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Regarding the article by Nancy Ray, “Del Mar, S.D. Meet, Discuss San Dieguito Valley Future,” (March 1):

As a citizen of San Diego, a board member of the San Diego Audubon Society and a speaker at the recent joint meeting of the Del Mar and San Diego city councils, I feel that Ms. Ray’s coverage of this event was negative and incomplete.

The issues involved are greater than the question of whether tiny Del Mar is “pushing around” the Del Mar Fair Board or its larger neighbor, San Diego. The fairgrounds expansion plans affect the future of a wetlands area which, if restored according to plan, will become a valuable ecological and educational resource for the citizens of all the surrounding communities. The preservation of the San Dieguito River Valley involves land located in San Diego as well as Del Mar, and is therefore a concern for citizens of both cities.

Your reporter’s focus on the negative comments by one unnamed Del Mar Fair official and one disgruntled audience member was unfortunate, for she completely ignored the various presentations made by citizens groups from both cities, including the San Dieguito Lagoon Committee, the Friends of the San Dieguito River Valley, the Sierra Club Open Space Task Force and the San Diego Audubon Society. If Ms. Ray had done her homework more thoroughly and had spoken to the representatives of these groups, she would have been able to write about the mutual support and cooperation that exists between residents of Del Mar and San Diego on the issue of preserving open space and natural areas that will benefit all of us.

CALLIE MACK

San Diego