Cesspool of corruption?
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Kathy Johnston’s article on the County’s developer enforcement effort is a breath of fresh air. If you do something without a permit in the County, you not only have to undo what you’ve done, you also get prosecuted. It used to be that way at the City of San Luis Obispo, but no longer. Violate development law, who cares? Chop down a tree without a permit because its in the way of your megabucks development, no matter. Build a secondary unit behind your house without a permit, that’s OK too. Do an Environmental Impact Report on a big project, ignore it, well, what can we do after the damage is done? The city simply rolls over. They call it “making it right.� The net effect is it’s easier—and lots cheaper—to break the law than get a permit, since not much will happen if you do, by chance, get caught. Developers all know this.
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When citizens complain about violations in their neighborhoods, they get a bureaucratic runaround designed to reduce them to pulp. When an enforcement officer gives a citizen the brush off, his boss
congratulates him for the “ good response!� If citizens don’t back off, they become “the problem,� with staff turning—sometimes viciously—on the complaint maker while condoning the obvious law violation.
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Development enforcement in the city has become a cesspool of corruption. It’s disgraceful, but with media that look the other way, so citizens at large remain uninformed, that’s the way things are likely to stay—unless fresh faces dedicated to following and enforcing the law get
elected to the City Council. With one exception, that being the brave
Christine Mulholland, present council members condone the current mess by their silence and inaction.
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Please, decent citizens of SLO, run for office! This is an election year. A majority of Council seats are open. This city desperately needs people in office dedicated to cleaning up the dirt at City Hall. Can we hope for a “clean sweep� Council taking office next winter?
Richard Schmidt
San Luis Obispo
King’s a king
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It was with great pleasure that I read King Harris’ article about Central Coast TV Anchors. I had the pleasure of working with King at KEYT for seven years (I worked out of the Santa Maria satellite office for six of those years), and felt that he handled himself with professionalism, poise, and confidence. The year I was at the main station in Santa Barbara allowed me the opportunity to communicate with this remarkable man on almost a daily basis and I consider myself lucky to have had the experience of working with someone of such talent and personality.Â
Toward the end of his tenure at KEYT, things got very rocky, but, being the type of person that he is, King reported the situation professionally and wrote about KEYT with the charm of a fine gentleman. I’m very glad that he is still living on the beautiful Central Coast. Thanks to him for the impact he has had on local television, and I hope he continues to succeed in the crazy world of media!
Libby DeLangieÂ
waynelib@verizon.net
That is not fair if there are 12 locations in the county and each vote is tallied to the corporate name rather than the specific location. For example, Starbuck’s at Von’s shopping center should be one vote for that location; smaller local coffee houses like Outspoken or Rudolph’s can’t compete with 12 locations of Starbucks. With your voting system our great local business owners are at a big disadvantage. The local entity will never win. Please consider this next year in your “Best of..â€? issue.Â
Teresa W. Navarro
San Luis Obispo, CAÂ
twnavarro@yahoo.com
What about money generated locally by the Tour Of California? I wonder if any local people that earned extra money through the race spent their extra earnings locally? My wife and I have shopped in his store for years, and have purchased several cameras†and accessories from Photography 101, but I am afraid we have†made our last purchase there.†With the trend toward “box stores� we have tried to support specialty retailers, but his attitude makes it hard. The Tour of California caused him one day of inconvenience, but the ripple it put into the local economy is hard to quantify.
John Girard
San Luis Obispo††â€
abrador@digitalputty.com
 He proceeded to tell me, “F--- off.� So thank you for saying what most people think. †Maybe some of the people who give these lazy bums money will think twice about it and donate to a local shelter instead. That way the money will go to those who really need it.
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The article on meth almost sent me packing, but Starkey has restored my faith in your newspaper. Keep up the positive work.
Cyndy Jones
MAZYMAX@aol.com
Naoma Wright
San Luis Obispo
Allan Root
www.ferromobius.com
If I go to the beach, I know where the off-roaders are, and know that the area I choose to walk in will not result in me getting hit by one, unless of course I wander into their area, then it’s my own fault. Bottom line is that EVERYONE has a right to enjoy the beach, just some more than others. I had a bird hit my car the other day while driving home from work; should we start closing streets to vehicle traffic now?
Mike Simpson
adragon8u@charter.net
Arwyn Evenstar
Arroyo Grande