QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE VALLEY : Jill Swift, environmentalist

“When I first moved here, I really wasn’t into the environment. Then we got into the specter of children’s allergies. I began to feel that we’re bombarded with so many things in the environment now, we should be more aware of what the accumulated risks are for people, especially children.

“I became more involved with the open space. I realized that open space had an element to it of cleansing the air of a lot of the major pollutants and that as we lost that, we were going to have a worse air quality situation.

“Despite the fact that we’re told that our air quality has improved, I question that--because of malathion, because of elements introduced that we’re not always aware of.

“We’re starting to see the cumulative effects of the lack of focus on the quality of life in the Los Angeles basin. The pressures seem to be quite stringently tied to the economics involved in developing land. The balance hasn’t been struck.

“My major concern for the San Fernando Valley is where will they go in 2000. I suspect that the majority of these areas as we know them will be developed.

“You hear about slow growth and height limits and so on. Many of us were talking about this 15 years ago and none of the politicians were listening. I think we’re coming to the time when the public is really crying out.

“The frustration is the feeling of futility. You used to hear at cocktail parties, ‘Oh, these silly environmentalists.’ Now people who never took it seriously are getting very concerned. I think the thing that really brought it home was the malathion. People realized they had absolutely no control.

“We now have the worst reputation, and deservedly so, for the worst air quality in the nation. I’d like to see some more stringent restrictions. When we have a water deficit, people seem to understand it a little more than they do problems with air quality.

“The next generation is going to have to pick up the tab on it. If we had more direction from our elected officials, we could do something. But they are more responsive to staying elected than they are to preserving humanity. That’s pathetic.”