On behalf of the Santa Paula Optimist Club, I would like to thank the following people for helping to make this year’s Christmas Parade such a success: John Keisler, the Community Services director, for his help with the details in preparing the parade route; the Police Department and the Santa Paula Public Works for the traffic control; A. W. Coulter Trucking for the flatbed trailer used for the judges’ stand; the Santa Paula Fire Department for the fire engines; the Santa Paula Times for their news coverage; Henry Martinez for contacting Santa Claus; and H. Bolton Co. for the car signs.Special thanks go to the following for providing convertibles: Maggie Garcia, Cindy Chapman, Gary Fox, and Rey Frutos.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 success. Without you our parade would not be possible.To those who came out and watched the parade, we appreciate your support. It made it worthwhile for us who put on the parade for you.Merry Christmas and Happy New YearRon Merson, Chairman1999 Santa Paula Christmas ParadeShop Downtown Santa Paula? Just try!To the Editor:I would like to add my voice to the others who have spoken in this forum about the state of customer service in downtown Santa Paula.I work out of town but have made every attempt to purchase goods and services in Santa Paula. I have taken personal time to either go to work later than usual or leave earlier than usual to accommodate posted hours at local stores. Time and again I have arrived to find that the store is not open.Most recently I contacted a local merchant by telephone to set up an appointment to arrange a major purchase. The merchant asked for my daytime phone number which I gave him. He asked where that number was. I told him my work location (less than 15 miles from Santa Paula), to which he replied dismissively, “Well, we are in Santa Paula.” He made it sound as if Santa Paula was located somewhere on the eastern seaboard. Additionally, since “Santa Paula” appears in his business name he must have thought I was exceptionally dense and did not understand that he was located in Santa Paula. I said, for a second time during this conversation, that I lived in Santa Paula but if there was some kind of problem I could take my business elsewhere. He replied that he would pass on my business and hung up.As a native Santa Paulan I remember a bustling downtown. I yearn to see that again.Shop downtown Santa Paula? I will continue to try, but this has to be a partnership between merchant and consumer. The local merchants are not entitled to our patronage (translate: $$), it must be earned.Karen PortlockSanta PaulaLiving Wage CoalitionTo the Editor:This letter is to acknowledge Councilman Johnson for requesting that a Living Wage Ordinance be placed on a future Santa Paula City Council Agenda.For the past year, I have participated in the Living Wage Coalition with other countywide individuals and organizations to address the issue of sustainable wages in Ventura County. The Living Wage Coalition consists of members from labor, private industry, faith communities, non-profit organizations and elected officials.There have been several articles in local newspapers regarding the high cost of living in Ventura County. Even a modest standard of living is out of reach for many working families. According to a study by the California Budget Project, Ventura County is one of the most expensive places in the state for such basic needs as housing, food, child care and health care. As noted in the report, working families in jobs such as clerical, construction workers, and truck drivers are barely making it.The Living Wage Coalition intends to take this concept to each of the 10 cities and the County of Ventura. It has already been approved in concept by the City of Oxnard and the County of Ventura. Their staff is currently working on the language for a new ordinance that would require wages of $8 per hour with medical benefits or $10 per hour without. This would place an individual just above the poverty level. It is a first step. The ordinance does not apply to small businesses of five employees or less, or to some non-profits. It ONLY applies to businesses who receive city or county subsidies of $25,000 or more of your tax dollars.As a council member, I have attempted on several occasions to bring forward a five year job plan, secure agreements with new employers to hire local citizens, and raised the issue of the lack of jobs created with the downtown redevelopment construction project. I ask the community to join me in applauding Mr. Johnson’s discussion item and in supporting a living wage ordinance.Laura Flores EspinosaSanta Paula Council Woman
Letters to the Editor
December 03, 1999
Opinion
Thanks for Home Tour support
To the Editor:The children, board and staff of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Paula would like to thank everyone involved who came and supported the Harvest Home Tour on November 7, 1999.We would especially like to thank Kay Wilson-Bolton of Century 21 for being title sponsor this year. The homes of Dave and Huguette Johnson, Joe and Mary Alice Henderson, Judy Triem and Mitch Stone, and Anthony and Marcia Landau were beautiful inside and out. The scenery and the refreshments at Justice and Mrs. Edwin Beach’s were great. We appreciate their hospitality and generosity.Also special thanks go to Santa Paula Times for their coverage of the event and the advertisements.We would also like our community to know without the efforts of Sandi Tovias, chair of the Harvest Home Tour, and her committee: Debbie Johnson, Brenda Stewart and Carol Schaefer, we wouldn’t have had such a successful event.In addition, we appreciate all the board members and volunteers who acted as docents at the homes, and of course we wouldn’t want to forget the Isbell History Trip team who helped sell tickets.Thank you again everyone on behalf of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Paula.Patricia ZwagermanExecutive DirectorMore thanksTo the Editor:The Santa Paula High Boys Basketball Team would like to thank Dave Anderson and the Santa Paula Police Officers Association for allowing us to have a fundraising Pit-Bar-B-Que Dinner on Cruise Night, November 5th. We were able to raise $2,000 for our upcoming season.We would also like to thank the following people and companies for their donations towards our dinner: Mendez Concrete, Manuel Mendez and Damien Pulido, Alice Montes and Vince’s Cafe, Frank Ybarra and Vons, Maudie Arreola, Jess Juardo and Gold Coast and Pacific Coast Produce, Panaderia La Michoacana, Dean and Luana Lindsey and Lindsey Excavating & Grading, and the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Paula.Also thank you to Pollo Bravo for helping us out in our emergency when we ran out of beans and rice. Thank you to those parents who helped the night of the dinner. We would also like to thank Mary Mata, Liz Scott and Tina Smalley for all the work in organizing and getting this fundraiser off the ground.And thanks to all of you who helped support us by buying dinner tickets. Without this kind of support from parents and the community, we would have the type of program Santa Paula High is known for.Tom DonahueSPHS BasketballA great idea...To the Editor:I have a great idea for “us citizens” here in our town to give a big consideration to. The Depot does need painting and TLC and earthquake retro. That we know. But $80,000 is not play money. How did this structure stand for 100 years?Now for the great idea. Turn the old historic depot, the Glen Tavern and the Tower Theatre buildings into low income apartments. The Depot alone could house five families. Have a rule that no more than two adults (mom and dad) and eight children per each apartment. The new brick area would be used for the renters’ parking, and the lawn area would be enclosed for the dumpsters. A guard can be hired to watch for graffiti scum and loitering. Money generated would go to give the police personnel a raise and add more officers to the force.A docent could explain to the tourists about the reasoning for the need for low income and welfare apartments in our town.Another great idea that would generate a large pot of dollars would be to ticket ($50) for speeding, illegal parking (streets and alleys), bicycles and skateboards on sidewalks, U turns, not stopping or not using turn signals, seat belts, spitting, parking on lawns, etc.Ken Z (Zimmet)Santa PaulaP.S. To charge a fee for a meeting or a fund raiser? Ridiculous. Did you know, you have to have a permit to sell a candy bar or a can of soda pop? Would you like fries with that?Parade a successTo the Editor:
