Posted on January 7 at 8:23 p.m.

I didn't think that was a cheap shot, Ken. I too read "private sector" and thought, what?
Definitely a cheap shot about Paula Lopez though, Beachgirl. I say, when one finds oneself wanting to make a negative comment about someone's weight, how 'bout just... don't. Anyway Paula definitely looked all-over ill for a while there, and I'm happy to see her looking better. All journalistic criteria aside.
Mr. Adams, I changed my perfectly good name because I wanted to have the same name as my husband and children, and I don't like hyphenated names. I kept my maiden name as my middle name and use all three. I like it. Here, though, I use my double secret undercover name, Mrs. Nitz.

On Joe Gehl Leaving KEYT

Posted on November 23 at 4:36 p.m.

I'm with Ken and Don Jose (except I can't stand the Granada Garage, other than the attached condos and sculpture garden). Our parking lots are essential to our city plan, and our downtown core that works well for both autos and pedestrians. I am a downtown business owner (and, by the way, a solid left winger who's perfectly happy to see homeless people fed). I'm also fine with government taking taxes and in return giving us public roads and their logical extension, public parking. It's a great exchange, some of the best bang you can get for your buck nowadays. I can't imagine the thinking of some state government operative who could deny that parking lots are a legitimate function of government. Aren't roads something both the right and the left agree on? No private entity could do it better or for anything close to the same cost.

Well my break's over, got to get back to work.

On State Challenges City Parking Lot Ownership

Posted on October 24 at 10:31 a.m.

John Adams, in this case the specific street names were very clear, De La Vina and Canon Perdido. Not Milpas, nor anywhere near.

On Homeless Biker in Critical Condition

Posted on October 20 at 1:01 a.m.

Sounds like a case for Kinsey Millhone.

On The Mysterious Case of Christopher Marks

Posted on September 25 at 12:55 p.m.

Thanks Ken. I can dream. Overall I think the city does a fine job with the lots downtown (except the Granada money-pit debacle). As a merchant, though, we get treated to endless reminders that we for-profits (ha) are just lucky to be there, no courtesy is required when addressing us on the subject of signage, etc., and no fee is too high or too random for us to bear.

On Theater Remodel Causing Parking Pain

Posted on September 25 at 11:32 a.m.

Ken, they are doing a massive remodel in there, I'm not sure what all, but more than just seating. They are taking space from the lot to use as a staging area for supplies and trucks, as there is no room on Victoria St. To this end, they have already removed several trees from the parking lot, and they are going to change the entrance on Victoria to the exit. They have already put a new temporary exit kiosk there.

I am a merchant on Anapamu between State and Chapala. In case ya'll don't know already, we merchants pay a percentage of our monthly sales to the city for the maintenance of the parking lots. This does not entitle us to park in the lots, nor is the city is under any obligation to keep any specified number of spaces available.

I am recommending my customers use the lot between Figueroa and Anapamu, from which you can walk out to Anapamu through the quadrangle where Restaurant Nu used to be (now the courtyard for Pete's, etc.)

There is the Granada Garage, but that is the worst-designed parking structure I've ever had the misfortune to park in. I'd rather use the library lot and walk through the library foyer to get to Anapamu.

I love the ensemble theater, but I wish they could have scheduled this 8-month project not to coincide with the holiday season. We were slammed last year by construction at Maggie's, and now this. I don't believe anyone involved simply has a clue or gives a ...

--Nitz's wife

On Theater Remodel Causing Parking Pain

Posted on September 3 at 10:47 a.m.

I am put in mind of Mark Twain's Rules of Writing, especially the following:

13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
18. Employ a simple, straightforward style.

I am also put in mind of the current fad of Ayn Randian glorification of people of "stature" and its attendant dismissal of the "small," "mediocre," "rule-wringing" parasites who seek to bring down the great solely for motives of personal envy.

This letter is a thesaurus of words of snide dismissal, leading me to observe that though the Author claims to derive no enjoyment from the process, the result suggests quite the contrary.

On The Lance Armstrong Case

Posted on August 25 at 6:57 p.m.

Thanks East Beach, I didn't know that. Yet another reason to stay away from franchising. I am a small business owner and I've contemplated buying a franchise in the past, but it seemed like I'd be turning myself into a corporate pawn on my own dollar. No thanks, not for all the TV support and brand name recognition money can buy. Anyway the only national brand I'm loyal to is Best Foods mayonnaise :-) Well my point still stands: the applicant's politics should not come into it.

On When Abstinence Is Not the Best Policy

Posted on August 25 at 6:20 p.m.

Rex, you can notice it. I will also notice that you replaced Holly's word White with the word Anglo. Anglo is not a replacement for White. I am white, and I am not Anglo. I am Jewish and Irish. Anglo was invented by white supremacists to distinguish themselves from people like me. Holly got that one right. As for the rest of it, you could go either way with the depictions, either making it inclusive of everyone of every possible type of ethnicity/race/gender/ability, or just one or two that happen to predominate in the neighborhood. Anywayze I've got olive skin and dark hair, so the gals I see in the mural look enough like me to satisfy me.

On Bohnett Park Gets Major Makeover

Posted on August 25 at 6:05 p.m.

Isn't the applicant in this case just a guy who pays a franchise fee for the Chick-fil-a name? Some guy who likely didn't know about the politics of the corporation's owner, who then gets thrown under the bus when Mr. Cathy "I don't hate gays, I just want'em in the closet" gets all out there about it. Of course I don't know about the applicant's politics, but that's my point: how often does the board hear about the applicant's politics? If a big right winger wanted to change his chimney, would members of the board need to recuse themselves? Or, if a gay couple wanted to add a bedroom for their adopted child, would someone against gay adoption need to recuse themselves? What happens when the Sign Committee gets to review a new sign for our sweet little porno shop Adult Bookstore? I'm a big liberal myself, and I think Mr. Cathy is a dangerous creep, but fair is fair. The design review process in this town is already famous for its length and arbitrariness. ABR needs to stick to the subject at hand, and if incapable of doing so for any reason, members should resign.

On When Abstinence Is Not the Best Policy