Pedestrian safety needs a long-term solution

In January, a beautiful article (“More courtesy needed on the road,” January 11) by Camille Levee, executive director of Glendale Healthy Kids, took up being more courteous in our driving habits in relation to pedestrian crossings.

Yes, I do concur with that rationale, however, one must practice courtesy on a daily basis for it to be practical, not just dust it aside. Our situation with pedestrian safety crossings needs a long-term solution. Just look at drunk driving and how long it took us to get a handle on it.

With our municipal election coming up April 5, this would be an excellent time to put this topic on the candidate forums by the various sponsoring organizations to get input from our six City Council candidates on their perspective on how to find solutions to this quality-of-life issue.

Emphasis must be put on enforcement, education and perhaps better engineering in designing the crosswalks. Have the mayor and our council members appoint members to a new Glendale Pedestrian Safety Committee — four members each by the council, five members appointed by the mayor to tackle this concern. The Transportation & Parking Commission should serve in an advisory capacity, along with the service clubs and representatives of the Auto Club of Southern California.

This should also be put on the agenda for the quarterly Community Police Partnership Advisory Committee meetings held at the Police Department.

This is a quality-of-life community issue facing all of us, and in order to come up with concrete solutions, we must put it on the front burner ASAP. With our municipal election just ahead of us on April 5, right now would be the appropriate time to start tackling this. With a community team effort, we can make a difference.

Bottom line, pedestrians have to look before crossing. Drivers need to slow down at crosswalks and stay focused.

Gary Cornell

Glendale

Editor’s note: Cornell is a member of the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.

An entitlement mindset is at root of state’s problems

After reading Gerry Rankin’s letter (“Past Brown-era tax law is not sacrosanct,” Feb. 11) in Sunday’s forum, I feel I must respond to set the record straight.

People who own or inherit houses under Proposition 13 are not the cause for California’s fiscal fiasco. The blame lies squarely on the shoulders of liberal politicians, mainly Democrats, who want an army of system-dependent entitlement seekers who will keep them in office for life.

My parents, who were of the World War II generation, didn’t expect the government to cater to their every whim. We have too many people in California, both citizens and non-citizens, who now have an entitlement mindset. This is why this state will never recover as long as this group seems to be in the majority.

I would suggest to Rankin and his ilk that if he feels guilty for owning a Proposition 13 home, he can will it to the state since they would most surely know how to spend his money more wisely than he could.

Phillip Pilgram

Glendale