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CRA News October 1999
Selected articles from the newsletter of the Carmel Residents Association
Harvey Kuffner had lots of help from these eager young people in weighing
all the collected beach litter at the International
Coastal Cleanup.
City Attorney will share his insights into Carmel issues
| Thursday, October 28 -- Regular CRA Meeting | |
| 4 p.m. -- Light Refreshments 4:30 p.m. -- Don Freeman speaks 6 p.m.-- Fabulous spread of hot and cold hors d'oeuvres outside on the deck Vista Lobos Meeting Room, Torres between 3rd & 4th |
|
When Don Freeman talks about our village and the issues which impact it, he brings a unique perspective. As Carmel-by-the-Sea City Attorney since 1984, he has been integrally involved in almost every issue to come before the City Council and Planning Commission. In addition to his private law practice, he currently serves on the Sunset Center Project Building Committee. Beyond being a city advisor, Mr. Freeman has broad experience as a public servant. He served on the Pacific Grove Planning Commission from 1988-90 and from 1977-97 held the elected position of member of the Monterey Peninsula Community College District Board of Trustees, serving for three years as Chair. He currently is also Interim City Attorney for the City of Seaside.
Mr. Freeman will discuss current local and regional issues which will have impacts on the future of Carmel-by-the-Sea and how we might work to prevent or mitigate them. Conversant on almost any topic related to city or county government, he will also spend time responding to audience questions and comments. When Mr. Freeman spoke in January, 1994 to a jammed CRA meeting, the question period was fascinating and could have gone on for hours.
Monthly Beach
Cleanup
Saturday, Oct. 23 10 a.m. - noon
* Volunteers meet at foot of Ocean Avenue* Please bring gloves
* Questions, call Kay and Harvey Kuffner at 626-1951
Have a ball,
celebrate the City's 83rd birthday!
March with CRA in the parade
Order barbecue tickets early to save $5
Join your neighbors in celebrating Carmel's
last birthday party of the century on Saturday, Oct. 30. The Halloween parade
down Ocean begins at 11 a.m. at Devendorf Park, followed by a barbecue in
the park at noon.CRA members Zaza Skidmore and Peggy Purchase are in charge of ticket sales and remind you to "take advantage of this great bargain. Buy your ticket ahead of time for $10. Otherwise, you will pay $15 the day of the event."
Mail your check, payable to "CCC" (Carmel Celebrates Community Committee) for $10 per person to Zaza Skidmore, C/O Birthday Party, P.O. Box CC, Carmel, CA 93921. Tickets will be mailed to you. If you have questions, call Zaza at 625-0450. Other CRA members on the CCC Committee are Lisa Budlong, Connie Coleman, Bob Condry, Alice Englander, Wayne Kelley, Barbara Livingston and Ken White.
Once again, the famous, popular CRA Beach Cleanup Precision Marching Drill Team will march in the parade, complete with beach vests and tools and the famous CRA chant:
| In this town of pride and
beauty, To clean the beach is our first duty. Join us in our monthly quest, And keep our beach the very best! |
Marchers should meet at the Vista Lobos parking lot (Torres between 3rd & 4th) at 10:15 a.m. New members are especially invited. Don't worry about the "precision" part. It's fun! Call Kay or Harvey Kuffner at 626-1951 with questions.
Message from CRA President Shirley Humann
Your Carmel Residents Association Board of Directors continues to work to meet goals and objectives as outlined in our Mission Statement--to be certain that "our forested village by the sea is preserved and enriched through advocacy, education and community activities."
We encourage you to become involved. Our monthly programs are held the fourth Thursday of each month. (See details about this month's program.) The beach cleanup takes place on the fourth Saturday morning of each month. And, we urge you to attend meetings of the City Council, usually the first Tuesday of each month at 3:30 p.m., and the Planning Commission, second and fourth Wednesdays, at 4:30 p.m.
As involved residents, we must also step up to the plate to protect our village from unwise changes to our established and proven ordinances as well as promote and support positive changes which will enhance and benefit Carmel.
One person, it is true, can make a difference, but all of us working and thinking together to develop creative solutions to existing problems is a much more effective way to achieve our goals.
International Coastal Cleanup draws enthusiastic helpers
Four thousand two hundred and forty seven (4,247) cigarette butts! That is the number of discarded filters picked up by the crew during the Sept. 18 Coastal Cleanup.
Included in the 98 pounds of trash and another 144 pounds of recyclable material was everything from a sand bunker rake from Pebble Beach [mad golfer?] to disposable diapers. Mountains of paper wrappers, plastic, styrofoam, used bandages, bottles and bottle caps. Curiously, a great number of used doggie bags were found along the beach. Makes one wonder, if someone goes to all the trouble to clean up after his or her dog, why then leave it to litter the beach? One person asked if the fact that the bags in the city containers say "biodegradable" makes people think they can be left to biodegrade?
Overseeing the day were CRA Beach Captains Kay and Harvey Kuffner. The dedicated group of 84 volunteers included Cub Scouts and Carmel High School students. All put in a long three hours, not only picking up litter but keeping track of it on special forms. According to the Center for Marine Conservation, the annual Cleanup Reports "help develop solutions and stop the dumping of trash into marine/aquatic areas."
As always, volunteers received many thank yous and comments from visitors on the beach, including a group from Germany and one from Canada.
Police Department Update for Carmel Residents Association
Detective Sergeant Pete Poitras has made this report available for CRA members:
We are happy to report that crime is down in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Part One Crime was down 44% at the end of August. Part One Crimes include homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, vehicle theft and arson. The total number of Part One Crimes that have occurred thus far appears below:
| Homicide: | 0 | ||
| Rape: | 1 | ||
| Aggravated Assault: | 1 | ||
| Burglary: | 4 | ||
| Larceny: | 32 | ||
| Vehicle Theft: | 1 | ||
| Arson: | 0 |
Part Two Crime is even with last year at 83. These are crimes lesser than Part One, such as forgery, counterfeiting, etc.
While crime is noticeably down, citizens should not let their guard down. Complacency has always been a problem in this community and good news tends to make it harder for citizens to maintain vigilance. We must all work together to ensure that our crime rate remains as low as possible.
If you do not have one already, we recommend that you strongly consider an alarm system in your home. It simply does not make sense to leave your property vulnerable, especially in a community that enjoys a police response time of two minutes or less day or night. That's right, two minutes. Very few, if any, communities can boast such a quick response. This leaves very little time for a burglar to search your home for valuables.
We're frequently asked which type of alarm is better. A silent alarm? or one that rings loud enough to rouse the neighbors? It's not as simple as you might think. In order to increase the chances of catching the criminal, we'd like the alarm to be silent. But, if we were wiring our own homes, we'd probably opt for a noisy one, as this will set the criminals running before they've even made entry.
In any case, please ensure that your system is connected to the alarm company's monitoring facility so that we're called immediately, This costs a little more, but it's worth it. Relying on your neighbors to call the police is less than practical. Experience has shown that people rarely call the police when they hear an alarm activation. There are a lot of reasons why they don't call immediately, but when we finally do hear from them it's because "the darned thing's been ringing for 30 minutes." A half-hour is more than enough time for a burglar to clean out your valuables.
We have been experiencing a rash of thefts from new construction sites and remodels. The suspects are striking between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m., after the work crew has left for the day. Lumber, power tools and building materials are being stolen. Keep an eye out for after-hours "workers" and call the police if you see something suspicious.
