No one asked the kids what they think
Susan Stodghill is the second letter on this page (“Councilman should stick to his vote,” Jan. 15) that assumes all residents on the 1800 and 1900 block of Screenland Drive don’t want sidewalks for the school kids at Luther Middle School. She couldn’t be more wrong. If someone took a survey they certainly skipped our house.
She also assumes all Councilman Gary Bric’s constituents don’t want sidewalks. Are the kids that walk in the street to and from school constituents too? Did Stodghill ask them about sidewalks?
Also, are the moms and dads that drive their kids up and down Screenland in the busy morning and afternoon traffic constituents also? What was their opinion? Other Burbank residents I’ve talked to about this issue are dumbfounded and ask, “Why don’t they want sidewalks?”
Bric represents Burbank, including the future generations of Burbank. He does not just represent the anti-sidewalk people on Screenland Drive who apparently prefer pedestrians and handicapped people stay in the street.
I applaud and support Bric’s courage to take another look at the missing sidewalks issue in spite of the opposition and name-calling he knew he was going to get from the anti-sidewalk crowd.
Tim Elliott
Burbank
Don’t ignore local wishes for federal cash
Why all of a sudden will innocent children on their way to school start being run over on Screenland Drive (“Don’t risk grant to appease fears of a few,” Jan. 1)?
My kids, now in their late 40s, went to Luther Middle School and I’ve not heard of anyone being injured in those years, and who knows how many years before that.
Leave the people living there alone! They’ve enjoyed their street the way it is for a long time. Just because the city of Burbank would get extra bucks from the feds is no reason to do it.
One again, it’s the bureaucracy intruding into every aspect of our lives, and most people are sick of it!
Steve Urbanovich
Burbank
Money could have been put to better use
I recently received a notice that my 50-year reunion of John Burroughs High School (Class of 1961) would be held next year. Wow, that went by fast.
So, I thought that I would do some jogging. I ran down to the high school and looked up at the Memorial Field stands and said to myself, “I wish that I was in as good a shape after 50 years!” Then the sound of construction, or rather destruction, reminded me that they are tearing down the stands at a cost of $12 million (“District, city breaks ground on Memorial Field,” Jan. 12). That comes out to more than $100 for every man, woman and child in Burbank.
I think that I would rather see a new paint job on the stands and use the rest of the money for teachers, but I don’t have any say. John Burroughs High School Principal Emilio Urioste is in favor of the field being “in sync” with the rest of the school, but I would think that as the principle educator and chief administrator for the school, he would want smaller class sizes with more teachers and teacher aides than a new snack bar.
Besides, to follow his logic, they should tear down the deco façade of the Brian Hurst Gym because that isn’t “in sync” either.
There are more things that Burbank does right than wrong, otherwise I wouldn’t have lived here this long, and so, for this new year, I hope that Burbank’s elected officials and civic leaders follow the advice my Irish mother always gave me: Do we need it; and can we afford it?
Sam Ewing
Burbank