My Correspondence With Mayor About Cell Phone Towers Near Schools

After a heartbreaking reception by the Mayor at the city council meeting last month, I've licked my wounds and checked my emails.  I want to thank the city council members for their concerns about cell tower issues. 

I especially want to thank Ruth Sterling for her forward thinking about the issue.  "Land Use?" she queried.  She is demonstrating the lateral thinking city councils across our state have been using to fight the crippling Telecommunications Act and it's section 704.  

Here's how Art Madrid has responded to my sorrow that the council meeting didn't yield the discussion I was hoping for:

“ms. bentz, thank you for your e mail requesting the city to "do something about cell towers around schools." your  inference is that the city has been lax or irresponsible in addressing this problem; nothing could further from the truth, we have been in the forefront in fighting this issue long before it might have come to your attention for personal reasons.

your follow-up letter to me regarding how surprised you were to see that "...as you watched me discuss each agenda item and listen respectfully to each speaker...you felt sure that i was fair minded, intelligent and adept at what i do."  that assessment and your less than honest or charitable comments in your blog regard my level of concern on cell towers speaks volumes regarding your preconceived, negative and less than charitable opinion of me.

you follow up in your letter by stating that you were shocked  by my less "than cordial tone" and the way i spoke to you personally about cell phone uses. on the contrary my frustration comes from anyone who accuses the council and city of being complaisant on any issue important to them, all i ever ask is first, do your homework on the city's history, actions and record in dealing with any issue important to any resident.

This city and council have always been open to discuss anything of concern or importance to any resident, however, when the tone and/or negative manner in which an issues is raised, it makes it difficult to have a meaningful discussion since nothing short of rubber stamping a predetermined response  will always be less than satisfactory or acceptable.

ask yourself, if i didn't care about this issue, why then would i have placed on the council agenda for discussion...again.

Art Madrid”

My response to him is as follows:

"Mr. Mayor,  I believe the city council desires to advocate for the youth of our city.  The fact that our city has not passed a resolution regarding cell towers similar to those passed across our State demonstrates that our city can be doing more to show solidarity with our community on this issue.  The fact that cell towers continue to be zoned adjacent to schools in this district without forewarning the schools, even after public uproar as in the case of Northmont Elementary, is evidence that the city has not responded effectively to the public concern over this issue.

In my meeting with Glenn Sabine and Yvonne Garrett, we had a very meaningful and positive discussion about ways in which our city could be better meeting the needs of our community:  informing schools and daycares immediately upon the City's receipt of requests for permits in sensitive locations; an easily navigated website page devoted specifically to keeping the community abreast of current applications for cell towers; and creating a resolution, as so many other Californian city councils have done, agreeing that the City of La Mesa is concerned about the potential health risks to children and the lack of governance the city is allowed over zoning cell towers. 

At this meeting, I asked Mr. Sabine about the lawsuit you had mentioned in earlier emails, and he told me that our city has never in fact suffered a legal defeat over cell tower placement.  At the city council meeting, the city manager indicated to you that we did suffer a $40,000 loss as a result of a lawsuit.  I would love to learn more about the lawsuit you mentioned at the city council meeting.  I do, as you suggest, desire to do my homework.  I was unable to find any record of the lawsuit, and feel that we can learn from it.  Please do share with me the details of that suit.

I attended the city council meeting having faith that you did, as you say, place the item on the city council agenda in order to discuss these issues.  They were not discussed.  You spent valuable agenda minutes personally attacking me, questioning my own cell phone use, and implying that I disregard my children's health becauseI own a cell phone.  This was not, as you say, demonstrating concern for the issue on the agenda. 

Our City Council can address the concerns our community has raised by working to implement the above solutions.  They may not constitute a "rubber stamp" panacea, removing the cell tower in question, but they will certainly show our city's solidarity with the parents of La Mesa, and your and the city's concern for the health and wellbeing of our most vulnerable population:  school children. 

If you would please read the email I sent regarding issues our city wants to see included in any report, and if you would please discuss with Garrett and Sabine the solutions we laid out at our meeting, I believe you will see that we are not asking for a rubber stamp.  We are proposing an intelligent, measured response to the issue of cell tower placement.  Working with our community, and alongside other concerned cities across our State, La Mesa can live up to its reputation of being a safe and healthy city to raise children. 

Thank you,

Heidi Bentz"