Letters to the Editor 02.09.23

Safe Space

Terrifying! Too damn many guns!! (“Gun threat against San Carlos School sends Monterey Peninsula schools into lockdown,” posted Feb. 1.) Karen Warner | via social media

Thank god for the Monterey Police Department and all the law enforcement officers that helped out, thank god for AR-15s and thank god for the NRA. This squashes the narrative that we need to defund the police.

The way to fix it is making sure you vote Republican. Jaime Del Real | via social media

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The MPD should be given a pay increase. This is more reason to protect all schools. Criminals will always find a way to acquire guns, regardless of what the gun laws are. Greg Grycner | via social media

Fixer Uppers

I’ve lived in Big Sur for nearly the past 50 years and watched the steady decline of [public] agencies (“The storm damage tally brings up questions about funding climate resiliency projects,” posted Jan. 30). Gone are the days when I could ask the local forest or parks ranger to identify a plant on a trail. The rangers now carry guns rather than a taxonomy text. Oh, and there are no (as in none) rangers on trails. The parks have been turned over to concessionaires. Volunteers now solely maintain the trails. The few agency employees that are left come and go, the head of the forest, the parks superintendent generally last a few years before their career path leads them off to a bigger forest in Montana or Utah.

God bless all those who volunteer, but they should be an adjunct not a replacement. Steve Beck | Big Sur

Hole in One

Big thanks for highlighting the amazing work performed by all the volunteers who have the fun and privilege of working the AT&T Pro-Am (“An army of volunteers make the Pro-Am possible, and one person brings it all together,” Feb. 2-8). This would have been my fifth year as a walking scorer for the tournament had not health matters intervened.

One small correction: Walking scorers record each shot taken, what type and where the shot is hit and the final score on each hole. We even record what the players are wearing so they can more easily be identified by broadcast cameras and people watching online. The people carrying signs in the fairway indicating that foursome’s individual strokes above or below par so the spectators along the fairway can track the group, are known as “standard bearers.” The article seemed to combine the two jobs into one. Gary Bolen | Prunedale

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ScHoolboy Q is a legend! (“Musicians – including the country chart’s finest – are drawn to golf and the Pro-Am,” Fe. 2-8.) Maddox Haberdasher | Monterey

Service Central

I would like to express our pride that Spreckels Veterans Memorial Building worked so well as the FEMA, State of California and Monterey County Disaster Recovery Center (“In Spreckels, Monterey County’s storm relief center forms the frontline of recovery efforts,” Jan. 26-Feb. 1). This center was pulled together with just a few days’ notice. Special thanks to our Facilities Manager Joe Velasquez who was on the clock from 6:30am-8:30pm for seven straight days. Built under the state military and veterans code for establishing veterans memorial facilities, SVMB proved the perfect fit for every service this center needed to provide. The post-flood, gorgeous weather made possible the food distribution effort on the front steps and lawn. Thanks to County Supervisors Lopez and Alejo for stopping by and getting the word out.

Located at the crossroads of highways 101 and 68, this facility is the most centrally located venue for countywide meetings. Through the Covid lockdowns, our board took the opportunity to upgrade most of our facilities to where all systems were functioning at the highest level. So glad the town of Spreckels had this opportunity to shine. Paul J. Ingram | Carmel Valley Village

Note: Ingram is general manager of the Spreckels Memorial District.

Playing Politics

It’s so great Monterey had the opposite of these dramas with our open seat and 11 applicants (“City councils in Del Rey Oaks and Greenfield are stuck in gridlock,” Feb. 2-8.). We got a great candidate appointed unanimously [Councilmember Gino Garcia], which will hopefully be the first of many future decisions. Esther Malkin | Monterey

School Bell

This is by far the most accurate article published about this subject in my opinion, and our experience as a [Carmel Unified School District] family (“Carmel High School principal removed from his position, amid uproar from parents,” posted Feb. 7). Stacey McAlpine Bucher | via social media

Six superintendents in six years!? Michael Knoll | via social media

Seeing Green

As the CEO of an ag supply business, I’d like to add that by our estimate, legal cannabis operators have invested over $1 billion in the county (“County supervisors will vote on another tax break for cannabis growers – who say it’s still not enough,” Jan. 19-25). This is ancillary spending including rebuilding abandoned greenhouses and warehouses, fencing and security systems, buying forklifts and cargo vans, restaurants and hotels, soil and scissors, and more. The $70 million collected by the county in cultivation tax doesn’t even consider the sales taxes, property taxes, employment taxes, and all other taxes paid by these businesses as any other.

Please support the county’s decision to give much-needed relief to our emerging green industry who have invested so much to operate here. Chris McGrowin | Salinas

Note: McGrowin is CEO of GrowBIGogh, Inc.

Brew For All

Love it! Natalie is awesome! (“Natalie Mika never intended to make craft beers her life, but she found a niche at Peter B’s,” Feb. 2-8.) Lauren Cohen | via social media