The price of voting
Last Monday notice was given that the Del Mar City Council would interrupt their August vacation to hold a special meeting on Wednesday to vote to cancel the Del Mar Citizens’ right to vote in November for the election of two councilmen for the next term! And appoint the two instead!
The reason being to save $7,000 to $9,000 cost to hold the election.
What a cheap price for the citizens’ right to vote! And, if 2,000 citizens would have voted in November, the two appointed councilmembers wouldn’t know whether they had the approval and support of 2,000 Del Mar voters, or 50!
What other citizens’ rights will be ignored during the next council term?
Ralph Peck,
Del Mar
The ACLU and Escondido
I read an article in The Coast News Inland Edition about the ACLU with great interest. The article is in regard to the Southwest Keys interest in housing 96 illegal immigrant children in a convalescent care facility in Escondido, Calif.. The article states, “that Mr. David Loy of The ACLU filed an appeal against the city’s denial of the facility, stating the difference between a shelter and a residential care facility is the children served by Southwest Key are not homeless.
They are traveling from one home to another.” I live in Escondido, Calif. about three blocks from the residential care facility where you want to force the city of Escondido to house 96 child illegal aliens.
It seems you gave little or no thought to what is best for the children’s best interests. This facility was designed for as a hospital care facility. The facility has no playground for the children to play and exercise which is important for keeping children healthy. The majority of the Escondido residents have decided twice that this location is not the place for this use. This facility is not suitable for housing large numbers of children and adolescents. Also, the parking lot is small and will not service the large amount of vehicles for employees needed to operate this facility.
Rather then spending your time and energy forcing this inappropriate facility down the throats of the citizens of Escondido that do not think this facility is the proper place for 96 illegal alien children, why don’t you locate a proper location for the children, such as a school.
The city of San Diego is in the process of selling several schools to meet a budget deficit. I am sure they would be more then willing to help you locate a facility that would be suitable for the young children bests interests. You need to keep in mind the ACLU mission statement. We want you do the right thing to help the children:
“The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose stated mission is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.” It works through litigation, lobbying, and community education.
Sincerely,
Timothy Swift,
Escondido
Mayor’s comments
The mayor of Escondido, Sam Abed’s comments regarding the ACLU’s efforts to house the unaccompanied minors coming across our borders shows that his racist attitude still lingers. The ACLU’s appeal concerns whether the denial of housing was based on discrimination rather than trying to “interfering with a land use decision” as per Mr. Abed’s comments. Mr. Abed tries to assuage his actions by stating that he’s a “proud immigrant” himself, forgetting to mention that he took the fast route to the head of the line by marrying an American thus kicking dust in the faces of those who truly faced untold dangers and even death to get here for the same “values, for the liberty, for the freedom” which Mr. Abed claims were the reasons he came here.
Some people will say, “But these children are breaking the law. Why should we house them?” The law mandates that these children be housed. How is that breaking the law? Until the law is changed, the ACLU is only trying to do what the law states.
Mr. Abed does not have the humanness that an elected leader should have and my hope is that the truly righteous residents of Escondido will see him for what he is and will not vote for him in November.
Andy Pino,
Escondido
