Arrest 'em all

Just a thought: Is there any way that the people authorizing a program under which the city would grow medicinal marijuana could structure their plans so that if the feds move in they would have to arrest everyone? Think for a moment: If the entire city government were arrested, what would happen throughout the rest of the country? Such a move by the government would smell like fascism, and the rest of the country would come to your aid.

George de Merle,

Arlington, Texas

Missed metaphor

Re: Gabriel Roth's "Thanatophilia" (8/20/03).

Seybold's The Lovely Bones is about "letting go." Suzie's life-after-death experiences don't merely allow insight of a sort that more traditional forms of selective omniscience could not have encompassed, but they mirror the lives of the survivors as they deal (for better or for worse) with their loss and get on (for better or for worse) with their lives. I have no difficulty accepting that the murdered girl's ongoing awareness may be a metaphor that leaves Roth cold, but he seems to have completely missed the fact that it is a metaphor. Your loss (so to speak).

For readers who loved this book, Suzie's narration from beyond the grave is a devastatingly effective literary device; but it appears to me that you are saying that our reaction is simply the self-indulgent pleasure of immersing ourselves in a wish-fulfillment fantasy of the nonexistence of death.

Jeremy Cantor,
San Francisco

The case for the condo-library

Re: "Let Them Eat Books" and the editorial "Reject the Condo Library" (8/20/03).

The article and editorial infer that the new library in the Glen Park Marketplace project (along with a family-owned grocery store and 15 apartments, two of them low-income) is a bad idea that results from back-room deals and that "traffic studies, environmental reviews, and the property appraisal were similarly skewed to favor the developer." And the subhead describes "pro-development forces" battling "community interests," with the editorial telling the board to start listening to the community.

In fact, the project was the subject of 30 community meetings and public hearings. The project team had booths at the Glen Park Festival for the past two years and hosted a storefront open house attended by neighbors with a range of opinions.

The Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, and Board of Appeals endorsed the accuracy of the listed studies. The Sierra Club, Housing Action Coalition, Bicycle Coalition, SPUR, the Executive Committee of the Glen Park Association, and the past presidents of the Glen Park Merchants Association have supported the proposals. Scores of residents wrote letters and testified at hearing in support of the project.

The project was unanimously supported by the Planning Commission (including the supervisors' appointees) and the Board of Supervisors, as well as by the Library Commission, Budget Analyst, and the Board of Permit Appeals.

It's not because of "high-powered lobbying" that they support the Marketplace. They all agree that the development is a good idea for the city and for Glen Park.

I am confident that once the library, grocery store, and new neighbors replace the hole in the center of Glen Park, the project opponents cited in the article will come to agree.

David Prowler,
San Francisco

Matthew Hirsch responds David Prowler, who lobbied for the Glen Park Marketplace, misrepresents the support for the project, which was predicated on his own assurance that environmental impact would be minimal. The Sierra Club (which Prowler identifies as a supporter) has called for a full environmental review before any construction begins, and now the Board of Supervisors is also reconsidering its decision to back the project.

Affordable housing in Glen Park

We don't understand your opposition to the Glen Park Branch Library, grocery, and condo project. As people who prefer an intimate city, with our everyday needs – such as groceries, libraries, parks, jobs, and child care – available within walking distance, our "community interests" are served by this project. In fact, the local neighborhood association, as well as the Housing Coalition, strongly supported this project at the Planning Commission months ago.

The biggest complaint of the opponents of this project was the lack of parking for the grocery store and library – even though there are three grocery stores with parking lots within a mile of the place! The extra space for parking would have increased traffic in an already congested area, and the cost of building that parking would have been paid through higher prices for groceries and less space for the library.

If this city is to remain affordable for immigrants and the working class, we must quit subsidizing parking and start building more housing close to transit. This project already reflects a decent compromise between the desire of a few neighbors for more parking and our request to replace the 15-car residential garage with three more housing units (thereby making the housing more affordable).