Street vendors in a bind

There is a new game in Simi Valley. It's called, "Shake down the street vendor." Here is how it is played:

The City Council passes an ordinance that requires street vendors to move their operations 500 feet every 10 minutes.

A police officer must spend at least 10 minutes waiting to see if a street vendor with a valid seller's permit, by the way moves his vehicle the ordered 500 feet; that's more than an average city block. When they don't move fast enough or far enough, they are ticketed.

To be in compliance with the new city ordinance, the street vendor approaches a nearby homeowner and is granted permission to set up in a private driveway, off the public street.

The police officer returns to ticket the vendor again, the same day, because now the seller's permit, which was legally obtained and paid for, does not list the "new location" address of the driveway where the vendor is selling.

Are we still living in the United States of America, or is Simi Valley working to create its own little police-state-within-a-state? And don't our police officers have anything better to do, like keeping our streets safe from real criminals?

To be perfectly honest, I hesitated to write this letter in the first place because I have to wonder if the city will look for a way to target me for practicing my right to free speech in the same way it is targeting street vendors the right to make a living.

JoLynn Hinger, Simi Valley

Grocery strike bad idea

We'd better get ready to bag our own groceries if the union leaders keep their heads in the sand on this one. Are these folks really acting in the best interest of those they represent? Are they really "leaders" if they encourage a strike?

I urge union leaders to consider the costs of such an action and look at the big picture. Think about the impact on workers, grocers and consumers. Grocery workers should be taking a vote of no confidence in their leaders if they don't get back to the negotiating table fast.

The last union strike cost clerks jobs, lowered their wages and created hurt feelings among the customers. The "friendly" checkout clerk yelling obscenities at shoppers for getting bread and milk did not help customer relations. The bankruptcies, repossessed cars and financial disaster of a few years ago will revisit these clerks. Just like the media now provide news choices other than ABC, NBC and CBS, we, the consumers, have other choices than Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons. These chains will continue on. It is the workers who are shooting themselves between the eyes.

I urge the clerks to think about their families and their jobs, rather than union bosses. The lives that will be hurt are those of the clerks union bosses just move on to other unions. As they strike, they should think of the U.S. auto industry and the steel industry. Unions killed them both, and the clerk's job is next.

Steve Frank, Simi Valley

Supersized signs

A few weeks ago, the city of Thousand Oaks asked the Planning Commission to recommend to City Council size guidelines for the menu signs that line the drive-through lanes at fast-food restaurants. City staff suggested some height and square-footage parameters, and the Planning Commission, acknowledging the need for specific standards, approved them unanimously but significantly reduced the sign sizes suggested.

Members of the commission cited the city's high design standards and noted that a larger sign could be applied for through a special-use permit, as had been done in the past. The sign sizes recommended by staff would have left Thousand Oaks with signs larger than all but Palmdale in a survey conducted of 10 cities, including Westlake, Agoura, Moorpark, Camarillo and Calabasas.

City Council reviewed the Planning Commission's report that would establish the sign standards. Councilwomen Claudia Bill-de la Peña and Jacqui Irwin agreed with the commission on smaller signs, both mentioning the need to consider community aesthetics as well as their faith in the work of the commission.

However, the majority of council Andy Fox, Tom Glancy and Dennis Gillette voted for the larger signs. Gillette was concerned that the signs needed to be big enough for senior citizens to see them. Logically speaking, if a senior couldn't see a Planning Commission-recommended 35-square-foot sign 5 feet from his car, then he probably shouldn't be driving in the first place.

Glancy mentioned visual clutter as a concern but then inexplicably voted for the larger signs.

Finally, Fox dismissed the smaller signs by stating that people going through a drive-through aren't there to see open space anyway.

Apparently, when it comes to fast-food restaurant signs in Thousand Oaks, Fox, Gillette and Glancy have a three-word philosophy: Supersize me.

Albert C. Adam, Thousand Oaks

(The writer is a planning commissioner appointed by Councilwoman Claudia Bill-de la Peña. -- Editor)

Knolls project too dense

As a resident of the Santa Susana Knolls, I was encouraged by Supervisor Peter Foy's pre-election pledge that he would allow each community to have a voice in its land-use affairs and his promise to make public safety his No. 1 priority. To that end, I and my neighbors would direct his attention to an issue with dire consequences for our community: the proposal for high-density development on the Knolls Horse Ranch property.

The proposed 142-unit manufactured home development does not blend with the surrounding neighborhood. The higher density it entails will greatly increase the safety concerns of the entire community, and the proposal to widen Katherine Road from the project to the Santa Susana Pass Road will not meet the need for a secondary access.

Larry Williams, a fire prevention officer with the Ventura County Fire Department, has stated that if the developer can widen Katherine Road through the entire Knolls community, they will accept it as the secondary access for this project. This leaves the impression that the county is willing to change the lives and properties of an entire community in exchange for a new upgraded county road, which the county has no funds to repair.

I look forward to Foy addressing these issues in the very near future.

Roger N. Pearson, Simi Valley