Letters to the Editor
January 14, 2011
Opinion
Community spirit
To the Editor:
I was impressed with the strong community spirit supporting East Area One. This development can be a very positive force for Santa Paula’s future!!!! Santa Paula is ‘Lemon Capital of the World’.
The article about the pest that seriously threatens out citrus industry does concern all of us. I think a lot of us have a citrus tree or two in our yard. However there was no picture of exactly what we should be looking for on our trees. The agriculture commissioner will supply the picture if asked. Just a suggestion.
David Kaiser
Santa Paula
Economic boost
To the Editor:
Santa Paula’s East Area One Master Planned Community promises to provide an economic boost to our community, which will help support our many historic and cultural attractions. Therefore, I am supporting its annexation by LAFCo and urge others to consider joining me for these reasons.
Currently, facets of Santa Paula’s rich history are on exhibit at the Santa Paula Oil Museum, Santa Paula Art Museum, and the Airport Museum of Santa Paula. Our cultural appeal will soon be broadened by our being the site of the proposed Ventura County Agriculture Museum. Our history-telling murals provide another important medium to communicate our storied past. Such institutions require visitors for monetary support and enthusiastic locals to promote them to friends, families and guests. The anticipated homebuyers of the Santa Paula East Area One project will be the new ambassadors needed to both help support these important attractions and volunteer to be involved in their operations.
I hope that community members that are able to attend the LAFCo meeting on January 19th will do so or send a letter of support. The meeting will be held in the Hall of Administration at the Ventura County Government Center at 800 South Victoria Avenue in Ventura at 10 a.m. Letters of support can be sent to the attention of John Chamberlain at Limoneira Company at 1141 Cummings Road, Santa Paula, CA 93060.
Mary Alice Orcutt Henderson
Santa Paula
Cornerstone project
To the Editor:
The Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce strongly supports the development of Santa Paula East Area One. This project will boost our economy, our local businesses, and the quality of life for all Santa Paula residents. It has been years since Santa Paula has made significant additions to our stock of residential, commercial, and industrial sites. This project, which has demonstrated overwhelming support in our community, will give us modern infrastructure that will support economic growth and attract investment for years to come.
The completed project will be a cornerstone of a more vital Santa Paula. But we will not need to wait for completion to begin to realize the benefits of this project. The economic activity generated during construction will provide hundreds of jobs and support a wide array of local businesses, from accountants to banks to restaurants.
Our Chamber’s motto is “In Business For Business.” Santa Paula East Area One is good for business. Along with other Chamber members, I will proudly be supporting it at the upcoming LAFCo hearing on January 19th.
Chris Sayer
Santa Paula
Investment in Santa Paula
To the Editor:
Santa Paula East Area One will provide additional consumers for our downtown merchants and will help to spur additional investment in Santa Paula. I support annexation of this project.
New homeowners will be attracted to the beautifully designed East Area One Community Development, which will blend new neighborhoods together with our historic town. A new Santa Paula Street Bridge will connect shoppers in the new community with our downtown core so that residents can easily travel to visit our downtown merchants.
As the project is built, other businesses will be inclined to take a serious look at investing in Santa Paula. I support annexation of the Santa Paula East Area Project and hope you will join me at the LAFCo meeting on January 19th to show your support.
Duane Ashby
Santa Paula
Investment in education
To the Editor:
People often mention that an investment in education is an investment in our future. Santa Paula East Area One makes these important investments and then some!
I have been involved in preparing our youth to face tomorrow’s challenges for years. We have wonderful teachers in Santa Paula, and we receive a great deal of community support for which I am most thankful. The East Area One project offers substantial potential to build on all the efforts being made by our city’s educators by providing a much-needed boost to our community.
The plan contains much-needed funds for both our high school and elementary schools and will also include facilities for post secondary studies. This investment will provide our students with skills to enable them to prepare for tomorrow’s occupations.
Please join me in supporting East Area 1 at the LAFCo Annexation hearing on January 19th at the Ventura County Government Center. This investment of your time will reap a large return for our students.
Dr. David A. Gomez
Santa Paula
Support public safety
To the Editor:
We need a firing range. Our City Council is working with our paid professionals who are responsible for the public safety. It is essential that we support this effort for our own safety and their safety. D. D. Behrens was a noted rifle champion and credits his ability to having a firing range in Santa Paula.
Mrs. Harold Behrens
Santa Paula
East Area One
To the Editor:
I studied the project carefully as it was being discussed and refined by community members. I support the project, and I understand why 83% of the voters did the same thing. The plan is comprehensive. It provides much needed new housing at a variety of price points (including new housing for our teachers, firefighters, police personnel, hospital staff, faculty and city and county employees). It contains new educational facilities, parks and athletic fields. And, it includes a new fire station and police substation. Funding from the East Area One project will revitalize the eastern gateway to our community and it will increase our tax base so that city administration will have additional funds for much needed improvements to our aging infrastructure.
Please join me on January 19th at 10 a.m. at the Government Center in Ventura to show our support for annexation.
John Macik
Santa Paula Chevrolet
Sewer rates
To the Editor:
I’m writing to express dismay and concern about the recent dramatic increase in sewer rates for Santa Paula residents. Even before this increase, we were surprised at how much higher than in Ventura the water/sewer bill was in Santa Paula. The increase brings our bills for a small manufactured Santa Paula house to more than double what we paid for a large five-bedroom house in Ventura.
Most of our neighbors in a senior community are living alone, and many of them are on fixed incomes. It seems a bit unfair that this economic “punishment” falls as heavily on them as on families in large homes with high usage, especially as we understand that further increases can be expected.
Is it not possible to consider conversion to a system of billing based on water usage? Such a system would further act as an incentive to do what many of us have already done – replace water-thirsty lawns with “dryscape” landscaping.
I hope the city will address the inequities in the current and future billing system for water and sewer service.
Norma Fulkerson
Santa Paula
