LETTERS TO THE EDITOR




ON CREATING A REGISTRY FOR MUSLIMS OR ANY GROUP

Editor, Roadrunner:

I certainly hope and pray that America is not really going to start registering any group of people based on religion, political belief, ethnic origin, out of fear and prejudice.

I think this quote from Martin Neimoller, a protestant pastor who spoke against Adolf Hitler and ended up in a concentration camp for seven years for it.

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Really? In our America? The Land of The Free and Home of the Brave? Really?

RAY FLORES, Valley Center
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HORSES IS WHY WE MOVED HERE

Editor, Roadrunner:

More often than not there is a common denominator that defines a community, one feature that comes to mind when you hear its name. In the Palm Springs area it’s golf or tennis; in the beach towns it’s boating, in some areas, surfing. For generations, horses have been so closely identified with Valley Center that to this day, when I meet someone from ‘elsewhere’ and tell them I live in Valley Center the follow-up question I usually get is: “Do you have a horse?”

Full disclosure: the answer is yes. It’s why we moved here.

We are in the throes of what amounts to a clash of civilizations—a 19th century mode of transportation on two-lane country roads versus the 21st century with its faster and more powerful cars and people who expect to get from one place to another as fast as possible.

This confrontation was brought into sharp focus last week: Driving by Casa Reveles restaurant on Lilac one afternoon I saw a sight straight out of a western movie, eight horses lined up at a hitching post, their riders obviously inside having lunch. It made my heart sing. But just days before, a horse was struck by a car and killed on Vesper, the rider narrowly escaping injury or worse. Everyone has at least one horror story about Vesper Road.

Somehow there has got to be some accommodation for both the horses and the horse lifestyle as well as the increasing pressure of more cars and people.

I’ve got some ideas and I plan on attending the next meeting of the Mobility subcommittee of the VC Community Planning Committee Group. Merely lowering the speed limit on Vesper will not solve the problem. Consideration should be given to adding a shoulder on at least one side of the road along with at least one crosswalk with stop signs. And just as there is a running path along VC Road west of Lilac, we should think about creating a riding path along Vesper and along Lilac perhaps with a split rail fence.

This will take planning. It will take money. It will not be completed in a month or even six months. But it deserves to be started.

We have got to make provision now for preserving our rapidly vanishing lifestyle for our children and grandchildren. What are your ideas?

RICHARD M. FOXX, MD, Valley Center
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THE GREGORY CANYON IS DEAD!

Editor, Roadrunner:

I became involved in the fight against the proposed dump at Gregory Canyon which abuts my Valley Center property when I attended a public meeting in Pauma Valley in 1988. I never thought that this would mark the beginning of 28 years of interminable meetings, reviews and comments of huge Environmental Reports, letter writing, informational meetings and treks to the Board of Supervisors in San Diego!

Call me a Nimby if you will — without Nimbys such as our groups of opponents, the dump would have succeeded in filling the canyon with garbage and desecrating a mountain the Pala Band of Mission Indians considered sacred. It’s been a very long and frustrating 28 years. We won some legal battles, lost others. Many of our supporters eventually gave up, some moved away, others died but still, we retained a core of fighters and the support of the Pala Band, environmental groups, the City of Oceanside, and others too numerous to list. Let’s not forget former Supervisor Pam Slater Price who gave us tremendous support even though the dumpsite was not in her district.

I also want to recognize our North County residents who donated funds so we could hire a great attorney, Everett DeLano who guided us in our battle, never wavering in his belief that somehow, we would win. Of course, our thanks must also be given to the Pala Band who also believed that the dump would never fly except in the trash bin of history!

The news this past week that the Pala Band had purchased the land came as a surprise, a wonderful surprise. We could finally breathe – the war was over! And today, it’s raining . . . another gift!

I applaud the voters in this county who rejected the Lilac Hills project. I wish we would have been so lucky back in 1994 when the developers of the dump circulated a proposition the designate the Gregory Canyon a landfill and won. But that’s ancient history now and I celebrate our friends in Pala who finally put an end to this sordid plan to trash our environment.

Hurrah!

I thank the Valley Roadrunner for this opportunity to celebrate!

RUTH HARBER
Secretary-Treasurer RiverWatch
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WHAT HAPPENED TO TRUANCY LAWS?

Editor, Roadrunner:

Years ago, I was the chairman of the Riverside School Attendance Review Board (SARB). The membership consisted of local law enforcement, probation officers and social services personnel.

The purpose of SARB was to assist school officials in dealing with disruptive, truant students and their uncooperative parents.

The board admonished parents of their responsibility as outlined in the California Education Code and Penal Code to see to it their child attends school and does not engage in juvenile delinquent behavior.

What happened to SARB? Why are we now witnessing disruptive juveniles openly committing truancy? Are school officials and parents condoning this lawless behavior? Are these student protests providing the adults the opportunity to vicariously express their disapproval of the election?

Even more, why are adolescents on college campuses being treated as traumatized war veterans?

Most of these mush brain imbeciles do not work, live at home, pay no taxes and contribute absolutely nothing to their community or society.

Most states do not allow individuals under the age to twenty-one to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages for fear their poor judgment would cause them to become intoxicated. In spite of this concern, teenagers are currently entitled to vote.

I believe the voting age should be restored to twenty-one or older and re-institute two-years of mandatory military service for all immature, irresponsible, spoiled and cuddled adolescents,

RICHARD MOKER, Valley Center
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DON’T MOCK PEOPLE WHO ARE IN DISTRESS

Editor, Roadrunner:

Human beings, at their best, wake up in the morning vowing that their actions will make the world a better place. I don’t think that this was what David Ross did last week when he wrote The Curmudgeon’s Corner. In it, David criticizes people who are so upset about the recent election of Donald Trump that they felt moved to demonstrate in public. To be sure, the relatively few demonstrators who reverted to violence deserve criticism. It’s David’s mocking and derisive tone that I am questioning.

When people take hours out of their day(s) to protest, they are upset and usually have a reason. Why else would they devote considerable energy to the cause? Rather than mock, why not ask “why?” There is usually a story to be told. In this instance, the story is clear: The man who has aspired to and achieved the most powerful position on Earth has made blatantly demeaning remarks about various races, nationalities and the female gender (this last group happens to comprise more than 50% of the human race). If you were a member of one of these groups, wouldn’t you be concerned? Well, there’s the “why?”

So, how do you deal with somebody who is in distress? For a start, you don’t mock them. The actions of antagonized people don’t get any prettier. It’s really very simple. You reassure them if you can. Now, that begs the question: “Is it even possible for David to reassure these demonstrators (as well as those groups of human beings who share the same concerns but who did not demonstrate)?” If so, that is the action that would make this world a better place. If not, it would be best that this Curmudgeon’s Corner were never written.

MICHAEL KARP, Valley Center
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*Note: Opinions expressed by columnists and letter writers are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the newspaper.

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