MiraCosta board member - another view

In response to the letter of Feb. 27 in which Ms. La Bounty expresses her view of Judy Strattan, a MiraCosta trustee, I offer another view. As a former board member, I attend MiraCosta board meetings. As a strong supporter of the college for over 50 years, as well as one who worked to get Ms. Strattan elected, I attend in order to see if she carries out the mandates of her constituency. From this perspective, I applaud her for speaking up. …

Contrary to what Ms. La Bounty may have been told, it was not a confidential document. If it were, Trustee Strattan would never have spoken publicly. As Ms. La Bounty said, Ms. Strattan has the background and experience of a former college president, and she would never break any laws. However, as Ms. Strattan stated, she was accused by the college president, and she gave her response.

One of the issues that supporters of the college have asked of the trustees is to bring openness and transparency back. Ms. Strattan was doing so. … I appreciate Ms. La Bounty's interest in the college; we need the public to be involved and concerned about the loss of collegiality that has been a hallmark of MiraCosta College for several decades.

Jean Moreno

Carlsbad

Don't forget the homeless

I personally think that it's about time the city did something for the homeless after going and not letting the Salvation Army set up an inclement weather shelter when temperatures were reaching subfreezing earlier this season.

Councilman Abed's appointment to the North County Task Force on Homeless is a step back in the right direction, but it still does not do anything now for the homeless this year; they're still stuck out in the cold and rain, foodless.

James Miller

student,

The Classical Academy

Boy Scout 1st Class

Escondido

Ramos, Compean deserve retrial

Gilbert and Sullivan noted that "a policeman's lot is not a happy one." The horrible, unbelievable travesty of justice in the kangaroo court of Border Patrol officers Ramos and Compean should send a cold shiver down the spines of all law enforcement officers. It appears that there is guidance from high levels of government that we do not wish to offend members of minorities. It is probable that the Mexican government is calling the shots for prosecution of officers who end up using force against the criminals.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Legal Defense Fund regularly assists in cases where officers have had to use deadly force, or any forceful action in the apprehension of felons. The big problems occur where the criminal is a member of a minority group, which threatens riots and insurrection if the officer is not prosecuted. Spineless officials cave in to these demands, and another peace officer faces prison time in the company of criminals whom he has helped put there.

Actions of the prosecution in the cases of Ramos and Compean appear to meet the standards for criminal malfeasance. They deserve not amnesty, but retrial in a jurisdiction where they can get a fair trial.

Milton Olson

Vista

Headline doesn't tell accurate story

Staff writer Edward Sifuentes is at it again (Feb. 27). Without fail, the headline reads "Immigrants not responsible for much crime in U.S." Mr. Sifuentes and the North County Times almost always carefully leave out what we are talking about: illegal immigrants. He and most others who support illegal aliens attempt to include legal immigrants who have gained citizenship by legal entry. Writers who distort a story by using "immigrants" when referring to illegals should be edited. …

Through the years, Sifuentes has consistently editorialized in favor of the farmworker who has not been provided housing by the wealthy growers in the Carlsbad area and beg for taxpayer dollars or grant money. About the only truth in the story is reference to Gary Walker, who has been a continuing force with Predatory Aliens Stop Killing Our Police. The sources by Sifuentes are totally biased. Distorting facts is dishonest reporting.

John Limpus

Fallbrook

Drop the charges

It has been 10 months since the Pendleton 8 were shackled and put into Camp Pendleton's brig in solitary confinement. During this period, the USMC and the NCIS have lied to the American people. When these young men asked for attorneys, they were denied that basic right. Lt. Col. Baker called Awad an innocent civilian. No one who has been in the military will believe that. Awad was a police officer and soldier under Saddam Hussein and was part of that brutal regime.

Attorneys for our young Marines were only on the ground in Iraq for 45 minutes and the Marine Corps claimed it was just too dangerous to go out and question the Iraqi witnesses. Wasn't it just as dangerous for the Pendleton 8 to be in that area? Does the Marine Corps mean our ground troops are expendable? These trials have never been fair. They are hurting the Marine Corps and all our ground troops in Iraq. Lt. Gen. Mattis has shown a lack of leadership in these cases and it is time to drop the charges. All of these men were told what to say; therefore, all the testimony was tainted.

Patricia Walker

Fallbrook

Sheep in wolves' clothing

Regarding the inspector general's report in February on substance abuse programs ("Prison drug treatment programs ineffective, study finds"): "The two largest in-prison treatment was slightly higher than that of a nonparticipating control group," Page 1. "The entire $143 million California spends each year for in-prison and aftercare substance abuse treatment appears to be wasted," Page 2. That's $39,178 per day. "The litany of problems adds up to a billion-dollar failure," Page 5. How to fix? "Reduce the number of involuntary program participants," Page 18.

Office of substance abuse programs continues to put more programs in place instead of implementing recommendations resulting from past audits and studies. …

If people who sell, transport, manufacture and distribute drugs are not supposed to be in prison, then why are they in prison anyway? Prop. 36, forced labor camps (rehabs) don't work. Many (rehabs), even in the court system, are run by felons. The state of California knowingly hires folks who recently got out of prison to school others how to stay off drugs, when even the counselors end up back in prison. …

Michael Kearns

Vista

Escondido must be preserved

Don't look up at the hills around Daley Ranch anytime soon. The City Council approved yet another large-scale building project last night (March 1), one that will destroy the natural hills and avocado groves. …

The actions of the City Council and Planning Commission obey the developers, not the regular folk here in Escondido. I'm third-generation Escondidan and think the large, cramped developments are a crime against our beautiful hills and open space in general. Escondido is charming and pleasant when it can build one house, a piece of architecture, on at least a half an acre that fits into the surrounding nature. Oak trees, citrus, grapes, avocados are all good things for the city. Multiple houses cramped into an acre of land are ugly, there is no way around this. Doesn't matter how many signal lights the developer puts in, it is just ugly.

The City Council and the developers should have to live in these projects. They should be forced to look at and live in these monstrous rat mazes they are building. The council is not serving the Hidden Valley by removing all the hills and valleys; that is just terrible irony. Escondido's natural resources and rural nature need to be preserved. …

Wendy Louise Wilson

Escondido

There's a better way

Why don't elected representatives start thinking about the young lives being wasted to pay for a complete lack of administration planning for, and during, this idiotic war. They seem to have no problem supplying the body bags and flag-draped coffins, but not the training and equipment our young servicemen and women need prior to facing this new kind of enemy.

Why don't they solve some of our larger problems with logical efficiency, like filling in the border tunnels with nuclear waste, giving all the illegal immigrants uniforms, sending them to Iraq to earn their citizenship and bringing our troops home to guard our porous borders?

Jon Coughtry

Oceanside

NFL's priorities

I'm glad to see the NFL has its priorities straight. First, during the Super Bowl, they refuse to run a public service ad for the Border Patrol, then, instead, they allow Prince to bounce his phallic [guitar] in front of millions of viewers shrouded by the screen.

That reminded me of what the City Council has done to the city of San Diego.

Charles Bondy

Encinitas

Back gate a dumping ground

It's interesting that someone finally noticed the happenings at the back gate of Oceanside ("Marine officials warn about crime in Vandegrift neighborhood," March 28). … Many a time I've called police dispatch about shots fired in the area to warn about officer safety, and then this horrible thing happened, Officer Bessant was murdered. Who's to blame? We all need to take responsibility.

For years now, our neighborhood has been going downhill like a snowball headed for hell. This neighborhood has become a dumping ground for everything illegal: gangs, drive-bys, murder, redlining by Realtors, selling plants and food from cars and trucks, drop houses, dogs running loose unlicensed, puppy mills, loud parties, loitering, hit-and-runs, steal a car, I've yet to see an arrest. … Would you believe it once took three months to remove an outdoor potty from in front of a house, and that only happened because the City Council was finally called. Would you believe that if one calls to report garage tenants, a code officer writes a letter to ask the culprit homeowner. …

The police do and always have done the best they can with the resources they have. The city fathers, the ones we vote for now, appear to finally admit that there's a problem. Hopefully we can all come together and make it safe for all once again.

Terecita Bernal

Oceanside

Promises are not kept in Carlsbad

Kudos to Chuck Canova and Johnette Stickel (Letters, Feb. 27) about the problems the Carlsbad police and firefighters face. Mr. Canova is right: The City Council made it a priority to demolish the firearms training range and effectively run the police officers out of Dodge to train so the obscenely expensive municipal golf course could be built in its place.

Our firefighters have been promised a new station in La Costa to replace the rickety mobile unit they've occupied for many years, only to have the embarrassingly small structure built that will be quickly outgrown. …

As a retired co-worker and longtime friend and supporter of both our police and fire agencies, I know how serious the situation is. I believe our mayor embarrassed the entire city … and also insulted our current employees by stating, "Go somewhere else if you want to be a fireman." … Last I heard, the tax dollars from our alleged controlled growth could easily give our emergency service personnel all the equipment they need and build a state-of-the-art training facility for our cops. …

Before you blast our heroes in blue, Mayor Buddy, walk a mile in their boots. Please publicly apologize to our "wannabe fire chief." He's a great man, and our firefighters are some of the best there are to offer, as are our police officers.

Kathryn Demary

Carlsbad

Letter writing is a much more constructive task

In regard to the March 1 letter by Cory Krell about the new area code planned for North County and the overlay plan, is there a point there? Krell states we will have to dial 10 numbers to make a call. Won't we really have to dial 11 numbers?

Also we will have to reprogram all of our other phones, including Internet dial-up numbers (Internet dial-up numbers?). Krell is right - the horror of it all! We will have to spend so much time dialing and reprogramming, time which could be so much better spent on constructive tasks, such as writing letters to the editor of the NCT.

Bill Homann

San Marcos

Unrest in Carlsbad

As everyone knows, we now have a vacancy ("Carlsbad councilwoman resign," Feb. 24). To have an election at this time would be a waste of funds.

The council should appoint the candidate who received the next-highest vote in the last election. Appointing someone whom they desire will not be good for the community well-being since there is much unrest at this time.

It's too bad the council did not get the pool complex built. They need it now to cool off!

Patricia Mehan

Carlsbad

Bush solely to blame for war

I see where our president is admitting that he made a mistake for taking this country into war in Iraq. Of course, he based his decision on bad information. Have you ever wondered what happened to the informant? I hope it's not the same informant who is providing the information that Iran is providing weapons to the insurgents. …

We all make mistakes. … Our president now admits that he made a mistake, of course, all based on bad information, and if anyone is to blame, blame him. Well, isn't that just upstanding of him. Our president is not solely to blame for the war in Iraq, so are the American people. After all, we voted for Bush. I'll pass the buck, my vote was all based on bad information.

We didn't go to war in Iraq because of WMDs, or because of terrorists or Iraqi freedom. President Bush took this country to war based on his whim. The whim, to remove the man who threatened to kill his daddy. …

Now our government is telling people like me to quit demoralizing our military. I guess I should apologize to them when they come back in a body bag. Maybe I should also thank our president for the war in Iraq. I've made mistakes, but I haven't destroyed thousands of lives or spent billions of dollars for a useless and unnecessary war. The war in Iraq? That is a mistake.

Robert Martinez

Vista

Troops must be adequately trained

We as a people, not as Democrats or Republicans, need to evaluate what we are sending our troops into and how equipped they are. It isn't much more complicated. We need to stop calling each other names and get it right for the troops. We need to support a debate and facts about what our military is doing.

I've read sad articles like "Two Army units will forgo desert training," Associated Press, Feb. 27, that tell me we aren't adequately preparing our bravest for where we're sending them. Why?

Angelique Strahan

Fallbrook

Sunrise Powerlink is not necessary

Sunrise Powerlink is not necessary. Warner Springs has a lot of good, clear solar weather for both heat/thermal and electric generation. We don't need a line from Imperial to Warner Springs, we need solar in Warner Springs. Lines split at the Warner Springs substation anyway. The 230 KV lines can then feed our suburbs and many can be installed underground.

Dan Perkins

Vista

The Murtha smear

John Murtha, of the U.S. House, is currently the target of a smear campaign from the right. He's been accused of senility and treason, a favorite of the hysterical screamers in the right wing.

The problem, as usual, is that the attackers have failed to read anything Murtha said: "The legislation I'm putting together … They must have the equipment and the training and they must be certified by the chiefs of the various services before they can go back … so they need to train on that equipment and then take it with them … They're going to have to certify to us that they are ready and they're going to have to stop the extensions."

So, Mr. Murtha wants to force the executive to do its job properly if it's going to send our soldiers off to war. How dare he! My monocle nearly fell out in dismay.

Garth Gregory Hansen

Escondido

Either you're with us, with the enemy, or both

From outward appearances the Bush administration has changed horses in midstream. At the outset of the conflict in Iraq they supported the Shiites against the Sunnis. Now they have chosen to support the Sunnis against the Shiites - not exactly a stay-the-course program from this administration.

It seems that when Cheney was summoned to the Royal Court of Saud during Thanksgiving at the snap of King Abdullah's fingers, the veep was informed that planet Bush has gotten it all wrong and the Saudis will not stand for a slaughter of their brother Sunnis in Iraq (because the Saudi Royals are balancing on the head of a pin in their own country). They will, however, support a thorough genocide of the Shiite. Since the Bush administration answers only to the House of Saud (certainly not to the American people) they have undergone a 180-degree turnaround on whom they favor. Along with that favor is the unauthorized funneling of U.S. taxpayer dollars to three Sunni jihadist groups connected to al-Qaida. Perhaps that "missing" $9 billion was reserved for such a duplicity by the administration that both fights and funds our enemies concurrently.

Peter Benson

Escondido

Upsizing is not in the public's best interest

As many age, the tendency is to downsize, auction prized possessions, have a garage sale, etc. This definitely isn't the reality concerning the Encinitas City Council, the majority of whom have never scrutinized a potential upsizing, to fuel a tax base, that they didn't relish.

One of the disingenuous explanations is that all of the construction fits into the specific plan established years ago by those clearly seeking to benefit from it. Let's view the historical downtown Encinitas area, where there is a proliferation of posted commercial/residential mixed-use applications in recent months.

The current progression in building is to add every possible square foot as the public looks on in ignorance. For those NIMBYs who only complain if a project directly affects them, preserving the tranquillity of downtown Encinitas is your backyard. … Plans continue unabated as developers and allied business partners draw additional people from every corner to the rapidly congested/changing downtown landscape. Just observe the background of the latest Planning Commission appointee representing Old Encinitas.

Reasons for residing in Encinitas are being evaporated as numerous density projects reduce the quality of life.

George Hejduk

Cardiff-by-the-Sea

Story showed young-at-heart sweethearts

Special thanks to Alexandra DeLuca for a wonderfully written story about my folks ("Bashful and beautiful team up for 70 years of marriage," Feb. 25). We're proud of Mom and Dad and know that, even though life has not been a bowl of cherries, they have kept involved with their church and in touch with their many friends around the world.

Three of the four of us children are left; their youngest, Steve (a 1970 graduate of San Pasqual Academy) died with his bride, Sharilyn Taylor, on their honeymoon in 1975. That was a terrible blow that would've split most couples apart, but instead Mom and Dad thanked God for his many blessings and shared Steve's life story in a book titled "Don't Look Down." The little yellow book was authored by Richard Utt with Mom and Dad's help and published by Pacific Press in the 1970s.

We learned that grief can destroy if left alone, but when coupled with gratitude to God for a precious life, it can bring wisdom and grace, as it has for these young-at-heart sweethearts I call Mom and Dad.

Nancy Troyer

Banning

What about the needs of patrons?

I have been informed that Camp Pendleton base post offices are cutting hours. The changes to the current post office hours will impact the mail delivery considerably (expect delays of a day or more). How can a postmaster make such drastic changes without considering the needs of Camp Pendleton patrons?

I am disappointed in the union representatives who refuse to act on the employees' behalf and this new postmaster for her lack of community interest. … The system isn't broken, so why mess with it?

June Weers

Oceanside

Can someone explain the advantages?

It is difficult to understand what the advantages are for the Wildomar community to become a city. It has never been fully explained what we the public will receive if a city of Wildomar is formed, and amenities are transferred from the county to the city's responsibility. Who will benefit and what will the benefits be? Will there be tax increases to support a city infrastructure? - Marilyn Uecke

Wildomar

Democrats vote to scrap secret ballot

I wonder how many voters realize that the House Democrats they elected have chosen to scrap one of the cornerstones of the American voting system, namely the concept of the secret ballot. It happened on March 1 (a month early - this should be an April Fool's joke). Along a virtually party-line vote, the secret ballot became no longer required in an election of employees to recognize a union. The rationale, they said, was "simply about establishing fairness in the workplace," to prevent employers from intimidating workers into rejecting unions.

Huh? Is that to say that unions wouldn't intimidate anybody if they knew how each worker voted?

It takes a pretty short memory to have forgotten how the California state workers' unions and teachers unions threatened their members with reprisals if the members didn't contribute to their attack funds to defeat Arnie's proposals a couple of elections ago. What would they do if they had names attached to the votes for recognition in a company they wanted to unionize?

The whole point of a secret ballot is to prevent anybody from being intimidated by anybody!

This Congress is up to no good. It will obviously wad up the Bill of Rights at the drop of a campaign contribution.

Kenneth K. Ebmeier

Pala

We don't need Granite's 'good intentions'

John Husing speaks of better "air quality." Does adding 1,400 truck trips per day at the Rainbow Valley interchange, increased diesel exhaust, and noxious odors from asphalt plants accomplish this? Does releasing fine particles of silica dust from blasting (which leads to respiratory disease, scarring lung tissue) and "nuisance dust" help air quality? Eliminate "115,000 pounds of harmful air emissions yearly"?

Build Liberty Quarry elsewhere! "Erasing 16.5 million truck miles from Riverside County" Does Granite "contend" trucks will be traveling only to San Diego County? They must be genius to predict job flow for the next 75 years.

I am deeply touched by Gary Johnson's concern for "education and public safety." He knows there are 40 schools within six miles of the site. Children are particularly susceptible to silica's dangers. He should be concerned about public safety.

This hard-rock, open-pit mine would be the largest in the nation in terms of "reserves" (amount of rock removed: 270 million tons.) Giving you perspective, the mine will be 1,000 feet deep. The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet high.

Gary is concerned with residents "doing without facilities supporting their lifestyles." Does he, perhaps, mean our homes when property values drop due to a mine? Does he mean the Ecological Reserve, devastated by blasting, dust, light pollution? What will this quarry give Rainbow? Fallbrook? Temecula? That we don't already enjoy?

Go away, Granite! Take your mine, your money, your so-called good intentions, and leave us in the peace we already have.

Jerri Arganda

Rainbow

Republicans are the ones 'anti-troops'

Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., is pushing a plan to prohibit sending troops to Iraq who are under-equipped and/or exhausted from multiple tours of duty. Incredibly Republicans are calling this idea anti-troop. If the Republicans think that sending exhausted and ill-equipped troops is a pro-troop act, then we are really living in an insane world and the Republicans are more crazy than I thought.

Let's bring those troops home. Bad enough they are dying and getting maimed because of lies, but the ones who are being sent there don't even have the right equipment. How sending our young people to die and to kill is caring about them, I'll never understand. Republicans need to stop the spin on Iraq and our troops and the Democrats.

Sofia Okolowicz

Temecula

War is never entered lightly

Bill Wasley (Letters, Feb. 21) doubts there was a plan for the occupation, including all contingencies.

He also advised that he has gained much information by talking to his father about his service in WWII. He then justifies his negative positions by "I can read and try to use moderation(?), logic and reason." The operative word here is "try." All men of good faith try to understand a subject by using their experience, education and intellect.

Unfortunately, most of us do not have sufficient experience, education or knowledge of the facts to make an intelligent, reasoned decision on serious issues. We generally depend on the various news sources to give us unbiased, accurate information to make a reasoned opinion. Most news sources are biased and present a one-sided viewpoint.

The management of a war is done carefully, with all available facts and with the objective of winning. In World War II our objective was to use our power in the Pacific to capture all of the island base of the Japanese with as little loss of life as possible.

In spite of our best plans, we lost over 20,000 on each invasion of Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Iwo Jima. War is hell and we never enter it lightly, whether Democrat or Republican. Lee lost over 100,000 men in the Civil War against slavery and we lost over 250,000 men in World War II.

Paul R. Puma Sr.

Murrieta

Web Comments

Issa to testify on Lam firing

Readers respond to our March 6 story about U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa planning to testify at one of two congressional hearings addressing the firing of former San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam and a handful of other U.S. attorneys. -

Backpedaling begins

Cal: Bingo! This is the next Bush era scandal to hit the national media fan, and Issa is up to his ankles in it. Maybe he should have been more discreet about his 1/20th involvement. The backpedaling has begun. I can't wait to read the next installment.

Can't do the job

Ask: "Someone actually gets kicked out for not upholding the law she swore to enforce, and there is a hearing? Maybe it's too cut and dry for the government to figure out. Didn't do job = kicked out."

Playing the part

Who Cares?: "What a waste of taxpayer money. So what if the firings were politically motivated? It's the president's prerogative who has this job. If he doesn't like who is holding the job then he gets to fire them. If the U.S. attorneys don't like the fact that their job is at risk for political reasons, then don't apply for the job. Simple, cheap solution. Stop wasting taxpayer money for goodness sake on these worthless congressional investigations. Its nothing more than media fodder. "

What about Bush?

If it were only that simple: "George Bush swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States and didn't. When does he get 'kicked out'?"

Just acting patriotic

to who cares: "The problem is that they got a provision in the Patriot Act, that was supposed to protect us from terrorism, that gives them the power to politicize the court. "

Just coincidence?

Free Duke: "Ask" is right. We don't need no stinking hearing! Let's just take Darrell Issa's word for it. This had nothing to do with the continuing investigation of his buddy, Randy Cunningham. Just a coincidence.

Her punishment

Political Pressure: Carol Lam should get a Citizens Medal of Honor for going after Duke Cunningham. This is her punishment for bucking the holy GOP.

Her mistake

Ray: By all means it's political! He saw it coming and it was best for him to get her out of the scene. Her mistake was she focused more on the criminals in government and not the ones on the street.

Defending Duke

No Surprise: Issa defended his buddy Duke before … and he's still doing it by getting Lam fired.

Lam guilty

Gee: Isn't everything done by Congress for political gain? Lam is guilty of not doing the job an oath was taken for. Of course, this is okay for Democrats since they also believe Bill didn't have relations with that woman.

Marina Towers to go before Oceanside council this summer

Readers respond to our March 6 story about Oceanside's city council planning to decide this summer on a contentious proposal to sell an acre of city-owned land to homeowners in the 17-story Marina Towers condominium complex.

There goes the farm

Public Property!: "Our grandparents would characterize this as 'selling the farm to pay the mortgage;' it is a bad deal for the people of Oceanside. It would be as if the federal government decided to sell Yosemite or Yellowstone to fund the war."

1 … 2 … 3 …

Count to four: "Sorry, Council Member Chavez, the score looks to be 4-to-1 to sell. I also think it would be a shame to sell this asset, just renegotiate the lease to market rates. If the Marina Towers was in private hands, they would not sell this potentially upside revenue stream. In addition, if the city sells the Towers it will lose the future control of this parcel perhaps forever."

Backin' Mackin

Cha Ching: "Stupid, just plain stupid. The deal is a bad one for Oceanside. Mackin hit the nail on the head, 'It's a windfall for the investors and not the citizens of the city.' If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have even known what the city was planning to do."

Failing grade

Kim: "Some people on the Oceanside city council flunked math 101, investments 101 and government 101! Public assets belong to the public and have to be managed by the public! Public process exists. Use it!"

Border patrol may work alongside Escondido police

Readers respond to our March 6 story about Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher being scheduled to present a revised policy that Councilman Sam Abed hopes will allow border patrol agents to work with local police.

Play by the rules

Robert24: "You know, if we could just enforce the rules we have already, we wouldn't have to ask for help from 'whoever has the jurisdiction to handle the situation,' like the Border Patrol or the Feds. Wrong is wrong. Arrest and deport. How sad that we have to keep trying to come up with ways to keep everybody happy, yet all it does is allows for more laws to be broken."

The easy route

Hey Chief: "You do know bank robbery is a federal crime. What do your officers have - speed dial for the FBI? I know you don't want the community to think of you all as federal agents! Much easier to give jay walking and littering tickets to Americans, at least you will know they will show up in court!"

Grandstanding Sam

Ray: "We all know this is just politics from Mr. Abed just like Waldron. Mr Abed is using the immigration for his personal political intentions since it work for Waldron and undermining the present and future issues of Escondido."