Letters to the Editor 03.07.19

Shots Fired

Seriously? What is up with killing mentally disturbed people? (“After hours-long negotiations, a young woman is killed in police shooting,” posted March 1.) It is happening too often in Salinas. I don’t care if someone has a weapon or not, killing folks who are having a crisis is wrong. I know of at least six instances where deadly force was not justified. If we can use a tranquilizer gun on animals, why not human animals? Seems as though the current MO is kill first, ask questions after death. Bummer. Trish Sullivan | Salinas

Every other news report I have seen on this says she brandished a gun at the end. The Weeklymust not believe it or accidentally left that part out. Nevertheless, with 10 body cams and theLive PD film crew, there will be plenty of footage to go through. Jeffery Olms | via Facebook

Key word: I N V E S T I G A T I O N Laura Hernandez | via Facebook

This was someone’s child. I am so terribly sad for all involved. John Bailey | Salinas

Park n Pay

The new rates put them on par with the parking garages in downtown Monterey’s monthly rates (Salinas ups its parking rates for downtown garages as the business community spasms,” Feb. 28-March 6). Seems to me they might have gone a bit high considering Oldtown Salinas doesn’t quite offer everything downtown Monterey does, including Fisherman’s Wharf, etc. Patrick Kenedy | via Facebook

Let’s add another reason for people to avoid Oldtown… Oh that’s right, it’s City Center now.Frances Esters | via Facebook

I’m from San Francisco. You guys know nothing about paying for parking. Chris Lazzaro | via Facebook

Row Down

There is no Cannery Row any longer. Just another Disney theme park (“The saga of a long-blighted property on Cannery Row takes a new and baffling twist,” Feb. 28-March 6). Tess Heller Kern | via Facebook

“Blight”? That’s the last stretch of the real Cannery Row. It should be restored and preserved instead of replaced with some plastic hotel/retail project. Do we really need more souvenir stands full of cheap Chinese goods? Roger Kern | via Facebook

They should just make it a city-owned public park. Preserve the land and the knowledge. Make it an ocean-view lookout and selfietopia. Erin Davison | via Facebook

A Tin Can

I love the Tin Cannery as an art space (“A developer is courting Pacific Grove to build a hotel at the American Tin Cannery site,” Feb. 21-27). If they have water enough for a hotel, they have water enough for affordable housing. Jessie Lillie Lemon | via Facebook

There are some amazing artist studios there. Drop by and support local artists! Jacquie Atchison | via Facebook

I’d take anything. That place is such a pit! James Schultze | vis Facebook

This is insane. They have enough in that area. The traffic is already a nightmare and when there are special events, three times as bad. Those hotels should have to pay a hefty gas tax or something to cover the road expansions they have been talking about and a toll on Highway 156. Developers should go elsewhere now. Enough is enough here. Janis Spencer | via Facebook

Locals want to keep vying for the Malaiseville title. Anything that brings revenue and jobs is verboten, all the while the remaining residents shoulder increased tax burdens for infrastructure, while community and services erode. Yes, having grown up locally I get the frustration over traffic and congestion. You can’t have something for nothing. There’s a balance that needs to be struck. That being said, parking is only part of the problem. I don’t know if there’s anything to be done about flow and congestion. Joe Divar | via Facebook

Cat Break

I love how the owners look like their cats! (“Portraits of felines and their owners at the 2019 East of Eden Cat Fanciers in Monterey,” posted Feb. 23.) Reminds me of the beginning of 101 Dalmatians. Jennifer Dentici | via Facebook

Mining For Answers

Matt Koller’s article presents this dilemma as a standoff between two valuable but incompatible industries (“Monterey Bay fishermen catch salmon as far away as Alaska. A proposed copper mine there poses a local threat,” Feb. 21 – 27). Eco-activists would deny that it’s really all about money, but the way to resolve it is to reduce the confrontation to financial terms. What is the fishery worth? What would be the cost of damaging it? Koller wrote that last year, the salmon run “was valued at approximately $275 million.” So a worst case would be a massive release of toxic tailings that puts the fishermen out of business for, say, 20 years. Total cost: $5.5 billion.

That sounds like a lot of money, but according to Koller, the EPA says the Pebble deposit “could ultimately generate revenues between $300 billion and $500 billion.” In the event of even a major mishap the Partnership could easily afford to compensate the fishermen for the loss of their earnings.

So the miners should be given a go-ahead, on condition that they buy insurance against environmental damage. The cost of the insurance would be a rounding item in their balance sheet. If the Pebble people decline to buy the insurance, or if no one is willing to insure them, the permit should be denied. David L. Book | Monterey