Letters


• Venice elections - Peggy Moore
• Raku - Purricivil Felliney
• Affordable Housing - John K. Murray
• Recall - Linda Lucks
• Marina Bypass - Ruth Galanter
• Two responses on last month’s criticism of the Venice Parade - Emily Winters
• Response on 4th of July parade - Terence Pearce
• Running for governor - Trek Kelly
• Santa Monica Airport - 1 - Martin Rubin
• Santa Monica Airport - 2 - Joan Winters
• Santa Monica Airport - 3 - John Humphrey

Venice elections

Let me see if I get this straight:

Allies of Team Venice on the Elections Committee decided to use absentee ballots in this year's election. They shared that information with only Team Venice supporters, leaving Progressives to find out about it accidentally.

When the city demanded GRV open up the process, a Team Venice candidate, Marta Evry, committed voter fraud, registering her dog to vote absentee and casting a ballot on her dog's behalf.

When Evry and Team Venice members lost the election (quite resoundingly, it seems), they filed a complaint using Evry's own voter fraud as a reason to overturn the election? That is truly rich. "We tampered with the election," Evry seems to say, "so the election needs to be overturned."

I wonder if Evry would have admitted to her voter fraud - (which should forever prohibit her from holding GRV office) if her election tampering had been more successful and she and her Team Venice comrades had won.

It is bad enough that Team Venice candidates are sore losers. But their Watergate tactics have no place in a neighborhood democracy movement. Shame on them.

Peggy Moore
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Raku

Dear Beachhead,

There are vicious rumors in our community that need to be addressed.

Raku the Labrador, subject of much discussion, never illegally voted in the Grassroots Venice Neighborhood Council. His companions forged his name without his knowledge or consent. He was duped by his erstwhile trusted companions.

Also unfounded is the canard that as a result of all the controversy surrounding him and as a result of the GRVNC election, Raku had a nervous breakdown and started shaking and barking uncontrollably at left over Beat Poets and became addicted to Trader Joe's teriyaki beef jerky.

Raku did not swallow President Bush and then barf him up as alleged by trick photography in a recent issue of a local rag.

Yours Mewly,

Purricivil Felliney
Catttorney at Paw
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Affordable Housing

Dear Beachhead: I laud the VCHC's contribution to our neighborhood, but the recent article by Yasmin Tong was stacked with disinformation by the developer (Steve Claire) regarding their proposed Project from Santa Clara to Venice. This property was acquired by the city to provide parking for Abbot Kinney businesses. It provides or could provide 416 parking spaces which should all be metered, with a portion of the revenue dedicated to community projects in Venice. The VCHC project would rob Venice of this potential revenue flow. Given the RRROW's 125 apartments at 2 parking spaces per unit the community would benefit from 40 parking spaces as described by developer Steve Claire. It seems to this bicyclist that the community needs to retain the 416 parking spaces and the revenue it should generate versus 40 parking spaces!

John K. Murray
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Recall

Dear Beachhead: Women fought for 72 years to get the right to vote, and we take our voting rights seriously. Not only are women the majority - 52% of the population, women cast more than 52% of the vote!  
Women will vote NO on the Recall because: #1, the Recall establishes a dangerous precedent for the electoral process by attempting to nullify the 8 million votes that were cast in the November 5, 2002 election, requiring that voters go back to the polls on October 7, 2003, to re-state our vote; #2, the Recall is a waste of $67 Million, money that would be better spent on education, health, and public safety; and #3, the Recall would turn back the clock on women's rights and civil rights. On November 5, 2002, the voters re-elected Governor Davis because Davis is 100% pro-choice and fights for equal rights, equal pay, equal opportunity, and equal access to health care and education.   

Under Davis, California has become the first state in the nation to: (1) sign the Paid Family Medical Leave Act so men and women can take time off to care for a new child or a sick or injured family member; (2) sign the the Reproductive Privacy Act that guarantees a women's right to choose; (3) protect women and their families by re-enacting the Violence Against Women Act, implementing the toughest gun safety and child-proof safety lock laws, making the largest commitment to fighting the "War on Methamphetamine," and implementing the toughest seat-belt laws which has earned California an "A"-rating from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, and the National Safety Council; (4) the toughest children's environmental health protection program; and (5) raise the bar in educational standards and guarantee that that the top 4% of California's high school graduates will be admitted to the University of California.  Women have a stake in this election. We have fought for advances in equality, and we want a Governor who will protect and advance our rights.  Women will not let others determine our destiny, and prevent our vote from being counted!   Vote NO RECALL on October 7.  Future generations are counting on it.  

Linda Lucks

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Marina Bypass

Dear Beachhead,

Your story on the Marina Bypass was entertaining but not correct. The Bypass issue was very much alive at the beginning of my council tenure; what killed it for real was Brian Semler’s proposal to build housing and the Oxford Triangle residents’ willingness to recognize that the housing would prevent the land being available for a road.

Ruth Galanter
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Two responses on last month’s criticism of the Venice Parade

To the one who thinks he's a comrade (page 7, August Beachhead), What's twisting your knickers...you don't like gray haired ladies? Since when have convertibles not belonged in parades? That gray haired infirm lady holding the replica of the first American flag has spent years, and still is fighting development to keep us the unique place we are. In case you haven't noticed, there is another Venice besides the beach front. You who hang out in Venice are above funkie parades? You think the Spirit of Venice has kept what it has been able to salvage from profiteers by anything you have done?

We grayed gents and ladies have spent several decades, lots and lots of hours and energy, yes jail time too, fighting the struggle to keep some integrity in Venice for creeps like you? You should be kissing our feet. The ghosts of the 60's and 70's would love us and run you out of town faster you could say "I'm a peckerhead". Yes, go some place else to look for what you are looking for. You won't find it here and we don't want you around looking for it. Go back under your chi-chi rock in Playa Vista!! You don't like my peaches, don't you shake my tree!!!!!! I'm not afraid to use my name,

Emily Winters
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4th of July parade

The person does not have the guts to sign it with a real name. Firstly the writer addresses the letter ‘To anyone who can read,’ what a pretentious prick!

As an ordinary citizen I have to put up with a lot of the ills visited upon us by the rule of greed, fear & cynicism. However when I read such an intaglio of envy, spite & hypocrisy as was distilled in your August issue’s letter purportedly from ‘a fellow comrade’ (as signed), dripping venom on the recent Venice 4th of July parade I must put pen to paper. After producing such a pseudo-literate piece of hate-filled garbage I’m not at all surprised that three separate places displays a transparent prejudice against the old or mature amongst us, and goes on to basically criticize the few wonderfully playful people of all ages who had the energy and commitment to take part in the parade, and who actually went out in public and accomplished something, however humble. What a sad-sack ball of pettiness and neurosis this person must be to sit back in his/her negative little superannuated micro-universe and so viciously attack people who actually don’t care what we think of them, but dressed up, went out, and had some fun with an eye to building from their makeshift event something bigger.

Well they may not care to defend themselves but I do. I personally know that many of those in that small parade are tireless workers for liberty, peace & justice in our community and the nation, who put themselves on the line every day for their all-too-rare integrity. They had the temerity to decide, with no budget, to create something out of nothing and revive a colorful Venice tradition, a 4th of July parade.

Perhaps we should put them in the stocks, or better yet the ducking pool? Perhaps our writer would be more suited to revivals of that sort? How dare that person sign the letter ‘ a fellow comrade,’ what a titanic insult from a person so typical of those who sow dissension among positive people and groups with the weapons of rancor, bitterness & envy. So, whoever you are, stop using such corny claptrap, worn-out phrases as ‘the demise of the West’ and ‘comrade’, they went out with the Cold War, stop living in the past. Stop harping on the so-called long-past ‘glory days of Venice,’ get off your ass & do something constructive rather than hiding behind shameful pseudonyms, and stop drooling your acid on the wrong people. If more of us were like the people in that parade the ‘glory days’ of Venice, and perhaps of all of us, would be yet to come; and in future do not ever sign yourself ‘comrade’; Killjoy would get it absolutely right!

Terence Pearce
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Running for governor

Hey, guys.
Just letting you know I’ve been a local for eleven years and I’m running for Governor…! www.trekkelly.com

Trek Kelly
(You can sign up to recall Arnold on Kelly’s website! - FVB)

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Santa Monica Airport - 1

Thank you Theresa Hulme, for the good, strong article in the August Beachhead about some of the complaints the residents living around the Santa Monica Airport have, in regards to noise, safety, and air pollution. It’s about time.

Most of the time, we get the views from the airport staff. They would have the reader believe that Santa Monica Airport is doing a fantastic job of curtailing noise. We, who live in the flight path hear, see, and breathe otherwise. How can our story be heard, if not for such an article? Thank you Beachhead!

For well over five years, a number of us have presented our complaints to the Santa Monica Airport Commission. I have focused my attention, for the most part, on the jet fume problem. Our neighborhood, just to the east of the airport gets the fumes regularly from jets idling, waiting for clearance to take off. One need only witness it to be astounded by the intensity of these horrific smelling fumes. In my efforts to attack this injustice, I started a website. The address to the site is:  http://home.earthlink.net/~jetairpollution. I hope readers will go there to look at what we have about this important topic, and also sign up to be on our contact list.

I feel that when the air pollution from these jets is studied, it will demonstrate that Santa Monica Airport is no place for these jets. If we get rid of the jets, we get rid of most of the noise and safety concerns too.
There is a lot more that can be said on these topics that I hope you will follow up on in a series of articles. We need a voice for the peoples’ interests! The FAA does not seem to want to listen, but we will keep on with our efforts to be heard.

Martin Rubin
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Santa Monica Airport - 2

It’s about time that a news article put in words what we residents experience on a daily basis, weekends and holidays included. The noise from a jet landing at Santa Monica Airport is what I wake up to in the morning, and more often than not, the last thing I hear before falling off to sleep at night. The planes are bigger than ever, lower than ever, and louder than ever.

We on the east side of the airport don’t even get time off with a curfew on landings! My family and I have lived just east of the airport since I was a child, and there has been deterioration in the quality of life since the jets were allowed to use the airport. Besides the noise, we have to endure the nauseous jet fumes for a good portion of most days. I think there is a good deal of hopelessness felt by many residents. The numbers of jets just keep increasing. What can we do about it?

Joan Winters
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Santa Monica Airport - 3

From where I live, 6th and Broadway, the primary noise nuisance comes from the small prop trainer planes and not the corporate jets. Not to downplay the jet noise, but I'm sure if one were to measure the time/decibel level of the small planes in the traffic pattern it would match the nuisance factor of the jets.

However, I love planes, jets, and anything that flies and while the noise really is a major headache sometimes, I don't want to see the airport go away. But I would like to see Santa Monica share more of the burden of all these decibels. Traffic patterns typically consist of a series of left turns - putting the trainers right over Venice - but as I understand it, right turn traffic patterns are also an option. That would put the noise over Santa Monica.

Also, as anyone familiar with the situation can testify, in the fall when the Santa Ana's are blowing and the planes land heading East, the noise factor over this way is significantly diminished- this is because the engines are throttled back for landing.

So here are my questions for the airport authorities.

1) Is anyone manufacturing a training plane with a muffler?

2) Is it possible to have a right turn traffic pattern part of the year and a left turn traffic pattern part of the year?

3) Is it possible that the traffic pattern can be reversed, i.e. when the wind from the West is less than 5 knots, could planes take off towards the East? What about jets?

John Humphrey

Posted: Mon - September 1, 2003 at 04:27 PM          

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