Opinion

Published: Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

Bouquets and Brickbats: Lions and tigers are where, oh my?

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We were ready to go ape when we heard that someone wanted to monkey with the time-honored name of the Charles Paddock Zoo. When we learned the rationale behind the proposal, though, we decided to hold our horses — along with our brickbats.

Atascadero Parks and Recreation Commissioner Tom Zirk, who raised the idea, points out that the zoo might be more visible to tourists who plan their trips on the Internet if the name better reflected its location.

Good argument … though when we Googled “Atascadero,” we had no problem finding sites that mentioned the zoo. Still, unless you’re a Disneyland or a Madonna Inn, we suppose it isn’t a bad idea to choose a name that gives folks at least a vague idea of where you’re located.

So here’s our bird’s eye view: As long as zoo founder Charles “Chuck” Paddock is honored in some way — with a plaque or other monument, for example — we promise not to ruffle our feathers if Atascadero’s leaders agree that it’s time to make like a chameleon and change names.

Not retrying De Vaul is right move

The District Attorney’s Office earns a know-when-to-quit bouquet for deciding not to retry Dan De Vaul on five misdemeanor code violations that ended in deadlock. (The jury convicted De Vaul of two other counts, and found him not guilty of two others.)

The District Attorney’s Office made its point when it took De Vaul to trial the first time, and it doesn’t need to spend any more taxpayer money on this prosecution.

Tediouser and tediouser in Los Osos

Los Osos developer Jeff Edwards is scheduled to be in court today, to seek a restraining order that would prevent the Board of Supervisors from taking final action on the town’s much-debated sewer project.

Edwards is challenging the board because it plans to modify one of the project’s conditions.

“If the Board of Supervisors wants to change the project or condition, they should consider the whole project,” he wrote in a news release.

Huh?

We thought the board had already thoroughly considered the “whole project” in a marathon, daylong session in September. That was after the county Planning Commission had devoted several days to the “whole project.”

Trying to force the sewer plan through yet another hoop by going to court at this stage is beyond ridiculous — especially when you consider that the project still has to go before the state Coastal Commission, where opponents will have another chance to plead their case.

For trying to restrain the county from moving forward, we’re serving Jeff Edwards with a suit of brickbats snarled in red tape.

Thanks for the memory, Meg

We’re not thrilled with Meg Whitman’s voting record — for years, she was too busy to cast a ballot in any election — and we find some of her solutions to California’s budget woes a tad simplistic. (“Let’s stop doing new stuff ...”)

But we respect the fact that the GOP gubernatorial candidate took the time to visit the Central Coast, which has too often been neglected by candidates for statewide and national office. To mark her visit, we offer Meg a SLO-made bouquet.