Mailbag:

The new pedestrian bridge at the Bolsa Chica is a monstrosity and an eyesore that blocks the previously attractive view of the natural environment (“Bridge ‘flies’ into place,” Jan. 14).

The high sides are unnecessary and are truly ugly. The angled placement of it only draws even more attention to the awful bridge. If design was up for public review, protesters would be out in force. If that same bridge had been installed by a developer, people would be screaming for its immediate removal!

Voters should weigh in on senior center

First of all, I would like to express my thanks to all of the people who wrote your Jan. 14 Sounding Off (“Don’t be against seniors”) for taking a stand for us “old folks.” I am impressed by the heroic statements made in the face of “judicial arrogance” that intends to undermine our right to vote for the things we, as citizens, are entitled to if that is our wish. I am a 67-year-old retiree, and can identify with the many insufficiencies that are the normal lifestyles of our retired community. I’m also appalled when I have to look upon an old retiree searching in the trash cans for recyclables.

These aged members of our society are the ones who were working the long hours in their younger life to make sure this economy did not fail and produced society’s demands and supplied them! Me too! I could probably go on and on with this topic, but I also think that the word “hypocrite” that was used should also maybe have another word to bring the shame even closer to home, and that word is “selfishness!”

In closing, I would like to say: I am a registered voter. See you at the polls, Judge Velasquez.

Seniors like open space, too

Bravo for Judge Velasquez! In our opinion, the only reason people voted for the senior center in Huntington Central Park was the clamor that was heard — which was about sympathy for aged seniors and what they have done for the community. If we seniors are so important to the community, why hasn’t the Michael E. Rodgers Seniors’ Center been kept up with just cosmetic repairs? Where did all that upkeep money go? Or was it left in its present condition on purpose for more sympathy votes?

As seniors, we know what this city was like in 1940. We as older citizens remember “open space” in our community, comprehend the value of “open space” and wish to preserve what little “open space” we have left for our grandchildren and their children to enjoy and experience.

As I learned from an old friend, the late Jim DeGuelle, follow the money. Thus, the question arises, who will profit most from the loss of the Rodgers center? Who has their eye on it and what will be built there? When I have been there, I have not seen any overcrowding. Where are all these poor seniors that have given their money and votes for a new center?

My husband is handicapped, and when he saw the plans for the new center, he exclaimed, “How in the world will seniors, whose mobility is compromised, ever be able to use that place?” Rodgers is very accessible, close to downtown and the beach. I suggest we either rebuild on that site or utilize the closed schools in Huntington Beach.

We’ll always vote for a judge like Judge Velasquez who can see the big picture.

Writer didn’t have facts straight

In his letter regarding the role of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust in the mesa foot bridge (“Land Trust deserves praise, too,” Mailbag, Jan. 28), Bill Halpin misstates a couple of historical facts.

The Amigos de Bolsa Chica were not “hogtied to silence” as a result of the settlement with the Koll Co. (actually, it was Signal Landmark). We wrote letters to several agencies and testified before the November 2000 Coastal Commission hearing opposing aspects of Signal’s mesa development. In addition, we spoke out in support the commission staff’s recommendation to set aside the lower bench as open space. Signal sued us as a result of that action. Also, credit should go to the various state and county agencies that provided nearly 90% of the cost of the bridge.