Letters to the Editor 1.20.22

Love Wins

You’ve moved both my heart and head with your recent story about Lori Long and Mark Contreras (“A local couple’s dream to get married has become a national advocacy campaign for inter-abled marriage equity,” Jan. 13-19). Here’s the takeaway: Citizens can change things, politically, if they make the argument.

I’m sad that Lori had to do so much of this herself – sad that Congressman Jimmy Panetta (and his staff) were unaware of such bad public policy – yet that is the nature of our system. I’m also struck that, with the very wide ecosystem of NGOs in California, none had landed on this inequity before. So thanks for your reporting. Kent S. Glenzer | Monterey

Thank you. A beautifully written and very moving piece. Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts| Carmel

Thank you, Mr. Panetta, for addressing this gap in disability rights (“Faced with a government limit on who she can marry, a local woman went to Congress,” Jan. 13-19). Best wishes to the happy couple. Phil Candreva | via social media

Hotel Pagrovia

You have drunk the Kool-Aid (“The long and winding path for a hotel proposal in Pacific Grove’s American Tin Cannery,” posted Jan. 12). Yes, we need a change, just not this destructive monster that doesn’t follow the law! Inge Lorentzen Daumer | Pacific Grove

Thanks for posting your informative personal research on American Tin Cannery. As a former Pebble Beach resident since 1964, I used to spend many hours exploring ATC with its many unique shopping and dining experiences as a busy customer destination (especially Comics & Games, Mr. Z’s Jewelry, Reebok Discount Shoe Outlet, American Burger, First Awakenings).

During the 1990s I started noticing an increase in vacancies. At some point during the 2000s, I noticed the artist studios filling many vacant upstairs spaces [known as ArtWorks @Pacific Grove] and assumed ATC was transforming into a live/work artist space similar to Sand City. Next came both hotel proposals.

The obvious solution to answering the mystery question for best use of ATC: Establish an artist community for all of the displaced artists who had to vacate ATC and construct affordable live/work art studios. H. Roy Jordan | Cambria

The approval of the ATC hotel project is great for Pacific Grove (“Pacific Grove City Council approves hotel project at American Tin Cannery,” posted Jan. 13). It will replace a vastly underutilized and decaying outlet center with a well designed and attractive hotel along our coast. It will also help Pacific Grove’s financial security a great deal. What’s not to like? Way to go, City Council! Rudy Fischer | Pacific Grove

History Speaks

Thanks for the research into the Tarpy lore, I had wondered what was in the historical accounts (“In the mid-1800s, bandits ran rampant on the Central Coast, as did vigilante lawmen. One of the latter became a local legend – after he got lynched,” Jan. 13-19).

Charlie and Lu Ryan of the Ryan Ranch were my mother’s aunt and uncle. Charlie Ryan was a talented artist who designed and built the stone house that is now Tarpy’s Roadhouse in the early 1900s. Charlie Ryan made the shell fireplace and the metal sculpture still inside the restaurant. (My mom’s five Ryan cousins grew up there and their descendants are still farming in Monterey County.)

When they got older, Charlie and Lu Ryan sold much of their ranch which ultimately became the Ryan Ranch office complex. Their former ranch home became a well-known restaurant, Cadermartori’s, in the 1930s-’40s, and eventually Tarpy’s Roadhouse.

Our family is happy the Ryans’ beautiful home and garden has been preserved by the restaurant.

I relocated to the Monterey area a year ago to return to where my grandparents and extended family moved 100 years ago. I enjoy reading the Weekly. Thanks for the history lesson. Mary McMahon | Seaside

Honoring a Legend

I am a print and online reader of Monterey County Weekly, and I was deeply touched this morning by your beautiful and very personal reflection on Martin Luther King, Jr. (and RFK) (“How Martin Luther King Jr.’s words from April 3, 1968 still resonate today,” posted Jan. 17). There are all too many what strike me as “canned” tributes to MLK on this holiday, but yours was a genuine and heartfelt remembrance, based on a difficult and complex family experience.

It also happens to be a poignant personal holiday for my family, since MLK shares his birth date with one of my sisters (Jan. 15), and he was assassinated on my birthday, April 4. Unforgettable bonds, created by the flukes of history! Adele Negro | Pacific Grove

Voting Rights

One year ago, we witnessed an attack on our country: an insurrection by political extremists at the U.S. Capitol.

A mob of violent rioters defaced the Capitol and threatened the lives of the elected officials and staff working there – the core of American democracy. This was a pivotal moment for America and our fundamental promise of free and fair elections.

One year out from that horrible day, Congress has yet to secure the right to vote and the integrity of our elections – while state and county governments are passing laws to make it harder to vote. Hours-long lines and oppressive ID requirements are only the beginning, unless Congress acts.

The Senate must pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act; both bills are essential to the survival of the American experiment. The House of Representatives has already passed them. We can’t let made-up Senate rules stand in the way of protecting our democracy.

Fighting for democracy by passing voting rights legislation is one of the most important actions we can take. Zoe Edington | Monterey