Letters to the Editor: Oct. 4, 2008

News Chieftain

Poway will survive bigger Wal-Mart

I look forward to the letters that predict doom for Poway if a Wal-Mart “Supercenter” is allowed. The tone of those letters remind me of a similar tale of doom and gloom when a Hooters restaurant was proposed for Ranch Bernardo.

There were predictions of moral collapse, a sudden increase in crime and all other kinds of depravity — none of which has come to pass.

A “Supercenter” will not destroy Poway, nor turn Poway Road into a wasteland with all the roads “gridlocked.”

I might add that I live south of Twin Peaks Road, approximately one mile from the current Wal-Mart. I frequently travel over Midland Road, which has been in a constant state of construction for over two years, and will now have the added thrill, when completed, of diagonal parking, where you will be able to blindly back out into oncoming traffic. Good planning.

Regarding Poway’s latest in proposed cuts, I noticed how Poway is starting the new city clerk at about $15,000 a year more than the previous clerk.

You might recall how the city manager gave all of Poway’s department heads a hefty pay raise a year ago, stating that it was needed to keep good people in those positions during hard times. In this era of fiscal tightening, maybe it would be better to get some “young blood,” at a lower salary, with fresh ideas.

On another thought, which Joe St. Lucas partially mentioned in last letter, why not look at all of the benefits given to our City Council? Maybe some trimming is needed there. What are the salaries that are paid to them when they are members of various regional boards? Maybe those boards should look at lowering those salaries (yeah, right).

There is a lot of budget-cutting that Poway has missed, and it starts at the top.

I am thoroughly disappointed with the planning department for what they did to Midland Road.

A part of the city that should have been inviting to bike riders is now a suicide ride down a country road. Whoever designed the “improved” road took away all the bicycle lanes and added left-turn lanes at stop signs where they are totally unnecessary. In a time when bicycle riding should be encouraged, the city destroyed it for Midland Road, to say nothing of what this long-delayed completion did to the businesses on the east side of Midland Road.

A definite “thumbs down” on this one.

My biggest concern regarding Wal-Mart’s proposed expansion is how the already congested south Poway streets will be impacted.

Most of our current council members and challenger candidates say that they will have to “wait and see” how the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will mitigate traffic concerns. (However, I note that candidate Howard Collins has committed to a “No” vote on Wal-Mart’s expansion.)

What could possibly be in the EIR that will mitigate traffic congestion? Will the EIR provide a magic potion for alleviating extra traffic? Perhaps this report will provide us with new technology like beaming shoppers — a la “Star Trek” — from outside of Poway to Wal-Mart’s front door. Or perhaps they can mandate that Mira Mesa residents can only shop at Poway Wal-Mart on Tuesdays, Ramona on Wednesdays, and so on. Or maybe they will just bus customers to Wal-Mart, much like the Indian casinos do.

In my opinion, this may just come down to money; not the sales tax revenues that this expansion will bring — because we know this will be minimal — but rather what Wal-Mart may “donate” to Poway. We all know that city revenues are down and costs are up. So, because of our potential budget shortfall, the city could be looking at Wal-Mart as a source for significant financial contributions in exchange for a vote of approval on their proposed expansion.

I wonder, at what price is our quality of life in the “City in the Country” up for sale?

I am not happy with the plan of turning Pomerado Road just north of Metate into a 45-mph zone and would like the speed from Old Pomerado Road to Poway Road reduced to 35 mph.

We who live on the east side of Pomerado, trying to turn left onto Paquito, have a hard time with speeding traffic. Many times I have had to race across because someone is flying down Pomerado around the blind corner.

We have many small kids who catch the bus for school in the area, so why increase the chance of someone getting hurt? The city should do the right thing in advance, for once, and reduce the speed limit.

Poway’s Mickey Cafagna owes Mr. Schumacher, a very kind 83-year-old gentleman, an apology for the way he was spoken to and treated at the City Council meeting on Aug. 19.

The new pump station at High Valley and Espola Road is scheduled to be built on Mr. Schumacher’s land. When Mr. Schumacher stood before the City Council and tried to tell the council the city had not gotten title to the property, he was told very rudely by the mayor: “Your time is up, sit down.” His son-in-law and daughter were treated the same way. The city attorney said: “It was looked into and Mr. Schumacher has no rights to the property.”

Now, after Mr. Schumacher had to get his own attorney, he is right. Mr. Schumacher does own the land. The city does not. This is what he was trying to tell the council when he was treated so rudely.

Now the city has plans, drawings and is putting out bids but they do not have title.

The mayor made reference at the same council meeting to another situation with a sewer project where the title had no been cleared. He said, “We don’t want that mess again.” Well, here they have it again.

Honest business appreciated

I recently shopped at the 7-Eleven store, 16703 Bernardo Center Drive, owned by Sukhjit Kaur and Kiranjot Singh, and hurriedly made my purchases and went up to the check-out counter.

Employee Miryan Flores checked me out with a friendly smile. I was totally unaware I had dropped my checkbook with my Visa credit card inside. I arrived home, put my purchases away and the phone rang. It was the owner to let me know I had dropped my checkbook on the floor and the employee, Miryan Flores, picked it up and gave it to him. My phone number is not on the checks, but I am listed in the phone book. I had not missed the bank book and was ecstatic when he instructed me to pick it up at my convenience.

What a joy to be reminded there are still some honest people in the world.

This is in response to the Marquita Hilt letter printed Sept. 18.

As I stated in a previous letter, Seven Oaks currently has and will not lose our senior status unless our governing board and architectural committee, by state HOA law, do not do their fiduciary duty by following our governing documents, assessing fines, and forcing removal of the unqualified underage residents. Ignoring governing rules are what causes neighbor issues and litigations.

Ms. Hilt does not own a view property, but chastises those that do. As a view lot owner who does not have an unkempt property, but has lost my view (as have three of my neighbors) due to an inconsiderate home

owner behind us who chose to ignore our rules and an architectural committee that did not enforce them.

I moved into this community because of our current CC&Rs, and I resent being bamboozled into voting for a document done by a board that has removed 40-year view protections. I have carefully reviewed the proposed documents and have found other removals or changes that were not clarified, or that we were not informed of, which is reason enough to vote against them.

Fire season and water rationing are not scare tactics, but reality. I can only hope that all homeowners will take this to heart by cleaning up their properties. We may not be so lucky next time a devastating fire happens.