Yolanda Gonzalez
It is really selfish and rude by those tenants who are wanting and demanding access to their items. For some they were valuables of considerable value. But one should take in to consideration the great amount of manpower that it took to put this fire out. Going on all night. For those of us that were just a few feet of this fire, it could have caused more damage. I want to thank our fire department that did an extraordinary job and hope those injured do not have complications from their injuries. For those with items stored, back off and let the investigators and those who ever else are need do their job. There are still some hot spots and it is dangerous to go in. Be considerate.

Jen Bilik
Rozlyn and Peter, I appreciate your respectful thoughts. I totally hear you. For many of the reasons you cite, Rozlyn, I have in recent months gotten much more conservative with the off-leash thing, stopping my dog long before he would round a corner, only walking along stretches where there is no person visible, calling my dog when I do see a person down the block and putting him back on his leash. He is, by the way, a golden retriever, so about the least scary-looking breed you can imagine. I would be much more conservative were he a scary-looking dog. The people I have run into who are scared of dogs are scared of the dog on the leash, too. I really do my best-and it works almost all the time-to keep him from encountering other people who don’t want to be encountered (many people call him over and pet him) or from other dogs.

We live in a city, and we all rub up against each other very closely, and we have different fears and phobias, not all of which can be accommodated or are always accommodated, even with laws. We all have different interpretations of non-criminal laws and act differently on those interpretations far more frequently than we think we do. But I do hear you, and I am taking as good care as possible while also allowing my dog a little bit of freedom and trotting and sniffing time. I do hope that you will support more space for off-leash recreation when opportunities come up-for the 30-plus percent of households with at least one dog, that would make a big difference in our dogs being able to stretch their legs.

In any case, as you can well see on the streets, people walk their dogs off-leash sometimes. I believe they always have and always will. Just like there are always going to be people who don’t pick up poop-another law, and one that I am religious about. Not many sometimes-unleashed-walkers speak up and explain why, in part because they don’t want to be controversial, so I was attempting to do so. I believe it’s always helpful to hear positions even if you don’t agree with them or they run contrary to a law. Just as it was helpful to hear from you, Rozlyn and Peter.

Reta Moser
I erroneously printed comments by Heather Kahler that were marked “not for publication.”