Giving historical perspective on B.V. debate

Melissa Miller's letter requesting "action" from city government to preserve Grandma Prisbey's Bottle Village deserves a bit of historical perspective. After all, this isn't the first time that Bottle Village enthusiasts have sought public funds to shore it up.

Following the Northridge earthquake, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that it was going to provide $436,000 in disaster relief money to repair damage at Bottle Village. This provoked huge outrage throughout Simi Valley.

Councilmember Sandi Webb collected thousands of signatures on a petition which said it would be "better to bulldoze Bottle Village than spend taxpayer money repairing it." U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly introduced a bill to prohibit FEMA funds from going to Bottle Village. The Simi Valley City Council endorsed Gallegly's bill.

FEMA was totally shocked to discover a community and local politicians who did not want to waste taxpayer money merely because it appeared to be "free money" raining down from Washington, D.C.

In the face of public ridicule and rapidly growing bad publicity, FEMA decided it had better reconsider. The $436,000 was put on hold and eventually rescinded.

Bottle Village received a huge burst of publicity in a short period of time, which it then proceeded to fritter away. Instead of using its 15 minutes of fame to solicit private donations or apply for grants from charitable foundations, its backers just cried in their beer over the lost $436,000 and allowed Bottle Village to continue to deteriorate.

I consider Bottle Village to be a rather quirky example of folk art. It's not my cup of tea, but if some people like it that's fine.

Just don't make me or other citizens pay for it with our tax dollars. If you want to preserve Bottle Village, do it on your own dime. I have much better things to spend my money on. Daniel Wiener Simi Valley