Pacifica Tribune, 1/3/12. From Elaine Larsen, Editor and Publisher, "My New Year's Wish". "
That we finally get a City Council member and/or Planning Commissioner who will speak the truth and do the right thing.
For example, a developer wants to build an assisted living facility in an area of town that already has a senior complex, local shopping center and library on the site of an old, broken-down greenhouse. It's right in line with the politically correct worries about an aging Baby Boomer generation needing extended care and yet some over-zealous environmentalists claim this project will harm the Steelhead trout in the creek.
The only thing harming the creek's wildlife is all the tires and junk and debris that Lynn Adams and her dedicated band of Earth Day volunteers pull out every single year. Trash that is tossed into it by Pacifica residents. Environmentalism is a good thing. But over-zealous environmentalism is an insult to intelligent people. Let's stop pandering.
So my New Year's wish is this: For a Pacifica leader to say to the person arguing this nonsense at the council podium: "That's the most ridiculous argument I've ever heard." And to mean it. That's who I would consider a true leader.
Editor's Note: I have been a reporter and later managing editor of the Pacifica Tribune since 1987 and was promoted to Editor/Publisher in 2007. I welcome rebuttals to any of my commentary in the spirit of free speech."
And, the New Year's wish from most Pacificans to Elaine and the Pacifica Tribune: May everyone keep supporting the Pacifica Tribune, subscribing, contributing and reading. Thank you for your service to our community since 1987 (25 years), and for this community newspaper.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
10 comments:
But the Pacifica genius Bray said this wasn't a good idea.
Some nonsense about wrong location.
Elaine clearly gets it now. I wonder what took her SO long???
Let's hope the rest of the majority voters, that are registered democrats, get it too. The Democratic Party created the "enviro-wacko" monster problem , in california. Enablers. The DNC needs to create a recovery program, not a Hope and Change slogan.
I like this editorial. Ms. larsen obviously hears from a wide variety of Pacifica residents over the past 24 years--much longer than any current city council member..
If you watch national, state and county news, voters have new and more critical expectations of elected officals. Pacifica council does not measure up well. A lesson and a warning!
they did. it's called the recession. and we're all going to participate for a long long time.
The reality is that the steelhead are barely hanging on in San Pedro Creek, and while the litter problem is bad it's the least of their problems.
The biggest problem they face is the high water flows that are the result of the impervious surfaces in the creek's drainage area, especially the North fork of the creek which was completely undergrounded years ago (it used to flow freely right where Tera Nova school is). The result is that water flows are far higher than they would naturally be during a storm event, which is extremely hazardous for the fish, and any additional development will make that problem slightly worse.
Their other problem is that only 1 of the original 5 forks of the creek is still suitable for spawning. A simple fish ladder at the entrance to the Sanchez Fork behind St. Edmunds would open up a second spawning ground and greatly stabilize the Steelhead population.
I suggested to the developer to consider financing the fish ladder to more than offset any negative impact his project may have on the Steelhead and he thought it would be a great idea to look into. I made the same suggestion to the person who is trying to stop the development for "environmental reasons" and he said he wasn't interested in anything that might help the project move forward and that he "just wants to stop the project altogether."
This leads me to believe that he is not really motivated by environmentalism, but just doesn't want this project in his back yard. That's an understandable sentiment, it would certainly be disruptive to his lifestyle, but playing the environmental card sees disingenuous to me. Also the claims about ambulance sirens at all times of the day and night seem pretty overblown.
I do agree with Elaine's sentiment and applaud her taking a public stand on this issue. Nevertheless, we shouldn't ignore the fact that the creek and Steelhead have been badly abused and need all the help they can get.
Just when I get caught up in all the anti-council noise I remember that we've all heard this vitriole several times before and the same folks keep getting re-elected. They have many loyal supporters. I think the best we can hope for is that the incumbents don't run in November and that will guarantee new blood. Not betting on what kind of new blood. It worked for Len Stone. Let the incumbents plead exhaustion. I know I'm exhausted.
Hope it boosted readership!
I'm not going to worry about the fish just now, thank you, or who's for real. I'm going to worry about my town and its ability to function as a town and provide services for its residents, all of them. I want to see this facility built and successful and a forerunner for several more. Perfect business for Pacifica.
Just when I start to write you off as an unrealistic ideologue, Ian, you pull me back in...
If more people on both sides would just stop shouting, and would instead show a little respect and try to think about both sides of the equation, then our country, our state, and most importantly our city would do much better. It's too easy and way too lazy to just regurgitate other people's talking points.
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