Letters to the Editor: Rich people riding out the pandemic in country homes put locals at risk

To the editor: Thank you for placing the residents of Sedona, Ariz., in peril by highlighting our small, mostly retired community.

The majority of people who live here full-time are not rich, in contrast to the out-of-towners who fled urban areas for their second homes. Your full-spread, enticing photographs only encourage more visitors, adding to those we’ve already got.

Many people who flocked here have been careless about precautions; they are hikers and bikers who think they are on vacation, blithely filling our supermarkets and other public places, eating up resources, without gloves and masks.

Shame on you.

Helen Delaney, Sedona, Ariz.

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To the editor: As I sit here with my husband in the Victor, Idaho, cabin my brother built for us 30 years ago so that our two daughters would know something other than the urban county in California where three generations of my family were born and raised, I read this article with mixed emotions.

I am a Pasadena resident who drove my Subaru here in February so my 67-year-old husband could use his season ski pass. We did not come in a private jet, like the out-of-towners in Sedona. The ski season ended in March, more than a month early, and the landscape here now is muddy and bleak, with locals saying spring seems “late” this year.

Many “second homers” are like my husband me — seniors who worked hard for the peace their homes in the country now can provide them (and previously provided their young families).

Robin Schlinger, Victor, Ihado

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To the editor: Amid the pandemic, the Los Angeles Times saw a story in juxtaposing scenes of dire hardship — food lines, massive job losses, death tolls — with indulgences of the “super rich” who seek safe comfort in their private jets, second homes, posh resorts and $8,000 rentals.

This article is written as if they had walked off the set of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous — Pandemic Edition.” The story is unfair and sloppy, in that the complexities of culture were reduced to class stereotypes.

By your yardstick, Bill Gates would be relegated to that status too.

Mario Valvo, Ventura