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Seawall: Track lighting should be on longer

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I’ve been a Sun City West resident since 1991.

When I came here my parents were alive and Sun City West was a wonderful place to live. I have a disease called complex regional pain syndrome, reflex sympathetic dystrophy. It is a chronic, progressive pain disorder that goes deep into the bone — severe burning with hyperesthesia or allodynia superficially on the skin. This disease is related to shingles and has an 85% suicide rate.

I was able to walk late at night on the R.H. Johnson walking track to help kill my extreme pain.I’m also overly sensative to all medications and I am allergic to many others. Walking saved my life, it has enabled me to lower my pain to a tolerable level so I could survive.

For more than 30 years since Del Webb opened Sun City West, the walking track was lighted until 11 p.m. during Daylight Savings Time because in the summer it was hotter and it didn’t get dark as early as winter. It was sensible and caring.

About a year ago they started turning the lights off at 10:30 p.m. year-round. Recently, the Recreation Centers of Sun City West staff started turning the lights off at 10 p.m. in the middle of one of the longest, hottest summers in years, and during COVID-19. Doctors say you are six times more likely to get COVID-19 indoors than distancing outdoors.

I’ve been given lame excuses, One is that the people on the other side of the back wall don’t like the lights shining into their home. Don’t they have drapes, shutters or even a simple sleep mask? I even use one in the morning. I never through to call the state of Arizona or the U.S. government to ask them to turn off the street lights, causing more accidents and more deaths, because the street lights shine into my home all night long.

Would you like an even bigger laugh? Maybe since I sleep late in the morning I should ask for God to not let the sun come up until 10 a.m. I see the light behind my shades. What makes me think I’m important enough to change things like that? My God would be dying of laughter.

The second excuse is that the timer only works so long. Excuse me, for 22 of the 29 years I’ve lived here, the timers worked correctly. Any more lame excuses and lack of common sense, which isn’t common or caring?

Do you care about the health of the residents of Sun City West who pay your salaries, or is this about your control?

In the last eight years there have been many more things done with no thought to long term consequences. If I didn’t live here, I wouldn’t want to come here.

Michele Seawall

Sun City West