Flyover just a PR show for officials...

Flyover just a PR show for officials

I guess it’s lucky a photographer just happened to be at the

airport as our local congressman, a city councilman and an assistant

city manager took off in a helicopter to check out the fire damage

(“A fire’s aftermath,” Oct. 5).

Obviously, that’s not what happened. An aide to congressman or a

city staff person contacted the press, and it was an event staged for

the newspaper’s camera, one that accomplished virtually nothing for

taxpayers. What information did the tour provide that wouldn’t be

available to the same officials at absolutely no cost through routine

television coverage, or through first-hand reports from those experts

responsible for fighting the fires? The only purpose served was to

keep a couple of elected officials in the public eye.

Even if there was some minimal benefit to taxpayers to have the

elected officials tour the area days after the fires were essentially

put out, which I strongly doubt, I can’t figure out how the tour

warranted front page coverage in a newspaper. There’s little

incentive for politicians to forego these pointless, public relations

exercises if the media jump at the opportunity to cover them under

the guise of “news.” The fire was news.

Assessing the handling of the fire is news. The lessons learned

being studied and implemented to fight future fires is news. But

covering this helicopter ride was PR.

At the very least, I’d like to see Rep. Adam Schiff’s reelection

committee promptly issue a check to repay Burbank for his share of

the city’s expense for the tour.

STEVEN R. PETERSON

Burbank

In favor of dwelling ordinance

Regarding “Council gives conversion thumbs down,” Oct. 1-2, we are

in favor of this rule, because parking is always a problem. Most

households have two cars and have a driveway that will hold one car,

so one car is usually on the street.

On our street, one homeowner is illegally renting out her

guesthouse, so that is an extra car on the street and she won’t allow

him to park in front of her house. The house across the street houses

several families -- there is an older woman, whose son has hired a

caregiver for her. The caregiver has two daughters who grew up in the

house, the daughters have boyfriends who reside in the house, one

daughter has a baby and the caregiver’s husband spends weekends

frequently. That makes six cars for the one house. And to top it off,

Cinema Secrets won’t let their employees park in their lot, so

several have gotten handicapped placards and park on our street. I

don’t know how unusual our situation is but if we had rentable

housing units on the street it would be intolerable because there

would only be street parking for the tenants.

BARBARA AND FRANK BALLOU

Burbank

School food should have health warning

This is National School Lunch Week, proclaimed by President

Kennedy in 1963 to raise public awareness of child nutrition. More

than 28 million children in 100,000 schools and child care facilities

participate in U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch

Program.

Unfortunately, the lunch fare is made up largely of USDA’s surplus

meat, milk, and cheese commodities, which contain excess protein,

saturated fats, and cholesterol and account for the epidemic of

obesity, diabetes, and heart disease afflicting our children.

Moreover, most nutrition education materials are provided to schools

by the meat, dairy and junk food industries.

According to USDA’s own surveys, 90% of our children consume

excessive amounts of fat and only 15% eat the minimum daily

recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. These early dietary

flaws become lifelong addictions, contributing to an escalating

public health crisis.

Not surprisingly, 5.3 million American children are overweight,

25% have high cholesterol and blood pressure, and 30,000 suffer from

Type 2 diabetes, once limited to adults.

But change is on the way. Hawaii, California, and New York

legislatures passed resolutions asking schools to offer a daily vegan

or vegetarian option to every child. National health advocacy

organizations and local parents groups have mobilized to improve

school food quality.

Parents and others who care about this critical issue should work

with their PTAs in demanding healthy school meals, snacks, and

vending machine items. Additional information is available at

choiceusa.net, healthyschoollunches.org, asfsa.org/nslw, and

schoolmeals.nal.usda.gov.

BRANDEN KUSHER

Burbank