They’re making selves irrelevant The environmentalist jihad...

They’re making selves irrelevant

The environmentalist jihad against Coastal Commissioner Toni

Iseman defies all logic.

Without Iseman and the Coastal Commission our last remaining

coastal open space would likely be paved over, lost forever to the

urban sprawl that’s swallowed up the rest of Orange County.

That the Sierra Club and others see Iseman’s votes as a punishable

offense confirms their growing irrelevance in a 21st Century

environmental movement that requires pragmatism, not suicide bombers.

WILLIAM W. McKINNEY

Laguna Beach

Not ‘green’ enough for commission?

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! I was stunned to read

that certain environmental groups are lobbying to unseat Coastal

Commissioner Toni Iseman because she’s apparently not “green” enough

for their taste.

Only extreme elements of the environmental movement could dream up

the tortured logic to paint the remarkable victories at Bolsa Chica

and the Headlands as defeats.

One must surmise that since Iseman failed to let the bulldozers

bury her in the name of scorched earth environmentalism, the Sierra

Club and others felt it necessary to execute her by political means.

They should be ashamed.

SHEILA CHURCH

Irvine

Iseman should be reseated on panel

The Sierra Club and Surfriders don’t represent the majority of

environmentalists any more than Louis Farrakahn represents all

Muslims or Pat Robertson all Christians.

While these organizations were wringing their hands over one tree,

Toni Iseman and her colleagues on the Coastal Commission were

eliminating hundreds of houses from Bolsa Chica and securing over 50%

open space and parks at the Dana Point Headlands.

Toni Iseman has worked hard for the Coast and deserves

reappointment.

If a change is needed, it should be with the Sierra Club

leadership, not with Iseman.

ANDY SIEGENFELD

Laguna Beach

Turned off by those noisy motorcycles

[The following letter was sent to Police Chief James Spreine]

I am disturbed by the seemingly unchecked problem of noise

generated by the illegally-modified motorcycles which seem to make

Laguna Beach a favorite destination for their recreational travels.

I am aware that some time ago there was a brief period of

increased enforcement after attention was drawn to this issue at City

Council, and that subsequently there was “blowback” pressure from one

or two local businesses who cash in on these offensive visitors to

our community. Despite the mixed-messages you may have received, it

is simply not fair to those of us who live within earshot of Coast

Highway to have to suffer the offensive and illegal noise generated

by these particular visitors.

When experiencing the noise from these riders, I often think that

I would like to ask them if it would be OK for me to drive down their

street and toss garbage out of my car window in front of their home

-- the analogy doesn’t seem far off to me.

In closing, I know that your officers have many responsibilities,

but unless your team puts pressure on this group of offensive

scofflaws they will see no reason not to converge on Laguna regularly

and the message will not be transmitted that Laguna does not welcome

illegally-modified vehicles.

Pleas be good enough to acknowledge my letter with a response.

Thank you.

JAMES DORF

Laguna Beach

Fight L.A.’s attempt to ramrod an airport

The oligarchic L.A. City Council act of voting to pursue any means

necessary to “force” an airport at El Toro is truly outrageous.

Regardless of how you feel about the El Toro airport issue, only

the most tragically short sighted, self serving, anti-democratic

among us would see anything good in having our local land use issues

decided by out-of-county special-interest lawsuits.

What’s next? Will L.A. be placing unwanted toxic waste sites,

prisons, or landfills in our county against our will? Or maybe L.A.

will decide the current curfews and restrictions at John Wayne

Airport aren’t to their liking and will pursue litigation to overturn

those as well.

I urge the people of Orange County to contact their elected

representatives requesting that they make our collective outrage

clear to Los Angeles area officials and stop this latest meddling in

our county’s affairs dead in its tracks.

DOUGLAS K. BLAUL

Trabuco Canyon

Goat-herder labor issues need airing

I am glad that there is renewed debate about the benefits versus

the costs of the so-called “goat program” here in Laguna Beach.

In his letter to the editor (May 13, Coastline Pilot), Michael

Beanan argued convincingly against having the goats in the hillsides

by describing the harm that they do to the environment.

Two years ago I went before the city council because of my concern

for a separate aspect of the goat program, that being the violation

of labor and human rights by the organization that brings the

Peruvian men to this country to do the work of goat-tending.

Don Barnes, the owner of the EZ Bar ranch, the outfit that does

the clearing, is a member of the Western Range Association. This

organization recruits and brings to this country the poorest of the

poor from the Central Highlands of Peru because they know how

desperate these men are for work. Most of the guys are sent out to

remote locations to work as sheepherders and for an excellent

overview of what their lives are like in this country please visit

the website of Chris Schneider, an attorney in Fresno, California who

has been working for several years to help improve the lot of these

men. The web address is: www.centralcallegal.org

Compared to the loneliness and isolation of the herders in the

deserts of Nevada or the mountains in Wyoming, the goat gig here in

Laguna is the best job going for these guys. Nevertheless, they live

lives that no American would ever stand for.

They are on-call 24/7 month after month, year after year. They are

forbidden from having any but the most cursory contact with

Americans. (Savvy Lagunans already know this and don’t press for

contact with the herders who will quickly move on after a friendly

hello is exchanged).

As for their living conditions: only after repeatedly being asked

to do so did Barnes upgrade the trailer that one of the herders lived

in two years ago, a trailer that appeared to be at least 30 years

old, cramped, ugly, hot, dirty and awful. When I first looked into

how they lived I saw that only one of the men had a portable toilet

next to his trailer, this in Laguna Beach, and the other had to walk

2 1/2 blocks down the road to use it. I don’t know what Barnes pays

the herders since the cities contract with the EZ Bar that I was

given to read did not include a cost-of-operation breakdown. I am

sure they are not paid anywhere near what an American citizen would

be paid. Finally, anyone who believes that indentured servitude is a

thing of the past in this country is advised to examine the specific

conditions of the goat/sheepherders brought here by the WRA.

When I hear council members’ ignorant comments about the goat

program being neat because the goats are “cute” I am offended. Two

years ago the only council member who responded to my concerns was

Toni Iseman. I suspect the others couldn’t have cared less. Citing

“cuteness” as justification where such matters are concerned is

beyond irrelevant; it is immoral. It is time to revisit the beloved

goat program with a far more discerning and skeptical eye; something

the city manager and council have so far failed to do.

MARY DOLPHIN

Laguna Beach

Fire danger warrants goat-grazing effort

Re: “Grazing not good for wildfire protection”

For the past month we have been reading letters from Bill Rihn,

president of the South Laguna Civic Association and Michael Beanan of

South Laguna. Their issue is that it would be better environmentally

if ways were explored “to prevent wild fires while at the same time

preserving protected plants, supporting wildlife and their habitats,

and minimizing erosion of steep hillside terrain”. They don’t feel

that the goats are able to meet the level of being eco-sensitive.

My years on the Planning Commission and City Council taught me

that information about a subject is the key to good decision making.

The council agreed with a request from the South Laguna Civic

Association and gave them a check to conduct the studies necessary to

implement an eco-sensitive test program. Mr. Beanan was to be in

charge of that program. While I don’t remember the exact date of this

request to the council, it had to be at least six years ago because I

left the council in December, 1999. I’ve recently learned that the

South Laguna Civic Association has returned a portion of the money

without an explanation and without a report on the study.

The goats are costing the city about $200,000 a year and are doing

a credible job. Certainly they’re not perfect, but I for one would

need to see a lot of careful testing of alternative methods that will

provide quality fire protection while preserving plants and wildlife

before I would support eliminating the goats. This is an issue I

would not want to risk the safety of our community on.