LETTERS
County Planning
In light of its financial crisis, it has recently been suggested to dismantle the Orange County Planning Department. Instead of continuing with the all-encompassing regional planning historically conducted at the county level, planning would be done on a piecemeal basis. If each of the 34 cities in the county had to take on the responsibility of planning the remaining unincorporated land, we would be setting ourselves up for failure on so many levels. Here are some reasons:
& #149; Regional issues should be solved regionally. Major parkways, boulevards, streets, open space and habitat preserves are just some of the improvements that require regional planning. For example, under its Master Plan of Arterial Highways, the county has created and expanded miles of roadways throughout the region.
& #149; Countywide planning allows for comprehensive land management. Over the past four decades, the county has effectively partnered with large landowners to fund and construct major infrastructure. In addition, through the county’s involvement in the Federal Resource Agency’s Natural Communities Conservation Plan and the Army Corps of Engineers’ Special Area Management Plan, thousands of acres of open space have been studied and identified as places that should be forever preserved as interconnecting wildlife corridors, multi-species preserves, and watershed and wetlands protection areas.
& #149; The state’s budget crisis and the means by which cities are financed place extreme pressure on land-use decisions. Cities are engaged in a competition for retail uses that generate sales tax, the primary funding source for cities. The county can craft a comprehensive land-use plan with a balance of uses, rather than a potential over-saturation of retail.
& #149; All consumers understand that “buying in bulk” saves time and money. So, if the county has more than $30 million in available funding for key projects, shouldn’t we be looking at ways to maximize those dollars to the cities’ coffers so that they can each fund their own small projects?
& #149; Experience is better than inexperience. Don’t build new bureaucracies, which will occur if 34 cities are forced to expand their own planning departments and budgets.
This is not to say that the county planning department shouldn’t consider some reforms. Here are a few suggestions: Allowing for privatization of some services so as to expand and contact as necessary; better scheduling of planning commission meetings for the convenience of interested parties; placing planning department finances back in control of the CEO’s office or the county’s central financial department; and working with North County cities on their annexation of unincorporated county “islands.”
This letter reflects my opinion and should not be construed to reflect the opinions of the majority of the county planning commission.
Ben Nielsen
(Nielsen, of Fountain Valley, is chairman of the Orange County Planning Commission.)
Deep Thoughts About Schmaltz
It’s always something! Two years ago it was the mad-gefilte fish disease, last year the great matzoh shortage and last month the purported Hebrew-speaking carp in a New York fish market. As if Israel doesn’t have enough tsuris (problems), now there looms a worldwide schmaltz shortage just as Passover and other great holidays approach.
For those who have not yet savored schmaltz, it is made from frying chicken fat with other to-be-named-later delicacies. Connoisseurs save the darker fat, skin cracklings and onions for making chopped liver. In Europe rendered chicken fat is prized as a spread for bread. It also can be used in potato pancakes to enhance the flavor.
But last May an Israeli geneticist developed a cost-effective, featherless chicken that he said would grow faster because it would not be prone to overheating in the Negev desert. Some fowl experts questioned the breakthrough, noting that feathers can cool as much as heat, and help to protect the skin. More troubling to many, these genetically altered birds have stopped laying down subcutaneous fat.
No chicken fat, no schmaltz. No schmaltz means no matzo balls, no potato pancakes and no chopped liver. Complaints have poured in, including from SCAM (Schmaltz Consumers Association of Maryland), SICK (Schmaltz Importers Cooperative of Kansas) and CLUCK (Chicken Liver Underwriters Council of Kalamazoo).
Before the skinny mutant birds take over, you might want to make some schmaltz. It only takes a few minutes and the ingredients are simple: 1/4 cup water; a medium onion sliced; one small apple peeled, cored and sliced; chicken skin cut into one-inch squares; one pound chicken fat, roughly cut.
Put the ingredients in a heavy pot with a cover on a medium fire. Leave the cover on until the sound of the water boiling and crackling is done. Remove the cover and lower the heat to low. Drain the clear fat at the first sign of browning. This is the clearest portion and is good as a spread for bread. Allow the remainder to cook on low heat.
And there you have it. The recipe is real, a Passover gift to you all. As for the rest of this story, well, belated April Fools Day!
Michael Arnold Glueck
Newport Beach
ICN
Nice work by Vita Reed and Rick Reiff in the March 24 issue about ICN’s plans to sell its Russian operations. I know it is challenging to write about a public company which has to keep confidential information confidential, but I thought you did a good job with the limited info available.
When was the last time you had to search across 11 time zones to get info on a company 11 minutes away?
Well done.
Mike Danzi
ICN Pharmaceuticals
Costa Mesa
President Bush
Re Mark Landsbaum’s March 24 letter:
For those who are outraged that our president prays to God for direction and guidance, consider the foundation on which our country was built. Our formal documents and the presidential proclamations over the years were crafted integrating God and prayer.
For years, thanks to Clinton and his salacious escapades, the United States was the subject of ridicule from other countries. Let’s give President Bush the credit he deserves, as he invites integrity back to the White House.
Maryann Somma
Corona del Mar
