No more backdoor deals

While it was gratifying to read that the Oceanside City Council will change the agenda format so that residents will know when a proposal to sell city property is going to be discussed in a private meeting, that is really not enough when they consider such a major disposal of valuable city property as sale of the land associated with Marina Towers.

When income property worth well over $1 million is being discussed I believe nothing short of a town hall-type discussion is enough. We all need to hear the issues and have a chance to present our opinion. Likewise, if there is a decision not to sell the land, that should be made plain at a regular council meeting.

The city has a history of backdoor deals, and the council needs to do everything to include the public in decisions we will all have to pay for.

ELAINE BARTON

Oceanside

Retirees won't be going downtown again

On Aug. 23, excited to meet a former workmate, I parked my car on Broadway at the phone company, where there was two-hour parking, since the Second Avenue parking lot was totally full. We walked around the corner to the new Remys on Grand for a preplanned luncheon to support the new downtown business only to find it was not open for lunch on Tuesdays, so we ventured up to an old favorite, Chasers Deli.

We had a wonderful reunion luncheon and, while dining, another old nursing friend happened in for lunch with her husband. What a wonderful, not-planned, unexpected reunion.

Back down to my car and, to my dismay, a $25 overtime ticket. How sad. Little over two hours. I paid the ticket, but will we ever meet downtown again for lunch? Absolutely not. As retirees we will meet at a center with no worries about parking, where we can relax and not be concerned about overtime parking restrictions.

JOAN A. SCHNEIDER

Escondido

Let the kids play ball

The City Council of Oceanside needs to find a solution to the field closure at French Field, home of the Vista American Little League.

The property is owned by the city of Oceanside and leased to the city of Vista. The field was closed when soil samples were taken when the parents and volunteers were installing new lights and lead was found in the soil.

I wonder if new lights had not been installed, would the kids still be playing ball? We need action now or a group of boys and girls 8 to 12 years old will lose out entirely of the Little League baseball experience. El Corazon is not the answer for the issue at hand. Maybe for my grandchildren.

Several of the parents have written to the council and, sadly, it's the typical politician response and a pass-off to a staff member. I've seen tax money go to close a strip club, which is still vacant, and to developers who brought the community nothing. When is the next election? How many seats available?

For more information on the field closure or wishing to help, please visit http://eteamz.active.com/VistaLL/index.cfm?

KYLE HUGGINS

Oceanside

Rancho del Oro vote will save lives

Many thanks to Mayor Jim Wood and Councilwomen Esther Sanchez and Shari Mackin for voting against the interchange at Rancho del Oro. From El Camino Real to Rancho del Oro there are four streets that empty into Mesa and no stop signs.

All four streets are in Oceana (senior homes) area, and there has been some hits and near misses. The cars that come around the curve are very difficult to see and they are usually speeding.

Also, on Rancho del Oro are three streets that come out of senior housing. Also there is El Camino High School in the same area, so we certainly don't need more and more traffic that an interchange would bring. So we think their vote will save lives and make the area safer.

NORMA NARES

Oceanside

Political respect is a two-way street

Re: Ms. Bettie Heldring's Aug. 30 letter. Her failed attempt at passive aggressiveness in her letter of response to a letter writer who disagrees with her is telling. She says that hate only hurts the hater. It begs the question: What does she think of Bill Clinton? I guess it's good to know that if he had been in office for the last five years and did everything exactly the way Bush has that she'd be supporting him wholeheartedly and partisan politics would play no role in her support.

She finds liberals amusing? That's not very nice, Ms. Heldring. Why does she apparently need to be filled with such contempt for liberals? She uses the word "liberal" like it's a bad thing and says that our ideas are based in lies? Well, that's just mean-spirited and unfair and untrue. Does it help her find conviction for her own values to tear apart others? Is this love and compassion?

I would venture to say that when someone is filled with amusement and contempt for other people's views that it is hurtful to one's self as well. Just because our ideologies are completely different doesn't mean that we think Heldring is wrong, or silly, or amusing. That would just be disrespectful.

GEORGE WALKER

Carlsbad

The obvious choice is Miramar

I still can't understand why more people haven't gotten on board for the Lindbergh-for-Miramar trade. It's a win-win situation for both parties. The only reason I think the Marine Corps won't budge is the fact that these military officers have children already in school and don't wish to upend their kids. Well, you won't have to move homes, just offices.

The U.S. Marine Corps currently runs a training base on the northeast corner of Lindbergh Field. By trading airfields they will expand their training facility that is currently MCRD to include the helicopter base.

Consolidating the two training facilities would make them a much smaller target in the next round of base closures. As far as the commercial end of the deal, we would have to build only one airstrip right away and modify the two current ones. With all the land east of Interstate 15 we could convert that to commercial airstrips and storage for the airline industries that wish to build their places of operation.

I don't see the downside here. Do we really want to drive out to the desert to fly out of San Diego? We have an airport now. It just needs to be bigger, and the obvious choice is Miramar.

NICK MORRIS

San Marcos

Hiring bilingual deputies just makes sense

This letter is in response to Barbara Myers' Aug. 29 letter. Although I agree with Ms. Myers that the deputies in Vista are not racially motivated in their shootings, I disagree with her on the fact that the Sheriff's Department should not need to put more bilingual deputies on duty in the Vista area.

Forty-three percent of Vista's population is Hispanic. In a community where the saturation of Spanish-speaking individuals is at such a high level, careful consideration should be made in filling the vacancies of deputy positions.

May I ask Ms. Myers if she has ever visited Baja California or Mexico? With so many visitors in Mexico who are English-speaking tourists, Mexico has made extra efforts to hire English-speaking police to assist in the communication process.

As for the facts in the actual shootings, these hardworking deputies put their lives on the line each and every day to protect innocent citizens.

When put into a situation of life or death, self-preservation is a basic conscious ability of humans to survive. I would like to see how the citizens who are blaming the deputies for these deaths would react in the same situation.

HEIDI R. HOPP

Escondido

No human being is illegal

I applaud the recent efforts of the city of San Diego's Human Relations Commission and the many others who are defending human rights and who have taken a stance against the violation of civil and human rights.

Although racism and the disrespect of human beings has always occurred, we are again seeing a rise in anti-immigrant and anti-humanity actions from various groups who don't follow the principles that are supposed to represent this country ññ liberty and justice for all. Hopefully more city commissions, community groups and individuals can follow in the path toward justice and human dignity.

As human beings with morals and integrity, I call for us to stand against racism, stand against the violation of human rights. No human being is illegal. Laws can always be changed, and we can no longer stand for armed vigilantes targeting other human beings and taking the law into their own hands. Stand up and defend human rights; the hatred must stop.

CONSUELO MARTINEZ

Escondido

Where were the parents?

Where were the parents when these shooting victims were growing up? Were they taught right from wrong? If there is any blame for these young men's lives of crime it should be focused on their parents and the men themselves.

The men made choices to enter into a life of crime; the only outcome of this life is jail or death. It's much too easy to blame the sheriff and not look at the parents and the criminals themselves. I thank the Sheriff's Department for the job they do to provide safety for the entire community.

KAY NELSON

Vista

Highway trash and litter

I drive Highway 78 corridor between Oceanside and Vista daily, and the quantity of trash and weeds is appalling. However, this unsightly blight is not restricted to our highways. Driving by an abandoned shopping cart, I decided to return it to the center from whence it came. Starting at the corner of Downs and Ivy, I pushed it back to Wal-Mart and picked up trash along the way, filling the cart.

Everything from fast-food wrappers, beer bottles, soda cans, hubcap, traffic cone, newspapers, bags, shoes and who knows what. You may remember our dear Fire Mountain neighbor, Mrs. Ratcliff. For years she walked the neighborhood filling a grocery bag with trash each day. Mrs. Ratcliff was doing us a very big, community-spirited favor. Now the trash lies in the street waiting for the street-sweeper.

Why is this acceptable? It's not. Come on, Fire Mountain neighbors. Pitch in. We can't do much about traffic, but we can pick up trash, clean up after our dogs, return carts, report graffiti and keep trash/green-waste containers out of sight until pickup day. Take pride in our neighborhood. I'll be walking with a grocery bag from now on.

DEBBIE OBREGON

Oceanside

New home for adult center

Another chapter in Vista's history will begin when North County Adult Day Center moves to a new home on West Vista Way. The All-Saints Episcopal Church has housed the center for 28 years, thanks to the generosity of the church and more recently Father Joe Rees. New facilities are the gift of Loretta Ames, a longtime supporter, who has planned improvements with Karen Gerken, medical social worker and program manager. The center is licensed for 30 adults at present and, hopefully, will have room for more.

A division of Adult Protective Services, it provides opportunities for socialization, music appreciation, recreation, exercises, physical therapy and nursing supervision. Participants will move from a more bucolic setting across the street from City Hall as soon as representatives of the State Department of Health give the go-ahead.

SANDRA BELL

Vista

Bush need not meet with Gold Star mom

President Bush no longer needs to meet with Cindy Sheehan to explain for what noble cause her son Casey died in Iraq. With the new Iraqi constitution we now know the meaning of the noble cause. It was to take a secular state and create a fundamentalist Islamic religious state in its place, not dissimilar to the one we've been complaining about in neighboring Iran, or the one we took out in Afghanistan after 9-11.

It appears that we began observing in latter 2003 the Sunnis and Shiites cooperating in an uprising against our occupation, a cooperation that was presumably unexpected, so we negotiated with the Shiite majority to support the prevailing of their Islamic republic if they laid down their weapons.

A fundamentalist Islamic republic is not exactly the same thing as a free democracy, which our president was most recently proclaiming as the noble cause, so is this really the noble cause for which we've been fighting? As Donald Rumsfeld might say, "Who knows?" Perhaps it's a trial run for creating a fundamentalist religious government in the U.S.

PETER BENSON

Escondido

Thanks for Air Force Band

We wanted to thank the North County Times for bringing another outstanding concert of the Air Force Band. We have enjoyed all of the service bands that you have so generously sponsored. They are truly professionals. God bless our armed forces.

RUTH and STAN

HAMILTON

Oceanside

Islamic rule close to Bush's own beliefs

Strange how "giving democracy to Iraq" has become the new WMDs lie touted by Bush to explain the war. Well, they voted for their democracy, and it is a government run under Islamic theology.

Translation, no rights for women, gays and abortion rights advocates. Sounds uncomfortably close to Bush's own beliefs. This again proves the danger of mixing religion with government. It eliminates free will, which, I believe, God gave us; it is man who wants to take it away.

PEG HART

Carlsbad

Flagpole could be solution to Mount Soledad

I haven't seen this thought published in reference to the Mount Soledad cross issue, so I am forwarding a suggested resolution to the controversy.

I believe that the memorial would not be tarnished one bit by simply replacing the cross with a large, lit-at-night flagpole flying our stars and stripes.

Then install five flagpoles around the base, each of which would fly a flag of the branches of our military. This solution might do away with the religion-based suit and allow the locals to own the monument without federal intervention.

CHARLES

TEICHERT JR.

Ramona

Quarry owner must think we're naive

Granite Construction is contradicting itself when it promises to take trucks out of the Temecula Valley and put them in San Diego County. In a recent mailing regarding Liberty Quarry, the company claims that this surface mine can provide up to 40 percent of the current aggregate needs for Western Riverside County for the next 50 years.

One might ask, how do they plan to transport the gravel to the north also, if not by giant trucks? Perhaps they plan to fly it over our roofs? At the scoping meeting in August, a distressed resident from Rainbow —— a community that will be deeply affected by the negative effects from this surface mine —— pointed out that San Diego County has its own potential quarry at Rosemary's Mountain on the east side of Interstate 15 off the 76 freeway.

It appears San Diego has the opportunity to take care of its own aggregate needs. Granite Construction must think we are pretty naive to believe huge granite trucks from their proposed mine will not be plowing through our city, polluting our air and adding to the gross number of massive vehicles already on our roads. It's bad enough that the large percentage of commuters to San Diego will have to live with the freeway nightmare this project promises, but the cities of Temecula, Murrieta and those to the north will surely be dodging flying rocks as well.

Pam Grender

Temecula

Signals need to be timed in Murrieta

I am a three-year resident of Murrieta and I am wondering why we can't get the lights on California Oaks from Washington to Hancock timed at the speed limit posted. Also, Murrieta Hot Springs Road between Jefferson and Winchester should be timed to keep the traffic moving.

I was in Temecula last week and believe they have the lights on Ynez timed, as I didn't have to stop once from Winchester to Rancho California, where I turned off. My hat is off to the Transportation Department of Temecula for doing such a good job on a heavily congested street. Cal Oaks at the freeway is a nightmare and no one goes anywhere.

Yesterday, I was heading east and stopped at Madison, but I waited through five lights, which is such a waste of time. If the (state Department of Transportation) people can't cooperate in the timing of the lights, why can't we time the city light to coincide with the state's lights? Our traffic is so bad, we need to keep it moving. Please, people, support this as we are building so fast and streets can't keep up they way the lights are set now.

Suzanne DuCharme

Murrieta

School boards need unbiased members

In regards to James Woodward, ("Unconditional love can't damage morals," Letters, Aug. 30), I am very much in agreement with him on the love and morals issue.

His letter is strong and very positive, but he muddied it up with the two paragraphs in which he talks about Christ's lesson of love and his belief that God is in every one of us and we are judging and condemning God through our judgment of "His children."

If he would have left a positive, strong letter alone without bringing his personal, religious beliefs into it, he would have held my attention on a much stronger point.

On the point of one school board candidate's —— Richard Ackerman —— fear and attacks of others with alternative lifestyles, morals and values are important and appropriate for all people —— of all, or without, any religious beliefs.

I do agree that unconditional love can not damage morals and I also believe we need open-minded, unprejudiced individuals on any school board.

Suzanne Wallen-Rupnow

Lake Elsinore