Letters: I’ve felt the pain of a short-term rental next door. It made my life miserable.
This is concerning Michael J. Bond's Jan. 9 Valley Voice opinion piece regarding his La Quinta short-term rental property. I clarify it is his La Quinta property, because he lives in the Pacific Northwest, not here. He has no concept of La Quinta's community problems and cannot be represented in local matters. He uses buzzwords referring to us in Coachella Valley as fearmongers, progressives and liberals when we are just citizens concerned with the safety and peace and quiet of our neighborhoods.
I was a San Francisco paralegal/real estate broker for 40 years, then retired here 21 years ago. The first 15 years were sheer bliss until five years ago when an STR moved behind me, making my life miserable with loud noise, trash and blaring music all day until late at night.
When I reached out to the owners for help, they called the police on me and later sued me. I countersued and won a $10,000 judgment that they would not pay, so I turned the judgment over to a collection agency. At a court hearing, the owners promised the judge they would pay, but when they met with the collection agent to make payment arrangements, they walked out refusing to honor their obligation. It's still pending.
And as for Mr. Bond, I don't wish him any harm but I do wish that STRs would move in front, back and on both sides of his home.
Sandra Richter, Cathedral City
'Insurrection' was the right word
Regarding the “sloppy editing” referenced in Mr. Grigg’s letter ("What Insurrection?" Jan. 13, 2022) in which he takes exception to the use of the word “insurrection” as an affront to “journalistic integrity.” His issue seems to be that the term should not be used since the Justice Department has not charged anyone in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol with insurrection. True.
However, the definition of an insurrection is “an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government.” Calling what happened on Jan. 6th an insurrection is a technically accurate fact.
Unfortunately, too many people in this country including elected representatives, media personalities, and social media trolls are in such deep denial and are engaging in revisionist history about the shameful and terrifying events at the Capitol, as well as the true facts about the 2020 election that led to it. Whether it’s denial or delusion, that failure to accept the truth is doing irreparable damage.
If the word “insurrection” upsets Mr. Grigg’s delicate sensibilities and sense of journalistic purity, perhaps he might prefer the term “seditious conspiracy,” the charge that the Justice Department has brought against several of those who planned and participated in the insurrection.
Lydia Kremer, Desert Hot Springs
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Letters: A short-term rental next door made my life miserable.
