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| Sound Off! e-mail your opinion and we will post it here. |
| Note; After almost 18 months of Sound Off posts, it has become time to begin anew. The page was just getting too big! However, you can re-visit the original posts at the Archives. Another change is that we will post the latest entries at the top of the page instead of at the bottom. |
Beep! This just stinks. How much more vocal do we need to be before our own city leaders stop playing with the home depot? WE DON'T WANT ONE HERE! ANY OF YOU <beep> GET IT? The facts just keep on coming, and HD just keeps finding people corrupt enough from the city to make yet another bid for this very ignorant idea. Yes, I'm referring to your proposed store, and the latest <beep> from our city to attempt to circumvent our local laws. What the <beep>? Do we have to <beep> or something? It's not my style, but personally, I'm getting quite <beep> off. When are these <beep> going to understand that this is the WRONG place for something like this? How do people that care so little for us locals get to make any decisions concerning us? Rocky, you are so gone. Good riddance you <beep>. You'll sleep with those of whom you deserve. Hope your life pans out to exactly what it should be, because karma can be a real <beep>! JC, Tujunga Fatal Attraction I am sorry to sound like a broken record. I feel like one too! As a long time community activist, a local business professional, a family protector and a dedicated lover of Sunland Tujunga I am sick of having to say it over and over, as I am sure everyone else is too. We have nothing personal against Home Depot. Even after Home Depot opted to lie to us, and about us, call us names, bus in paid supporters, ignore our letters to them for four years, refused to talk to us while lying and saying that they did, sneak around putting up racial signs that are not ours then claiming we're all racist, there is no end to the tricks they are willing to play, we still have had no personal vendetta against them despite all that they have done, and continue to do, to us. However, enough is enough, and there is also no point in trying to mediate with someone who is bent on the lying, cheating, hateful behavior that continues to emanate from this corporate giant with whom the community at large has clearly, vocally opposed. It would be tantamount to a criminal mediating with the victim of his crime. It is actually insulting that the city attorney did this. I am simply ashamed of the mockery this attorney's office has made of our great political and judicious system. Home Depot should open up in his backyard! Home Depot is the wrong use for that location. Pure and simple. I wrote to their corporate office, as did many others that I spoke to, before KMart even issued pink slips to their employees. Our KMart was one of the most successful KMarts and was only included in the bankruptcy because of the LEASE on the land, rather than it being OWNED. It is simply awful having to drive for 10-30 miles every time you want to buy something not offered by some of the local shops, like a department store offers. This is just like the FATAL ATTRACTION movie only our stalker is a corporation. Best, Tomi Lyn Bowling Sunland Follow The Money Lemme get this strait...the residents of Monte Vista Mobile Park are cordially invited to speak their mind regarding their concerns toward an environmentally toxic new neighbor,aka HOME DEPOT...yet not a single Apperson Elementary School Parent has received a , uh, leaflet even from the District that their children will be going to school next to an environmental hazard ignored by the City which claims to have their best interest at heart. ohhhh K. Then the School Board wonders why no parents show up for meetings to discuss District safety issues!! PARENTS ARE UNAWARE OF THE DETRIMENTAL ISSUES SURROUNDING HD NEXT DOOR by design. And who is this "dale thrush" anyway? I thought he was on the side of S-T ?? I have heard more than one cynical comment from him regarding safety concerns of these kids and THEIR environment !! Why wont the Woodward Address of the HD Property be ...addressed ??? Why are the children always ignored ? oh yeah,$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Carol T. Sunland The Fine Print of the Stipulation Monday night we learned that there is no residence or stakeholder requirement for the mediation process. People do not have to live and/or work in Sunland-Tujunga to take part in the 'dialogue & deliberation' process. The community was told that since the meeting will be held at Mt. Gleason Middle School, the city mediators are unable to limit access to the proceedings. What sense does it make for people from other communities, people who are not directly affected by the proposed development; people whose children will not be attending the elementary school half a block away; people who do not have homes backing up to the proposed development loading area; people who will not have to navigate the community’s one main artery, Foothill Blvd., competing with Home Depot big rigs and contractor vehicles; people who do not realize the community's general plan has designated that location as a community center, not a semi-industrial warehouse center? And what happened to the stipulation that was filed between Home Depot and the City of Los Angeles which states: “THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED….. (5) the City shall facilitate discussions between Home Depot and Sunland-Tujunga community leaders under the auspices of the City Attorney’s community mediation program to act as a forum for constructive discussion as the settlement process moves forward.” So much for the stipulating that Sunland-Tujunga folks ought to be the ones mediating a proposed development in their own community. Karen Z. Sunland-Tujunga To Home Depot: Stop trying to force your store upon our community. This is not a store needed in our community. I pray that you do the right thing and stop slandering the community with false accusations of racism, and totally ignoring the voices of the community. I have been a loyal customer for many years after observing the tactics practiced by your company. I am no longer shopping at Home Depot . R.G.B. Sunland-Tujunga (Santa Clarita) Tujunga Canyon Blvd and Home Depot...... I've been a resident of Tujunga for the last four years. I live on Tujunga Canyon Blvd, south of Foothill. I never dreamed that traffic on a two-lane canyon road could be such a nightmare. Unfortunately, as I've come to realize, TCB is the MAIN connection between the 210 freeway and east Tujunga. Being a curvy road, sometimes in the morning it takes me OVER 5 minutes to pull out of my own driveway. I won't even get into all of the accident (one fatality even since I've lived here) due to folks driving in excess of 50mph on a 30mph zone. Well, now I am completely terrified of what traffic on my street will become if Home Depot succeeds in opening one of their stores in the old Kmart lot. Not only will I suffer the additional noise and burden of the Home Depot delivery trucks, but will also suffer the noise and burden of countless "local" contractors on their way to and from the store. And since Home Depot opens so early to accommodate these contractors, I just wonder if I'll get out of my driveway at all. Couple that with the rumor I've heard about them wanting to make my street FOUR lanes??? Ugh! I plan to attend the next hearing, but am quite amused at the early time (4pm). Do they think that normal folks like me that work 8-5 jobs can't attend at 4pm? Anyway, I applaud N2HD's efforts on my behalf up to this point. You guys are amazing in what you have accomplished so far. Keep up the great work! Sincerely, Lee Turner From a former resident of our community... As a former resident of Sunland for 30 years, who recently relocated to Oregon, I am happy to see that David can still take down Goliath! I picketed twice before I relocated but in hind sight wish I did it more often. Thank God that we have the right to assemble and bring our grievances before the government. I only hope that the government listens to the will of the people and not the till of the cash register. Allan "Al Dog" Stewart A Letter from the local resident that spent 6 hours with the LA Times Reporter... About three weeks ago, I got a call from Councilmember Wendy Greuel's office asking me to help a LA Times reporter to do an article on the old fashioned lighting that has been approved through a ballot of the property owners on Commerce who will be required upon installation of these lights to pay a larger assessment on their lighting bills. Ms. Greuel leveraged $135,000 of Federal Government funds appropriated for use on Commerce several years ago with $145,000 of city funds to pay for the new lighting. We are all, both the members of the Commerce Owners and Business Restoration Association, Inc and Ms. Greuel, very proud of our accomplishments and expected an article in the Times that said so. I assume I was asked to help Mr. Lin, because I am Vice President of COBRA and a long-time and well-known activist in the area. I agreed and made an appointment to meet Mr. Ron Lin the next day explaining that I was then unavailable, because I was on my way to a No Home Depot in Sunland- Tujunga demonstration. Mr. Lin came to that demonstration and later to another. The second time he came to a No to Home Depot demonstration he brought a Times photographer who took several hundred pictures. Mr. Lin met me the next day and I gave him a walking tour up-and-down the two blocks of the restoration area on Commerce, and I subsequently took Mr. Lin wherever he wished to go and did the best I could to acquaint him with our beautiful rural area which we are working desperately to keep from being ruined by poorly planned over development. Mr. Lin also brought a LA Times photographer with him to take pictures of Commerce and the other sites I showed them. This photographer also took hundreds of pictures including those of the Foothill/Commerce Town Center sign displaying a picture of the widely anticipated new development about to break ground next to the area under restoration. I gave Mr. Lin a copy of the restoration plans drawn and generated by the city with COBRA, the group who has organized the restoration, a copy of the Foothill Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan which is a city ordinance governing the improvements along our commercial corridors, a copy of the currently active appeal which was filed against Home Depot and copies of the two supplements to that appeal. We in Sunland Tujunga are presently awaiting a decision from the zoning administrator following a January 19th hearing attended by the No to Home Depot attorney, experts and over 200 No to Home Depot supporters. Only one Home Depot supporter aside from the Home Depot officials and lawyers attended the hearing. During the course of our brief two or three week acquaintance, I spoke to Mr. Lin frequently about and took him to many sites we are trying to protect in Sunland Tujunga from greedy and unscrupulous developers, to the sites where we have already had excessive or poor development, and to those where we have negotiated for development which is aesthetic and satisfying to the citizenry. He met with the gentleman who is restoring our Wetheworld castle which received notoriety when we succeeded in rescuing it from the hands of the developer at the eleventh hour. I introduced him to Robert Hall, quoted in Mr. Lin's article, who is at this moment under the scrutiny of LA Building and Safety and the California Contractor's Licensing Board for violating the mansionization Interim Control Ordinance and for building more houses than is allowed without a General Contractor's License. None of that was mentioned in the article. Mr. Lin spoke for two hours with the curator of our museum at Bolton Hall and took a two-hour tour of the area with Councilmember Greuel. He spoke on numerous occasions to the No to Home Depot campaign core group and to the Neighborhood Council officers. We in Sunland-Tujunga gave Mr. Lin carte blanche. How were we repaid for that courtesy? The article that resulted turned quickly from a story that we thought was going to be about our little community's battle to preserve our rural lifestyle and magnificent views into a propaganda piece in behalf of Home Depot. The article insinuated that we are a divided community as to Home Depot. That is totally untrue. Only a tiny percentage of Sunland-Tujunga residents want a Home Depot. Those of us who have collected signatures and letters, sold bumper stickers and tee shirts know best of all who does and who does not want a Home Depot on the old K-Mart site. It is less than five percent. If you count the single supporter who attended the hearing, it is far less than one percent. The article insinuated that we are a divided community as to mansionization. That is also untrue. Obviously the people who are building these monstrosities and the people who buy them support them. That again is a tiny percentage of the population. The ICO was written by our Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council. The article insinuated we have no summer jobs and no place to buy paint. That is equally untrue. The spokesperson Kathryn Gallagher, for Home Depot stated that business has faltered since our highly successful K-Mart was gobbled up in a bankruptcy sale to Home Depot. That is untrue. All that has faltered is our ability to buy mercantile goods. The Times selected one picture of the No Home Depot demonstrations out of hundreds and chose one which showed a man wearing an NRA shirt, and twice in the article the Times told readers that one of only two reasons for Sunland Tujunga opposing Home Depot was because of the day laborers. Day laborers have never been an issue of the No to Home Depot campaign. Once again, the Times chose to print what is untrue. The LA Times is respected throughout the United States for being a major class newspaper. Based on this biased and one-sided article, I beg to differ. We in Sunland Tujunga who are knowledgeable about what is going on in our community know what was done to us in this article. I for one will be canceling my long-term subscription to the LA Times and I will be encouraging others in our planning district to do the same. I wait for the Times to print this letter in their major class newspaper. I will be sending it along to my extensive email network so we can all watch for its publication. Elaine Brown From a local resident that lives close to the site.... My questions on this project are: 1. Why is the contractor being allowed to construct without permits. Any normal contractor would have had a letter to comply or shut down work until they comply 2. Why is the building inspector allowing this to happen. Is it not his job to ensure that contractors follow the laws and also to protect the general public from this type of abuse of the system. 3. Why is the building inspector still on the job, when it is well documented that he is not upholding the building regulations and allowing construction to take place without permits. 4. Why are work crews working on the roof and other areas of the site without protection. i.e. Hard hats, harnesses. 5. Why are workmen being allowed to urinate off the roof and anywhere around the building that they can find in full view of the public, school children and local residents. 6. Why are they starting construction between 6-6:30 am when the law quite clearly states that no work is to be performed prior to 7am. We are fed up with being woken up at these hours. 7. Why are large trucks being allowed to exit the construction area and head down Apperson street past an elementary school on streets that are clearly too small and not constructed for this type of vehicle. 8. Why are we being subjected to the dust that is being blown over our houses, in our houses from the work crew throwing it off the roof. Roofing material in itself is toxic without including the asbestos that would be embedded in it. 9. Do our wives and children have to stay inside because workmen are standing on the roof or lifts looking into properties near the construction site. This contractor is blatantly and knowingly working around the building permit processes that are put in place to protect California residents. It seems that this contractor is being allowed to do this without and challenge or recourse. Obvious questions start to go through peoples minds when this is seen to happen. I remember reading something in the posts about an alarm system not being planned for. That is really strange because the week ending February 3rd, an Alarm Install company vehicle was seen leaving the construction site. If this was not in the plans how can it be installed. I hope that this alarm company is going to submit its own plans and pull permits. If Home Depot are so community friendly why are they allowing the above to happen. Is this not a direct contradiction of their statement. If they where so community friendly they would be following the laws, ensuring that their contractors are following the laws, ensuring that the local residents who have houses near the construction site are disturbed as little as possible. The fact is they are doing the complete opposite, it is almost as if they are doing all this on purpose to aggravate the situation. There is no sign of them being community friendly here in fact quite the opposite. There is one point above (5) that is very serious and should be stopped immediately. This type of performance by the construction crews is off main concern to the local households around the construction site. DO WE HAVE TO KEEP OUR BLINDS SHUT AND OUR CHILDREN IN DOORS BECAUSE WORK CREWS ARE EXPOSING THEMSELVES AND URINATING IN PUBLIC. This is from a local resident who is too close to the work site and who has had enough of this contractors violations. Thanks S. Winder A local resident too close for comfort. From a former resident that now lives in Oregon.... A open letter to the citizens of Sunland Tujunga: As a former long time resident I have been keeping up with your fight with Home Creepo. It seems to me that you should also be going after the politicians who are coddling up to this company. After all, they work for you and the best way to get them to see it your way is to vote them out. Joe C. Keizer Oregon From a local resident that lives way too close to the site... My family recently moved into Langmuir Avenue which backs on to the flood channel directly behind the old KMart building. From our backyard we have an unobstructed view on the construction and demolition that has been taking place out of the view of Foothill Blvd on the back of the building. After moving from a busy street in Tujunga our first week in our new home was ideal...it was so nice not to have to keep our doors and windows closed because of outside noise from vehicles and trucks passing by. When construction started on the KMart site...our peace and quiet was abruptly stopped. We are woken before 7am on some days to the sound of bulldozers and diggers starting up....... we cannot keep any doors and window open due to the noise and dust and plates hanging on my walls actually shake from the vibrations coming from the construction site. There is a huge gaping hole in the back of KMart to allow full sized bulldozers access and large piles of rubbish are piled up against the outside of the building, obviously causing a definite fire hazard. We are concerned that rubbish will also be deposited in the floor channel that separates our houses from the building site and this would be disasterous in the upcoming rainy season. The original "tenant improvements" of reinforcing the floor of the old building are obviously a cover up for other much larger construction taking place. Just yesterday the air conditioning units have all been taken down from the roof, the old satellite dishes have also been removed and there are now gaping holes in the roofs. If a floor is being reinforced then there would be no need to do anything to the roof or shore up the outside of the building with the large metal beams that have been placed around it?! If anyone from your campaign wishes to have a better view of what is going out of the view of the main road, please let me know. Sincerely Diane W. Sunland From a Home Depot employee in Windsor, Canada... I came across your site while reading up about the Home Depot and wanted to share some insight. I'm from Windsor, Ontario, Canada and I totally understand, and support, why your group has objected to the implementation of a Home Depot store in your area. Home Depot Canada has tried successfully in driving our own home grown, home improvement stores nearly out of business. In a town approximately 40 minutes from where I am, the Home Hardware store there was forced to build a $2 million addition on to their store just to be able to compete with the now year old Home Depot store. The other leading chain in Canada, Rona, has had an attempt by the Home Depot to be bought out. There are currently 2 Home Depot stores in Windsor and both have been the center of controversy regarding the lack of customer service. To be honest I've worked for one the stores for the last 6 months, but we've all got to survive don't we? Believe me, in this sad state of economy this town has to deal with, there are not many options. In my time there, I have come to realize the many flaws this company has. The customer grumblings about the lack of customer service are true. My take on the cause of this is the introduction of the self-checkout machines. The problem with these machines is that the general population is not ready for this technology. In a town with many elderly residents, it is apparent that these machines, and in turn, the company itself have definitely overstayed their welcome. Another forefront problem is the store management's support of such technology at this point in time and their choices in employee organization. The store management is constantly tooting their horn about the success of the self-checkout machines while it is completely obvious that they have lost touch with their customer base. If these machines were as useful and popular as I'm lead to believe, then why is it that when I stand around and run the only cashier manned station in the store, I'm subject to 8 hours of constant harassment at the company's expense? I'll tell you why; money. They don't care what the customer has to go through. Hell, if I was bringing in $80 billion a year as opposed to $8000 a year, I wouldn't care either. My third argument deals with employee organization, another area where I receive constant harassment. More often than not, when I go into work, customers are constantly unable to find the help they need to get the products they want. There are certain departments in the store where coverage is atrocious at peak hours. What is the reason for this? Once again, money. If no one is on the floor, they don't have to pay anyone. I can't possibly comprehend why a 100 billion dollar company cannot afford to pay me more than $8 an hour... better yet, give me more than 25 hours a week. I may work for this horrible monopoly of a home improvement store, but I do not support it in any way. However, I admire your group's initiative to stop the store from coming to your community. I hope you are successful in doing what I believe is the right choice for your community. Good Luck and Best Wishes. name withheld to protect employee Windsor, Canada. From Alan Barnard of Sunland-Tujunga... No To Home Depot and Wendy... We have lived in S-T area for 26 years and are happy to see the No To Home Depot site has finally added their "Did you know...?" section on the front page. Maybe this will show the long term residents of S-T exactly how government and big business supports one another. When it takes over a half million dollars for a local candidate to win election, it's never a simple answer as to whom they owe once they get into that office. Wendy Greuel is sending letter after letter, supposedly supporting the cause against Home Depot, but don't forget, she has many big business associates to "pay back" along her way. Remember her background. If you truly don't want Home Depot, maybe it's time to say goodbye to Wendy's ineffective politics. She seems to have no problem getting her wealthy friends favors but we have to raise money to hire attorneys to fight for us... What is that about? From Donna Winauski of La Crescenta... My name is Donna and I live in La Crescenta, a few miles away from Tujunga, and we were greatly affected by the loss of Kmart! I shopped there from the day it opened until the day it closed, as well as worked there briefly in my "single motherhood" days for extra cash. It came in very handy since all the reasonably priced stores around here either closed or didn't exist or were a freeway away or weren't built yet. Kmart was so convenient to go to, just hop in the car and run to Kmart and pick up some item and run back home. What a luxury. And for the handicapped and elderly, what a Godsend it was, just for everyday items or even lunch or dinner or a place to visit. It was always a bustling, happy place where you always ran into someone you knew, now an empty, dirty, graffitied, lonely looking old building. I still find myself saying to my husband, "I'll be right back, gotta go to Kmart and....! Instead I have to drive to the Eagle Rock Plaza or heaven forbid, Glendale, or Pasadena. I have never, ever returned to Home Depot after one visit there anyway, it is so dirty, hot, disorganized and "kid run". I much prefer Lowe's clean, cool, knowledgeable clerks anyway. It's obvious we won't patronize Home Depot, and Home Depot hasn't ever dealt with the people from Sunland-Tujunga or La Crescenta. We have boycotted a few undesirable businesses "out of business" sooner or later. We need a Target or Sears or some merchandise store with an eating area that serves decent food for decent prices. This area is not the Ritz! And the people in La Canada won't be caught dead there and only us "commoners" from La Crescenta!!! Thanks for your time, your great Donna From an unsatisfied Home Depot Customer in Oxford, Mi...... This Is Why You Do Not Want A Home Depot In Your Town! Home Depot installed 3 roofs on my house in the last 8 months and has done over $1, 000.00 damage to my house. You can see the pictures and read the journal at www.freewebs.com/myroof this is a free site so you can watch the ad for 10 seconds or click skip ad to the right. Thank you Don W. Oxford, Michigan _______________________________________ And now, a letter from a Home Depot employee...... To Whom It May Concern... I am currently a Home Depot Employee, I have been working with the company for a while now, and me and my co workers came acrossed your web page. To be honist with you, your waisting your time. Home Depot is a MULTI BILLION DOLLAR company and if you really think protesting and trying to bring up city ordinances will make any difference, I am sorry to say you got another thing coming. Think of it this way, this is America. Your town is a small residential zone within a country that is full of bustling cities, industrial zones, and government property, face the facts if for some reason Home Depot does abandon the project, (which is highly doubtful) what happens then? Soon another company, more than likely bigger and more prepared for your little protesting band, after seing the results of Home Depot's shot to industrialize your town failed, and soon enough you will be right back to point A, where you started. Now by now you are more than likely thinking that I am a nut, No I am not crazy. I live in a very large city, I have watched it grow basically. I have seen very large buisnesses take over more important property, such as valuble swamp land, beautiful forests, and even neighborhoods. Many attempts have been made, few were successful but many failed, and even the ones that saw success, were soon met with demise simply because other companys learned of the past failures and simply found loopholes in the system to basically break the law and build and industrialize land. Complaining to Home Depot that there is a public school a block away makes no difference to them, and will not affect there decision to build, which brings up another point, you plan to legaly protest and picket, if the Home Depot is built and does open its doors? That put me and my co workers in tears, really! I hate to say it but you are SOL on that as well, such as a restraining order delivered to you and your protesters, not to mention being arrested for trespassing in the first place, trust me now that you and your foolish friends have made them aware of your plans to protest, they will be sure to hand all of you, your very own personalized restraining orders before they open there doors. By the way this is my oppinion, and Home Depot itself is not responsable for my words, or this letter. So please do not get a wild hair and decide to print this out and take this to any court or judge for that matter. It will do you no good. So one one last note before I finish up, believe it or not I wish you the best of luck, your going to need it. But I do have one word of advise, dont wear yourself out. You do have a life I'm sure, and life is too short to waist your time bitching and complaining, and trying to beat the unbeatable. Spend time with your family, enjoy life, live a little. We live in America and even though we all should express our freedom of speech, it is our God given right, and it is our best weapon against others. It can only do but so much, and to be honist with you, I think you need to relize when enough is enough, and that you shouldent exaust your self so much over something so stupid. But still I respect your efforts and like I said earlier good luck and God Bless. A Response From a Local Resident..... It is obvious that this Home Depot employee does not really know what the protesting is all about in our town. Someone should tell him/her that it's not about keeping our town off the map, but knowing that our town needs a retail store more than another hardware, lumber & paint store. This employee is sadly fatalistic and complacent, and that is why our world does not strive for higher standards. Big corporations count on that. S.L.M. Shadow Hills, CA ANOTHER RESPONSE...... To the employee of HD, YOU are the one, my friend, who has another thing coming. If YOU sat back and watched large businesses take over your area, then YOU are to blame for what happened. Just because YOU didn't do anything about big businesses destroying valuable swamp land and beautiful forests doesn't mean we will be so complacent. If WE as a group don't fight this thing, then our peaceful little hillside community would just be another big city like yours. Yes, this is America, and myself, and many other Americans like me feel WE have the right to protest this. Your company doesn't give a crap about other people, or you, or the small businesses they will destroy, only their bottom line. Our houses and property value will take a nosedive. You call it a waist of our time? What do you still live in an apartment? Save your tears for something more meaningful. Like not having a nice peaceful, safe place to live. John Ciasulli.....Tujunga _________________________________________ Hey, Just wanted to take a minute and tell you what we did with our Home Despot flyers we received. My girlfriend and I both live in Sunland Tujunga and recently received the four color flyers being mailed to residents here. We both filled out the attached cards, with the name "No to Home Depot" and the return address the Overland address of Dakota communications. I believe this will accomplish two things, first and foremost, it helps to reinforce our objection to a Home Despot here in Sunland-Tujunga, second since they pay the return postage, it will waste a small amount of their advertising resources. So, before you dump the add when you get it, mail it back to them! Sam Read more of Soundoff by visiting the Archives |
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