Page 3 - Sanger Herald 11-8-18 E-edition

SANGER HERALD 3A THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018 EDITORIAL & OPINION
Random thoughts Congratulations to the local 'apparent' election winners ...
By Dick Sheppard
Congratulations to Sanger's new state senator Melissa Hurtado.
Great campaign. Great upset win!
•••
I've lamented more than
once about how uninvolved
in the community those people are who live in Sanger but work in Clovis, Sunnyside or Fresno.
It dawned on me last Saturday while rid- ing in the Veterans Parade and looking at the spectators lining the parade route, the same goes for most of our well compensated top city administrators who work in Sanger but live in Clovis, Sunnyside or Fresno.
The only time most of them interact with a Sanger resident is at city hall in a strictly business relationship.
They weren't at the parade and you prob- ably won't see any at Sanger's Marine Corps Birthday Ball and Veterans Celebration this Saturday or the 2nd Annual Coach Dean Nicholson basketball alumni basketball game on Nov. 15 or the Eagles Thanksgiving Dinner on Nov. 17 or anything else that takes them out of their Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., natural habitat at city hall.
What a shame they don't take time to get to know us personally, to get excited about Apache sports, to enjoy a cold brew at the Oasis or a chili dog at the Chuck Wagon.
They don't get to vote for school district bond issues or school board or city council candidates.
It makes me wonder how much they really know about our great little town. Probably only what they hear discussed by other well compensated City of Sanger employees from Clovis, Sunnyside and Fresno.
No wonder we hear complaints about how out of touch they sometime seem.
•••
I got a few emails recently accusing me of
writing nice things about some of our elected city officials.
Guilty.
I don't dislike any of our elected officials. They are all probably nice, well inten-
tioned people who are more than likely nice
to their dogs, their kids and their parents. I admire them for their willingness to run for public office and for their ability
to - mostly graciously - put up with all the criticism they have to take from the Monday morning quarterbacks, like me, who prefer to stay on the sidelines and second guess almost every decision they are forced to make.
However, I don't think all of them are equally well qualified or equally competent to sit on the dais and make policy decisions for our great city. Maybe its kind of a, "hate the sin, but love the sinner," thing.
Having a foolproof system like the council- manager form of government with all its checks and balances doesn't mean there aren't fools who - by removing or ignoring all the checks and balances - can completely dis- mantle the system.
We elected councilmembers to be a gov- erning board and to oversee a city manager, not to do his every bidding.
Instead, in my opinion, the council has allowed its employee, the city manager, to act like the council's boss while councilmembers mostly act like his subservient employees.
They have created a hybrid form of gov- ernment that is becoming increasingly dys- functional. (Isn't that pretty much what the four grand jury reports have said?)
We had a system of municipal governance that turned out to be a lot better than some of the nice councilmembers who ignore it.
The system they have created will not work.
But, they are still probably nice people. •••
Congratulations to the nice people who were the apparent winners in Tuesday's elec- tion - Humberto Garza, Eli Ontiveros, Jesse Solorio and, once again, to Melissa Hurtado.
"Apparent," because even though all city council and school board precincts have turned in their regular votes, there are still provisional and late absentee ballots to be counted.
"Maybe," because if there is a narrow margin between candidates, as there is in the state senate race between Hurtado and Andy Vidak, those provisional and late absentee votes might change the outcome.
It's a very large district and Hurtado has a slightly more than 3,000 vote edge after the
regular ballots have been counted.
It doesn't often happen, but it's possible. It will be several days before all the votes have
been counted and the election has been offi- cially certified.
However, the winners mentioned in the Herald today are still likely to be the winners when the election has been certified.
But, until then, you can keep hoping. •••
By the way, waytogo and a big "ooo-rah" to U.S. Marine Corps brothers in arms Manuel and Rigo Arriaga, Rolando Bernal, Mike Flores, Mike “Gunny” Calderon and Johnny Zuniga for forming the original committee of “Those Who Served” and starting the Sanger Marine Corps Birthday Ball and Veterans Celebration I mentioned earlier.
This year, the classy event celebrates the
In my OPINION
243rd birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps with a party on Saturday at the community center. The honored guest is John "Doc" Bart.
•••
Can't help wondering how many of those
well compensated City of Sanger employ- ees from Sunnyside, Clovis and Fresno even know who "Doc" is or that he was once Sanger's police chief and later the adjutant for the entire American Legion Department of California.
•••
"We have met the enemy and he is us."
- Pogo
Comments, complaints and suggestions may be emailed to sangerherald@gmail.com or may be made by calling 875-2511.
Dick Sheppard
By Fred Hall
Veterans Day
Here is the short version of the story which I have taken the liberty of excerpt- ing from a source which offers no attribution.
"Veterans Day is an offi-
cial United States public
holiday, observed annually
on November 11, that hon-
ors military veterans; that is, persons who served in The United States Armed Forces.
It coincides with other holidays, includ-
ing Armistice Day and Remembrance Day. Celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War 1; major hostilities of World War 1 were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th month in 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. TheUnitedStatespreviouslyobserved ArmisticeDay. TheU.S.Holidaywas renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
"Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day, a U.S. Public holiday in May; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. Military veterans while Memorial Day honors those who died while in military ser- vice. ItisalsonottobeconfusedwithArmed Forces Day, a minor U.S. Remembrance that also occurs in May which specifically honors those currently serving in U.S. Military."
The long story is the importance of remembering that, on this special day, we pay homagetothoseheroicmenandwomenwho paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their countryandfellowAmericans. Allpaidsome whilemanypaidall! Wehavereachedthe point in this country where we have become remissinteachinghistory—especiallythat whichmaybeunpleasant. Whilemanyseek to tear down statues and destroy anything historically unpleasant, it is an integral part of who we are and how we got here.
The very fact that I am free to write about thisandyourfreechoiceofwhetheryouto choose to read it or not flows directly from the fact that some young man or woman was willing to put their life on the line to insure youcontinuetoenjoythesefreedoms. You should thank a veteran for the very fact that we are still an English speaking country. They felt that freedom was worth defending and fighting for.
I fear that the empirical proof is, with
the current generation, we are increasing willing to cede those liberties to others in order to maintain our “safe zones” and “safe places.” Takethewordofanoldman,that's afool'sbargain. “Thosewhowouldgive
up essential liberty to secure temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin said it better and more succinctlythananyoneI'veeverheard. Ican only hope I'm wrong but it does appear that the toughness exhibited by past generations of Americans has been “taught” out of many of today's latest iteration of citizens.
The actions of so many of our young peo- ple—especially those who inhabit our college
Fred Hall
We welcome guest columns at the Herald
campuses—is so counterintuitive to the spirit that helped this great nation we can't help but arrive at the conclusion that their rationale simplymustbealearnedbehavior. Forus, many of the beliefs which they espouse do not meet the measure of common sense.
Probably a good project to undertake
this Veterans (yes, that is correct, there is
no possessive used in Veterans) Day would be to offer solemn recognition for the sac- rifices of those who gave all in the defense
of America and the most free country in the world. Prayersandspecialthankyousissued at grave sites all across the nation would be especiallywelcomed. Gettinganextraday away from work is special but we would council everyone to take a few minutes dur- ing that day in recognition of the men and women we are honoring on a very special nationalholiday. Thankasoldierfortheir service!
Nopositiontakennormethodemployed seemstobesacrosanctinthepursuitof radical political positions in today's world of“anythinggoes.” Stuntsandclaimsare deemedacceptableforpositionsthat,atone time, would have been considered embarrass- ing and inane.
We're all fortunate that we live in the Central Valley of California where the very essenceofpatriotismisaliveandwell. Mid Valley Publishing had the good fortune
of being invited to be a participant in the Veterans Day parade in Sanger this past Saturday. One'schestvirtuallyswelledwith pride at the overt display of the colors and thanks for the contributions of those who defended America's freedoms.
For our part, special thanks go out to Wally's Body Shop in Reedley where the modifications were done, at no cost, to the World War II vintage tripod which held the 50-caliber Browning machine gun that was mountedonthehoodoftheVietnameraJeep wedrove. ManythankstoWally'sfortheir patrioticcontribution. Werecommendyou add them to your list of good guys!
But, as always, that's only one man's opin- ion.
In addition to the Sanger Herald, Publisher Fred Hall oversees two other Mid Valley Publishing newspapers - Reedley Exponent, and Dinuba Sentinel. He can be contacted by phone at (559) 638-2244 or by email at fred@ midvalleypublishing.com.
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