MAILBAG: Legion Hall could serve veterans’ needs

I read with interest your piece (“City seeking ways to use Legion Hall,” Aug. 1) about the availability of the Veterans Memorial Building in Laguna Beach. I read your article on Yahoo! news via the L.A. Times online.

I live for the time being in Murrieta. There is a great need for Veterans Affairs or the Veterans Health Service to establish outpatient clinics, benefits offices, especially for someone for whom an initial assessment of his or her illness could avoid having to drive or ride a bus to Long Beach for assessment and treatment.

The number of new outpatient clinics, dealing with PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder] and other mental health issues that veterans have, is in critical need of being closer to where the veterans live. Between Long Beach and San Diego, there is nothing along the coast for veterans affairs and health needs. Coexisting with the theater company might be the perfect, symbiotic relationship that would extend the usefulness of the space to 18 hours a day without conflicting use of space.

I hope that Col. Quilter (Ret.) will make known to the L.A. and San Diego Regional VA and VHS that the facility in Laguna Beach could provide a great service to veterans by offering an alternative to the outpatient clinics and centers serving Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties. For me, Loma Linda is the closest medical facility.

If a veteran needs routine group or individual counseling or, perhaps, physical therapy, the distance veterans have to travel can be daunting and cause them to miss needed help. I lived in Oakland for several years and there was a house within walking distance where all of the 12-Step groups had meetings, plus other counseling services. It isn’t modern, it probably isn’t up to code, and the small lawn has to be trimmed “” but, it fills a need for hundreds of Oakland residents who live nearby. When I see a property become available, it is a knee-jerk reaction for me to think of alternative uses and to ask around the various social service agencies if they have space needs the property might accommodate.

If the VA already owns the facility it may be a victim of budget wars in Washington. If that were the case, then Sen. Boxer and the local representatives in the House should know that an asset is in financial trouble and may have to be sold for a measly (in D.C. terms) $36,000 in annual rent.

PETER SHERFY MILLINGTON

Murietta

? Shark gets swimmer’s attention in the water

I had just come from Hollywood to dip in our cool Laguna shores. The water had dropped from a comfy 70-degree range to a chilly 60ish temperature.

The experience was refreshing and, as is always heard, “invigorating.”

I called my young swimmer friend [let’s call him “chum”] in Corona del Mar and told him of the fun, ice-cold swim. He related, “Didn’t you hear ‘bout the helicopter in Newport?”

Not having a clue about the event, he informed me of some lady, supposedly on a kayak, who had been tossed off her flotation and dumped on the back of a great white.

Ahh, panic for the long distance, outside the waves swimmers and paddlers of Laguna.

Because, he said, the helicopter then followed the dangerous animal all the way to Laguna. And then lost track of it. Yikes.

Hopefully, it was the day of the week I missed meeting the endangered specie.

Yet, gentle readers, here is the rub... our Congress [note lower case] has risen to the challenge and is enacting an amendment to the fish protection laws.

Before I preview the shark protection law, my buddy just interrupted my writing to make sure I stated it wasn’t for real estate agents (I’m a broker), lawyers, or endangered loan agents.

No, this law is for our sharks.

Now that I’m safely onshore, I should mention, on my last three “far out swims,” that my Corona del Mar buddy has absented himself on my invitations. I saw no sea life.

Laguna is beautiful and safe.

PAUL MERRITT

?? Prop. 5 would save court time, tax money

On July 31, federal drug enforcement agents raided a Culver City medical marijuana dispensary, tearing through furniture, cabinets, cash drawers and a outdoor garden in search of evidence. Ironically on July 30, Barney Frank (D-Mass.) in a crowded congressional hearing room announced the first marijuana bill in decades, designed to change federal marijuana laws.

Last year, 830,000 marijuana arrests were made in the United States. Ninety percent were for personal use. In California, Proposition 5 is getting support across the political spectrum. It would save taxpayers billions of dollars. Proposition 5 would stop letting petty marijuana possession waste court resources.

Through Proposition 5, low level marijuana possession would become an infraction, rather than a misdemeanor, conserving millions in court resources and saving 40,000 people in California from the lifelong burden of a misdemeanor conviction.

Thousands of nonviolent offenders would get access to treatment instead of incarceration eventually saving the state $2.5 billion in just a few years.

Vote “yes” on Proposition 5.

ROGER CARTER

Laguna Beach