MAILBAG - March 9, 2007

Feeding needy may not be helping them

Almost every day, I walk through Heisler Park. In the mornings, the local church people bring a meal to the “needy.” Some of the needy arrive on their modern bicycles while others are listening to their Ipods.

Today I noticed that one of the so-called needy was a man who is arrested almost every week for public intoxication. He holds the record for being the most-arrested citizen in Laguna Beach.

When you think about it, the well-meaning church people are feeding this person for free so that he can use all his funds to buy liquor.

Question: Are we really helping this person? To me, giving him free meals so that he can buy his booze and go to jail doesn’t make much sense.

Instead of passing out free food, I would suggest the same time and money could be used to encourage and train the “needy” for a job and help them become a contributor to society instead of being a detriment.

This concept is certainly not new; it has worked all over the world. I would hope the well-meaning church people in Laguna would give it a try.

Let’s give “a hand up, instead of a handout.”

OTIS M. HEALY

Laguna Beach

Columnists’ opinions are valid

I’d like to say in response to the letter last week that declared local columnist James Pribram’s opinion invalid that quite to the contrary, I find Mr. Pribram’s comments quite valid. And one can understand his effort to clarify his detractors’ comments.

Mr. Pribram shared his opinion without inserting false information and drama into a relatively simple matter.

Permanent lifeguard towers provide capability temporary towers can’t — and they certainly don’t, by their mere placement, incite lewd and lascivious conduct.

After an almost 20-year period of research and effort, including all the required notices, documents, hearings and code requirements, the city is now able to finally install our neutral scope, as small as possible, minimal environmental footprint lifeguard towers to better serve our residents and visitors at an appropriate and balanced cost.

Given this, James has as much right as anyone to share his opinion, and I commend him for his efforts to illuminate this important public safety matter. I look forward to seeing more of the new towers on the beaches soon.

ROB PATTERSON

Laguna Beach

Minority students should not get special treatment

The practice of law is, if profitable and financially rewarding, a parasitic and disgraceful employment. Certainly nothing to be proud of.

If one then takes his Juris Doctorate and seeks association with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), he or she deserves double shame, as this infamous band of activist lawyers makes no attempt to disguise their contempt for Christianity, the U.S. Constitution, nor the sovereignty of citizens. They are a seditious and amoral group who seek to wreak havoc and chaos throughout the nation.

In the ‘90s, they sued in L.A. County because minority children were being placed in special needs classes. They contended the politically correct but factually incorrect notion that intelli- gence is not a genetic trait like hair/eye color or height, but rather a function of nutrition and opportunity. The ACLU prevailed, and now minority school children in California can no longer be IQ tested for scholastic placement.

Now they approach little Tustin, here in notoriously white and blond Orange County, seeking to upset yet another applecart by arguing that there are not enough nonwhite colored or Hispanic children in the advanced placement, brilliant student classes.

It’s all a “bell curve” thing — the ACLU wouldn’t understand.

MATT SMITH

Laguna Beach

Global warming, global flooding?

One of the tenets of “global warmists” — those who think that humans are the primary cause of global warming — is that global flooding is a necessary consequence of global warming.

However, if we look back to the period 800-1300AD, we have reports of unusual warmth. During this period (called the Medieval climate optimum), it was warm enough for the Vikings to settle Greenland and grow wheat. It was so warm (as much as 10 deg. C warmer than today) that grape growing expanded north to England.

But we do not have any reports of global flooding. How can this be? We know that warm winters actually produce more snow, not less. We must conclude that the warmer medieval summers were unable to melt more than one year’s snow pack.

An important question for all residents of Laguna Beach (elevation 94 feet): Is it possible to have global warming without global flooding?

Coming next: Is carbon dioxide a major greenhouse gas?

RICHARD MOORE

Laguna Beach

Cottages must stay in Laguna

We were much relieved that at the City Council meeting of Feb. 13 the council reaffirmed their commitment to saving four of the Third Street cottages. When they voted to move them to a staging site for $108,000, we thought the matter was settled.

However, we were dismayed to learn that Feb. 20, on an agenda item that was written to address only the planning commission’s temporary-use permit for the temporary staging site and its conditions, the council expanded the subject matter beyond the noticed topic to include giving away one of the four designated cottages and paying $25,000 to a party who will move the cottage to Fullerton. We believe that it was improper to consider the proposed Fullerton site for the cottages since that proposal was not noticed in the agenda bill.

The purpose of saving the cottages is to keep them in Laguna Beach. We urge the council to rescind the action they took on Feb. 20 and pursue all options to preserve the cottages and keep them in our city.

We suggest that the council assign the cottages-relocation project to the Heritage Committee and ask that they consider all the applications for the houses, assist the applicants in expediting their proposals through the city process and report back to the council on their recommendations. The proposals for moving the cottages should be considered with criteria that their new locations and siting will have public visibility and contribute to the village character of our town.

Council members commented that the cottages could be used for affordable housing for city employees.

We don’t know what location council members have in mind, but we strongly support that proposal as being superior to the idea that the houses be sent to a staging area and then individually relocated to scattered sites.

With the loss of the Third Street housing area, providing for affordable housing is more important than ever. Please pursue this option.

ANNE CAENN

Laguna Beach