Depot Pigeons Uproosted,Taken for First-Class Ride

On March 8, 1915, a white-bearded gent named Oliver J. Stough, San Diego’s last surviving veteran of the Mexican-American War, was given the honor of buying the first train ticket at the just-completed Santa Fe Depot downtown.

Legend has it that the depot’s first pigeon, if it was not already lying in wait for Mr. Stough, arrived soon thereafter.

From the beginning, travelers and employees at the downtown depot, known for its 80-foot-high, open-beam ceiling and Mission Revival architecture, have lived beneath a fecal Sword of Damocles.

Boom and bust, war and peace, it’s been Man versus Bird. Man was annoyed, but Bird was hardy.

Now Amtrak is declaring it has finally persuaded the depot’s pigeons to move along and foul no more. If so, it’s none too soon.

“The pigeon (stuff) was everywhere, it was real bad,” said custodian Frank Buford. “It was on the floor, on the seats in the waiting room, outside, inside, everywhere.”

Victory has many fathers, and so it is with the pigeon project: Santa Fe, Amtrak, Catellus Development Corp. (the property manager), and Truly Nolen Exterminating Inc.

As with so many successful battle tactics, the pigeon removal had a startling simplicity. Thin black netting was used to corral the pigeons nesting in the beams of the waiting room and the covered walkway on the western side. Most pigeons fled, but some stood their ground.

Twenty-five of the friendly but filthy birds had to be relocated. At a cost of $11,547 for the pigeon project, that works out to $461 per bird.

For that amount, each pigeon could spend three nights in the Hotel del Coronado, but, as you know, room service and valet parking mean little or nothing to the average pigeon.

Nearly invisible to the naked eye, the netting has been left in place to prevent a return of rafter roosting. Also, Roost-No-More sticky stuff has been spread.

“I haven’t seen any pigeons around here lately,” said Herb Carter, who runs the depot’s information desk. “But I have seen some sparrows.”

The Henderson Connection

The effort to recall San Diego City Councilwoman Linda Bernhardt begins its petition drive later this week.

The Bernhardt camp suggests that Councilman Bruce Henderson is the unseen force behind the drive to boot her from office.

Exhibit A is the fact that one of the major recallers is Clairemont land surveyor Michael Pallamary, an avid Henderson backer and a Henderson appointee to a Mission Bay advisory board.

Henderson used Pallamary’s back yard in 1987 to announce his candidacy. Now Pallamary is spreading anti-Bernhardt flyers in shopping center parking lots and is ready to start gathering signatures.

But he insists he’s not just doing Henderson’s dirty work. He says he decided that Bernhardt deserved the heave-ho long before he discussed the idea with Henderson.

P.S.: City Manager John Lockwood has asked Pallamary to step down from the Mission Bay Capital Outlay Oversight Committee while the recall is under way.

OK, but Wear Your Seat Belt

On the move.

* Park and ride.

Marines at Camp Pendleton who have had their on-base driving privileges revoked are being given amnesty.

There’s a catch. The all-clear is only good long enough for Marines to drive to base, park and hitch a ride to Saudi Arabia.

* Enlisted ranks in the Marine Corps will make $8 to $22.50 extra a month for being sent to Saudi Arabia. Nothing extra for officers.

If the shooting starts or is imminent, the “danger pay/hostile fire” bonus jumps to $110 a month, officers included.

* As he awaits sentencing, Richard T. Silberman has a new job at the Metropolitan Correctional Center: working in the library.

* South County bumper sticker: “Pray for Me. I Drive Highway 94.”