Our Readers Write: Pinniped policies, Windansea belvedere, UCSD chancellor

San Diego’s pinniped policies are reckless

I agree with the opinion of Bob Evans, president of La Jolla Parks & Beaches, who eloquently argues against further closures of our local beaches in his April 27 opinion in the La Jolla Light (“Closing Point La Jolla year-round is a mismanagement plan”).

Our beautiful La Jolla coastline is being mismanaged by the city of San Diego. City policy- makers are not looking at the big picture, which includes the residents and visitors who seek to enjoy the ocean and the recreational opportunities afforded by our beaches.

Instead of visitors and residents actually enjoying our beaches, outside interests and social media pressures have caused our coastline to be managed like an open-air zoo. Buses with tourists seeking to glimpse sunbathing sea lions have been prioritized over local swimmers and beach enthusiasts.

People gather to watch sea lions at Point La Jolla in June 2021.

(Elisabeth Frausto)

Pinnipeds overpopulate our beaches, ravage our tide-pool ecosystem and pollute our waters. The serious health hazard afforded by the decision to let the pinniped population grow unchecked has bacteria levels so high that the Children’s Pool is effectively closed for public use. The Point La Jolla closures are the direct result of the policy of the city of San Diego to allow the pinnipeds priority over people.

Pinniped advocates do not take into account that there are thousands of other locations along our coastline and on the islands off our coast for pinniped pupping. The recent “management plan” in favor of enacting a year-round closure of Point La Jolla is a continuation of the myopic policy of the city of San Diego which values tourism and revenue over other options that would allow for the enjoyment of our own beaches and tide pools.

As Bob Evans pointed out, it is the reckless policies of the city of San Diego that have negatively impacted our coastal environment and our ecosystem, causing our waters to become polluted by pinniped overpopulation and denying residents and visitors the enjoyment that the ocean affords.

Cameron Volker

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Return La Jolla’s coast to the people

My children were born and raised in La Jolla in the 1960s. One of our joys of living there was to spend our days at the Children’s Pool that was paid for by Ellen Browning Scripps to provide a safe place for kids to swim and play.

We could see the seals perched on the rocks and swimming, always keeping their distance. I love the seals, but one day a couple of them “beached.”

Then suddenly a group of people from out of town decided the precious beach belonged to the seals.

Many meetings later, the power of the “seal-huggers” trumped the benevolent act of Ellen Browning Scripps.

Now that and other gorgeous coves are being threatened so that no people can enjoy them.

Please, people in charge, do the right thing and return these precious coves to which they were intended.

Sara Beveridge

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Belvedere opponents have had their say and should get out of the way

A photo illustration shows a belvedere similar to the one planned for Windansea superimposed in the location where it would be built.

(Jim Neri)

In response to your article in the April 27 issue headlined “Opponents of planned Windansea belvedere request delay of Coastal Commission hearing to 2024”:

Who are these Preserve Windansea Beach Association members and why don’t they have the character to take their losses and go away gracefully?

Their objections to the planned belvedere at Windansea Beach have been heard, reviewed, disputed and denied at multiple hearings of multiple levels of government for the past three years.

Now they are trying to delay [California] Coastal Commission approval because of a planned storm drain project that is five blocks from the proposed project site and irrelevant? How obstinate and self-absorbed are these people?

Do any of them have enough history in La Jolla to remember when the original belvedere existed in that location, matching the others along the coast all the way up to The Cove? I certainly do, and recall what a charming and welcoming note these small green gazebos cast on the shoreline vistas of this town the first time I saw them back in the 1950s as a young child.

Do they not recognize the overwhelming support these historical structures have among most local beach users? They are part of the ambiance of this village.

We have the opportunity now to replace one that was torn down in an act of vandalism without expending any taxpayer funds due to the efforts of Friends of Windansea. Many good-hearted and generous people have contributed to this project to restore and beautify the coastline while offering beach-goers a little shade and shelter on a barren stretch of the bluff.

Please stop standing in their way, delaying the project and driving up the cost needlessly.

Thomas Parks Tweed

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UCSD shouldn’t have kept Khosla, much less given him a raise

The fact that UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla was given a $500,000-per-year raise to stay in his position is, simply put, despicable (“UC San Diego chancellor given $500,000 pay raise to prevent him from taking presidency at private school,” April 20, La Jolla Light).

This proves that UCSD only cares about making money. Notice the increased traffic and skyscraper mini-cities popping up all over this once-peaceful coastal hamlet? We have Mr. Khosla to thank for that.

Instead of jumping at the opportunity to be rid of such a scandalous figure, UCSD actually incentivized him to stay. [Qualcomm co-founder and UCSD benefactor] Irwin Jacobs should be ashamed of himself for contributing to this cause.

Karl Myers

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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. See the full policy at lajollalight.com/policy. ◆