Salt Sense


I was surprised to see an item on the consent calendar for the last Salinas City Council meeting, calling for the City of Salinas to “pursue an agreement with DeepWater Desal LLC to secure future water and energy needs… ” (“Squid Fry,” Dec. 20-26). The discussion that followed the introduction of this item revealed that no one on the council had any idea about what was at stake, or any familiarity with this “all hat, no cattle” collection of charlatans, or even the slightest understanding of the physical chemistry of reverse osmosis desalination. Coming on the heels of another mindless proposal to hire some sort of “foreclosure consultant” to assist some “upside down” real estate speculators to escape the consequences of their speculative folly, I can only wonder how long our city will be considered fair game for every flim-flam artist in California. However, this holiday presented an opportunity for our city government to cure their ignorance of this important issue and avoid the consequences of making poor choices. If the mayor and city council want to find out why their vote for partnering with DeepWater Desal LLC may not be in the best interests of Salinas, some earnest study is necessary. Fortunately, the texts for this training are readily available given Internet access and a desire to be better informed. For those of you who are afraid of the Internet, please ask Mr. Garland Thompson, with the Salinas City Library Department, to assist you.


After all of you have become more familiar with both the science and finances of a major desal project, I suggest you reconsider your vote on this issue. Should you wish to attend an upcoming teach-in on this subject, I will be happy to welcome all of you. Stay tuned for a planned public teach-in at a local public library. - Bill Carrothers | Salinas


Do Your Share


Recycling is good for the planet. I was wondering if you could tell people that they can do a beach clean-up. You can pick a beach to do the clean-up and we can all help. - Marina Hobson | Carmel


(Editor’s Note: Ms. Hobson is a student in Mrs. Osorio’s second grade class at Carmel River School. And we appreciate her letter – well said, Marina. We’ll be in touch.)


Head on Toes


I hope that this letter will serve as an open invitation to George Pillari, managing director of consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal, to visit us at Natividad Medical Center and take a tour. Mr. Pillari was quoted in the Dec. 20-26 issue of the Monterey County Weekly as saying, “We (Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital) are doing heart procedures. They’re (NMC) clipping toenails.”


I was somewhat shocked by the disparaging and dismissive nature of Mr. Pillari’s comments. I would love to have an opportunity to show him some of the other things we do at Natividad. We take care of our young gunshot victims in Salinas. We care for critically ill newborn babies in our Neonatal Intensive Care. We provide intensive care for adults with septic shock, cardiac arrest, and poisonings. We take care of thousands of mothers in childbirth. We have acute care psychiatry for our most troubled citizens, and we do acute rehabilitation for adults struggling back from strokes and other illnesses and injuries. In my emergency department, we will care for over 45,000 patients this year – anyone who walks in or is carried in our door – regardless of their ability to pay.


In this era of dramatic change in American health care, what we need, in addition to the input from business consultants contracted for $150,000, is cooperation. Thankfully, our brothers and sisters – the nurses and doctors of SVMH – who care so excellently for the patients of SVMH do share our commitment to cooperation. Remember, NMC and SVMH, located just 4 miles apart, are both public hospitals, one a district and one a county hospital.


I am very proud to work at NMC. I have worked and trained in some of the best emergency departments in the USA and can tell you that without a doubt our docs (all board certified), physician assistants, nurses and techs are first rate.


So, Mr. Pillari, please find the time to come on over and take a walk around NMC with me and get educated about what we do. And, if you need your toenails clipped, we are blessed to have a brilliant podiatrist on our staff. His surgical skills extend far beyond just “clipping toenails,” but, for you, we could make it happen. - Craig Walls, M.D. | via Web


(Editor’s Note: Dr. Walls is the medical director of the emergency department at Natividad Medical Center.)


Ready, Aim


Banning guns is a Band-Aid that doesn’t address the real issues (“Weapons Check: New gun store, complete with semi-automatic firearms, slated to open in Marina,” posted Dec. 20.) The media ignores the real issues (such as Americans are becoming more mentally ill as we become a pill nation) and both mainstream and indie media use it to get ratings while the politicos jockey to score points and prop themselves up for the next election or appointment (such as Biden in 2016… he already hinted at it). Assault weapons have been around for close to 100 years since the roaring ’20s and Al Capone – style mob hits with submachine guns, but even if you take away assault rifles forever, it won’t stop violence, murder or mass killings. The Virginia Tech shooter had two regular pistols and killed 33 people. Timothy McVeigh used fertilizer and killed 168. 9/11 hijackers used box cutters and killed thousands, and Jim Jones used Kool Aid and killed 914. Banning things never works. Just look at Prohibition. Major fail. Laws only affect those who are law abiding. Law-breaking criminals could care less. As far as a gun store opening in Marina, agree or disagree, he has a right to open a business. Don’t like guns, then don’t go in there. - Sandy Guillen | via Facebook


This is AWESOME! I’ll be down to check it out! Thanks, Coast Weekly for featuring 831Shooter. And wishing much luck to David Wasson. - Beverly Van Pelt | via Web


(Editor’s note: Ahem, it’s the Monterey County Weekly. We haven’t been Coast Weekly in nearly a decade.)


Fire


Having once been issued an M-16 assault weapon during the Vietnam War by my government, I decided to see what it was like to fire a whole clip of 20 bullets without stopping. 


It’s one massive burst of death. It’s what happened to 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn.


So I say to President Obama, “Ban assault weapons now.” - Ed Leeper | Monterey