Mailbag: LCF post office drops the ball; chopper noise affects quality of life; local support for Dems
Post office issues
For years the La Cañada post office has been known for long lines and slow, poor service.
The situation seems to be getting worse. When we stop the mail now, we are never sure what is going to happen. Often, the mail is not stopped or is partially stopped. We have had to start asking our neighbor to check and they have picked up mail delivered after we attempted to stop it.
I am also very suspicious when we pick up mail at the post office on our return to town and only get a few items after a long wait while the clerk takes a break in the back — then, the next day, our mailbox is so full the mail hardly fits. We have complained about this in the past but to no avail.
Last week my daughter in Florida paid for express shipping on a birthday gift to arrive on my wife’s birthday. Our post office delivered it a day after the promised date. Recently, we were missing a water bill. We called the water company so that we could pay the bill and commented that it might have been delivered to the wrong address and they told us it happens frequently. We often get our neighbors’ mail. Makes you wonder what else is not getting delivered. Several months ago we tracked an expected package to the La Cañada post office which they claimed for a week had never been received but then discovered the package “in the back.”
If we need to do something that we can do at any post office, we will drive to Montrose to save time and aggravation. The folks at the Montrose post office are quick and friendly and care about customer service. I hope that when they start closing post offices, they close the one in La Cañada and let Montrose take over. If the La Cañada post office wasn’t part of a monopoly, they would have been put out of business years ago. La Cañada deserves better!
Robert O’Brien
La Cañada Flintridge
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Flying in the face of decency
Re: “Bear’s visit boosts copter woes,” June 16. The recent army of media helicopters jockeying for TV coverage of a bear taking a dip in a pool demonstrates just how insensitive helicopter pilots can be toward humans on the ground, and just as much to the bear! To interfere with a wild animal’s safe return to its natural habitat should be the ultimate badge of disgrace for media outlets, but it’s not. The exact same thing happened last fall when famous Griffith Park mountain lion, P-22, found a cozy basement near the park to lay low during the warm day.
Even without a bear in a tree or pool, La Cañada Flintridge has a helicopter problem, a problem worse than most locations in the county, for one, simply because of its foothills. Sound reflects from the backdrop of the mountains and through the canyons. That’s why the Los Angeles Area Helicopter Noise Coalition (LAAHNC) reached out to the city of La Cañada Flintridge for support of the Federal Noise Relief legislation, by contacting its city manager and the mayor, by email, phone and mail in 2013, with no action taken by the city. If the problem wasn’t recognized then, maybe it is now! Twenty-two cities in Los Angeles County have enacted motions or resolutions to reduce non-essential helicopter noise impacts, in addition to the strong support received from county and state legislators.
The coalition has focused on achieving voluntary measures for non-essential helicopter flights. However, with a valiant effort with more than 60 meetings with pilot representatives and the FAA over three years, we came up empty-handed. Contrary to any measure of reality, the FAA claimed that “significant improvement” was met in order to comply with the legislation at its due date. This is why LAAHNC then took the next step and filed four formal “rule-making petitions” with the FAA to demand regulation (altitude, hovering, media pooling and offshore routes). Recently the FAA denied those petitions on various grounds. The coalition has just appealed all four of the denied petitions.
The coalition hasn’t given up; you shouldn’t either. People should take note and realize that noise from non-essential helicopters is impacting their quality of life every day, and that the helicopter industry’s self-regulation under their “Fly Friendly” guidelines is not working. Right now, reporting helicopter noise on the fairly new Automated Complaint System is really important. It’s easy. See how at LAHelicopterNoise.org.
Gerry Hans
Los Angeles
The writer is a member of the Los Angeles County Helicopter Noise Coalition.
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Two of three have gravitas
Joe Puglia’s column in the June 16 Valley Sun was way off the mark. His column, “Thoughts from Dr. Joe,” was titled “Are these really our only choices?” He disparaged all three top presidential contenders of the past months —Trump, Clinton and Sanders — as “absurd.”
He calls Trump a “name-calling bully with little understanding of world affairs.” Well, can’t argue with that.
But then Hillary Clinton’s “unfavorable rating as of this week was in the neighborhood of 55%, leaving one to question the validity of her character.” That makes no sense, Joe. Some people don’t like her; that invalidates her character? What does that even mean? In fact, you make a worse blunder in holding her supposed unpopularity as a measure of whether she is fit to be president. You claim Roman philosophers vaunted those who have “gravitas”— weight, seriousness, and dignity. Their popularity was not important — only their substance. It would be hard to find a more substantial presidential candidate than Hillary Clinton who is really unmatched in modern political history as a public servant with esteemed credentials culminating in her years as secretary of state under Barack Obama.
Again, Joe, you go off the rails in complaining that Bernie Sanders has no foreign policy (he does) and that he “openly embraces the banner of socialism.” So, in Bernie we have a modern-day philosopher, a searcher for truth and goodness in ideas (loved by the Romans) — and Joe will have none of it. Only the philosophy of your particular political persuasion is valid?
Dr. Joe signs off “perhaps we will conclude that the best candidate to vote for this year is one whose name is not on the ballot.” I don’t know if this is the beginning of a write-in campaign or the excuse of a disgruntled citizen who does not even plan to vote. That’s fine with those of us who see the gravitas we have been looking for in a candidate likely to be on the November ballot.
Bonnie Finn
La Cañada
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Campaign thanks
It is a privilege to have the opportunity to run for office and an even greater honor to be elected. I have often said that a person cannot run for office or mount a winning campaign alone. It takes support from one’s family at home and many friends and neighbors coming together to call, walk, contribute and help! I was overwhelmed by the hundreds of volunteers who came out for months to aid our effort and the dedication of my campaign team who collectively made the June 7 primary election a success.
Ellen, Bella, Sofia and I appreciate the support and trust I received during the campaign and on Election Day to help move our campaign into the general election for the state Senate.
Thank you!
Anthony J. Portantino
La Cañada Flintridge