This week's feedback

Yo, Mr. Mayor...

Editor’s note: The following letter to San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders was sent to CityBeat as a response to our Sept. 16 editorial, “A test of strength,” about a speech Sanders delivered to the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.

Dear Mayor Sanders:

[Recently,] I had the opportunity to watch the CLE International, Arizona Water Law Conference on C-SPAN. The keynote speaker, Robert Glennon, author of Unquenchable, among other books, gave a cogent and succinct overview of past and upcoming water woes in the United States.

I strongly urge you to watch this program, Mr. Mayor, since you were specifically mentioned at least once during Mr. Glennon's presentation, and (sorry to tell you this), not in a good way.

Please stop talking about expanding convention centers, new city halls, etc. and turn your attention to the water issues San Diego is experiencing now and will continue to experience. This is a desert ecosystem, in which lawns have no natural position. Here's an idea: instead of spending money to expand the convention center, why not offer residents a substantial tax advantage if they get rid of their lawns and instead landscape their homes with native species which do not require such vast amounts of water. And here's another one: reward home and business owners who reduce the amount of water they use. Work with the folks at the County and figure it out.

If you think the pension debacle we are suffering through is bad, and that you have been unfairly blamed for that unpleasant scenario, just wait until San Diego has to severely ration water, or worse, runs out of water. This will likely happen after you have left office, but don’t think you won’t be blamed. Or worse. But maybe you really don’t care?

San Diego (my hometown, BTW) is quickly becoming my least favorite place to be. I am considering moving away, which is too bad for the city’s ongoing water shortage, because I am one of those few citizens that consciously saves water in every possible way.

Please: watch that program with Robert Glennon. Listen to what he says. Dump the political posturing and think about how much good you can do in the coming months for the citizens, instead of concentrating on what the developers and business sector denizens want.

I guarantee that you will feel good because you know you will be doing the right thing.

Good luck, you’re going to need it.

Susan Fitzpatrick,
Golden Hill

Paying for play

I was interested in, but not surprised by, your article on pay-for-play TV stations [“The Front Lines,” Sept. 16]. Channel 6 has been doing it for years. The worst (or least interesting) is an auto repair shop up in North County with weekend “tips” on how to maintain your vehicle—mostly, though, it is just food for the starving, non-professional on-air people.

Barry Webb,
La Mesa 

We should be outraged 

I really appreciate your Oct. 14 editorial “Don’t ignore the hate,” about the Westboro Baptist Church protests. For whatever reason, Southern California has always been a haven for hatemongers. In fact, less than three months ago, I personally saw swastikas and hate messages spray-painted on a wall in Balboa Park.

What is almost worse than people propagating such hatred is a populace that ignores it or considers it amusing. Gang graffiti is much less harmful because most of us cannot read what it says, and it’s usually a statement one criminal element is directing toward another.

Unlike ’banger graffiti, the image of a swastika is known worldwide, and the direct threat it implies to all of us, not just Jews or homosexuals, should never be taken lightly, no matter if it appears on a synagogue, or a random wall in any public place.

I believe the appropriate reaction should be complete outrage. But, if it does not anger or offend someone, possibly they are on board with its message?

Ben McFadden,
South Park