We need a new team that will lead us up the higher road.Delton Lee JohnsonSanta PaulaA new directionTo the Editor:We need a new Council that will slow the development of low-income housing in Santa Paula and bring us higher end homes and tax dollars to help improve our infrastructure and deliver jobs. We have more than met our low-income housing obligation while the cities of Camarillo and Thousand Oaks haven’t even begun to address the issue. Subsidized housing pays approximately half the taxes and fees. It also burdens City services and leads to overcrowding. I’m afraid that if we reelect the current council we will get more projects like the farm worker condos that are being built on our historic Main Street. A project so immense and out of character with the neighborhood that you have to wonder what the Council was thinking. Built to the curb with no setbacks or details. Another ugly stucco tenement. Our Council has now placed on the ballot a measure that would allow for even more low-income housing. We desperately need a Council that seeks quality over quantity and genuinely pursues excellence in city planning and design.Four years is long enough. We want a new direction. We need a group of three new individuals that are savvy business professionals. Ones who can work together to solve the problems we need solved right away. Ones that will listen to us. These people will see to it that we get those needed tax dollars and improvements. That’s why I’m supporting Fred Robinson, Ralph Fernandez and Bob Gonzales, who all endorse measure L6. L6 is necessary to avert another Fagan-like debacle. It is important for us to have a say in our future by voting on large development projects. By doing so, we will make certain that the Council consider our best interests and not solely their own agendas. For more information on L6 or to request a yard sign please call 933-2516.Lotar ZiesingSanta PaulaI question the claimsTo the Editor:After 2 years of fighting for a four-lane bypass road for Fagan Canyon and improvements to highway 150 in the event of a need for a major evacuation in cases of fire or other disasters, the same people on city council that nixed this plan are running for reelection.I produced photos of the Oakland Hills fire of 1991 and reports from fire agencies to support my efforts to provide better public safety at council meetings and meetings with developers at the community center. The photos were almost a match for the box canyon above Santa Paula. Repeated requests to incorporate this road in the event of a fire such as the one just north of Santa Paula were made.Then Mayor Krause and later Mayor Cook would not step up and tell Centex to build this road. Centex refused to even consider the bypass even though the developer of Adams Canyon had agreed and had the routes in his maps. Even East Area One had proposed routes in their early design plans.I asked several times in front of council why the developer in the middle would not approved such a request. The answer, well, there wasn’t one.So why should we reelect council members such as Mary Ann Krause who “claim to care” in her ad of 27 September in the Times but didn’t fight for public safety and better long range traffic planning for the whole city and only for her own interests.Mary Ann Krause, in front of many respected citizens of this community, said she would resign three times, and to date reneged on those promises.A recent straw poll conducted in Santa Paula revealed 262 citizens wouldn’t not vote for Krause or Cook and only 28 would vote for Krause being reelected. Mayor Cook did not do well either and the most mentioned reason - “his attitude”.The grassroots effort in this community is taking a firm stance on ineffective leaders and are taking back this city. No more comments from council to the effect “they (the citizens) don’t know what they want”. The polls and results of the special elections indicate the Santa Paula citizens want a change, or as some say, a clean sweep of city hall.Roger BrowerSanta PaulaHeartfelt thanksTo the Editor:Soroptimist International of Santa Paula wants to thank all the downtown merchants and the persons patronizing the merchants who contributed to our Second Annual “Heart Walk on Main Street.” Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the country. Stroke is #3 and is a leading cause of serious disability.Even in these economic times, the Downtown Merchants are a generous group. With the combined contributions of themselves and their customers, we raised over $400 in one hour! We had an opportunity to visit many shops and to see the various items they carried.We want to express our thanks to: Crystal Bakery, Marco’s Appliance, Vince’s Restaurant, Tisa’s Salon & Spa, Santa Paula Inn, Cal West Real Estate, Princess Bridal, Kathleen’s on Main, Santa Paula Coffee Co., Mupu Grill, Tlaquepaque Restaurant, Liz Rubel Massage Therapist, Vanity on Main, Stella at the Super Store, Pamela’s Tea Room, Santa Clara Valley Bank, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, La Michoacana Bakery, and Kulwiec & Associates and the Model Ship Museum on the corner of 8th and Main. Please patronize these merchants and plan to be surprised at their variety of goods!Soroptimist is an international volunteer organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world!Donna Stewart, PresidentSoroptimist International of Santa Paula
Letters to the Editor
September 29, 2006
Opinion
In remembrance
To the Editor:The Carol S. Macias Memorial Nursing Scholarship Fund was created shortly after Carol’s death in 1991. Many fine citizens and friends of Carol’s donated money to start a scholarship for high school graduates of Santa Paula High School who intended to further their career in nursing.It has been a fond memorial and tribute to one of the finest office nurses that I have had the privilege of working with in the last 33 years.Fourteen high school graduates have accepted the modest stipend and in her memory we all hope that they have furthered their career. The current balance is dwindling after all these years, and if anyone would wish to help continue this worthy scholarship, all they have to do is contact my office manager at 525-2121.In deep gratitude and fond remembrance of Carol,Richard J. Tushla, M.D.Santa PaulaStupid politicians?To the Editor:Am I stupid or is it the Politicians in Congress?If a country is OCCUPIED for 40 years it is only natural that the people would REBEL.... They are not terrorists but Freedom Fighters. So why do we support the aggressive policies of ISRAEL? Is it because the Zionist-Israeli Lobby, the largest in the US, financially corrupts our politicians?Israel is NOT the victim. It is the aggressor! If the Israelis want peace, let them stop occupying the lands of Palestine. They are creating hatred in the world by their greed for someone else’s land. The same applies to IRAQ. We don’t need their oil or a base of 110 acres there. We have technology that should be developed and SHARED to bring prosperity to the world.We should not continue to develop chemical, biological, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, for the Pentagon to test out in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places. We don’t need to have an Empire. They are doomed to annihilation. We want PEACE based on JUSTICE.Marguerite PetersonSanta PaulaBulliesTo the Editor:We are the greatest BULLY in the world! We serve the interests of the Anti-Christ: the Forces of Materialism, just as Hitler did. We have Criminals in government who murdered 3,000 people in the WTC, who murder thousands in Iraq in order to STEAL their resources. See www.pentagonstrike.co.up/flash.htm#main/ and other websites: infowars.com/ copvcia.com/ prisonplanet.com/ etc. Read “Crossing the Rubicon” by Michael Ruppert.Our liberties are being taken away. Irwin Schiff’s book: “The Federal Mafia” is now BANNED and can only be downloaded from the Internet: ftp://ftp.constitution.org/public/render/export/schiff/big_con.pdf/. Homeland Security (Big Brother) has now filed a CRIMINAL complaint against Greg Palast and Matt Pascarella for the film “The Hurricane Katrina.”Disney Corporation has just produced a 9/11 miniseries distorting the history with misinformation. Drug money is easily laundered to make the powerful more powerful. President FDR said that it is the Financial Elite who rule the world. The Democrats may be a little better than the Republicans but they are still the lackeys of the Financial Elite.It is time for PEOPLE POWER. We must use boycotts and demand that our Pension Officials DIVEST holdings from Disney Corporation and the owners of the Major Media. Without the Internet we would be in the dark. They must not take that away from us!Marguerite dar BoggiaSanta PaulaThe higher roadTo the Editor:An election is coming. Council incumbents (Cook, Krause, and Aguirre) are showing up at community events and managing to get their pictures onto the front page of the paper. We will finally see some badly needed street repairs. And we are being told that the political climate for the asphalt plant “isn’t right at the moment.”Incumbent ads contain empty platitudes such as “capable”, “caring”, “committed”, “experienced”, and “leader” which are so vague are so as to be meaningless. Anyone can use such words. Incumbents never mention the number of crowded low-end units approved, or the 26,000 additional vehicle trips per day they voted to run through our two-lane streets, or how they repeatedly forced voters to sue in the courts in order to exercise their Constitutional rights of initiative and referendum. One would think these had never occurred. Do they expect us to vote solely upon slogans and ignore these issues?After years of council stalling, the courts twice found it necessary to order them to cease interfering with our right to vote. Then, even with Centex spending more than $1,700,000 on Measure E6, voters rejected council approval of Fagan in June.Now, again under order of the Court, we will finally be allowed to vote on L6 in November. If approved, L6 will require voter review of massive developments such as Fagan Canyon. Developers and their friends on the council have their own reasons to oppose L6. They want us to vote against our right to vote.No one wants a repeat of the past four years. But with the council vote divided among eight candidates, incumbents may have an edge. Reelecting them would bring continued emphasis on crowded low-end housing, probable revival of the Centex plan for Fagan, continued escalation of city charges, more referendums to overcome future excesses, and likely approval of the asphalt plant now on hold. This is the low road. It leads to permanent blight and low status among other cities.Even when one assumes that the incumbents have acted with good intent, there remains a desperate need for a change in direction which they are incapable of taking. Four years ago, I supported some now seeking reelection. But I am unwilling to accept four more of the same.We possess some of the finest climatic and natural assets in the world. Common sense suggests a need to build upon these assets and other strengths we now possess: environmental, historic, business, agricultural, and human. We need greatly expanded tourism, high quality light industry, a plan to route traffic around rather than through residential areas, a university site, green medians, an architectural review board, community-wide beautification, and quality housing to balance our over reliance on low-end units. These items are not pie-in-the-sky. They are common to every community that is striving for quality. We absolutely can attain them for Santa Paula, but only if we will insist upon high standards. This may sound difficult but, over time, high standards are always a bargain. We need a new emphasis on excellence in all we plan and do.