Editor: As stated in the Journal’s article (“Run Out on a Rail,” July 25), the North Coast Railroad Authority’s mission is to “maintain rail service.” Those who sit on that board should be all about fulfilling that mission, with “zeal,” I would think. Nothing against Alex Stillman; she is a fine person. She is also clearly on the “trails” side, and with all due respect, may she stay there, or wherever, but she clearly does not belong on the NCRA board. When it comes to political gamesmanship,
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Editor: This letter is not meant as a panacea or fix-all but might work in the short term for the betterment of this community. Let’s look at history prior to World War II and the Great Depression awhile. FDR incorporated the unemployed in public works projects as the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corp to provide sidewalks and other infrastructure for various community needs. The pay was about a dollar per day and stuff got built on a shoestring budget. Currently the economy is in “recovery” — ahem — and the number of able-bodied food stamp recipients have expanded. Where are the community leaders that we elected besides infighting and posing? That safety corridor along U.S. 101 is so named for a reason and there is no excuse not to consider railbanking. I propose that this community stop spending five or six digits hiring engineers to ascertain the costs — it is a simple job of manual labor. I propose that a homeless encampment could be temporarily erected and supplied logistics provided through various nonprofits, Salvation Army, etc. There are grant foundations that would support this endeavor to end homelessness (or houselessness). There are returning veterans who may feel a need to transition back into the
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H St.
Editor: I was glad to see that citizens have kept the “Dan Johnson fiasco” in center stage, but I was quite annoyed with Art Jones’ letter (“Mailbox,” Aug. 1). He characterizes Johnson’s actions as “innocent omission” and asks who was harmed by it. Well, I don’t believe that Johnson just forgot to cite the source for his speech; I am sure that he just grabbed something that sounded good because he was too busy (read lazy) to come up with something himself and was unwilling to pay someone to write something for him. The harm is in not valuing the students enough to take the time to present something from his own heart and assuming that they were not smart enough to figure out that he was plagiarizing someone’s work. In short, he was dishonoring the students as well as everyone else that was there. The other thing that bothers me is how Jones makes the case that Johnson is “a good person,” serving the community, etc. and that is why we should give the guy a break. This is a good example of how the “good old boys” system works — you have people that commit fraud and other sins that are otherwise protected by their peers and those overseeing them, and thus they go on victimizing. I would think of the high school incident as having peeled back a corner of Johnson’s veneer; there are other incidents that also served to peel back some of the veneer. We need to pay attention to these “exposures” of someone’s real character, and ask more questions. Jean Damon, McKinleyville
we can expect all sides to fight hard and as fair as the rules allow. Such things can break either way, so don’t be a sore loser. True “environmentalists” fully support mass transit in almost all forms, including rails. Trails are nice amenities, but they are not going to serve or save planet Earth. Here behind the Redwood Curtain it is easy to hide from the harsher realities and we tend to think of environmentalism in simplistic terms, however it involves a lot more than cycling, and recycling. If the north-south rail line was still working, we would not now be widening Richardson Grove for truck traffic — think about that for just a minute. One can easily be so busy hugging a tree that they can’t see the forest. I agree that the east-west rail line proposal is ridiculous and costly. Further, not needed if the existing north-south line is restored to service. The cost to restore the north-south line, or to abandon it (with remedial clean-up) is probably about the same, and either will require public subsidy. BTW, mass transit (as with our massive carbon-intensive highway infrastructure) will rarely “pay for itself,” and that was very disingenuous argument, coming from the left. Terry A. Clark, Bayside
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denigrates one’s accusers. Oh, and don’t neglect to say what a great person one is, you know, deep down inside. These students are bright, so trust me they get the real message, even if it’s not the one we pretend to send. James “Bronco” Weseman, Eureka
U.S. 101 South
5th Street
Parking behind store northcoastjournal.com • North Coast Journal • Thursday, aug. 8, 2013
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