Letter to the Editor: Out with the Old, in with the New

What is going on in West Hollywood is truly gobsmacking. The city seems to be bent on demolishing the historic and overbuilding the new without thought or respect and very little input from its citizens.

It may not be true, but it always feels as if we are given two minutes to speak at council meetings only because it is required by law. There is always an explanation from our leaders that projects will include low-income and/or senior housing, which is a good thing.

But does it have to be at the expense of us average-income folk, some of whom are teetering on the brink of no income in this economy?  

Is over-building the manner in which the city intends to pay for the $100,000,000 (that's one hundred million dollars folks) cost of the and alone?

This is comparatively a tiny community both in square mileage and in population. It seems that we should be able to take care of all of our citizens—from the homeless all the way up to the well-to-do—and protect and preserve our heritage, if we begin to reuse and refurbish what we already possess.  

Let's save the Fickett Library as a reminder of a simpler, cleaner time. Let's save Great Hall/Long Hall as a reminder of the first Great Depression. We are not, nor will we ever be, a big, slick, sleek, city. We are a 1.9-square-mile suburb with some mixed use.

We could be a model of how a small community can get along with a diverse population if we learn to take care of what we have and spend our money wisely.       

—S.J. Harker, 28-year resident of West Hollywood area and executive assistant to progressive political activist Stanley K. Sheinbaum.

West Hollywood Patch accepts Letters to the Editor from residents. Please e-mail yours to Local Editor Danielle Jacoby.