Mailbag

On the night of Oktoberfest in Montrose, an Obama-Biden sign was stolen from our lawn and discarded, crumpled up, farther up the street. We assumed this was a random act by some outsider who had parked on our street in Sparr Heights on their way to Oktoberfest.

Now, however, someone has taken it upon themselves to replace the B in Obama with an S on signs all around our neighborhood. This is not a random act; this person, or persons, took the trouble to make up pieces of hard plastic printed with an S and then glue them onto the signs. This is very disturbing on so many levels. Apart from the ignorance and stupidity of the act of vandalism, it is unnerving that someone like this is coming onto our property in the middle of the night. It is really sad to think that someone, apparently from our own community, would engage in such reprehensible behavior.

JENNIFER LEE

Glendale

Fires need a full response team

As a retired Glendale fire captain, I am amazed that yet another “expert” has come forward to profess how overstaffed the fire crews are with a four-man crew (“Fire Department critic is accurate,” Mailbag, Friday).

Two times come to mind when we had fires, one in Chevy Chase Canyon and one in La Crescenta, when we had a three-man crew. With the engineer/driver pumping water to us, I was to direct the other units assisting us, pull the hose into the fire with my one firefighter, listen to the radio hanging on the turn-out coat and communicate with that one firefighter about locating the flames and extinguishing the fire, all while wearing a breathing mask that makes it very difficult to communicate with anyone.

I seriously doubt if letter writer Carole Weling or the retired Pasadena police chief has a clue what is really needed. To follow their logic, let’s have one captain/driver/pump operator take the engine or ladder truck to the emergency and blow the air horn four times to call the local residents to come and assist.

That would save the city lots of money. The only cost is that (1) more victims would die or be injured, (2) buildings would have more fire and water damage and (3) the emergencies would grow in seriousness due to time lapse and inexperience of the neighbors. But, look at the money the city would save. Hey! Maybe this would work for the Pasadena Police Department also.

MARVIN OWEN

La Crescenta