Share The Pain, Pal

Your article in the Jan. 24-30 of the Weekly regarding Pacific Grove [“America’s Lost Hometown”] is timely and well-written. I offer a few comments on the state of our town, having lived here for 15 years.

The city manager was appointed in July 2005 with no managerial experience of note and he has not done anything of note to improve our lot in life.

He appointed an assistant city manager, which we never had during my residency, and also a budget director. The city is top-heavy with these appointments.

He leveled the field in discharging loyal and hardworking city employees and this may backfire because their accrued benefits may exceed the amount saved by eliminating their jobs.

He fired the city engineer. The results show in the condition of our roads, notably Ocean Drive near Asilomar.

He has proposed a decrease in personnel in our police and fire departments. This is a poor idea as public safety is of paramount importance in this era of gang warfare and other serious crimes.

I, and most of our citizens, adamantly oppose the installation of parking meters downtown and along the ocean drive, including Lovers Point.

To save money, I propose the city manager take a pay cut to show good faith, eliminate the assistant city manager position and eliminate the budget director position and replace him with a salaried CPA.

We are still without a contract with Comcast (since 1999) and Comcast has more than doubled their rates since their taking over from AT&T.

Bring in a family-style restaurant such as Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday or TGIFriday’s to generate more revenue. Do something with the Old Bath House to bring it up to code. —Andrew Wilson | Pacific Grove

Heart Of The Matter

I wish to express my deep gratitude to the many people who sacrificed their time, effort, and resources to help me recover from the fire [“Hartnell students raise money for popular math teacher after his home burns down,” Nov. 15-21] that devastated my residence last November. 

First were my neighbors, who alerted me to the fire, escorted me to safety, and furnished my pets with shelter and me with clothing.

Next were the police officers, and especially, the firefighters, whose comportment combined the highest professionalism with compassion. 

Then were the many friends and Hartnell colleagues, who donated unstintingly to my relief fund. 

Most of all, I thank my current and former students, who spearheaded the relief campaign. Their appreciation for my teaching efforts continues to surprise and inspire me.

Although I lost many irreplaceable possessions, what will stand in my memory is the extraordinary generosity shown by so many people. —Mark F. Weber | Salinas

Give Your Irony Some Life

In response to Julie Pierce [“Letters,” Jan. 31-Feb. 6], isn’t it ironic that any movement calling itself “pro-life” is conspicuously silent regarding the daily slaughter of civilians and American troops in Iraq? Isn’t it ironic that a movement supposedly devoted to “protecting the unborn” doesn’t seem to have a problem with women dying of suicide or botched self-induced abortions, even though the “unborn” die along with them? Isn’t it ironic that some women in this movement call themselves “feminists” while endorsing a blatantly misogynistic agenda dedicated to punishing female sexuality – “You play, you pay” – while letting sexually irresponsible males off the hook? Take the “f” out of “pro-life” and you’ve got “pro-lie.” —Penelope Ellsworth | Salinas

Stop Selective Nonsense

I am making an appeal to our representatives regarding the unfair requirement of only requiring males to register for Selective Service. This should be changed to include females as well, so as to be fair and balanced.

There are other concerns here as well, such as conscientious objectors and homosexual/bisexual/transgender-types, and the fact that there is no place to declare such a status when registering and no easy way for them to opt out. Those who don’t wish to register or are morally opposed to it would be harshly penalized. —James MacDonald | Carmel

Correction

On the Jan. 31-Feb. 6 cover [“Mouthwatering Remastered”], the first names of Pebble Beach Food and Wine organizers Rob Weakley and David Bernahl were flipped inadvertently. The two remain enthusiastic about working with one another.