Letters to the Editor
Opinion
Published: September 07, 2012
For the city’s good
To the Editor:
After watching the City Council meeting, just a couple of things come to mind. First of all the City Council members that we have today have NO personal agendas, all they want is what is good for the city as a whole. It is refreshing to know that, unlike various city council members in the past, that have as City Council members, were able to promote their own agendas.
I appreciated all the information that was discussed at the Council meeting. People need to hear explanations, so they can make good decisions! Decisions that are made with knowledge and not emotions.
Let us keep going forward and not take 10 steps backward. We need to keep our City Council intact!
Maiya Herrera
Santa Paula
Wake up Santa Paula!
To the Editor:
There is no doubt that we live in a difficult time! And in such a time as this there is nothing more urgent or pressing to the welfare and safety of a community than to have a good, thoroughly reliable city manager, and a responsible, fully qualified chief of police!
But I ask you – How will any competent chief of police looking for employment even consider coming here, after witnessing what has happened to our reputable and beloved police chief, Steve MacKinnon? They will, understandably, think twice.
Can we all (including our City Mayor, and City Manager) not clearly see such “repercussions” happening through this highly questionable deed – i.e. offering Steve MacKinnon higher severance pay if he admitted to a wrongdoing, and then kept quiet? I ask you, what in the world is that all about? And was $36,000 actually missing from the Safety Fund? Has anyone looked into that?
Plus $44,000 has been spent on the investigation and paid leave of Steve MacKinnon. If that money had been spent on investigating some of our own City Council members and our City Manager, we might have something to show for it! I know these are strong words, but – after carefully reading all the articles and letters regarding this whole issue – I strongly suggest all these questions need to be asked until they are clearly answered!
Many feel that voting into office one or two new City Council members this November will solve all our issues (a huge job!). Come to think of it, is this not like putting a small “clean” bandage on a badly infected wound, but forgetting the “timely disinfectants” needed for “any critical healing” to take place?
When something smells “this bad” – we do need to get to the source!
Nina Remensperger
Santa Paula
Beneficial unification
To the Editor:
We have lived here more than 64 years and our 4 children all attended Santa Paula schools. Unification can coordinate our K-12 educational programs, consolidate school operations to save money and coordinate the school calendar each year for school holidays, activities and programs. Unification will make for a much more efficient and more economical school system for Santa Paula. Merging our two school districts will be good for our young people, schools and community.
Carl and Cathy Barringer
Santa Paula
Labor honored
To the Editor:
The theme for the Labor Day Parade was “Honor the Labor Force,” and we certainly did that. It was “Celebration of the Working People,” those folks that take care of us every day but we sometimes do not even see them around us. Our hats are off to them.
On behalf of the Santa Paula Labor Day Parade Committee, I would like to thank the following people for helping to make this year’s Labor Day Parade such a success: the support of the Santa Paula Police Department officers, reserves, and Explorer Post and the Santa Paula Public Works for the traffic control; Limoneira Company for the flatbed truck for the judges; Gail Pidduck for the painting “The Shoemaker” for the poster; Hanna Grant for singing the National Anthem; Hector Alamillo for providing the sound system and pre-parade music; the Optimist Club of Santa Paula for providing the insurance, check-in and parade route logistics; and pilots from the Santa Paula Airport for the flyover before the parade.
Special thanks to our sponsors: Santa Paula Times, Rotary International of Santa Paula, Calavo, Limoneira Company, Brokaw Nursery, America in Bloom, Rancho Abuelos, Fruit Growers Laboratory, Santa Paula Latino Town Hall, Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., John Nichols Gallery, Optimist International of Santa Paula, and H. Bolton Co.
To Peggy Kelly for announcing the parade and providing the music. Peggy did a great job and she really got everyone into the right mood.
JoJo Leon and Arnold Lara were announcers for the parade on Time Warner Television. Also, our local station KADY filmed the parade. Wow, that is great!
Congratulations and thank you to our Grand Marshal Mike Mobley.
Thank you to the judges who had to make the hard decisions, Tony Perez, Lorenzo Moraza, and Talia Wunder.
To all those who took part in this year’s parade we thank you for all your time and effort, which made the parade a great success. Without you our parade would not be possible.
To those that came out and watched the parade we appreciate your support. It made it worthwhile for us who put on the parade for you.
Thank you to our committee members: Al Guilin, Peter Wright, Anita Pulido, Audrey Vincent, Anita Gonzales, Mary Lou Garnica, Johnny Galvan, and Coco Aguirre.
Ron Merson, Chair
Santa Paula Labor Day Parade Committee
Support our present City Council
To the Editor:
I support Bob Gonzales, Jim Tovias, Ralph Fernandez and Fred Robinson because of what they have been doing for Santa Paula as a team with Jaime Fontes. There are many cities in California that have gone broke, stopped or curtailed city services and declared bankruptcy, because their city councils have not had the integrity and the foresight to guide their communities safely in these difficult financial times. Look around and listen to the news about Bell California and the like and I know you too will appreciate what we have.
David Kaiser
Santa Paula
Unification - Why now?
To the Editor:
Because the opportunity to vote is here now... after a complicated process begun in 2009!
In May 2012, the State Board of Education determined that the voters should decide if Santa Paula Elementary School District and the High School District should be merged, having excluded Briggs, Mupu and Santa Clara Districts from this unification in 2010. Unification is not a new idea and has been on the City’s General Plan since 1989.
The County’s and the California Department of Education’s studies agree that the merger is feasible (can be done) and will not compromise the education of our students.
Unification provides a long-awaited opportunity to bring in new State money to level-up salaries, and to save money by cutting administrative costs. Unification will also bring the educational community together to plan a coordinated K-12 curriculum and calendar for all Santa Paula kids.
With unification, the Santa Paula Unified District will have more money to spend for our kids - even with ongoing State Budget cuts - than if the districts remain separate.
Ventura, Ojai, Fillmore and Moorpark unified their schools years ago. Now, it’s time for Santa Paula voters to decide. The opportunity will not come again soon.
Please join us in voting for Unification - Measure M on November 6th.
Marcia Edwards
Ginger Gherardi
Members of the Unification Committee
Santa Paula
Re: Labor Day Parade
To the Editor:
The VC Star and the S.P. Times gave Santa Paula’s Labor Day Parade good coverage in their newspaper. People gathered to celebrate. Union workers had much to celebrate for past years but now have less to celebrate with the current state of the economy; there are 23 million Americans out of work! Yet, we have union bosses calling for the re-election of Barack Obama, why? An article in the VC Star dated 8/16/2012, 47% of the local construction work has been lost since 2006, affecting mostly Hispanics. Without dissecting the facts of the article I find this information disheartening to say the least. In my 40 years in construction the last 23 years as a union contractor, I can’t for the life of me figure why politics is paramount in the eyes of our union leaders rather than the sustainability of the common worker. Considering all this, I considered this Labor Day parade this year the “Unemployed Labor Day Parade”. Sadly, even the number of union members is dwindling and the answer is simple; there is little to no work! Some union construction workers are commuting long distances and those few have no choice but to make the long commute in spite of the high cost of fuel. For the longest time as a worker I traveled to Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Orange County, as a contractor too. Who out there needs better proof than to see your friends and neighbors coming back home in the morning after scouring the county and finding nothing. I need not go into the percentages or cumulative figures to illustrate the dismal state of the economy and shore up the argument with working folks that Barack Obama has failed you as a leader and as a President!
Andrew F. Castaneda
Santa Paula
The real threat
To the Editor:
This recession is the direct result of enormous tax cuts, which Bush II gave to those who needed them least. He then attacked Iraq, falsely claiming that nation was producing “weapons of mass destruction”. And he tacked the entire cost of this adventure onto our national debt. As the economy continues to improve, we need to address the debt issue but not while many remain unemployed.
Romney claims expertise in business, but his economic proposals mirror those of Bush/Cheney with even more tax cuts for the very wealthy who secretly contribute millions to him. His Bain Corporation succeeded by taking over companies, borrowing heavily against their assets, and then paying large dividends to himself and other stockholders. Worker health insurance and pensions were voided as these jobs were shipped overseas. Romney publicly urged letting our auto industry go under, but President Obama intervened saving thousands of jobs. And this industry is now making America competitive again. Romney doesn’t dare release his tax returns as is customary. This is because of embarrassing foreign bank accounts and other tax dodges they contain.
Mr. Romney has expressed a willingness to go to war against Iran. Let’s hope that doesn’t become necessary, but if it does President Obama and our great military will again act decisively to defend America. Remember what happened to Osama bin Laden? And have you noticed where Mitt was when the rest of us went to war?
I’m a small business owner and former Republican in my 10th year as caregiver for my wife who has Alzheimer’s disease. Before enactment of “Obamacare”, she slipped into the doughnut hole each April. But her drugs are now covered by the new law.
We believe in our free enterprise system, but even this great capitalistic system must function without destroying others or the nation itself. By scrimping and saving, we are providing university educations for four grandsons. “Obamacare” now requires health insurance companies to cover persons under 26 on their parent’s policies. So this Act directly benefits our own family, and it will benefit nearly everyone when it takes full effect. Claims that it will damage Medicare are just false, but Romney/Ryan would make it into a voucher plan.
The “Citizens’ United” decision by five Republicans on the Supreme Court will result in billions being spent secretly on attack ads just days before the election in an effort to bring us even more government by the very wealthy for the very wealthy. This Court decision is THE REAL THREAT to Social Security, Medicare, and American democracy.
Delton Lee Johnson
Santa Paula
A difficult time
To the Editor:
I would like to thank everyone who helped out in any way after my brother Edgar Garcia’s passing.
It was a very difficult time for my family and a lot of pain to endure. So I feel blessed and very grateful that all the family and friends came together to show their support and just to “be there” for my family and specifically for my mother. My mother had to bear witness to my little brother’s death in our own home and still be ridiculed afterwards so I thank everyone from my heart who stopped by to show my mother support and comfort after losing her son and my baby brother.
Up to 800 people showed up for the services and many gave donations and/or gave their condolences. And every little bit that anyone did meant a whole lot and will never be forgotten and it’s much appreciated.
My little brother will never die and will live forever in our hearts and in our smiles but until we see you again Lil’ Bro, I love you with all my heart and you mean everything to me.
Thank you Santa Paula Times for printing my letter under our freedom of speech rights, it means a lot to me and may God bless you and your families.
Juan Carlos Cardona
Corcoran, CA
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