Letters to the Editor: Opinions offered on city regulation of pot dispensaries, Grayson Power Plant project

I have heard talk that the Glendale City Council will take up the issue of legalizing marijuana dispensaries within Glendale city limits. As a longtime resident of Glendale, I strongly urge the council to vote no on any such proposal. The argument is that as of January 2018, recreational use of marijuana will go into effect, and we should use this opportunity to license dispensaries and use the tax revenue for the city. I say any council or city that wants to rely on dispensary and marijuana taxes to balance its budget is not a place I want to live.

Another argument is that if we do not license dispensaries, people will still buy marijuana products in neighboring cities. This argument also does not hold water. We do not license strip clubs in Glendale, and they generate a lot of money and would bring lots of taxes. We do not because we believe such establishments bring elements into the city that will cause more crime and drug use here.

I have talked to many families concerned about this issue, but they are afraid to show up in a meeting with some of the elements that will be present at the meeting. They do not feel safe to discuss their concerns in a meeting.

I believe this is a serious issue that will affect my children and many other kids in our city. Please think hard prior to passing a licensing ordinance and don’t be fooled by the number of people that might show up supporting this ordinance. The real voters are afraid to come to such a meeting and subject themselves to such issues.

Albert Abkarian

Glendale

--

While I agree climate change is occurring as a result of burning fossil fuels, I disagree with suggestions made in recent letters that Glendale abandon the Grayson Power Plant project. It should be downsized instead.

Renewable energy from solar and wind sources is classified as intermittent. Over-reliance on intermittent sources is a recipe for disaster. Reliability in electrical generation and transmission comes from redundancy, so loss of a single component does not interrupt the delivery of electricity to the consumer. The Grayson plant provides generation redundancy and the high voltage interconnection to LADWP provides transmission redundancy. Glendale relies on imported power over that interconnection to bring contracted baseload generation from various sources, including renewables, for distribution.

The project as proposed in the Draft EIR is the result of a study that developed options. It is the fourth, largest and most expensive option offered. There are two viable, less costly options. One would build three combustion turbine generators at Grayson, another option would build four of them. Either option would require new transmission line(s); both would meet the projected energy needs of Glendale. Either option would have only two-thirds the greenhouse emissions of the fourth option, assuming all generation was operating at capacity.

The proposed project relies on selling excess power. Given the uncertainty of the wholesale electricity market, it is imprudent to expose Glendale ratepayers to the financial obligations required by building the proposed option.

It is equally imprudent to expect increases in distributed local solar generation capacity through rooftop installations will accelerate to fill in the energy gap in the next four to five years.

I urge selecting one of the less costly alternatives for the Grayson project, to allow for greater reliance on imported renewable sources while minimizing the financial exposure to ratepayers. We can be greener and still be reliable.

Rich Schmittdiel

Glendale

--

Shredding Day, the popular event where all Glendale residents can observe their confidential documents shredded to bits while watching, takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, in the parking lot of Grandview Presbyterian Church, 1130 Ruberta Ave.

A shredding truck will be on site. There will be people to help unload boxes and bags from cars.

This annual event is hosted by Northwest Glendale Homeowners Assn. All paid-up members get three boxes free and pay $3 per box thereafter. Nonmembers pay $4 per box.

Ruberta is one block west of Sonora Avenue and just north of Glenoaks Boulevard.

Carol Brusha

NWGHA board member

Glendale