This senior priced out of state of...

This senior priced out of state of the city luncheon

Sometime in October, I received a notice that the Burbank Chamber

of Commerce was presenting “The State of the City Address and

Luncheon.” I thought it would be nice to attend, since I’m a senior

citizen and retired. However, when I called, I was told the cost

would be $50. Well, needless to say, I couldn’t afford that. I’m

wondering, was this a fund-raiser? It seems at that price it would

cut out a lot of people who might want to go and hear what our mayor,

Stacey Murphy, had to say. Maybe attendance only, without a lunch,

could be offered. Why include this information in the Burbank Water &

Power bill in the first place?

JAMES T. ROWAN

Burbank

Hold on a minute

Let me get this straight: A man with traces of alcohol in his

blood crosses the train tracks in Burbank, through lowered crossing

arms, flashing lights and blaring bells, only to be hit by a

Metrolink train and killed, and it’s Burbank’s fault, according to a

federal report?

Then a senior citizen runs his car through a farmers’ market in

Santa Monica, killing 10 and injuring scores more, and that accident

is blamed on “human error.” Can someone please, please explain this

to me?

HECTOR REYES

Burbank

Noise pollution becoming unbearable for some residents

There were some letters last month regarding the noise pollution

in Burbank. No one is more familiar with local noise pollution than I

am. I live across the street from a construction site in a

residential neighborhood. The noise and air pollution have taken over

the whole neighborhood.

When I heard they were going to tear down the quaint, charming

house and apartments across the street to put up a condominium, I was

incredibly disappointed. I don’t always think of progress as a good

thing. Part of Burbank’s charm is the old-fashioned, charismatic

buildings we have. If we keep tearing down these buildings in favor

of modern structures, pretty soon our charming city will look more

like a tacky imitation of Valencia than Burbank. Is that what we

want? Not me.

I was also concerned about the noise and the dirt, and rightly so.

Since the construction began, I have been abruptly awakened each

morning at 7 a.m. (including Saturdays) with sounds loud enough to

shake my apartment like an earthquake. This is hardly conducive to a

my work schedule, which sometimes requires me to work very late at

night. So basically I now walk around perpetually tired. There are

bulldozers, semitrucks, excavation machines, hornhonking, etc. It is

nonstop, intense noise eight hours a day. I can no longer even open a

window to get fresh air because of the ongoing activity outside, and

because air is polluted, as well.

There is a thick layer of dirt on everything now. I wash my car,

and when I get home it is filthy again within a couple of hours. The

worst part is breathing this unclean air. I suffer from asthma and

allergies anyway, but these health conditions have intensified

dramatically since the construction began a couple of months ago. I

used to use my inhaler about three times a week. Now I use it a few

times a day. And my allergies are as bad as they usually are in the

springtime. I’m going to have to buy an air purifier for my home. I

understand those cost quite a bit. No one will be reimbursing me for

this cost, or the cost of increased purchases of inhalers, allergy

medication, and car washes. This condominium I never even wanted here

is becoming pretty expensive.

The final inconvenience is trying to maneuver in and out of my

street now. I have difficulty many times just pulling out of my

driveway because there are trucks parked everywhere. This also

creates regular traffic jams for residents.

Overall, this construction has become disruptive to say the least.

But it looks like I only have two choices: learn to accept all of

this or move. Moving to another part of Burbank probably wouldn’t

help, though, considering I’m seeing construction like this all over

the city. Plus, moving is very expensive. So it looks like I, as well

as the rest of my neighbors, are stuck with the noise, dirt, and

inconvenience indefinitely.

CYNDI OATWAY

Burbank