Wall Art

It is important to note that very little of the $17 billion quoted is actually used for product (“Graffiti creates huge business opportunities – the graffiti abatement industry,” Feb. 14-20). The figure encompasses everything associated with a program. Including but not limited to: abatement, enforcement, eradication, prosecution, man hours, etc. - Drew Linder | via Web

(Editor’s note: Mr. Linder is president of This Stuff Works, a maker and distributor of graffiti-abatement products.)

Vegivore

Just got the new Weekly and as a long time vegan, I agree with you. Monterey County is pitiful in its vegetarian offerings (“Diagnosing why Monterey County is so embarrassingly terrible when it comes to creative vegetarian fare,” Feb. 14-20). The Salad Bowl of the World? It’s like that saying, “Water, water everywhere and nothing to drink.” There is one jewel in all this, Julian’s in Pacific Grove! It is the hippest, bestest restaurant on the Central Coast for Veg/Vegan eating. Highly recommend it. And I have not finished mourning the close of Mon Chay. - Chris C. | via Web

Super News

Couldn’t agree more! (Assemblyman Alejo takes aim at superintendent benefits,” posted Feb. 11.) I would extend this to county and municipal managers where possible.

There are far too many stories of retiring administrators from police chiefs to school officials, seemingly double dipping. These folks, knowingly or not, misrepresent to the general public the legitimate working wage retirements of career teachers and first responders. And with the good fortune of additional monies going toward our public school children, all the better. - Kgolden | via Web

La Coasta Nostra

How about laying the blame where it belongs, on the general manager? (“In with the new: Board member wants Marina Coast GM placed on leave,” posted Feb. 10; “Squid speaks on things not to say to your boss,” and “Extra-Helping of Squid,” posted Feb. 11.) Peter Le is well-known to be a soft spoken gentleman at all times. I’m grateful he is standing up to this bullying and attempted intimidation.

We can hope for a Marina Coast Water District “lower profile” when this type of behavior on the part of [Jim] Heitzman comes to a halt, either through hopefully an instructive and unpaid administrative leave or an early golden parachute ride up, up, and away. - Maenad | via Web

Feeding the Need

I have been shopping at the Carmel Farmers Market (one of three of the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets in the Monterey-Carmel area) hosted at the Barnyard Shopping Village in Carmel since 2000 (“Iris Peppard/Everyone’s Harvest named director of Carmel Artisan Market” posted February 6). The first sentence of the blog entry, “The already long road to bringing a farmers market to Carmel… ” implies that there is not a Carmel farmers market in existence, when in fact there are several successful farmers markets in close proximity, including the one in Carmel.

Additionally, the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets have received numerous awards for their markets, including being named “Best Business” in the retail and wholesale category by the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce last year.

Including the three farmers markets mentioned above, there are an additional four farmers markets that Peppard runs plus a farm stand. Why on earth do we need another farmers market? Considering that traffic and parking is already a nightmare, this certainly does not make sense. This sounds like more of a ploy by the Community Action and Cultural Committee to use a “farmers market” to attract more visitors to town without regard for people who live here and try to shop locally. Has anyone polled the residents of Carmel to ask what we want? I would also like to add, I have been to the Marina and Pacific Grove farmers markets run by Peppard, and I find there is more flea market stuff than produce. - Agnes Walters | via Web

Giddyup!

Having worked in the horse racing industry for 15 years, I know of at least three things a track needs to survive: Incredible amounts of water for both the horses and the racing surface (“Horse racing on Fort Ord will be a boon or a boondoggle,” Feb. 14-21). Satellite wagering and video gaming (live racing hasn’t been a growth industry since Secretariat). Primarily low-wage, seasonal/part-time jobs with no benefits. Good luck with your picks. - Madmarkd | via Web

Gambling, horse racing, injured jockeys, thrown away horses, Pebble Beach money, Fort Ord… what could go wrong? - Colin Gallagher | via Facebook

Great article! Fair and well written. The thing that stood out most for me is how out of touch the Downs folks are with our community. I also fear the can of worms allowing gambling at such a facility. What’s next, Indian casino, Gentleman’s club? No thanks. I hope the residents of our community wake up to this. The Downs folks tout around with their presentation as if they have the project in the bag. I want to see something on Fort Ord, but a project that will serve all income brackets. Let the rich horse around elsewhere. - Jenny Mac | via Facebook

The Weekly is full of hypocrites by making point of a promo video and how it’s full of wealthy whites sipping cocktails, yet the Weekly constantly promotes Carmel, Pebble Beach, Big Sur and Carmel Valley tasting events and restaurants which are mainly frequented by those same cocktail sipping wealthy whites. So the wealthy whites are cool when they are doing something your writers like, dining on expensive cuisine and drinking artsy wines while pretending to be in Tuscany living some wannabe European life, but the instant it’s about Seaside and Monterey Downs, now it’s a bad thing and those wealthy whites are evil 1-percenters and bad for Seaside. The Weekly doesn’t belong in Seaside, it belongs in Carmel. - Sandy Guillen | via Facebook

Pooooh Indeed

Well pooooh. (“Negotiations fail, Alvarado Street Market Hall plan ditched,” posted Feb. 12.) - Thomas Gray | via Facebook

Too bad, would have been a really great development. I was really looking forward to it. - Bryan Flores | via Facebook