CV dog park is very much in the works
Regarding the April 12 story “Seven months later, wait for CV dog park continues,” the headline is a bit misleading as it implies that the planned dog park at Crescenta Valley Park should have been operational seven months ago.
I would like to clarify that seven months ago was when the Board of Supervisors approved the project and ground breaking was to take place in March 2011. The one-month delay in groundbreaking is unfortunate, but I would like to reiterate the county’s commitment to building a dog park in Crescenta Valley Park.
The Board of Supervisors, the Department of Parks and Recreation and the community of Crescenta Valley are working together to make this much desired dog park a reality in the near future.
Russ Guiney
Los Angeles
Editor’s note: Guiney is director of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation.
Voting is a right and a responsibility
I was so disconcerted when I read Martik Abramian’s comment about not voting (“Candidates rarely come through,” April 19) because in his opinion, the candidates don’t live up to their promises once they are in office.
Maybe this is sometimes the case, but that should not stop citizens from voting. Look at what happened in the recent elections in Glendale. Only about 24% of the registered voters in Glendale voted. Maybe if everyone who was registered to vote actually voted, then the actual candidates who were elected would be who the people wanted and not just 24% of the people.
Many residents of Glendale are people who came to the United States from other countries where they did not have one half of the rights and freedoms that they have here. Shame on anyone who lives in this country and does not vote.
Voting is a right and responsibility of every citizen in this country. People fought and died so that we could vote to elect who we wanted to serve them in office. I understand the frustration that happens when politicians make promises and don’t keep all of them. This is not always the case.
Think of the changes that have happened in this country because people voted and certain representatives got elected to office and made those changes happen. Just because everyone that you may personally want elected does not win should not stop the voting process from happening.
But, it is our right as citizens to vote. It is our responsibility to explain to our children how important it is to vote. We may not always be satisfied with the outcome, but changes do happen.
We live in a wonderful country where we have rights and freedoms that people in some other countries will never have. And a lot of our rights and freedoms came from the people we put in office who fought on behalf of the people who voted them into office.
So please, vote.
Pat Donnellan
Glendale
In response to Martik Abramian who ended his letter, “I did not vote, did you?” (“Candidates rarely come through,” April 19), yes, I did vote.
I vote in every city, state and federal election. I vote because Rev. George Lee, Lamar Smith, Herbert Lee, Jonathan Daniels and Vernon Dahmer, from 1955 to 1966, were murdered because they were active in registering black Americans to vote. People lost their jobs or were evicted from their homes, arrested on false charges, and beaten, just for trying to register.
I vote because not to do so would dishonor the sacrifices and memories of those men and women who made it possible for me to participate in our democracy.
At one time, Mr. Abramian, we had to prove our residency or our literacy or pay poll taxes in order to exercise our responsibility, right, and privilege as citizens. The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped to curb that oppression.
Voting is but one act of citizenship. It does not take long to do and it really is not all that inconvenient. It annoys me that you proudly declare your non-involvement and that so many of our countrymen do not participate in that one small, infrequent act of building up a community, city, state and country.
As far as political promises are concerned, it is up to us to call our elected officials into account.
Wallace H. Rice, Jr.
Glendale