Value of Motel

Obviously, the current [La Crescenta Motel] is outdated but the need for a modern foothill community hotel remains. It would much better serve the community than a four- or five-story affordable housing structure with all the problems associated with it. The large increase in vacant multistory business buildings in LA and Glendale are perfect candidates for renovation to achieve and fulfill that goal. Some businesses that have discovered, because of COVID virus, that they can operate with employees operating out of their homes and no longer need the overhead of operating could do the renovations themselves with tax incentives. They could sell units, lease or offer new hire professional employees the benefit option of housing with reduced salary. Some buildings as a result of business bankruptcy could be renovated to attract small family occupants and affordable, including families involved in the trades (plumbers, electricians, carpenters etc.) directly involved with the building renovations in the area.

Anyway, I’ve digressed off the subject.

No, we don’t need a low-cost affordable housing project in our area that can work to the detriment of the community (actually any suburban community) and lower property values. Zoning laws were created for a purpose. Downtown already has the zoning in place, the parking facilities and basic structures ripe for conversion. Think a hotel similar to that in the community of the town of Bishop, California would work and be welcome.

Bill Costello

La Crescenta

Opt for a Churchill

As I was thinking about the selection of a new city manager and the difficult days ahead, I thought of the choice that the British Cabinet faced in May 1940, so well described in Erik Larson’s “The Splendid and the Vile.” Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement had failed miserably. Britain stood alone, its allies either allied with its enemy, defeated or hiding behind isolationism. Chamberlain had announced his resignation. The choice for a new prime minister lay between Lord Halifax, an insider who Chamberlain favored, and Winston Churchill, an outsider who had long decried the policy of appeasement. Fortunately for the free world, the Cabinet chose Churchill. 

Like Britain in the 1930s, Glendale has followed a policy of appeasement. Consider where it’s gotten us. Appeasing developers has given us an ugly central district. Appeasing employee unions has saddled us with exorbitant pension obligations. We now face the twin assaults of a pandemic, with its attendant economic hardships including reduced sales tax revenue, and ruthless legislators, mostly in northern California, who want to rob the city of control over residential development without providing one cent for affordable housing.

So I say to the city council, choose a Churchill, not a Halifax. The search will not be easy. The choice may not be popular. The years ahead will be difficult. But choose the outsider who will chart a different course, not an insider steeped in the culture of appeasement.

Mary-Lynne Fisher

La Crescenta

Our Government is 233 Years Old Today

We had declared our independence on July 4, 1776, won the Revolutionary War in 1783 and were still struggling to get the nation going in the summer of 1887 when delegates from 12 of the 13 states met in Philadelphia to design a new government. By September they had crafted the Constitution, a government based on the principle of self-government.

Our Constitution was signed by all but three of the 42 delegates on Sept. 17, 1787 and was eventually ratified by all 13 states. The three delegates held out for a Bill of Rights, which was added in 1791. George Washington was elected our first president in 1788 and reelected in 1792.

Our government, under our Constitution, is the longest running government in the world today. Yes, every other nation in the world has changed their government, some several times, since Sept. 17, 1787. We’ve kept our Constitution fresh and timely with 27 amendments in 233 years.

Our Constitution survived the Civil War, the Great Depression and two World Wars while protecting our individual rights and limiting the power of the government.

Today we are in troubled times again. We have a global pandemic intertwined with a contentious presidential election tearing at the fabric of our nation. I suggest that it is time to pause and take a few minutes to read our Constitution today and reflect on the principles and values that made us, “One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.”

PS: Don’t forget to vote by mail or in person by Nov. 3.

Lynn McGinnis

Glendale

Noise Pollution Dampens Hill Street Experience

I really enjoyed the CV Weekly article on the Hill Street Café (Leisure, Sept. 10). Our family has been going there since it opened up on the north side of Foothill Boulevard, west of its current location.

I have many favorites; there are too many to list. Our favorite time to go there is Sunday breakfast. We may be skipping Sunday breakfast for a while, though. The past two Sundays we have not had an enjoyable experience. That is no fault of the Hill Street management or employees. Our meal has been interrupted with constant horn honking for the BLM protesters on the sidewalk in front of the patio. Those people have every right to wave their signs and cheer. Also the drivers have every right to honk their horns all they want. But I have a right to not have to listen to the noise while trying to eat and talk with my wife. So, from now on we will call before going to Hill Street and ask if the protestors are there. If they are we will be off to Black Cow or Jeremy’s where it is quieter.

Tom Suter

La Crescenta