Letters to the Editor: No excuses for La Cañada’s low voter turnout; time running out to comment on 710 project
Once again the Valley Sun has published the embarrassingly abysmal voting statistics of the La Cañada voter turnout. Only 26% of La Cañada’s 14,671 registered voters bothered to vote in the June 5 primary. There is absolutely no excuse for this appallingly low turnout. First, California is one of the nation’s most open of states for voting, offering the widest of options. The 74% of you who couldn’t see fit to go to the polls could have voted by mail! That privilege doesn’t exist in 20 states. But here, you need only to walk to your mailbox!
Second, by not voting we are forced to accept people representing us who do not reflect our values or interests — and those who don’t vote have absolutely no justification for complaints. In the past national election, for instance, 42% of the registered voters didn’t bother to vote, and that resulted in the nation now being led by a narcissistic, xenophobic fascist who is unqualified to preside over a democratic institution — and he was elected also by only 26% of the registered voters. So think about it. Is this the kind of country you want to live in?
Third, voting is not only a right, but it’s also an obligation — and an honor. Unless everyone participates in a democracy, a democracy cannot exist. Several U.S. states already are requiring special voter IDs as an insidious attempt to control voter participation under the guise of preventing alleged but nonexistent voter fraud. The actual purpose of such draconian constraints is to prevent the “wrong” people from voting, thus disenfranchising countless voters. Californians would never allow that.
This may sound like a soapbox, but democracies are fragile — and history has shown that they are often short-lived. There are too many forces afoot that find democracies an inconvenience that get in the way of profit and greed and power. And these forces do everything within their ability to destroy democratic institutions. Voting prevents this from happening. Democracies can be sustained only by the active participation of each of their members. So, vote!
Philip I. Moynihan
La Cañada Flintridge
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Recently a public meeting was held on the SR 710 North Project. The 710 North Project, a scheme by Metro and Caltrans to extend the 710 traffic through South Pasadena and Pasadena to the 210, has several alternative solutions. One of which that is very much in play is connecting the freeways via a tunnel. I thought the tunnel thing was a dead issue, but apparently it is not, as Metro is now collecting public comments on the cultural/historical impacts of all the alternatives.
It’s obvious that Metro and Caltrans aren’t giving up on their agenda to put all the truck traffic going north from the ports and the L.A. Basin right through La Cañada and La Crescenta via the 210. They continue to suggest the increased truck traffic would have minimal impact on our environment, which we all know is a huge lie.
We have until July 5 to send or email our comments. You’ll find the comment link at metro.net/projects/sr-710-conversations.
Trent Sanders
La Cañada Flintridge