Mailbag: Green chamber won’t be competition

Transition Laguna has accomplished a lot in the year or so it has existed, including the remarkable and very well attended ‘Unleashing’ this last spring. Walk through Laguna Village and you’ll find signs marking Transition “pocket gardens” on nearly every block.

Chris Prelitz, author of “Green Made Easy” (Hay House, 2009) and one of the founders of Transition Laguna, bears much responsibility for that. Chris has excellent green credentials, and he has opted in with the brand new Laguna Beach Green Chamber of Commerce.

This sounds like a good idea to me. I know that the local chamber of commerce maintains a green stance and that’s admirable. There is a green page on their website that looks pretty good. But by definition the first priority of the Chamber of Commerce is business.

For example, it will be a cold day in Uganda when the United States Chamber of Commerce adopts any stance in opposition to big oil, no matter what the oil industry may do. In any conflict between promoting business and upholding green policies and values in such an organization, business will win out every time.

At the same time there is a quickly growing interest in running households, families, schools and business with a consistent eye on preserving our environment, and the specialized green chamber will address that.

Just as the British-American Chamber of Commerce promotes British commercial interests in the area, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce advances Hispanic interests or the Disabled Chamber advocates businesses run by and for the disabled, you can anticipate that the Laguna Beach Green Chamber of Commerce (LagunaBeachGreenChamberofCommerce.org) will consistently advocate businesses seeking new ways to adopt sustainable business practices and green policies.

There is no conflict between the interests of the Chamber of Commerce and the green chamber. Any notion of competition between the two organizations is based on false assumptions.

Jim Rue

Laguna

Candidate’s record at issue

The recent call by [Emanuel] Patrascu to change the “staleness of City Hall” (“Patrascu confirms candidacy,” July 9) has me wondering about what exactly he brings to the party.

Our complex city requires seasoned candidates, experienced with community issues and challenges. What exactly has Patrascu done to warrant our considering him as a serious candidate?

SUSAN M. TRAGER

Laguna Beach

Over the past two years, Laguna Beach Police Employee Assn. members have been trained in the detection, investigation and arrest of motorists driving under the influence of cannabis. As a result a slight increase in arrests for vehicle code 23152, specific to cannabis influence, has been noticed.

As more police officers are training in detecting persons under the influence of cannabis, the numbers of arrests will increase. Unlike alcohol-related driving under the influence arrests, cannabis-influenced DUI arrests are seen during the day and night time.

This will dramatically increase if people are allowed to legally smoke marijuana. If cannabis is legalized, as someone who has had a sibling killed by a drunk driver, I can only imagine the devastation this will have to our community.

The association supports Public Safety First, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Sen. Diane Feinstein and many other law enforcement organizations and the public in opposing Proposition 19. Let’s keep our families and roadways safe!

Larry Bammer

Laguna Beach

Editor’s Note: Bammer is president of the Laguna Beach Police Employee Assn.

As I read the papers and hear the news about the state of California and many cities going broke and/or facing future financial chaos — mostly caused by excessive numbers of employees, high salaries and super generous perks — it makes one wonder what kind of politicians and management can be so bad and short sighted.

The small city of Bell, now in the news, with a city manager being paid almost $800,000 and a police chief being paid far more than the chief in Los Angeles, is a horrible example of what can happen when you have a careless city council and an unconcerned citizenry that pays no attention to what those they trust are doing to them.

Happily, as nearly as I can determine, Laguna Beach is on solid financial ground and for that we can thank careful management by the city manager, city staff, and city treasurer, plus oversight by a lot of our fellow citizens who pay attention to what the city is doing.

Now we must make sure that in hiring a new city manager we do not let a contract be made that pays these high wages and insanely generous perks, and that allows the council to remove the city manager for any reason without any penalties or costs.

Start any new city manager at a low compensation package and let them prove their worth and value to us and work their way up or out. We do not want hiring contracts for any city employee, especially in management and professional positions, that tie our hands into the unknown future.

Cities need to act for the citizens like responsible corporations do for their stockholders. We taxpaying citizens are the real owners of the city and must demand the city be operated for our benefit. You might say that council meetings are like stockholder meetings where we can address the board of directors (City Council) and monitor their activities and decisions.

Dave Connell

Laguna Beach

I am an avid reader and am particularly entertained by the Police Files. The DUIs and the inside the car property snatching are to be expected in a high-crime city like Laguna but taking animals into custody?

I have never had to arrest a turtle and for what? At least we know custody did not occur after a high speed chase.

“Hey, put your whatchamacallits up!” What are these animals told to hold up? I guess it depends on the animal. Some are:

most common is paw, as in cats, dogs, bears, rabbits, and such;

foot, as used in lizards, birds, turtles and other reptiles, also insects; or

hands and feet are reserved for primates like us, gorillas and chimpanzees;

hoof or hooves in horses, cattle and giraffes.

I have tried to imagine what turtle, snake, goat, bird and dog cuffs look like. It is my understanding that all who are taken into custody must be cuffed and read their rights. That should be a hoot.

Perhaps a more descriptive, less imagination-evoking term could be used, like taken into protective detention.

Thomas Parker

Laguna Beach