Letters to the Editor: Reader suggests an apt choice to replace trees on Magnolia Boulevard

Re: “Burbank moves forward with plans to remove hundreds of ficus trees along Magnolia corridor,” May 16. I’m just wondering why — if one must replace ficus trees on Magnolia Boulevard — one isn’t considering using magnolia trees instead.

D.K. Czajkowski
Burbank

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Your June 1 Mailbag had a letter from “never has a kind word to say about anything in Burbank” Molly Shore. I spent eight years listening to her complain and as usual she does not have her facts straight or ducks in a row. Regarding DeBell Golf Course and her comments about Jess Talamantes, yes, he called the golf course too big to fail and may have even said the “Jewel on the Hill.” Until the recession hit, the DeBell Golf Course was a very successful “Enterprise Fund” and not one taxpayer paid one dime to support it, including Molly Shore, as it was paid for by those who utilized it playing golf, renting carts, purchasing items in the pro shop, hitting balls at the driving range or dining in the clubhouse.

Every golf course in California and throughout the country nose-dived because of the recession. Even the famous Lakeside Golf Club took a hit as its membership fee dropped from at one time $100,000 to about $20,000 to join.

If DeBell closed, what people don’t realize is that the property was donated to the city from a gentleman named Joe DeBell with the stipulations that it be used for recreational use and a golf course be built and named after him. So will the golf course return to its glory days? Let’s hope so and that one day it will be solvent again.

Gary Bric
Burbank
Editor’s Note: The writer is a former member of the Burbank City Council.

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By this point in 2017, the Burbank budget shortfall is well known, and our City Council is facing difficult choices both this year and beyond. There is legislation that recently passed the state Senate, though, that would make this a moot point, freeing up tens of millions of dollars for our schools, roads, public transit solutions, or even innovative programs like rental subsidies.

Senate Bill 562, the Healthy California Act, would create the first-in-the-nation Medicare-for-All healthcare system here in California, covering every Burbanker with no copays, no premiums and no lifetime limits.

That’s great for all of us, and providing healthcare is a moral imperative that we have ignored for too long. But not enough attention has been paid to what it would mean for our city, in particular. Imagine if Burbank didn’t need to pay the cost of healthcare for our first responders, teachers and other city employees because they were covered at the state level.

I urge the city of Burbank to take an active interest in the bill’s passage for the health of our neighbors and the health of our budget.

Joshua Goodman
Burbank
Editor’s Note: The author is the president of the Burbank Democratic Club.