LETTERS to the EDITOR 11.30.17

Raising the Rent

People need to push for rent control (“A Marina apartment complex’s rent increases by over 60 percent, forcing some tenants out,” Nov. 16-22). This is stupid and exactly why I live in Salinas. Rent is far cheaper. Marek Piecyk | via Facebook

Without a major political upheaval for financial control, higher taxes, equality, and more public spending, we are in for perennial housing crises. The housing market can never heal itself under existing conditions. Adolfo Rene Morales | via Facebook

You can’t blame the NEW owner for making the numbers work and recouping his investment. This is a systemic problem. The solution is more housing. Make it easier to build (and add the supporting infrastructure of course) and demand should settle down housing costs. Greg Hamer | via Facebook

These greedy landlords have no sympathy or compassion for people. Jesse Fuentes | via Facebook

New Flavor

1833 started very strong but went downhill from there. I really hope they do change a few things and bring it back to its former glory (“Monterey landmark restaurant 1833 sells to Constance Laub,” posted Nov. 22). Henry Simpson | via Facebook

I’m glad it’s under new ownership. The place had been sinking for awhile. So much potential. I hope to see it shine. Eric Fajardo | via Facebook

All the employees are laid off. They get to re-apply for their jobs. Happy holidays. Susi Allen | via Facebook

I hope they don’t change the decor and atmosphere. It’s my favorite place to relax with a cocktail and tell ghost stories. Sorry to hear that all the wonderful people who worked there are gone. Robin Shaw | via Facebook

Strong Flavor

Seriously (“Starbucks made pumpkin spice big, but the flavor goes well beyond lattes,” Nov. 22-29). Just like most good things ruined by overdoing it, now the new “it” flavor supposedly is maple. Kind of like what Monterey is going to do with traffic roundabouts. Esther Malkin | Monterey

Bond Baggage

Anyone who votes against money for schools should be ashamed (“After voters sink school bonds, North County faces more students – and tough choices,” Nov. 22-29). Ashley Morgan Bawdon | via Facebook

I’m with you, really, but often times administrators fumble or embezzle the money from these bond measures, so people are leery about more taxes.Jaimeson Webster | via Facebook

Most voters have no children in school. Mike Holland | via Facebook

If the board had given an honest accounting for where the money from previous bonds has gone, or shown traffic studies for Moss Landing, it may have gone differently. The board insisting on this election without traffic studies or addressing questions we have makes me have ZERO confidence in them. Not to mention the cost of the election itself! Had these measures passed, my family’s personal property taxes would have increased by $680/year. Edie Powell | via Facebook

California should be No. 1 in K-12 per-pupil spending. How does California rank nationally? a) 46th; b) 41st; c) 29th; d) 22nd. The answer is: all of them. Depending on how spending is calculated and how up-to-date the data are, the per-student amount differs by thousands of dollars, and the state’s ranking varies widely (see edsource.org/2017). Adolfo Rene Morales | via Facebook

Hot Pastrami

Flaherty’s in Carmel also has an outstanding (off-menu) Reuben sandwich (“Quick Bites: Beloved sandwich spot remains open, pastrami hunt and James Beard chefs,” Nov. 22-29). But what we really need is a full Jewish deli here on the Peninsula. I am searching for a local spot with a Kosher pickle that can rival Canter’s Deli in L.A., or the Katella Bakery-Restaurant-Deli in Los Alamitos. Todd Strauss | via Facebook

The FORA wall

After 20-plus years of poor execution, it’s time to let FORA dissolve (“FORA board votes in favor of the “concept” of forming JPA,” posted Nov. 20). A joint powers authority is just a continuation of more of the same. LisAnne Sawhney | via Facebook

FORA needs to go. Florence Paget | via Facebook

Giving Thanks

Sooo thankful to live here (“While there are reasons to be down about the state of the world, there’s a lot to be thankful for in Monterey County,” Nov. 22-29). Terri Pitton Dickey | via Facebook

I ask the Weekly, when is it a “win” to demean history and endorse racist and bigoted attacks on the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus? “Hooray No Columbus Day,” but instead an “Indignant Peoples Day.” Why not dump Martin Luther King Day? After all, isn’t the goal in tearing down the past and starting us from a new and glorious “Year Zero” as determined by the new “progressive” doctrine? We have already debased Lincoln’s and Washington’s into a meaningless homogeneity of an uninspired “President’s Day.” Thanksgiving and Christmas have become no more than a shop, spend and greed feast.

I worry about “Year Zero” people like Pol Pot, Lenin, the Weekly, Mao, Obama, Anti-Fas, ISIS and their knowledge (or lack thereof) of history. Does tearing down statues change or “correct” history or does it ease self-inflicted guilt? David Fairhurst | Carmel Valley