education, health, police and fire

needs before play items on their budget.

BEN CROWELL

Santa Ana

Let El Morro give funds to state parks

OK, so the residents of El Morro Village want to do some

multi-million dollar horse-trading. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

If state parks has the money for Crystal Cove State Park, then where

is it? Aren’t the historical cottages falling apart?

What’s wrong with El Morro Village giving the Parks Department $10

million? I don’t get it.

AUDREY PROSSER

Laguna Beach

Nothing filthy about this RV campsite

As a long-time Laguna Beach resident and motor home owner I am

incensed and outraged by the letter from Patty Massaro regarding El

Moro.

I do not understand how she can say that by removing the trailers

from the beach that would cause it to lose its picturesque qualities.

I think it would enhance it.

She also states that by having an RV park there that the school

children would be at risk. If she has any statistics to show that

schools near RV parks are dangerous she should present them. She also

states that they are covered in trash and filth. I have been camping

at state RV parks for many years (when I can get in) and do not find

them trashy and filthy.

El Moro belongs to all the people not just the chosen few. When

the state bought this land for a public park in 1979 it was at that

time the most money that was ever paid for a park. It’s time to turn

it over to the public that paid for it.

MIKE FENDERSON

Laguna Beach

Good move in approving relocation

Yes! Finally, we have some council members with the guts to do

what is right and remove the corporation yard from the Village

Entrance. ACT V is not an ideal location, but superior to any other

suggested location. Corporation yards are generally in the cheapest

part of a town, not a prime location two blocks from Main Beach.

Why not take this move as an opportunity to use zero-based

budgeting on ALL city functions, not just ones done in the

corporation yard ? Why do in-house what can be done better, faster

and cheaper by contracting out? Does it make sense to provide these

functions at all? What can we cut to streamline city government? If

you were re-inventing the city government, would we really include

this or that function as critical?

TOM AHERN

Laguna Beach Business

Owner

Balboa

Protests are fight for survival

I’m sure that Eugene Leo of Laguna Niguel would prefer that the

Saturday Main Beach anti war demonstrations be moved out in the

canyon to one of the many car lots that have been dumped on the

once-pristine side of the road over the years, including the art

school’s, ACT V and now the corporation yard. Congratulations council

for this continuing desecration that has become a tradition.

(“Demonstrators display ignorance,” Coastline Pilot, Jan. 31)

As for me, Leo, I will continue to attend the protest on Main

Beach in spirit every week as my body won’t permit it. This was

particularly affirmed by the Bill Moyer’s Journal last Saturday

evening in which he and his guest revealed the lies which are being

drummed into the American People. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve

switched from KUSC to a classical station which has no news

broadcasts at all.

While President Kennedy held off the military in the Cuban Missile

Crisis, he was not a President Bush, unfortunately, with whom I can

place no such faith. In fact, all he eventually got for his trouble,

when it seemed he was going to keep us out of the Vietnam War, was

assassination by a “magic bullet” which the hidden powers-that-be

perpetrated and the Warren Commission blamed Lee Harvey Oswald for

“acting alone.”

However, this time the stakes are the survival of mankind if

atomic weapons are used that could trigger an eventual world-wide

conflagration as Bush has threatened. In this regard, his State of

the Union address could be regarded as a touch stone of infamy in the

history of the world. Relief to the African Aids victims and drugs

for seniors won’t be of much help then.

So, let the protests continue and grow on Main Beach and let the

corporation yard be where it is and design the property to contain

other uses as well as I have previously described. However, I

suppose, the increased costs of moving it are within our budget, but

why should we put up with the horrendous national debt which is

continuously growing because of military spending and will be bloated

to beyond bursting with the costs of a war with Iraq?

ANDY WING

Laguna Beach

The Coastline Pilot is eager to run your letters. If your letter

does not appear it may be due to space restrictions and will likely

appear next week. If you would like to submit a letter, write to us

at P.O. Box 248 Laguna Beach CA 92652, fax us at 494-8979 or send

e-mail to coastlinepilot@latimes.com. Please give your name and

include your hometown and phone number, for verification purposes

only.