I read about the complaint regarding too many handicapped spots and have to say I completely agree. There is one bigger parking problem I would like your readers to know about. The valet terrorists! These valet companies are taking over. Try to park during a weekend night and you will see what I mean. They literally take every space at a restaurant in Old Town. I can see a few spots, but all of them? This is ridiculous! No one needs a valet to park your car right in front of a restaurant. I am sure no one misses the $5, but it wastes time, gas, and who wants a teenager driving your car? The City Council needs to get on the ball and pass some rules limiting these valet terrorists! – Taun Olson
It is very rude to talk to people with food in your mouth! I am a customer-service rep, and I am sick and tired of trying to figure out what people are trying to say while they’re chomping on chips. If you can’t wait two minutes to eat to talk to me, then don’t answer the phone!
I may be “dead wrong,” but if Dead Wronged (Shanna Hogan, August 2008) doesn’t garner you some kind of an editorial award, I’ll be greatly surprised. Superb writing! Is Donna Hogan (Tribune newspapers) a relative? Stay well. – Joe LaB
Yeah, anybody who works for the city of Chandler – like for the water department, solid waste or whatever – when they do billings they always have a paper that goes with it or they have survey questions or your opinions and things like that. Well, just recently they decided to see if, uh, what the people in the neighborhood wanted – dumpsters or the black trashcans out front. Well, I wrote on my comment that no, I do not want the black trashcans out front because to me to have the trashcans out front, it’s smelly, it looks disgusting and especially if you got neighbors who overfill and it sits for a week. Anyway, I’m not in an HOA. I want to have the dumpsters in my area. They work out just fine. Sure we have issues once in a while with people doing illegal dumping, but it’s better than those ugly trashcans. On the survey they ask if I wanted to be contacted. I put down yes, please contact me. Well, come to find out they didn’t contact me and they’re putting out the black trashcans and they never contacted me. Obviously whoever’s keeping track of the mail isn’t paying attention. So, you city workers: if you can’t read, you don’t need a job with the city. Wake up and do what you’re supposed to do.
What was global warming heat island effect throughout Arizona in the lower elevations are only a five-degree heat rise from having to flee their homes. Southwest needs a state statute guaranteeing property owners the right to construct shade structures of a generous size on their land, perhaps not in a setback. Also, we need a state statute to be able to build shade structures over our homes. We should embrace the galvanized, corrugated steel roof as the greatest roof. It is a 40-year roof. Consider the energy savings for homes that have shade over them. Solar panels could be mounted on these shade structures to power the house. Let’s get ocean cargo containers to provide families with low-cost homes. No huge mortgages. Thank you. Mike Hickey, Chandler.
Good morning. I wonder if Mr. Urie and the others who own rental properties have another reason for wanting to keep the rental filings all together. It seems to me, and I know everybody knows it too, that when a politician has a beef, there’s money, not usually time involved. Urie is a councilman in Gilbert and owns his rentals here in Chandler. Something is a little fishy in my opinion. Oh, there’s gotta be more to the story. Thank you.
This is for the ignorant fool who called the Sound Off last month stating that there are too many handicapped spaces at most parking lots. I’m not handicapped, but I take care of my 83-year-old elderly mother who has congestive heart failure and can barely walk a few steps without having to stop and catch a breath. I can’t say how many times we have gone to parking lots that have hundreds of spaces and just a handful of handicapped places to park and all the handicapped spaces were taken, some of them by people who don’t even show the placard or license plate that indicates they’re handicapped. So we don’t know if they were handicapped or not, but they parked there anyway. I can’t believe that the place you go to workout has so many handicapped spaces that you can’t find a place to park. You sound able-bodied, and obviously, uh, if you’re able to exercise, maybe some day when you grow older and become disabled, God forbid, you’ll be able to see the other side. I hope your kids grow up to have more empathy than you have. God forbid, they can’t get any dumber than you.
Patrick Jenkins Jr. finished fourth in the Arizona Southern Amateur with a 36-hole score of 145 (+1). He shot a 76 the first day, which tied him for 21st. He then rebounded the second day with a 3-under 69, capped with an eagle on his final hole. Pat’s next tournament will be the Falcon Amateur on July 17th and 18th. Background: Patrick Jenkins Jr. is a recent graduate of Spring Hill College (NAIA) in Mobile, Alabama, majoring in applied mathematics. Pat’s family recently relocated to Chandler, Arizona, where Pat’s home course is the Ocotillo Resort Golf Course.
I just want people to know that in the East Valley (submission then describes a gas station and its intersection coordinates) that sells gas to people and will pump 57-cents worth of gas before it comes out of the nozzle. I had selected the 91-octane gas because I am required to use a high octane for my particular type of vehicle. Even after filling up, my car started knocking and pinging. You would think that after selecting a high octane that it would run efficient enough for a normal drive. So in any case, I will not be using that gas station again. – Sincerely, Al C.
Editor’s Note: If you encounter a situation like the one Al describes, you should contact the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures. They can be reached at 602-771-4920. If you want reassurance that your favorite filling station’s pumps are correctly set, just show up with a gas can and prepay for its capacity. If it fills to the line, no problem exists. If it does not, start running around the place yelling, “Cheaters, cheaters! They’re cheaters, I tell ya!”
We own a home in Gilbert, and at first sight we fell in love with the house and neighborhood. Unfortunately, I got transferred after just 10 months and moved to another state. The housing market was plummeting when we started trying to sell, so the house sat on the market for over 14 months. During that timeframe, I firmly believe because there was a “for sale” sign in my yard, the HOA targeted our home for anything they could think up. Things such as a fine for a small circle of dead grass in the front yard, a fine because a tip (seriously, the very tip) of a post could be seen from the sidewalk that was in my backyard. My trash container was left on the street one day after pick-up. I could go on and on. Now they have finally gone too far. Because the HOA did not believe my lawn was tailored how they wanted it, they sent me a warning. I contacted my landscape company, and they guaranteed they were going to the home regularly as scheduled, mowing, trimming, blowing off the grass, pulling and spraying weeds in the rocks, trimming bushes and monitoring the growth of the palms. The Realtor backed up his work by saying the lawn always looks manicured and clean. And I have pictures to prove it. It didn’t matter. The HOA decided that it still wasn’t enough and, according to them, had their own landscaper come in and mow my lawn and “clean up” the yard. The charge to me for that unauthorized service was $175 plus $100 administrative fee – for one mowing! The lawn didn’t need any care – it was perfect. And when I asked for a breakdown of the administrative fees, the lady on the phone said they were for a phone call and a mailing. Really? This is complete robbery. I know I signed an HOA contract, and I read it before I signed it. I understood it. And now I have no rights, no recourse and there is nothing I can do but pay it, or file a suit that will cost me thousands of dollars. I’m stuck. The HOA does not handle their business like a reasonable person, and they inflate the prices and screw the homeowners with no conscience. Thank God I don’t live there anymore.
Editor’s Note: If you’re still a Times reader – and you must be since you’re Sounding Off from your new home – please contact us. We want to look into this story further.
