There's a guy in Sun City Anthem who publishes a blog for the residents. Something I didn't see in the newspapers was that when Mr. Fetherolf and other Anthem residents came to the last City Council meeting to speak against the trailhead improvements, Councilman Jack Clark read them the riot act. Clark's comments were published word for word on the blog, and I think it would be in order to contact him and thank him for standing up on behalf of public access to the trails.

This is some of what the blogger reported Clark said:

"It is an unrealistic argument to tell us that crime will be increased by the trail or the trailhead being near houses. In fact, I'm building a new house that will be ready in the summer and I'm paying a $10,000 lot premium just to have a trail behind the house, and I want to see people use that trail because if they don't, burglary will occur.

"This is as much about the future as it is about any of us in this room. For some reason, people love to run away from the community they've lived in all their lives and come to a new community and try to make it like the community they left. I understand that philosophy because we all want to be right, but the problem is the City of Henderson has spent great efforts over the past 20 years, long before I was on the Council, to build parks and recreation facilities for people that live and work and play in the city in which they live. long before I was on the Council. That's why I chose to call this city home.

"This is not about seniors, or young people, or me, or Councilman (Steve) Kirk. This is about the 275,000 people that chose to call this city home. I, for one, have the courage to stand up and tell you I'm going to continue to provide those services, to the best of my ability, as long as I'm on this Council, to assure that people have positive recreational activities that they and their children, and their children's children, can participate in.

"It's important to me that you know the truth. I'm not going to pander to you, I'm going to tell you the truth. This is important to the city. This is important to the future. Nobody that's walking on this park is going to rob your home. I think the gentleman earlier (Mike Carey) said it perfect: That's not the way that burglaries occur. I've been in law enforcement for almost 27 years, and that's not the way that burglaries occur."

I think all the people living in Mr. Fetherolf's neighborhood should get up a petition to thank him for helping to advertise the trail to the thousands who receive the newspaper in Las Vegas and Henderson and did not know about it.

As B'rer Rabbit said, "Please, please don't throw me in that briar patch!"

As an Anthem resident, I'm embarrassed and ashamed to see the NIMBYs in my community acting the way they are. Please believe that we are not all like that. But I appreciate the wit and intelligence exhibited by many who have posted to express their dismay and justifiable ridicule.

The SCA Board of Directors member quoted in the article is up for reelection this spring and likes to use such concerns to divide the community and create friction between groups of residents, when instead we should all be working constructively together.