Letters to the Editor

Public or private?

To the Editor:

Re: Solid waste privatization workshop brings city council criticism

From public comment to workshops to expert testimony, it looks like the people of Santa Paula are saying ‘no’ to privatizing the city’s trash collection. The disarray surrounding efforts to privatize foreshadows problems for Santa Paula that may be worse than leaving things as they are, at least for the time being.

The restructuring of the city’s public works has not panned out as desired, and continuing in the same direction may be unwise. No convincing argument or corroborative evidence has been given that supports the assumption that this move will significantly improve the city’s financial woes.

For privatization to be considered in earnest, documents needed to make knowledgeable decisions must be made available to the council with enough time for review; not delivered at the 11th hour as they have been. Furthermore, data from comparable cities that have privatized their sanitation departments must be accessed and studied.

Privatization is irreversible, despite claims to the contrary. I’m hard pressed to think of one instance where a public sector service once sold to private interests has ever been returned to the public.

Rita Stafford

Santa Paula

Santa Paula’s economy

To the Editor:

I do recall our old city council voting to support many tax-free low-income housing projects over the years in Santa Paula proposed by Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. Unfortunately our current city administration and city council had nothing to do with creating this economic hole, but they have the problem of resolving it. The city told us that these type of projects require a large amount of police and fire services yet do not contribute any taxes to fund these services.

Many of us fought this type of tax-sheltered development for years in every way we could. Now we have to find a way to reverse the sins of the past if we can. I think it was Winston Churchill that said, “If we don’t learn from our past mistakes, we will have to repeat them”.

David Kaiser

Santa Paula

Lack of leadership

To the Editor:

I have been a resident of Santa Paula now for over 10 years. I must be on the record and say I have friends that are city employees so much of the information I have heard from them.

I am very bothered by the lack of action taken by our Council lately. If we are to believe we have such a large bill to cover ($1.8 mil!!) then why aren’t they doing anything at all other than point fingers and allow others to say “it’s not your fault, this happened before you got on the board”?

The very worst of their inaction was to not take a pay and benefit cut themselves. If they wanted to show true leadership they would have stepped up and taken a significant cut in their own salaries and benefits rather than expecting the unions to take the first step. This would have shown they were serious about managing the problem. This is the ultimate in cowardice to simply put a “Me Too” clause on their actions… “if the union steps up, we will too”. My understanding is that most union members will not do anything until they see the Council show a little backbone.