Our Readers Write: La Jollans speak out about litter in the streets, ‘fixing La Jolla’ and other local topics

Our Readers Write / Opinion / Letters to the Editor:

Letters to the Editor from the Dec. 28, 2017 issues of La Jolla Light as La Jollans speak out on local issues:

Students working for litter-free streets

Muirlands Middle School students Kevin Steel and Aiden Sandoval, along with their parents, kicked off their winter break with a community service project. The boys walk to school together every morning and couldn’t help noticing large amounts of trash littered along Fay Avenue and Nautilus Street, adjacent to the school. So on Saturday Dec. 16, the boys picked up all the trash they could find there. They filled about 10 grocery-sized bags with some pretty surprising items — like baby diapers and cans of cat food!

Then, with the help of their parents, they entered a ticket in the Get It Done San Diego app to have a City trash can placed on Fay Avenue (on the Muirlands side). They hope everyone will do their part to keep the area around their school clean in 2018.

Jessica Hughes and Melissa Steel

Action and leadership needed to fix La Jolla

This is a letter to Ann Kerr Bache, president of La Jolla Town Council, with copies to other key La Jollans. In the Nov. 30 issue of La Jolla Light, it was reported 14 advisory boards in town ostensibly guide our community. If I may offer my opinion, you have guided La Jolla into a dump.

Before, I continue, I recommend every person on every board visit Coronado to see how La Jolla should look and should be run. I present two examples:

1) La Jolla Parkway vs. Orange Avenue

One look at both of these main thoroughfares into their respective communities discloses what’s wrong with La Jolla. When will La Jolla Parkway be paved? When will each side of the parkway be landscaped to look as beautiful as Orange Avenue?

2) La Jolla beaches vs. Coronado beaches

Here’s another “dump” problem: Why can’t our beaches look like Coronado’s beaches, or as an alternative, like the beach in front of La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club? We can pay $6 million for two lifeguard towers in La Jolla, yet the beach for sea lions is in better condition than the beaches for us.

It’s time you board members from the 14 advisory groups — along with District 1 (La Jolla) City Council member Barbara Bry — get with the program and restore our community so that we can look as good as Coronado, rather than looking like “The Jewel” you have badly tarnished.

Mike Ebert,

La Jollan since 1971

PS: Only two problems have been discussed to raise awareness of the condition in La Jolla. Other problems for resolution include, but are not limited to: crime, traffic congestion, unpaved streets, potholes, aircraft noise, homeless people, trash in The Village, sea lions and seals causing the stench along Coast Boulevard, and the abominable way the City treats us as evidenced by the construction along Avenida de la Playa, which, as a nightmare for the residents and businesses, lasted for four long years. Please respond to this letter by getting something done!

PPS: Merry Christmas!

Good reporting on local issues, La Jolla Light!

Thank you to La Jolla Light for the excellent reporting on our La Jolla community meetings. La Jolla residents need to be informed of the projects and concerns that influence their daily lives. Some of these projects have a lasting influence on quality of life and also on property values.

There is a problem now that I believe will soon be changed. In the past, some homeowners and architects did not show their building plans to the neighbors before their project was voted on by the La Jolla planning and permitting committees.

If the the La Jolla committees insist that neighbors sign a sheet approving or merely stating that they have seen the plans, this would be a great help to the processing of permits. Dave Gordon of the La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee mentioned reviewing this option at the last meeting.

Peggy Davis

Should we be growing grass near the coast?

I was surprised to read Ann Dynes’ letter in the Dec. 21 issue of La Jolla Light. She asked for La Jollans to donate funds for fertilizer to help grow “grassy areas” near our coast.

Since we live in a reclaimed desert and experience intermittent drought, for years we have been asked to get rid of our lawns and plant drought-resistant vegetation. We have also been warned that fertilizer runoff harms plants and animals that live in the ocean.

Why is the La Jolla Parks & Beaches Board planning an initiative that goes against both these proscriptions?

Elaine Maltz, La Jolla

Correction

Ilene Schaffer, the focus of the People In Your Neighborhood story in the Dec. 28, 2017 La Jolla Light issue was incorrectly identified. She is a positive psychology practitioner.

What’s on YOUR mind?

Letters published in La Jolla Light express views from readers in regard to community issues. To share your thoughts in this public forum, e-mail them with your name and city of residence to editor@lajollalight.com or mail them to La Jolla Light Editor, 565 Pearl St., Suite 300, La Jolla, CA 92037. Letters reflect the writers’ opinions and not necessarily those of the newspaper staff or publisher.