Mailbag: More stop signs needed on Chevy Chase

Last evening I heard a loud bang, crash and skidding noises. I went to the front porch and there, in the middle of the street, was a car with a broken axle in the oncoming traffic lane. The driver was obviously going too fast, lost control, hit the curb and wrecked his car. He and his passengers were not hurt, thankfully.

Exactly two weeks before, I heard the same noises, went to the front porch and saw a car, upside down, in the middle of the street. The driver, who was obviously speeding, lost control, hit something at the curb and turned over. He, too, was not badly hurt.

Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic at the exact moment these cars lost control, or there would have been coroner’s vans all over the place.

All this happened in front of our house on East Chevy Chase Drive in a two-week period. It’s small wonder there hasn’t been a fatality because the speeding cars racing up and down our street are many, all day, all night. You can actually hear them coming around the curves, they are going so fast — especially the motorcycles.

Getting out of our driveways without being smashed into is a real thrill. Even walking on the sidewalks is dangerous. There’s nothing to prevent a speeding car from jumping the curb and killing a pedestrian.

There are no stop signs on East Chevy Chase from Emerald Isle all the way down to Glenoaks — and that’s a long way. There definitely should be a sign where Linda Vista intersects and a couple of others before you get to Harvey. And these signs should be supported by cameras.

You can be assured there will be a head-on collision one day. Then there will be a great deal of wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth while bereaved families cry, “Why didn’t the city of Glendale do something to slow these idiots down?”

Glendale police and City Council members, please do something before this happens. Our canyon residents will very much appreciate it.

Sheila Farrell Murray

Glendale

Thankful for our city manager, police chief

Many Glendale residents are dismayed by news reports that the former Glendale chief of police is involved in the scandal overtaking public officials in the city of Bell (“Glendale seeking to block Adams’ pension benefits,” July 28).

In his own defense, Randy Adams said he believed he was hired to bring “best practices” to that city’s police department. It may be so. He may even have felt he personally merited his Bell salary and pension.

Naivety is the only reason I can imagine for an individual who invested 38 years of his life in law enforcement to agree to the financial arrangements that are making him a national object of scorn.

What right-thinking professional assumes a lucrative salary and pension contract is adequate compensation for the loss of a professional reputation and credibility that a public airing of such a contract would cost? Even with bags of money, where can he and his family go that the scandal won’t follow them?

News reports suggest a serious error in judgment on Randy Adams’ part, not a clever career move, or an indictment of the former police chief as a crook. However, the Bell city manager’s contract sounds like a different story.

I’m glad Glendale has a city manager with impeccable credentials and a reputation for personal integrity, and I am also glad our new police chief spent his entire law enforcement career here in Glendale.

Susan Stephenson

Glendale