Is cliff cleaner Mike Slater a saint or a sinner?
Fed up with what he calls “Sacramento’s bureaucratic cowplop,” talk radio personality, Jim Slater, last week took it upon himself to sweep away the cormorant and sea lion poop from the Cove cliffs to rid La Jolla of the stench now making national headlines.
Those it’s-gonna-take-two-years naysayers be damned, Slater blogs about his solo efforts at http://sdrostra.com/?p=32151
Mike Slater. Courtesy
“While our bureaucratic-laden government racks its collective brain, it rained on Friday afternoon,” he writes, “So I walked out on the rocks with a push broom and facilitated Mother Nature’s natural cleaning process and pushed the poop into the ocean. It’s not illegal to be on the rocks, and I didn’t use any ‘outside’ water source. Just the rain.
It took two hours to clean the entire cove. Is this going to solve the problem for all time? No. The birds started pooping the next day.”
For his bravado, the cove-side restaurant Brockton Villa named a sandwich after him. Now, Slater is calling upon Boy Scout troops and others to “tell Sacramento to take a hike and just clean the bird poop. Consider it our duty as San Diegans.”
Posted responses to his activity ranged from “atta boy!” to “must be nice to break the law when you don’t agree with it.”
Whether a publicity stunt (seems like radio hosts are doing those these days) or a civic-minded duty, Slater’s actions point to the frustration that leads to the desperation that leads to anarchistic acts.
Will he face prosecution? Will he be fined? It’s surely something to think about, and it’s this week’s poll question at lajollalight.com if you want to weigh-in.
Our vote is for sinner … wink … wink.
Related posts:
- Fed up with the La Jolla Cove stench? It’s time to let city officials know!
- Local officials still grappling with La Jolla Cove stench
- Free parking is a great equalizer, paying for spots in Balboa Park is not
- Slow down everybody. It’s summer in the city.
- OPINION: Cyclists use roundabouts, too
Short URL: http://www.lajollalight.com/?p=98872
Posted by 
Oh good grief. He swept bird crap off rocks into the ocean and he's an anarchist? 30 years ago, he'd have been elected to the President of the Town Council
Here's to anarchy!
Awesome job Mike Slater ! I was down there a few weeks ago, and the stench was horrendous ! I live up the coast a bit in Carlsbad, and I love visiting, LaJolla is beautiful, but it really put me off with that smell. No harm done. I think you are a good citizen !
Good for you, my friend. Good for you. Next time, I'll help.
What a beautiful Christmas present to La Jolla and all of us,thank you Mr.Slater!
I think what he did is awesome, if the birds n seals woulda pooped a lil sooner it would haveended up in the ocean anyway. You think that the city would realize they're going to lose $ by not taking care of this problem, it would be cheaper to hire a few people to clean here n there than losing all those visitors n tourists…being that $ is all they ever care about, I'm surprised they wouldn't have thought of this already.