Is Councilman Really Wanted?
I believe that Zareh Sinanyan should face a recall election. His amorphous statements about whether or not he wrote those bigoted and all-around crude comments, and his accusation of a smear campaign orchestrated by councilperson Laura Friedman, misled the voters of Glendale (especially those who knew how easy it is to impersonate someone online). Many of the people who voted for him may have done so believing that he did not write those comments, a belief that would be shattered mere weeks after the election when he admitted to writing them. Considering how he only won by 356 votes, his election may have been won by his dishonesty. Now that the truth is out, I think that the people of Glendale deserve the opportunity to decide if they really want Mr. Sinanyan on the City Council.

Morgan Nrykkyyn
Glendale

Prompt Recall Urged
It was with great revulsion that I read the article about Glendale City Councilmember Zareh Sinanyan’s detestable religious, racist, and sexist slurs and his subsequent attempts to deny his comments to avoid blame.     Unfortunately, the article failed to report where the comments appeared(!) but, regardless, his actions are deplorable. Especially in a week when the Armenian community raises our consciousness to the atrocities of the Genocide during World War I and subsequently, I find it shocking that Mr. Sinanyan can still have any supporters. I look forward to his prompt recall.

Thankfully, the [April 25] paper also included an article about the fitting recognition of Cheryl Davis’ untiring work for our community. I have witnessed Cheryl in action on a number of occasions and, personally, I find her to be a role model in terms of her courtesy, sincerity, decorum, fair-mindedness, and leadership.

I am reminded of Deepak Chopra’s words, “Enlightened leadership…is the domain of awareness where we experience values like truth, goodness, beauty, love and compassion…

Thank you, Cheryl, for your enlightened leadership.

Madeleine Tormey McBride
La Crescenta

Agrees with Chase
Jim [Chase], you nailed it! I bet in the long run you are going to catch the devil for that column (“Let’s Ban Pressure Cookers,” My Thoughts Exactly, April 25).

Your column made me think about all of the deadly weapons I have. Let’s see. There is the gun of course, the pressure cooker, two cars, two hammers, some Pentel .5mm pencils and large plastic trash bags just for starters. I would not dare put in print what the last two can do. Let us just say that the U.S. Army taught millions of us how to be creative.

The point that few will point out is that honest people would not think of committing mayhem. If we just had one thing and only one thing in this world, there would be no problems. What we really need are honest, law abiding criminals. If criminals obeyed the laws this would be a easy place to live. The mad man at Sandy Hook broke about 41 laws in carrying out his rampage. Our elected representatives seen to think that the 42nd law will stop such behavior for all time. Silly folks. The first 10 laws given to Moses should have prevented all of this.

Keep it up. I really look forward to each week’s column.

Take care.

Tom Suter
La Crescenta

Deceptive Gun Control Measures
Having served in the military for our country for many years, I have seen many covert strategies used to deceive the enemy. The gun control measures that some of our legislatures are currently trying to put into place reeks of a strategically planned operation to disarm the American public and I am praying to God that they do not fall for it.

The amount of anti-gun propaganda is part of the strategy and it turns my stomach. They are attempting to gain a broad agreement through any means they can to convince us that we need to “get rid of the guns.”

The 2nd Amendment was put into place for future self-preservation; mainly to protect the people from oppressive government that was out of control and acting against the peoples’ best interest.

Statistics compiled from FBI, Centers for Disease Control and the federal government show that yearly in the U.S., tobacco is the leading cause of death. Medical errors are second with 195,000 per year. The ninth and 10th [reasons] listed are homicides with non-fire-arm related coming in ninth (16,799) and 10th, firearm related ones coming in last at (11,493.)

I suspect ulterior motives in the push for gun-control. Even Senator Rand Paul says the gun legislation being proposed by Senator Feinstein will be the end of our 2nd Amendment. When people can no longer protect themselves, they become in essence, “sitting ducks.”

Lastly, I think it would be prudent of us to recall what happened after gun control was implemented in Germany in 1938: from 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews and others who were no longer able to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated. We as Americans should not be so foolish as to think this couldn’t happen here.

Speak out, Americans!

Alex Conwin
La Crescenta

Fair and Balanced?
Recently Sheriff Baca has been the target of the Left Angeles Times to the extent that it is obvious they have an agenda. What doesn’t get reported are the ground-breaking programs which the Sheriff has initiated and continues to develop. He has established over 30 advisory councils which consist of different ethnic and religious groups that advise him on issues which pertain to their particular community. Through this sharing of information, the Sheriff is able to relay new laws and policing techniques which might directly impact various diverse groups. In return, these groups provide feedback on how the Sheriff’s Department can better serve their community.

Sheriff Baca also implemented a jail education program which teaches inmates life skills in the hopes of reducing recidivism.  This program, Education Based Incarceration, has become a nation-wide model for progressive leaders of law enforcement.

These are only a couple examples of the dozens of programs Sheriff Baca has championed which no other law enforcement official has been willing to tackle.

Oh yeah, let’s not forget that crime is at historic low levels! Personally I am looking forward to Lee Baca’s leadership for as long as he wants the job.

Mike Leum, Assistant Director
Reserve Chief, Search and Rescue
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
Reserve Forces Bureau

Doesn’t Care for the View
I wonder if others in the local community are beginning to feel a bit apprehensive about how development at the end of Deerpass Road, above Whiting Woods, is progressing. It is beginning to look like it will fail to adhere to Section 30.11.040 of the Glendale Municipal Code.

The code states that “property on steep slopes shall take into account the visual impact on surrounding properties” and “development shall be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood in terms of size, scale, mass/bulk, roofline orientation and setbacks.”

Even in its current state, with the relatively natural color of wood framing visible, the structures can be seen throughout the surrounding community. For the many in the community whose appreciation of the Verdugo Mountains extends to venturing into them for a pleasant hike, the structures now completely dominate the hillside.

No other property in the surrounding neighborhood comes remotely close to having the enormous visual impact this property is beginning to exhibit. It appears that, when complete, this development will utterly dominate and define the view above Whiting Woods and the Verdugo Mountains as seen from the valley community below.

I realize that construction is ongoing but perhaps it’s time to revisit what plans are in place for minimizing the visual impact to the surrounding community, as per Section 30.11.040 of the Glendale Municipal Code, once development is completed. I am aware of previous plans for development some years ago and the compromises that were made, however, the current municipal code should still stand in letter and in spirit.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my concern and, perhaps, a concern shared by others in the community.

Michael Davies
La Crescenta

Advocates Education
I wanted to comment on a recent article that was submitted by Suzy Jacobs, written by Lisa Vartanian, Ph.D., MFT, assistant professor  psychology/addiction studies at East Los Angeles College. Suzy is the executive director of the Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition (CVDAPC) and the article covered the dangers of prescription medications and how they are being abused, especially by teens.

I have been involved in drug education for many years as a volunteer and can vouch for the effectiveness of educating young people on the dangers of drugs. There is no way that a parent can protect their children 100% of the time against these dangers, but giving kids a solid, realistic understanding of what the drugs can actually do to them can be a life saving endeavor.

One of the solutions proposed was to remove the temptation for teens  by having  members of the community  utilize the periodic National Prescription Drug Take Back events whereby unused or old prescriptions can be disposed of via the different outlets set up around town.

I worked as a volunteer at one of these events last year and was amazed at how many people appreciated the service. We had boxes filled with unwanted drugs. We also conducted surveys relating to drug problems in the community and handed out drug education booklets.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid pain relievers, (the category that includes Oxycodone and Hydrocodone) caused 14,800 overdose deaths in the year 2008 alone.

I surveyed a few fireman one day while at the local Coffee Bean and asked them what drugs were the most common ones they dealt with on emergency calls. With no hesitation, they said overdoses of Vicodan and OxyContin.

I cannot advocate highly enough the importance of educating young people on the dangers of these drugs and am glad there are groups out there like CVDAPC to help.

Trissie Badger
Glendale