Leave the kids alone to play as...

Leave the kids alone to play as they want

I am not afraid to say it. My name is Chris Ganz, and I guess I am

one of the so called “illegal trespassers” who dares to enter the

dirt field that the naturalists call the wetlands. I guess I have

been “trespassing” in that field for about 27 years now. I have also

been doing it right alongside of them, but since they don’t have a

BMX bike, that makes it OK.

That field has served as a place of joy for thousands of

Huntington Beach kids over the years. I began playing there in 1976,

and almost 30 years later I go out there with my son and share with

him a place that holds many memories of a great childhood. Back in

the day, it was called the Dirt Place and I still can clearly

remember getting the gang together and riding our bikes down there to

see who could jump the farthest off the Cherry Bomb or the highest

off of the Bump Jump.

I am all for saving the environment, but at the same time I think

we should be able to use it also. The thing that really irks me

though is how it’s always the kids being picked on for daring to go

where there is still a small portion of undeveloped land that they

can build a couple jumps on.

[Cartoonist Steve] Bolton has once again shown his ignorance by

portraying the BMXers and paint ball players as bad kids. How are

they any different then the grouchy old man on his mountain bike with

his dog?

They are in violation of the same laws as the kids, even more so

actually as most of them have their dogs unleashed and leave piles of

waste behind. I say let the kids play and quit harassing them. If it

is illegal, then Huntington Beach’s finest can surely take care of

the problem.

It must be very easy to challenge them when you get to decide what

gets printed and what doesn’t. And if one of these kids takes the

time to write you, anonymous or not, accept it with open arms. At

least they made an effort. There are a lot of kids that can’t read or

write at all, so please don’t ever discourage it. As a person who

writes for their profession, I would think you would be able to

appreciate that.

CHRIS GANZ

Huntington Beach

Editor’s note: We encourage letter writers to submit their

opinions on all topics. But the Independent, as a matter of policy,

will not publish anonymous letters to the editor.

Keith Bohr did need to step down

Yes, [Keith Bohr] should step down. No one believes that he did

not mean to influence or intimidate city employees for his clients.

We love our city but we probably have one of the worst City Councils.

SONIA MARKWALD

Huntington Beach

City should appeal award in case

The Wersching award was outrageous as are so many awards handed

down these days. Please appeal this decision. The story in the

Huntington Beach Independent newspaper described an officer doing his

duty and a suspect challenging him. He did what I would expect him to

do. Huntington Beach should spend the dollars needed to rectify this

ludicrous award.

JACK MOSSLER

Huntington Beach

Paying the award money means accepting the fact that the police

officer handled the incident improperly. As the same time, we, the

public, encourage our law enforcers not to do their job. Appeal the

case.

GEORGE LEE

Huntington Beach

City needs to pay up to Saldivar’s family

Rather than appeal the jury’s verdict awarding [Antonio]

Saldivar’s family $2.1 million, the city should do the right thing by

paying the victim’s family for their loss, and by firing Officer

[Mark] Wersching.

It is shocking that after a jury found his actions unreasonable

and violative of Saldivar’s civil rights, that Wersching would be

allowed to continue working as a police officer. How can the police,

who are supposed to protect and serve, expect the community to have

trust and confidence in them when they look the other way when an

officer kills an unarmed young man?

Criminal defendants who are convicted by juries are always urged

to accept those verdicts, the city and the police should do the same.

There will be no second chances for Saldivar, and there should be no

more chances for Wersching. Not only can’t the city afford to

subsidize the violent misconduct of such officers, but from a moral

perspective it shouldn’t.

DEREK BERCHER

Huntington Beach

Problem is from path and altitude

The increased incidents of large, low-flying commercial jets over

Huntington Beach are a fact. The reason; added commercial flights

into the Long Beach Airport. The neighboring residents of that

airport have been locked in a battle with the city over what they

call a “quality of life issue” caused by noise from low-flying

aircraft. That noise “footprint” is now impacting the city of

Huntington Beach.

For many years, I have lived in the Huntington Beach Meadowlark

Golf Course area directly under the straight-in approach to runway

30, the runway used by all large commercial aircraft headed for the

Long Beach Airport. Never in the past has it been a problem. The

airlines coming into Long Beach have been relatively few and

consistent in their flight path altitudes over our city. Noise has

never been an issue.

In the last few months this has changed. JetBlue, has arrived.

JetBlue is the new low-cost airline operating out of Long Beach. The

problem for the residents of Huntington Beach is not so much the

increased number of flights but rather the approach and altitudes

many of these airplanes are maintaining.

Rather than straight-in approaches from the south/east, as has

been customary for American Airlines and other carriers flying over

our city, some of the JetBlue flights are arriving from the west then

banking sharply over our city to align themselves with Long Beach’s

westerly runway 30.

In doing so, they must increase power due to inherent loss of lift

in a turn (the greater the bank, the greater the loss of lift and

resultant power increase). Combine this increased power with

inadequate altitude and you have a noise problem for those living

under the flight path. I would estimate that many of these flights

are crossing Huntington Beach at barely, if not even below, 1,000

feet. Also, keep in mind that these particular flights are at an

all-time high and increasing. By the end of July, there will be

something like 41 commercial flights a day (mostly JetBlue) operating

out of Long Beach. That’s approximately one flight every 20 minutes

during the Long Beach Airport’s normal operating hours.

Holding a commercial pilot’s license with the ratings of

multi-engine, instrument flight and flight instructor, I am not

anti-aviation. Nor am I airline bashing. Having a low-cost airline

like JetBlue flying out of a nearby airport will benefit us all --

let’s all hope that they succeed. This far away from touchdown at the

Long Beach Airport, large aircraft should create no noise problem for

Huntington Beach residents.

The answer lies in coming over the city at a slightly higher

altitude thereby maintaining a constant descent at reduced power

settings. Large commercial aircraft should be at 1,000 feet or above

at a point three to four miles from touchdown -- not over our city.

CHARLES DILDINE

Huntington Beach

Plant should not be approved

I say no at this time. The desalination is fine in some

circumstances but at the meeting of the Planning Commission Tuesday

night the desalination people said they only wanted the cleanest

ocean water.

That ocean water by the AES plant is contaminated most of the

year. They also said that their discharge wouldn’t affect the

contamination problem we have now because we don’t know what’s

causing it. I don’t feel that’s the proper answer. This thing needs

more study.

EILEEN MURPHY

Huntington Beach

NO to the desalination plant. We already have AES. We do not need

another privately operated industrial plant, totally free of local

control on our beach front. The issue of ocean pollution may yet be

laid at the door of AES and the sanitation plant with one pushing it

out and another pulling it back in. Let’s not compound it further.

CECE MCCOURT

Huntington Beach

We wish to express our strong opposition to the proposed

desalination plant projected for Southeast Huntington Beach. It is

the wrong facility in the wrong place. The Planning Commission should

not approve this plant.

JOSEPH AND JOAN ONGIE

Huntington Beach