(Los Alamitos, 5/17/2012) Today’s “Tailings” from our mystery Thursday Columnist includes a whole bunch of  good questions and comments with a few great ideas sprinkled in.  Plus a commendable upgrade I’d missed.  I bolded a few of the best of the best, from my perspective, at least.)  by “Highlands Guy:

Just for clarification, tailings is a mining term used to describe the left-overs after the process of separating the valuable fractions from the uneconomic fraction.

In this case it’s the stuff I’ve been thinking about for a while but it doesn’t seem to neatly fit into a special category.

1.  You know, like who OK’d the ugly strip of astroturf in the middle of the street near our primary intersection of Los Al and Katella? Come on guys, you know it ain’t cool.

2.  Next, I am compelled to mention the new McDonalds that held us all in the grip of anticipation for months. It’s still a box. It is still lacking plants and trees that could soften the look a bit. Pasting a few stones to the street-side façade does not make it any more appealing. It is still a box in a parking lot.

3.  And how is it that Seal Beach out did us again with a pretty decent looking In-N-Out and stealing a tax producing Denny’s? What’s up with that?

4.  And what’s going on with our soon-to-be medical office expansion? After a couple of years of complaining and parading Dr’s telling us how important it was to the quality of their patients health, the corporation (Tenet Health, unless they’ve been bought out) wanted to invest in modernization and new technology and expanded emergency room capabilities. Well, the last I heard, the first thing on Tenet’s agenda was to build 100’s of new offices. Seems to be a disconnect between what they said they needed and what they are actually going to do. I think the Los Alamitosians deserve an update.

5.  For a tiny City with small parks, it seems that they are still underused for casual non-sports related activities. I would like to see some relatively inexpensive improvements that would contribute to more diverse utilization. The enhancements would have to include a more user-friendly lawn at Little Cottonwood, a Par-course with exercise stations, and a few more picnic tables and/or benches at Cottonwood, Laurel, and Orville Lewis. It would also be worthwhile to look at offering owners a land swap for a park, however small, named after them, in perpetuity.

6.  I agree with the general goals of the St. Isidore Historical Plaza group. And I applaud their efforts. But I believe at this point in the process, the City of Los Alamitos needs to back away from its support tactics. We need to be cognizant that the current owner is still the Catholic Church, and it is still possible that a higher bidder will get the property. I would urge individuals and local organizations to get involved in this project, but question the City’s involvement and expenditures of our tax dollars in this pursuit.

7.  Not sure who deserves credit, but I would like to commend whoever was involved in the re-do of the City website. But I must also say that it is very, very long overdue, probably in the “years” category. It is clear, it is user friendly, links are effective, and it shows our City in the best light. This is one of the, seemingly, small attributes that contributes to City quality issues. Over and above its contemporary design, it is now easier for locals to access information as well as make contact with the appropriate person or department to address their needs. Job well done.

The chief function of the city is to convert power into form, energy into culture, dead matter into the living symbols of art, biological reproduction into social creativity.

- Lewis Mumford (1895-1990). American historian, philosopher, sociologist, critic.

Thanks for the “tailings,” Highlands Guy. Anybody got any comments, or any tidbits of your own?