14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JULY 10-16, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com SKY HIGH I really appreciate your story about Seaside’s fireworks (“As Fourth of July celebrations wind down, Seaside is ‘on the right track’ with illegal fireworks enforcement,” posted July 7). I live in Prunedale, and every year it is like a war zone. I wish the County would do some enforcement. The lack of enforcement just enforces the culture of impunity we seem to be cultivating. Patty Nicely | Prunedale The number of illegal fireworks were down a bit from previous years; however, Salinas has a long way to go. I still had to administer CBD to mellow my dogs, which did little to alleviate their anxiety. One trembled, barked and growled based on the noise. The other dog was panting so hard I thought he may have a heart attack. My one cat barfed, while the other paced. My 97-year-old neighbor called a few years ago in a panic as a couple of years ago they were so bad here they were rattling her windows and with mild dementia she had forgotten it was the Fourth of July. Cheryl Darlington | Salinas The city’s efforts at suppressing illegal fireworks seems to have had a positive effect. This year, the duration and intensity were reduced. In our North Salinas neighborhood, the majority of fireworks ended at about 10:30pm. The second year of the Compass Church-sponsored and city-sanctioned fireworks show at the rodeo fairgrounds also helped by most likely reducing fireworks being shot at home privately. The city’s illegal firework suppression plan relies heavily on warning letters mailed to homes. Many of the recipients end up engaging with the city and thus the word is spread: Don’t risk $1,500 per citation. Salinas limits the issuance of citations to only those cases where high-quality evidence will overcome any challenge in an administrative hearing. I wish Salinas would be far more aggressive. Citations have a ripple effect. You don’t need to cite everyone, just a few in each neighborhood where illegal activity is known to occur. That being said, it was nice to enjoy my own home, mostly, on the Fourth of July. Last year, I spent the night at a hotel in fireworks-free Monterey, which was heavenly. Peter Szalai | Salinas Unfortunately, I could not see any improvement in Marina: Drunk idiots were noisy in big numbers and obviously unmolested by police until well beyond midnight as is usual in Marina, year after year, despite protests. Jerry Juskie | Marina COMBO MOVE The existential question of whether or not Carmel should continue to operate its own police department is a question that should extend to all Peninsula cities (“Carmel leads the way in sharing services. It makes sense for local cities,” June 26-July 2). Quite frankly in this era of ever-increasing costs of operations, it should be incumbent upon every city council to examine whether an independent police agency in their cities is a necessary and proper use of taxpayer dollars. I’m not advocating dispensing with police services altogether—that would be irresponsible. However, our cities should explore the consolidation of all police and fire services. From Carmel to Marina the population of the Monterey Peninsula cities is 101,711. Salinas’ population is 156,916. If a city of that size can operate with a single police agency, it would seem that seven cities with a combined population that is two-thirds the size should be able to get by with one consolidated police and one consolidated fire department. Mark Carbonaro | Monterey SUPPLY V. DEMAND I didn’t realize that a bad decision by the California Public Utilities Commission is better than no decision in terms of lifting the cease-anddesist order with the State Water Resources Control Board (“CPUC delays a decision on the Monterey Peninsula’s water supply and future demand,” posted June 25). Regardless of projections, it doesn’t make too much sense. If the Peninsula is now under 9,000 acre-feet per year and will be producing 25-percent more than that (12,000 AFY) and storing the excess in the Seaside Aquifer, then the SWRCB should lift the CDO regardless of the CPUC determination. The fact that Cal Am has ex parte communications with four of the five commissioners just points to the unequal playing field. Cal Am has paid lobbyists, while the ratepayers pay for those lobbyists to advocate against their interests, while having no lobbyists of their own. Glad that State Sen. John Laird wrote a letter of support which may have been the reason the decision was delayed again. Perhaps he is lobbying for us, but who knows. Michael Baer | San Jose AMERICA FIRST Your Fourth of July message cheered me on this day when I feel so much grief for what is happening in our country (“Happy Birthday to the United States of America,” posted July 4). It’s good to be reminded of the good that we represent as a people and as a country, even as we struggle to take care of one another and not be devastated by some of the changes that are causing people harm. Your message truly made a difference in my day. Susannah McNamara | Prunedale PEOPLE POWER We protest against a man representing a political party whose goal appears to be the consolidation of power in the executive branch. A man whose blatant disregard for our constitutional system of government, which enshrines the concept of checks and balances over nearly all other governing concepts. This system was a direct response to the unchecked abuses of a corrupt and mentally compromised monarch. “No Kings” means exactly that. Power should never be consolidated in one branch of government. If Robert McGregor has a hard time understanding this, perhaps he himself should return to the constitution and read it (“Letters,” June 26-July 2). Jim Affinito | Salinas 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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