Andrew F. CastanedaSanta PaulaProposition 1A and the CrooksTo the Editor:We can thank the 53% that got us Mr. Socialist. Perhaps the chaos and the nightly assault by the mainstream media decrying the economic state of our country made it that much easier for Obama to win the presidency. The mainstream media continues to shield him as well as his cohorts in driving the socialist agenda. But again we will pay the price for his party’s social engineering. What is occurring in our community is occurring nationwide. Currently our deceptive state legislators have betrayed the California taxpayers by supporting Proposition 1A which will be on the May 19th ballot. If you do not want to continue this phony tax scheme by both Democrats and Republicans and the Governor, please vote NO on Proposition 1A & 1B on May 19, 2009! Don’t fall for the phony “for the children” or “teachers will be laid off” baloney. This proposition is so bad even the California Faculty Association and the SEIU unions are against Proposition 1A. This proposition will extend the 1% increase an additional 2 years. Our DMV auto license fee will almost double and an increase of 0.25% in the state’s personal income tax on every tax bracket. Santa Paula’s High School superintendent, David Gomez will be campaigning for this proposition heavily as well as the teachers union. Think about it folks, we’re in a recession and the majority of voters in Santa Paula just passed Measure Q last November, I was not one of the bamboozled, I voted no! It’s your money, if you want to throw it away, many of a politician have their arms out with tin cups!Andrew F. CastanedaSanta Paula Thank you for Santa Paula VideoTo the Editor:I wanted to convey a super thank you to Debbie Johnson from the Santa Paula Times for her assistance in a very special request. My friend Petra Sachs has lived in Santa Paula for the past three years and urgently needed to go home to Germany due to family matters. She had seen the ‘Shop Santa Paula’ video on the local channel 10 during the holidays. She thought that this video would be the perfect item to show to her family the city she has been living in. She asked for my help in finding out where she could get a copy of this video. We finally ended up at the Santa Paula Times after checking with the City of Santa Paula, the Oil Museum and the Chamber of Commerce.We explained to Debbie Johnson what we were looking for. She knew about the video but did not know if it was available to the public. She immediately made some calls regarding this video but with no success. She assured us that she would make every effort to find a copy of the video.All this took place on Monday March 23rd and on Tuesday March 24, 2009 (the very next day), Debbie called me at home to inform me that she had the video and it was ready for pick up at the Santa Paula Times office. Now, is that awesome or what!! That show us all that the Santa Paula Times and Debbie Johnson went beyond ‘Customer Service’.I sincerely think that the City of Santa Paula should produce this video and make it available to the public upon request. This is a great venue to display the fabulous assets of our beautiful and wonderful city.Again, a very special thank you to the Santa Paula Times, and especially to Debbie Johnson for your ‘super special service’. Margarete OlivasSanta PaulaSome facts of life:To the Editor:People, government and taxes have umbilical connection, however, government and taxes tend to grow faster and people are overburdened; politicians are good liars and bad gamblers; money & materialism stimulate greed; and, money not earned is easy to squander.We are in a season of fiascos and our leaders are betting our country’s economic wellbeing. How in the world could the elite of Washington vote for a bill they did not read especially when it involves BILLIONS of taxpayers’ money? And then if later on, something wrong was discovered, they are so brazen putting the blame on somebody or something else. Cases in point: the humongous Stimulus Package which according to some lawmakers there wasn’t enough time to peruse much less painstakingly evaluate; and lately, the AIG bailout.We all know they wrote, negotiated, amended and enacted all the bills before they became laws. That shows that the political outrage about the AIG bonuses is simply another well-calculated act to manipulate and divert the blame away from them. Here at home, look how the measures are written, particularly Measure 1A, then listen to its advocates. It is very confusing, if not deceiving! Then consider Measure 1B that automatically goes into effect if 1A passes. In the last 2 decades or so, selling measures to voters is made easy by simply connecting children, education, safety & health to them. Measures 1A and 1B are another billions-of-dollars allocations, funding of which is based on a magical crystal ball! The fact is there’s nothing left in the state’s coffer and our state is in the red! Yes Virginia, there is a rainy season and it is now but we did not save for it. This is one of the reasons the country is facing the current dilemma. But now, people know and they are bold to say NO MORE!I pity those who lost or are losing their homes due to market condition, and those who are unable to refinance because they lost their equity. My heart goes out to those who have children but lost their jobs and don’t have enough food on the table, and to the destitute and who maybe are losing hope. I wish everyone, especially our leaders, would look beyond the comfort of their lives; live and feel the agony, the sufferings of others even for just a day and maybe feel obliged to do something about it.I do not envision or suggest dole outs or entitlement of any sort. I am hoping that leaders at all levels, government or otherwise be good stewards and do what is morally right. When we all see that happening, trust will be regained, and hope and encouragement will be renewed.May God give us wisdom, perseverance, courage and strength.Rodolfo N. VelascoSanta Paula
Letters to the Editor
March 27, 2009
Opinion
CEDC – Be a friend
To the Editor:Why have Rodney Fernandez and his CEDC been so hardnosed about being a good developer and listening to the taxpayers when it came to numbers of units, height, parking and fees to generally provide a mix that will not be over a good balance of requirements for the size and location of Plaza Amistad.I was astounded by Rodney’s reaction when he was told it was not going to be approved for the original 150 units he wanted. I was sitting just a few feet from him when this announcement was made at the Council meeting. “He was in shock”, with water pouring out all over his face. I don’t think the word NO to his request sat well. So why has CDEC pressed on with suits and bringing in 2 lady barristers to try every method and tactic to derail to Council to think their charges were the only way and ours was no way. I think not. One lady lawyer even stepped out of bounds misrepresenting herself and charging the Vice Mayor was not a resident even after a close examination had been done and certified by several agencies. This was nothing more than mudslinging 101 which this city does not resort to.When is it a requirement to “provide” someone with housing, or build them housing. At this time there is little or no vacancies. Strange, it is usually supply and demand and if the seekers’ expectations are not met, well, one looks elsewhere. I was unaware we had to build a residence for someone just because they wanted a newer, bigger or different place. Next it will be a request for free money too... the list goes on.We all must maintain within our means. And yes, we can help or assist those in need.My suggestion for CEDC is:• Scale down the build out to 50 to 70 units max• Reduce the height to 2 stories for fire and rescue requirements• No below apartment basement parking• Larger playgrounds and grassy area for residents• Water meter all units so all city payers pay the same• Pay the additional costs for Police, Fire, City services and above all... pay for the additional influx and population to our school system with in-lieu fees on an equal basis with the rest of taxpayers in this city.And, I wish that Rodney and CEDC would be good friends and developers that will actively take a part in the sensible growth of this city, versus being demanding, and filing suits in court. Above all else, work with the citizens/taxpayers of this fair city.Roger BrowerSanta PaulaSorry to miss the MixerTo the Editor:To all of the members of the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce, the people who frequently go to the monthly Chamber Mixers, and to the host that hosted last week’s Chamber Mixer, and that is the City of Santa Paula Fire Department at Station 82, I want to apologize to you all for missing last week’s mixer.I normally don’t miss these Chamber get-togethers, mixers that is, but I had a very good reason to miss last week’s mixer that you put on, because I had to have an operation, or should I say surgery that is to remove my something that was really hurting me for the last two months. I don’t want to tell you what it was until I see any of you people the next time that I see you so I can tell what I had taken out of me, because I’ll feel embarrassed if I told you over the newspaper. So the next time I see any of you I’ll tell you what I had an operation on and where I had my surgery.I know that I missed a very good one, but my health had to come first, so I hope that you’ll all understand why I wasn’t there last week, and that I had to miss it. No, I wasn’t afraid that I would get harassed if I won a prize or one of the prizes as well as the 50/50 drawing. I wasn’t afraid of that. It’s because I was groggy and the pain started to hurt a little, so I didn’t want to take a chance at risking myself into going over and doing something like this, so I hope you will forgive me for missing the mixer.Especially to the ones at the City of Santa Paula Fire Department at Station 82, I hope that we have another one like this sometime later on this year or next year so I could attend. And so to all my good friends at the City of Santa Paula Fire Department at Station 82, Milo, Gilbert, Daniel, Jay, Jay, Steve, Dustin, Rick and Kevin, and to all of the firefighters that work for the City of Santa Paula Fire Department, I apologize for not being there last week.And to all the members of the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce, and to the regulars that frequently go to these mixers, I’ll see you at next month’s mixer, wherever that one will be held at, so you can harass me if I win a prize or one of the prizes as well as the 50/50 drawing, too.But for now, have a safe and good very happy Easter, too, if you can, okay please.John BravoSanta Paula“Good old days” by Wayne AlleeTo the Editor: I was very pleased to read Mr. Wayne Allee’s article, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the crowd that showed up at last city council’s meeting of March 16, 2009. Many were for the Plaza Amistad project, many were against it. The striking differences in the public opinion of the agenda were the people of different ethnicity that spoke out against the Plaza Amistad project. Nowadays, it is not difficult to find white limousine liberals parade themselves as champions of the oppressed. However, fair-minded individuals that will take the chance of scorn and “tell it like it is” are few and far between. This is the relativeness in Mr. Allee’s well-written and well thought-of article. I encourage the silent majority to speak out and be heard. All it takes is a few courageous individuals and the rest will follow. When the taxpayers begin to feel the pain of working harder for the few that want to be supported, when the taxpayers reach the saturation point and refuse to continue to coddle the “entitled ones”, we will have change. The reason outfits such as CEDC get away with their intimidation tactics is their always faithful “race card”. As soon as we quit allowing these tactics to influence our decisions, the sooner they’ll quit in any shape or form!
