20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY december 19-25, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com Storm Time Does Monterey County know how to build anything well? I’ve never experienced such poor infrastructure in my life, from the houses to the electrical grid it all seems pretty bottom of the barrel (“High winds and intense rain take out power to over 38,000 customers, mostly on the Monterey Peninsula,” posted Dec. 14). Mike Grambush | via social media It’s interesting, where I come from (Brittany, France) we call this a wee bit of wind. Power lines were put underground in the ’70s! Never heard of power outages like the ones we experience here. What the heck is PG&E doing with the money we give them to provide services? Ah! That’s right, the shareholders. Yann Lusseau | via social media Deep Seep Thank you for your recent reporting on saltwater intrusion into Salinas Valley aquifers (“Elected officials are watching idly as seawater intrusion continues advancing down the Salinas Valley. If only someone could do something,” posted Dec. 12). What is happening is so shortsighted. Michael Marsh | Salinas When I was working in India a few years ago, I visited a manufacturing site in Bangalore with similar issues that had successfully re-infused their groundwater wells. It was so successful that they were able to sell water to their neighbors. The approach? Leveraging impervious and landscapes adjacent to the wells to direct monsoon rains through surface and subsurface adjustments. I am wondering if there is any effort to explore these low intensity but high impact solutions. Lisa Kleissner | Big Sur I am sad to learn of the latest estimate that the intrusion will continue even if all pumping stopped. This is like watching a slow-motion car wreck that could be stopped, but no one will do so. Thanks David Schmalz for continued, accurate, succinct writing. Berj Amir | Seaside In Service Supervisor Mary Adams has accomplished many good things during her two terms in office. One of her best ideas was mentioned again at her final board meeting: term limits for supervisors (“Big spending led candidates to victory in Salinas’ $1.2 million election,” Dec. 5-11). Term limits are in place for the governor, state representatives and state senators; seems logical to consider them for county supervisors as well. Although Adams will not be able to accomplish this goal while still in office, hopefully she will continue to strive for implementing term limits. With a groundswell of citizens backing the idea there is hope term limits could be achieved. The remaining sitting board members might not like it, though for the sake of democracy and broader citizen representation the idea of term limits is worth considering. Joseph Hertlein | Carmel Valley Big Bite This is a great report of a local success. Hopefully, this is a silver lining in the cloud of the slow recovery of the otter (“New study reports endangered sea otter helps control invasive species,” posted Dec. 11). It appears that the European green crab has invaded extensively both in the Atlantic and in the Pacific. If the otter follows the food, it should help recovery of the otter population along the entire West Coast, which is the original range of our local otter, and the prospective range of the green crab. Walter Wagner | Salinas Under Water A great activity for those of us trying to learn to slow down and deepen attention (“There’s magic to be found in tidepools—if you look closely and slow down,” posted Dec. 10). And a reminder that, though humans think themselves the center of things, the natural world has its own headlines and schedules. Paul Fleischman | Monterey Behind Bars It would be nice to think he could be rehabilitated (“The Monterey man who evaded police by hiding under his house is sentenced to prison time,” posted Dec. 5). But he should not be allowed to torment his neighbors and disrespect the rule of law. I hope he gets help in prison, but prison seems to be exactly where he needs to be for as long as it takes to change his ways. Polly Dickinson | Durham, N.C. Feeling Crabby Maybe we just make Dungeness crab a Super Bowl tradition (“No California Dungeness crab until 2025,” posted Dec. 6). Paul J. Ingram | via social media Let’s just get more rope-free traps in use. Great that the pilot was so successful! Barbara Senft | via social media Kick Off In an era marked by increasing division, it’s easy to forget what can be achieved when communities come together. We are fortunate, however, to have a tangible reminder here in our backyard: the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex, which recently hosted a historic event, the region’s first-ever high school girls’ soccer tournament (“Great Week,” Dec. 5-11). The girls had the honor of being the first to play on the new state-of-theart turf fields. The Soccer Complex results from extraordinary community effort, with the City of Salinas, the County of Monterey, multiple Salinas Valley Soccer Leagues and countless community members working collectively toward a shared vision. It’s rare to find such a bright illustration of our better selves. Yet, the Soccer Complex shows that together, we can achieve something extraordinary. Let’s be encouraged to seek more opportunities to come together to build the kind of community we all want to call home. Catherine Kobrinsky Evans | Salinas Difference of Opinion I LOVE the cartoons! (“Letters to the Editor,” Dec. 5-11.) And thanks for the refreshing intelligent viewpoints versus the rightwing nut job writing and opinions of the local daily struggling to keep the circulation up from its dwindling and fading readership. Truth on! Jim Knight | Seaside Letters • CommentsOPINION Submit letters to the editor to letters@montereycountynow.com. Please keep your letter to 150 words or less; subject to editing for space. Please include your full name, contact information and city you live in.
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