Letters to the Editor 05.31.18

Pay to Build

Let it fail. Hopefully the city has done its due diligence and has a lien against the property (“A hotel developer is asking Marina to forgive his $735,000 debt to the city,” May 24-30). When the fire sale happens, Marina gets its money and in time a new operator will start up the revenue stream from the transient occupancy tax again. Obviously they made a deal with the wrong guy. Stuart Newhouse | via Facebook

I was outraged to read how developer Harvey Dadwal is threatening the Marina City Council after all they have done over several years to help him build his hotel and line his pockets with gold. Of course he is bluffing! Council members demand that he pays what he rightly owes per agreements he approved. And now he wants to build a second hotel for tourists with more phantom water. How about an affordable housing development for locals? Tom Ward | Pebble Beach

Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor. When working families are being fleeced by mortgage and student loan predators, but the affluent want handouts! No. Be like a Lannister, and always pay your debts. Anthony Villarreal | via Facebook

Welfare for the rich! It’s real. Vote people out that support this. Michael Finn | via Facebook

Pay your debts like the rest of us! If you can’t afford to pay what you owe you have no business building another hotel. Poor money management on his part is not the city’s problem to resolve. Tiffany Sheele | via Facebook

If the hotel goes into foreclosure, Marina will lose money on that income, and then he can’t build the second hotel. This sounds like a bait and switch. He has Marina over a barrel. Janis Spencer | via Facebook

Drive Through

I use this road daily and will be cut off (“Del Rey Oaks City Council considers closing off one of the city’s few intersections with Seaside,” May 17-23). This effectively seals Del Rey Oaks from the neighboring community. I guess I don’t need to spend money at the few sources of tax revenue they have. If they really want to cut down the speeding on that road, someone should talk to the cop I regularly see speeding up and down Carlton. Jeffery Olms | via Facebook

It just doesn’t seem right. It’s not a gated community! Ronda Walters | via Facebook

This will cause more problems than it solves. Trish Sohlé | via Facebook

Live Fire

My first question would be, “Have you been there?” From reading Mairav Zonscein’s article, I would guess she has not (“The first step to ending violence in Gaza is recognizing Palestinians are human beings,” May 24-30). If the author had been there during this time, he/she would have seen aggressors on the Gaza side use Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, rocks, slingshots, burning tires and flaming kites, all with the hope of gaining the world’s sympathy.

Now imagine a hostile entity at our border doing the same thing. Do we make nice, or do we shove them back? Even the refugees at our California-Mexico border know better than to start a fight. This is what a peaceful protest looks like, and there have been no shootings.

The big solution to the conflict is rather simple. Hamas recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and stop firing rockets. The result would be peace and prosperity for the Palestinians. Israel already has prosperity. Now, all it needs is peace.

I expect to see Israel’s side of the argument in next week’s edition. Malcolm Citron | Del Rey Oaks

Building Up

What a fantastic person Al Glover is! (“Despite questions, developer gets support to turn dilapidated Army buildings into homes,” May 24-30.) Taking his own money to develop apartments from abandoned, dilapidated eyesores. And taking a huge risk for the benefit of the community without having a firm title on the property. Our issue is the supply of housing, not the lack of designated affordable housing. Keep Fort Ord Wild and Landwatch should be praising his efforts! Ann Gaglioti | Del Rey Oaks

Sounds good… at first. Too many unanswered questions. Phil Castillo | via Facebook

Race For North County

Supervisor John Phillips has experience serving the public for decades as a deputy district attorney, a judge, a guiding force in creating Rancho Cielo and as our District 2 county supervisor (“Letters,” May 17-23).

John consistently donates his time and energy to improving our community. He learns quickly and acts decisively showing extraordinary leadership in getting support and money necessary for projects in North County. His record for getting things done is strong. He serves on the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, county Capital Improvement Committee, Economic Opportunity Committee, Fort Ord Reuse Authority, Economic Opportunity Committee and the Pajaro River Watershed Flood Prevention Authority and more.

[Challenger] Regina Gage has shown little understanding of North County needs and is also heavily funded by groups and entities more representative of Peninsula interests than North County’s. She has never served in an elected local leadership position.

At this critical time, District 2 needs an experienced supervisor to fight for North County’s needs. Diana Salazar Tynan | Castroville

Campaign Literature

I attended a local event during the run-up to the 2016 election (“Squid reads former congressional candidate Casey Lucius’ new page-turner,” posted May 29). When it was Casey Lucius’ turn, she gave us a pre-fab speech hitting on all the standard national security topics that we’ve heard time and again. No originality, and no personality was to be found to rally behind. Jimmy Panetta came forward with a broad perspective on a wide range of topics, and it was evident that those were heartfelt issues that were well thought out.

[Lucius] has nobody to blame for the loss but herself. Or maybe she was just not a good fit for this region. She has moved to Florida, and I expect this book is a step toward running for office in a place where boilerplate speeches and rightwing politics will get her further. Dan Reznick | Big Sur

Hand Writing

One of things I enjoy and appreciate about the Weekly are the stories about some of the wonderful people that live here in Monterey County. Your story about Debra Ferreboeuf was no exception (“Sea Scribes founder unites a community around a mutual love for an age-old art form,” May 17-23). When we are so inundated with the news of evil things it is nice to be reminded of all the good people in this world too. David Fairhurst | Carmel Valley

Main Drag

Broadway has been neglected for decades (After a year of roadwork, both lanes of Broadway in Seaside are now open,” posted May 18). Mostly a collection of derelict buildings and struggling businesses. Kudos to the city of Seaside to get state and federal grants to fix the street up and lay the foundation for private investment. Now, retail businesses on Broadway will have some customers and have a better chance to succeed. Let’s check back on this in one year and see what happened. Shawn Adams | via Facebook

I don’t understand why Seaside is the town with all the dispensary action. That’s a real letdown.Nancy Ann Morgan | via Facebook

Looks great!! Valentina Rosendeau | via Facebook

Safety First

With Older Americans Month upon us, it’s a good time to look at Department of Pesticide Regulation data: It shows a quarter of all non-agricultural, non-occupational illnesses reported in the state between 2005-14 involved those 55 and up. Many pesticides can have a greater impact on people with underlying health issues that affect the heart, lungs or immune system.

Most of the incidents were the result of careless storage and not following instructions. One example: In 2013, an El Dorado County man, 59, was hospitalized for three days after exposure to fumes from an insecticidal fogger used to kill bedbugs. Rather than leave the house, as the label instructs, he took a nap. He was treated at a hospital for breathing difficulties, exacerbated by his COPD.

Ingestion was the second most-common. This is usually the result of putting cleaners or pesticides in improper containers. One 2013 case involved a 70-year-old Fresno County woman who brought home an herbicide (paraquat) in a tea bottle from work. Her son thought it contained tea and put it in the refrigerator. A week later, his mother drank it. She died 14 days later.

Takeaways from such tragic accidents: Follow product labels, and never store pesticides in containers other than their factory container. Brian Leahy | Sacramento

Editor’s note: Leahy is director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

Correction

The headline of a story (“Hilltop Ranch sues Monterey County in ongoing quest to hold events at Carmel Valley vineyard,” May 24-30) misstated the name of the business that is suing Monterey County. It is Hilltop Ranch, not Cima Collina – which uses grapes from the ranch to make wine, but is a separate business entity.