Editor,
I am writing to express my strong displeasure with the recent decision
to lock the tax-paying neighbors out of the enclosed high school track
during school hours.
We, the taxpayers, voted to fund the construction of our beautiful track, partially based on the fact that it would be a shared facility that could be used by all. The attitude of the current administration is based upon their misplaced concern over the security
issues created by having an open track.
This is a valid concern in some communities but is very far from the truth in Laguna Beach. If anything the fact that the track is used by many in the community offers more eyes and ears to watch for any wrong-doing that may take place. Without question, it is a much safer environment due to the fact that there are almost always several adult users present!
I have no knowledge of any problems that have taken place during the school hours in the past. This is a clear example of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” and should not be allowed. If there is to be a lock out, possibly it should be aimed at the narrow-minded bureaucrats that have the spare time to make issues such as this become a priority. They should be focusing on the education of our kids and not attempting to prevent problems that are happening elsewhere in totally different communities.
Laguna Beach is a special place and we need to work hard to keep it that way, not to reduce it to the level of some other crime-ridden neighborhoods. This new policy needs to be eliminated so we can keep Laguna Beach special and not start the downward spiral to being “just another place on the map.”
Roger Cayce, Laguna Beach
