In response to a recent newspaper article about the Homer City Council considering putting up a gate on Bishops Beach: It irks me that the actions of a handful of do-gooders may result in loss of liberty to others. I have frequented the Homer beaches for nearly 40 years. I don’t recall ever even once having stepped in dog poo. If a person does, let them wipe their foot off and get over it. It is a rare thing for some dogs to run free. Weigh that against the highly unlikely event someone would have to wipe off their foot. The first rain or high tide and the poo is gone. 

Someone might step in moose dung, let’s ban free moose from Homer. 

There are no more fires on the beaches at present than past, probably less. People, myself included, could camp unhindered on the beach and cool driftwood forts were common. Liberty removed. 

There have always been jerks who litter or break bottles, but always good folks who pick up more than they make. There have always been gatherings of various sizes on beaches here and throughout the world, someone out there doesn’t like this? 

There, unfortunately, will always, always, always be  “drug deals going down” (to quote the article), to whatever the culture of the time produces, get over it. If it doesn’t happen at the beach, it may “go down” at the Safeway parking lot, so let’s put a gate up to enter the Safeway parking lot, and while we’re at it how’s about a checkpoint to where we can get searched and inspected after applying for and receiving a use permit. 

Pray, let our beaches forever be free. One change to our beach does irritate me. The house on Bishops Beach that goes down to the tideline and has a “private property” sign where I used to walk free. How come this is the one and only property on the entire coastline of the Homer area that gets to have their property, an eye sore and imposed detour, go right down on to the beach? 

I say remove it. Eminent domain should remove it, in my opinion. I suppose it would be too much to hope in a world that is so rapidly becoming less free, that our place in it would retain or even give back liberties. Y’all who want to put up a gate on Bishops Beach to make Homer “a better place” make me sick.