Our Readers Write: Tennis Club, vendors, Windansea belvedere, scooters, more

Letters to the editor:

Using consultant in search for Tennis Club manager wasn’t a bad thing, all things considered

In a recent edition of the La Jolla Light there was an article regarding the outrage about paying a consulting firm $20,000 to compile a list of candidates to fill the managerial position at the La Jolla Tennis Club “La Jolla Tennis Club’s $20,000 contract for manager search triggers ‘sticker shock’ with some members,” March 3).

This outrage is not justified. If memory serves, in 2021 the board of directors formed a committee to find a manager. After an extensive search, the board decided to hire a person with literally no experience as a tennis club manager and, as predicted, this manager was let go after only eight months.

Therefore, everyone should not be outraged about hiring a consulting firm to find the next manager. Instead, everyone should be thankful that the directors realized they are totally incompetent in hiring qualified personnel.

Naturally, one wonders whether paying $20,000 for a service that any reasonable tennis club would accomplish by making three or four phone calls to prominent San Diego tennis professionals would be considered incompetent as well.

Stefano Poggi

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Vendors spoil visit to Children’s Pool

We went to La Jolla recently and I was so upset! There were vendors everywhere, some vending out of the trunk of their cars, some vending in the red zones and one vendor, as we were walking by, spilled quite a bit of oil from his churro cart all over the street. This was in front of the lifeguard station at the Children’s Pool.

The sidewalk is very dirty from spilled foods. Why are we allowing this in one of our jewels of San Diego?

Annette Pretto

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La Jolla’s not what it used to be

I recently was visiting La Jolla, a place I’ve visited many, many times since I was a child.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, my family would rent a vacation apartment at the Cove Suites. At that time, La Jolla was truly a quiet little place. Boomer Beach had surfers, The Cove was home to myriad tide pools and I could swim at the Children’s Pool. It was a treat to have breakfast at John’s Place in the Arcade Building, shop for nice clothes at the Little People’s Store and ride a bike along the coastline. I think of La Jolla as a magical place where nature was a treat to be respected.

On this visit I was sorry to see a shift in the vibe at the coastline. All the vendors selling things under tents just cheapens the atmosphere. Sea lions were literally hopping the seating wall near Boomer Beach and fighting each other and being aggressive, rightfully, against humans trying to pet them. And the newly renovated Cove Suites now has a booming nightclub on its rooftop that is sending blinking lights and percussive music out into the night air.

I hope some of this encroachment can be reined in, as La Jolla is a dreamy place of open-water swimmers, marine life that’s thrilling to behold and an achingly beautiful coastline.

I won’t lie -- I felt a pang of sadness to see these changes to the area. I do hope La Jolla can maintain its sense of place and quiet in the face of such modern pressures.

Rebecca Hoffman

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Still many questions about Windansea belvedere project

Is the city of San Diego or the group known as Friends of Windansea going to carry liability responsibility for the Windansea belvedere project? (“San Diego Planning Commission denies appeal aimed at blocking Windansea belvedere plan,” June 30, La Jolla Light).

Will the structure have lighting so no one falls at night? Landscape lighting?

The city doesn’t maintain beach structures now, so there is no reason to think this new building will be maintained.

Sadly, the proposal photo looks like an old-fashioned bus stop blocking a prized view, in my opinion.

Barbara ZoBell

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Not sorry to see Bird go

Regarding “Scooter company challenges San Diego’s decision in shrinking the number of operators,” June 30, La Jolla Light): Bird had years to address the problems their customers caused. But Bird’s management preferred legal maneuvers over fixing the problems.

I am tired of 10-year-olds racing down the sidewalks. Good riddance!

Nicholas Vucelic

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Neighbors have concerns about Fay Avenue subdivision plan

Regarding “Subdivision plan for two houses on Fay Avenue gets La Jolla DPR approval,” June 30, La Jolla Light):

Our property is adjacent to the proposed residential subdivision at 7310/7312 Fay Ave., the proposed development that received the La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee’s blessing on its first review during the board’s meeting June 21.

Contrary to the statement made [at the meeting] by the Fay Avenue subdivision architect [Tim] Golba, the developer has made no attempt to contact the neighborhood residents.

Despite the statement made by Golba, representing the developer, that “the project would not affect any neighboring property owner’s privacy,” neighbors in fact have serious concerns about the project’s impact on their privacy.

Michael Maher

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Street closure for Shores outdoor dining should stay

I have lived here for 34 years and the restaurants’ outside dining is one of the best things to happen to La Jolla Shores. I cannot believe closing 78 yards of street is meeting with resistance (“Reopen full access to Avenida de la Playa,” Our Readers Write, June 30, La Jolla Light). It is still very easy to get around The Shores.

God forbid people should enjoy outside dining in their hometown.

Everybody I have spoken to locally are all for the road closure.

Brian McManus

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Closing walkway for Hillel Center construction causes problems

A pedestrian walkthrough at Cliffridge Avenue and La Jolla Scenic Drive North is closed for construction of the Beverly and Joseph Glickman Hillel Center.

(Courtesy of Kris Colvin)

I am in favor of the Beverly and Joseph Glickman Hillel Center being constructed across the street from UC San Diego. I am not in favor of closing the pedestrian throughway at Cliffridge Avenue and La Jolla Scenic Drive North.

This walkway is essential to the La Jolla Shores Heights neighborhood for easy and safe access to the southwest entrance to the UCSD campus by foot or bike.

They have posted that the walkway will be closed for four months, without any information about what will be there afterward. For now, this is very inconvenient and dangerous.

To get to the crosswalk to access UCSD now, there are two options, neither of them good.

The shorter, more dangerous route is to go east to La Jolla Scenic North and face oncoming traffic with no sidewalk. Can they move their construction fence in to create a sidewalk?

The other option is to go down Cliffridge Avenue and then come back via Torrey Pines. This is a half-mile detour.

Why weren’t pedestrians thought of in Hillel’s plans and ultimately in the city of San Diego’s approval of these plans?

Kris Colvin

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What’s on YOUR mind?

Letters published in the La Jolla Light express views from readers about community matters. Submissions of related photos also are welcome. Letters reflect the writers’ opinions and not necessarily those of the newspaper staff or publisher. Letters are subject to editing. To share your thoughts in this public forum, email them with your first and last names and city or neighborhood of residence to robert.vardon@lajollalight.com. You also can submit a letter online at lajollalight.com/submit-a-letter-to-the-editor. The deadline is 10 a.m. Monday for publication in that week’s paper. Letters without the writer’s name cannot be published. Letters from the same person are limited to one in a 30-day period. ◆