Letters to the Editor

September 19, 2008
Opinion
Re: Playing the “race” card a misdeal To the Editor:Well, Scott Gold (author of the LA Times article) must have picked up on very negative and mean spirited attitudes for him to write what he did regarding the UCSB left-wing professors and Latino organizations. Well if caring for the less fortunate and speaking for those who have no voice is left wing, then so be it. In addition, if I am a left-winger, then the writer of the Letter to the Editor in the Santa Paula Times “the race card” must be a “right-winger” with all its implications.As far as financial burdens go, residents living in affordable housing work and spend in Santa Paula every day. If you really wanted tax dollars you should’ve been a strong supporter of the Fagan Canyon measure. I don’t see you crying to those people who fought to defeat the measure. Oh, and I’m still waiting for the Adams Canyon to bring in loads of tax dollars.And finally, the “race card,” well, if it walks, talks and looks like a duck, then it must be a duck.Xavier MontesSanta PaulaGood candidatesTo the Editor:Some of us who have lived in Santa Paula for a good many years are concerned about Santa Paula’s economic future. Unfortunately, there are people who seem not to care and continue proposing things that will only add to the city’s distress. Those of us with vision for our future want positive growth - growth that will produce stability for Santa Paula economically and growth that is well balanced.Those that support Cabrillo’s (CEDC’s) candidate for City Council, Jennifer Matos, should know that tax free, high density, apartments will cost the rest of us who pay real estate and school taxes - to pay more for our city services, including the fire and police departments, in order that the city’s services can be delivered, when there are more free riders and fewer substantial tax payers, both state income taxes and real estate taxes. The mistakes of our past, though sometimes well intentioned, cause public reaction by many when the bills come due.Recently a lot of wonderful people got together for a huge fundraiser for our police and fire department. This was supported by thousands of people, organizations and businesses. God bless them, all because the city is short of funds. Many donated for the cause to help our police and fire department.Today’s politicians ask for support from their constituents, and to some extent you can show the strength of your support for the cause by the amount you have donated to that cause.Those that want to support more tax free housing, feel free to contribute to your cause, they will welcome your dollars and provide you with a place to send those dollars. We all love “liberals”, we want you to be as generous and as liberal as you can afford to be for your cause, but please don’t pass this cost to the rest of the taxpayers who already have a full plate and all we can handle. Please don’t be liberal with our funds, we have personal and family commitments to keep and Santa Paula has already suffered from the financial demands that are all around us. Remember the hospital? It couldn’t pay its bills because it couldn’t collect enough to keep going on its own. Remember the Ford dealer? Gone. Not enough business. And there are quite a few other businesses that right now are hanging on by their fingernails in these difficult times; I won’t bother to name them. We need higher end housing with people living in them that have disposable income to support our businesses, city and schools. This is the reality, folks!We have two good candidates running for City Council that will help by looking after Santa Paula’s economic future: Fred Robinson and Jim Tovias. I ask that you vote for them!!! I support these two good men.David KaiserSanta PaulaRight choicesTo the Editor:All of us make choices and then live with the consequences of our choice - some bad and some good. For example, during the election that put into position the Council of 2002-2006, a number of us mistook advanced education level and certain academic credentials as being synonymous with right intentions and good judgment, and we were sorely disappointed. We now have a chance to choose two new council members and two members of the high school board, once again.In this November’s election, there are four candidates that you can rest assured will be your best spot-on choices, and not disappoint. All four of these candidates have proven track records, care passionately about Santa Paula, and are of the highest integrity. Most people in town know these four candidates, as they have worked tirelessly for our town on many important projects, however, if you don’t know them personally, I can testify that they are absolutely the right four people for Santa Paula.These Candidates are:* Jim Tovias -City Council* Fred Robinson -City Council* Andrew F. Castaneda -High School Board* Yolie Cerda -High School BoardIn November we all have the privilege of contributing to our city’s future. Please join me in helping to elect these candidates - and tell your friends. They are right for Santa Paula.Larry SagelySanta PaulaBusiness sense neededTo the Editor:Going back in history, in the formation of cities, what do you think has been the primary obligation of its managers, mayors and council? Is it to build monuments? Is it to build sports parks, golf courses and pools? Is it to provide food, clothing and shelter for the needy amongst us?Would you believe it is to provide for the health and safety of its current residents? “Health and safety – health and safety – health and safety”. Think on that.Not frills and monuments, the basics: police, fire, wastewater treatment, potable water, streets and sidewalks, building safety, schools. And these services cost money, serious money. Right now the State is broke, no budget! It is in the hole big-time, and mostly because the government is trying to do too much. (Prop. 13 (?) let’s not go there!)No one wants good people or families to live or sleep in unsafe or dilapidated circumstances, but unless foundations, churches and big donors cover the costs associated with providing decent housing, isn’t the city’s first responsibility to its current residents, and itself, to remain solvent as an entity so it can continue to provide the basic health and safety services listed above?The city, led by its Council, cannot rationally fill the void a tough economy has placed upon us, regardless of humane considerations – sorry to say. Our State budget is the worst in the nation, currently over $20 Billion in the red.Santa Paula needs additional strong business sense on the Council. Please give the candidacies of Fred Robinson and Jim Tovias serious consideration. You can check out their “platform” and bios at: www.mysantapaula.com.As they used to say in Chicago, Vote Early and Vote Often! (Little joke).
Richard MainSanta PaulaAppalled by PalinTo the Editor:I find the choice of Sarah Palin for the Republican Vice Presidential candidate an insult to the intelligence of the American woman. This is a completely transparent sham perpetrated by the Republican machine to merely shift focus from the issues facing our nation to petty nonsense. Their candidate for president couldn’t garner enough attention, so this selection was made to attract the media attention so sorely needed. Sounds kind of“Carl Rovish”, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, there are citizens of our fair land that do their voting from information obtained from commercials on television, not from reading the issues at hand or comparing what candidates say with their actions, either past or present. We, as a nation, both women and men, need to start looking at the ISSUES and what the candidates actually STAND FOR.I applaud Barrack Obama as a person of honor and for his consistency and intelligence in facing this ridiculous farce.We all know what Sarah is about now. She is not prepared to assume the second highest office in our nation. She reads speeches well and is known as a barracuda. She went to 5 small colleges before graduating. Her total resume includes local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as a mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, and 20 months experience as governor of a state with 650,000 people. Is that someone you think is qualified to be Vice President, or, shudder, even President should the 72-year-old presidential candidate suffer any number of possible calamities?This woman is against sex education in schools (that worked well for her, didn’t it?), birth control (yes, that worked well for her as well), and environmental protection (she’s not sure if global warming is a fact). I especially liked the photo of her standing poolside in a red, white and blue bikini holding an AK47. How would you rate her judgment factor on that choice?Obama, on the other hand, graduated from Harvard Law, was a brilliant community organizer, the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, has 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, was chairman of the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, and served on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works, Veteran’s Affairs committees. He has spent 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people. He created a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 voters. He is an organizer. A person who cares about the planet. Children. Polar bears. He will protect our right to choose. He will promote age-appropriate sex education in our schools. He is married to a brilliant woman and together they have raised 2 lovely daughters.So, for me there is only one choice and it isn’t Sarah or her running mate. I am confident that those of us who can think and read and remember will vote to help this nation make the CHANGE so sorely needed. Dig deep. Ask questions. VOTE!!Dee Johnston, RNSanta PaulaWhat do we want for Santa Paula?To the Editor:I was born (rural Ventura) and raised in Santa Paula. I now live in the same house I was raised in although I did purchase it from my adult children’s trust fund 7 years ago. I have seen friends and relatives leave and improve their lives, the ones that stayed behind have withered with the neighborhood. Unfortunately, people that see little or no future tend to foster a negative attitude.Newcomers to the neighborhood for the most part are optimistic. Most newcomers are both legal immigrants, 1st generation Latinos with little or no education, and last but not least illegal immigrants. For the last group anything is better than nothing although not every illegal immigrant is destitute. I can vouch for that first hand. Legal immigrants are a little more discriminate as to their rights in America. The 2nd group, 1st generation Latinos for the most part has a chip on their shoulder. They feel they are not part of the American Dream, whether it is drugs or their ties to organized gangs, they have not excelled to the point of achievement.I happen to be part of the 2nd generation American from whose heritage was by way of Mexican grandparents. We baby boomers, the sons or daughters of 1st generation Mexican Americans were given the choice of furthering our education or manual labor; if we chose labor we were taught the rigors of hard work. Some of our parents were either World War II or Korean Conflict Veterans. Some of us may not have learned to speak English at least fluently until Kindergarten grade. Nevertheless, we did well without the aid of bilingual education. In elementary school there was no busing, thank God! When I graduated from high school (SPUHS) the opportunity was there, continue school or go to work or serve our Country (3 years in USMC). I wasn’t held back from lack of opportunities rather lack of poor judgment on my part.My friends were not categorized or selected on the basis as whether or not they were anti-Latino or pro-diversity. Some were short, some tall, some fat, some skinny, some ugly, some cute (hate that word), light skinned, dark skinned, very dark skinned nevertheless; there was no serious divisiveness to speak of.Fast forward to the end of the Vietnam Conflict radicalism is reborn. We now have M.E.C.H.A, The Raza Unida Party, and other radical organizations; these groups are promoters of hate. They infiltrate higher education under the guise of progressiveness but only to corrupt our youth. So why do we have racial divisive issues 40 years later? Well, the sociologists say so, the affirmative action people say so, the white quilt people say so, and the far left always say so. All these in spite of so much racial intermarriage, integrated neighborhoods, bilingual education, school busing, affirmative action, 80% Latino city population! What does the average Santa Paula 2nd generation say?Andrew F. CastanedaSanta PaulaIn appreciationTo the Editor:What a beautiful and wonderful Labor Day Parade it was. On a beautiful day it was, and on a wonderful day it was also. What I’m talking about is the Labor Day, the big Labor Day’s festivities that took place on Labor Day, and that was the Labor Day Parade.It was so nice to see something like this occur and to take place on any given day. The parade drew a lot of participants, as well as a lot of people, too. It was the first time for me to attend this terrific event, and it was also good to see people enjoy and do something like this.And I think that having something like this to honor the working people of Ventura County, and all over the county, is definitely remarkable. This is to show our working people and the families of these working people that we appreciate the work that they do, and for what they have done for us and their families too.And for what they have really done and also what they have also really did, I think that we should tip our hats off to all these working people did on done for us, especially for their loved ones, too, for all of what gave to do, what they had to do, and that is work for a living and to support themselves and their families, too, and also to earn that big huge paycheck that they worked so hard to get.And because of all this, and also because of all the effort that you put in for all of what you did and for what you have done, I salute you, all the hardworking men and women of Santa Paula and also all of Ventura County. I also thank you for all the hard work that you put in and for what you have done, and also for what you really did, too. Thank you very much.John BravoSanta PaulaLabor Day ParadeTo the Editor:Thank you Peggy Kelly for the excellent coverage of the Labor Day Parade, and Chair Al Guilin, Labor Day Parade Committee, for the letter of thanks to all attending and contributing to the Parade.Each year the parade grows. This year the Labor Day Parade Committee itself grew in membership and outreach. Members include Gabino Aguirre, John Chamberlain, Calla Dominguez, Johnny Galvan, Anita Gonzales, Al Guilin, Rochelle Margolin, Ron Merson, Terry Patterson, Anita Pulido, Audrey Vincent, and Peter Wright. One outstanding contribution this year was the poster whose design was taken from an original painting and fit for framing contributed by Limoneira. Other major sponsors included the Rotary Club, Calavo, and the City of Santa Paula.Thanks also extend to parade judges Paul Skeels, Josie Herrera, and Sellie Miranda. Their choices: Most Participants - Local #585 of the Laborers International Union of North America; Most Animated - Blanchard Community Library; Most Original - Poder Popular; Best of Theme - Brokaw Nursery.The mission of the parade — inspired by Joanne Wright, originator of the parade -- to bring together the community to celebrate the many contributions made by working people to our lives and wellbeing and to recognize the value and dignity of all honest labor -- was fully realized.Each year there are different entries as well as familiar ones. The parade invites us all to think about and value the work we and others do and consider what work that has yet to be represented in the parade that could be included next year.Audrey Vincent, MemberLabor Day Parade Committee



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