Is CityBeat liberal enough?

I read D.A. Kolodenko’s column on Christo’s and Jeanne-Claude’s proposed art work “Over the River” planned for southern Colorado with interest [“Presently Tense,” Dec. 1] and, I must admit, dismay. Most of what you said was about all those short-sighted people, especially environmentalists, who are against the project. Only briefly, and begrudgingly, do you acknowledge the breathtaking beauty of the artists’ work, so gorgeous they bring tears to one’s eyes and a smile to one’s lips.

My wife and I completely enjoyed experiencing in person “Umbrellas—USA” (1991) on the Grapevine pass of Interstate 5 through the mountains north of L.A. and “The Gates” (2005) in Central Park in Manhattan, and my sister-in-law experienced “Wrapped Reichstag” (1995) in Berlin. We have all the videos of their main artistic works. We’ve also heard Xto and JC (as they sometimes satirically refer to themselves) give many talks and show films and exhibits over the decades here in San Diego and Tijuana (undoubtedly because local David C. Copley is a major purchaser of their pre-installation renderings). (He also saw to it that we got a pre-publication video of “Umbrellas—Japan and USA.”) Instead, you focus on environmental issues. Say, D.A., Xto and JC are so far ahead of uninformed writers and uninformed environmentalists that they are completely out of your sight! You especially focus on bighorn sheep without doing your homework. You only refer to The Denver Post and The New York Times, complaining that “neither [paper] examines the claim further.” Uh, perhaps you could have gone to their website or the “Over the River” website for more accurate info. In the latter, you would find that the artists have planned in detail how not to impact the bighorn sheep, for example by avoiding a well-known waterhole of the sheep and suspending work during their “lambing season.”

People should learn not to say anything ’til they know what they’re talking about.

John Mood, Ocean Beach

CityBeat loves developers

Thanks for Ronald Harris’ letter to the editor in the Nov. 24 issue. Harris wrote that he was prepared to vote “Yes” on Proposition D. He changed his mind when Nathan Fletcher pulled what Harris called “this recent backroom agreement” to grease the skids for the CCDC to contribute $500 million of public money to the billionaire owners of the Chargers for a new Downtown stadium at a time when both city and state are broke. Harris then voted against Prop. D as a protest. I was in the same situation and changed my vote to “No” when I heard about it. I’m sure many others did the same, probably accounting for why Prop. D lost so badly.

However, let me point out that CityBeat endorsed Fletcher for reelection and even gave him a mention as a mayoral candidate. Which of your advertised products were you smoking, anyway? Furthermore, you endorsed Toni Atkins, whose wife, Jennifer LeSar, recently stepped down as a CCDC board member, then started a consulting business that promptly began raking in contracts from the organization she’d recently headed. And Atkins has been working for her spouse between political jobs. So, when she gets to Sacramento, she’s going to introduce legislation to repeal this typically sleazy San Diego deal? (Yeah, right; she’s already shown whose side she’s on in the infamous 301 University Ave. high-rise project.)

I draw two conclusions from these and related insider deals:

1. Never trust a San Diego Republican politician and damn few Democratic ones.

2. We need a liberal alternative paper in this town, one that will challenge the way public business gets done in San Diego, not one that endorses the facilitators of the developers and Downtown business interests. It’s increasingly clear that, given those endorsements, and for allowing your anti-union bias to override superb qualifications in one of the school board races, that CityBeat is not that alternative. Rather, aside from a few moralistic liberal tut-tuttings, it’s looking more and more a skinnier version of the Union-Tribune.

William A. Koelsch, Hillcrest

This issue of CityBeat is brought to you by people who could barely move after eating Kelly Davis’ world-famous Harvey Wallbanger cakes.