Public Pulse

April 22nd, 2010

Unsubcribe Me From Your Rag

In my opinion YOU need to take a basic Citizenship Class and learn the duties and responsibilities of being a U.S. Citizen.

“A Jury of your PEERS” is one of the basic reasons that we revolted from the rule of Great Britain as the juries in 1776 were made up solely of the upper class.

I sincerely hope that you end up as a defendant with a trial by jury someday and then you will understand how vital “A Jury of your PEERS” is for justice to be served.

/s/W. D. Pickens
Escondido, Ca.

Editor’s Note: It took me awhile to figure out what upset Mr. Pickens so, and then I recognized that he took issue with my commentary of the preceding week (see the 3/8/10 issue) in which I argued it was not fair for jurors to be paid $15 a day (which doesn’t begin until the second day) and $0.34 per mile, one way, to serve on a jury, while multiple attorneys who were billing $300-$400 per hour (in addition to the judge, bailiff’s,court clerks, etc), all of whom were all on the clock at considerably more money.

We stand by our original editorial comment.

We have unsubscribed Mr. Pickens, per his request.

A New Forever Home for a Puppy

Lyle:

As you see below, Candy was adopted because of The Paper ad and all the volunteers are grateful that you are allowing us to do this.

/s/Rika Yoshii

Hi Rika,
It's Debbie Licari, Volunteer Liaison, are you the one who writes the articles for the newspaper? Candy was adopted due to that article. They are fantastic! I want to thank you personally. Because of your beautiful ad about Candy, she was adopted. They came to the shelter to see her. They loved her and adopted her!
Thank you so much!
/s/Debbie

Editorial Comment: Glad we could help, and, yes, Rika Yoshii, Professor of Computer Science at CSUSM, is a tireless volunteer who submits the ads and photos of the animals from the animal rescue foundation. Here is a photo of Candy. We are delighted she found a ‘Forever Home.”

Recycling

For the past few days a contractor has been doing work on sewer access holes in my community. Yesterday while doing their work I noticed one of the workers taking time to remove recyclables (bottles and cans) from the yellow recycle containers up and down the street and placing them into the truck they were using. I have witnessed several other people going through the recyclable container and removing bottles and cans.

One Monday morning last year I walked outside my home to find a woman driving a black, new or nearly new Cadillac Escalade removing bottles and cans from my recycle bin. I challenged her and was told it was none of my business how she made her money. She went on, in a raised voice, to tell me that it was her right to collect this material from individual homes since it was trash. After that encounter I find no reason for me to put cans and bottles in the yellow recycle container and place them on the curb; I do recycle paper. This really bothers me since I honestly want to be environmentally responsible and believe this is an important if not essential thing to do. I am a realist and know it is not possible for the City to control these scavengers and keep them out of residential communities.

I am aware of at least one city in So Cal where all recyclable materials are placed in one large container similar to the ones currently in use for regular trash and green waste and then collected by a trash truck. I believe this type of collection was part of a proposal to our City by the trash company servicing Oceanside. My understanding is that the City Council chose to summarily dismiss the proposal without discussion. If my information is accurate, I strongly urge the City leaders to convene for a serious discussion on this matter.

It is doubtful that I am the only Oceanside homeowner refusing to put cans and bottles in the recycle bin in an effort to discourage scavengers. I have no idea who they are and have no problem with people working to earn a living. I do find it disturbing that they roam our city streets engaged in this business. It is interesting that the collecting of recyclable material is so profitable that the scavenger can afford to drive a Cadillac Escalade. Additionally, the position that permitting this activity is acceptable because the end result of recycling this material is achieved is a silly argument. One final point, there are Oceanside residents who cannot lift a container full of recyclables. A wheeled container should accommodate most people.

/s/Ed Hollingsworth
Oceanside

Editor’s Comment: We checked with the Escondido City Attorney’s office and they advise us that the Municipal Code in Escondido prohibits such activity. Specifically MC 14-70 applies in Escondido.

I forwarded your email to Dave Manley, Oceanside’s Code Enforcement officer. Contrary to what the lady in your email told you, there is a code violation involved here. If you will get a description, license plate number, etc., Mr. Manley assured me they would provide surveillance and attempt to issue a citation. You may reach his office at 760.435-3065.

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