Check the postmark
How loyal to San Diego citizens and businesses will Steve Francis be if elected mayor?
Well, if his campaign flyer I received with an Orange, Ca., postmark, followed by another one postmarked from Van Nuys are any indication – oh, silly me. We can take him at his word. Right?
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It seems to me the outsider criticizing the insider needs an integrity lesson.
D. T. RADMILOVICH
San Diego
Solution to gas prices: efficiency, alternatives
Despite the growing financial pain of the cost of gasoline, the proposed moratorium on gas taxes is very shortsighted.
The demand for gasoline is not going to diminish. As the worldwide demand increases and the supply decreases, the cost of gasoline will continue to rise. The only real solutions are to use existing resources more efficiently and to increase the availability of alternative energy sources. These solutions require investment in research and development, and public education. Investment of gasoline tax revenues in these solutions will provide a long-term benefit that will ultimately save taxpayers money and contribute to the economic stability of our nation.
If we had made this investment years ago, when it was obvious that we would be facing an energy shortage, we would not be experiencing such a severe problem today.
STANLEY MALOY
Del Cerro
Supports military but not Blackwater
Blackwater Worldwide is not your everyday military contractor. It's special. It employs an army as lethal as any in the world, an odd distinction given it's not a sovereign nation. Its army is accountable to no one.
Its mercenaries – benignly called contractors, made up of enlistees from everywhere in the world, and now in Iraq – fight for whoever hires them: a warrior's oath to the buck, not to our Constitution.
Today, the State Department writes the check. Tomorrow, it could be a demagogue, a warlord, a terrorist cell, a homegrown militia, a drug cartel or a hostile nation.
San Diegans deserves better. We wholeheartedly support our military. We know they butter a lot of local bread. But neither of these loyalties should stand in the way of stopping this one ill-intentioned supplier from setting up here.
BOB STEIN
San Diego
A no vote on city's ballot propositions
Proposition A on San Diegans' June ballot would preclude returning to a contracted ambulance service or bringing in replacements in a protracted labor dispute. With the present great level of service, who in their right mind – let me rephrase that – who would justify replacing our ambulance, fire, lifeguards or police?
Proposition B will lead to adding the cost of a ninth council district and its staff to avoid impasses and require six votes (67 percent) to override a mayoral veto. Have we got a problem now? If so, why not go to seven city council members, with five (71 percent) to override? Who wrote this?
Proposition C: Nice try, but let's elect a city auditor rather than have a mayor appoint whoever audits his operation.
ZACK HAYMAN
La Jolla
Dog parks unfair to city taxpayers
Dog parks are unfair to the taxpayers of San Diego since there is no fee attached to the use of these public facilities. My understanding, and in some cases firsthand knowledge, is that if you play golf, tennis, soccer, baseball, etc., at a public location you pay a fee to use these facilities. That way it is fair to all taxpayers.
Dog parks, on the other hand, do not charge a fee for their use so they are an excessive burden to taxpayers: It is a public space that becomes exclusively used by the dog-owning community. Why? Would you want to take your children to a park or beach where they stand a very good chance of being bitten by a dog? There are approximately 5 million dog bites a year in the United States and 2.5 million are suffered by children less than 12 years old. These bites result in about 26 deaths a year. I would rather take my children swimming with the sharks.
Additionally, there is a chance that dog feces, which are all over dog parks (go to Dog Beach in Ocean Beach), may contain E coli bacteria.
To summarize:
Dog parks are an unfair burden to taxpayers.
Dog parks and beaches become an unsafe haven for families.
The environmental impact is significant.
TIMOTHY DARLING
San Diego
How much retirement?
Your May 14 chart comparing pensions now and pensions Mayor Sanders would like for new employees show that, since I started with the city at age 35 and am now approaching 58, I will get between 67 percent and 89 percent of my wages.
According to our retirement office, if I were to retire today I would get 46 percent of my wages.
I would love to work for the retirement system that this paper and so many others say we have. I would be in the Bahamas or at least on my patio enjoying my “Golden Years” effective now!
DICK JOHNSON
San Diego
Ballooning bond payments? No
Give us taxpayers a break! Most sane people want our streets repaired, like yesterday. But hasn't Mayor Sanders learned that back-ending debt payments, such as the awesome retirement-plan obligation, is extremely detrimental to the financial health of our city?
Considering the city's income sources, the mayor's proposal for a bond sale to “repair streets, libraries and other facilities” is, on the surface, sound. But to make interest-only payments for the first two years of a 10-year bond and then commence balloon payments is crazy. Hasn't he observed the housing crisis caused by subprime loans and adjustable mortgages?
Hopefully, more astute minds will insist that any bond plan include paying off both principal and interest simultaneously from the get-go.
DAVID MULCAHY
Pacific Beach
