Mailbag: Parking lot gripes were right on

I wholeheartedly agree with Sam Diugach (“Outraged over pay parking lot,” June 30).

For 25 years or so, I have had a post office box at the downtown Burbank branch with the nicest supervisor and employees who are always willing and able to be of assistance. And, I have been able at all times to park for free to retrieve my mail after work or on the weekends when the post office is closed.

So, this past week it came as a complete surprise to me that the parking spaces in the post office parking area were now each marked with a number and patrons must pay for the space whenever the post office is closed. As far as I know, and I could be wrong, but no system seems to be in place that identifies those patrons who rent a post office box.

Does this mean I must pay for the parking space for the few minutes that I go into the post office to retrieve my mail after hours?

I suppose the alternative is for me to take a Metro bus that runs once each hour during certain hours. Then, I could walk across Olive Avenue to the post office to retrieve my mail without incurring a parking fee.

I completely understand that the post office, like so many companies and individuals, feels a financial strain during these tight economic times, but I already pay a rental fee, and I believe that fee should include free access to my post office box since the time for me to be in the parking space is minimal. For others who don’t have a post office box, why would they pay for parking if free parking is available elsewhere?

I want to be fair in my assessment of what the situation is about and how to handle it, but I have no idea who we should talk to or what the procedures are to decide on a parking policy or, as Diugach states, if it is even legal for the post office to impose parking fees?

Fay Playsted

Burbank

Stop carelessly plucking wildflowers

Several months ago, I wrote about the spring beauty of the Verdugos and the three types of litterers that particularly incensed me — smokers, tissue droppers and organic litter slobs. I forgot another that readily earns my wrath, too — wildflower pluckers.

Several weeks ago on the Las Flores Motorway, I saw for the first time along that road a single lovely large-flowered phacelia in bloom. I’ve only seen one other over the years during my hiking the Verdugos. Disgustingly, a week or two later, that single plant was gone and its wilted flowers were strewn along the road by some idiot.

Similarly, a couple of years ago I was pleased to note several California poppy plants in bloom at the top of the Las Flores road by the water tank. A week later as I approached the top, two men were walking down the road grasping the poppies that they had yanked out of the ground. These were some of the very few poppies I’ve seen on my walks and were, of course, never seen there again.

A few weeks ago I happily told my wife when I got back from my weekly hike that I’d seen the first delicate white sage flowers of the season. She said, “I know, I just saw a man on my walk who was carrying two stalks of the flowers down the hill.”

I must add to those numskulls who rip off and collect bunches of various wildflowers that quickly wilt and get tossed on the ground. It deprives others not only of the flowers’ beauty, but the chance for the flowers to set seed and show up again with next winter’s rains.

Once again I plead with those who hike our hills: Don’t leave your brains behind when you come hike our hills. Treat the hills with the respect and take care that their beauty, flora and fauna are preserved so we can all continue to enjoy their undiminished beauty year after year.

This just in: On my wife’s hill walk this morning she came across the disturbing sight of a snake with its head smashed in. Whether it was a rattler or not, please don’t kill any snakes, as they are all very important partners in preserving the ecological balance of our hills.

Robert Morrison

Glendale