Page 3 - Sanger Herald 12-27-18 E-edition

SANGER HERALD 3A THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2018 EDITORIAL & OPINION
Random thoughts Take that Orange Cove and Parlier! Sanger is No. 1!!! Yay!?!
By Dick Sheppard
I made a couple of very tentative decisions during the past week of overeating and not getting much done.
The decisions are tenta-
tive because I was on a con-
siderable sugar high most
of the week. I've decided
that next year I will try to only make resolu- tions I can probably keep for more than a couple of weeks, like: procrastinate more, starting tomorrow; or, even better, don't make any more resolutions.
However, there are some New Year's reso- lutions I would like to see others make:
• Sanger drivers - turn on your headlights in the fog, not just the parking lights;
• City council members - memorize and follow City Ordinance 1083, Division 4, Chapter 2, Article III relating to the Code of Ethics.
• People who call me on Wednesday morn- ing or stop by and want to schmooze while I'mtryingtoworkagainstadeadlinetoget the paper out of my computer and to the press - please don't, unless you're bringing cookies.
•••
Many people now text instead of calling
and I feel almost like I'm beginning to suf- fer from textual harassment. Although, the texts I get during some city council meet- ings are pretty funny, like the one recently that suggested a bumper sticker for bad Sanger drivers, "Candidate for District 1 City Council!" (Today at 5 p.m., by the way, is the deadline for submitting your application to be considered for the vacant District 1 council position.)
Speaking of bad Sanger drivers, why do so many spend so much time putting down their phones after the light changes, why do so few use turn signals, why do so many flip unexpected U-turns downtown and why can't more understand they're supposed to treat that annoying ginormous tree in the middle of the 7th and N streets intersection like a traffic circle?
•••
While putting together the year in review
stories for today's paper it was impossible not to wonder if Sanger would have another grand jury investigation in the new year.
Sanger already holds the record for the most grand jury investigations in the shortest period of time, four in less than 10 years.
Take that Orange Cove and Parlier! Sanger
is No. 1!!!
Yay!?! (Rolling my eyes.)
I expect 2019 to be a hiatus year because
we usually only have a grand a jury investi- gation every other year. I look for the next one in 2020 or maybe early 2021 when the city hall administration will likely run out of clever ways to manipulate finances by using the rob Peter to pay Paul accounting method. That's also about the time I believe the Sanger Police Officers Association will learn the difference between revenue projections and cash flow. The SPOA will have to try to find new ways to get the city manager to uphold his end of the apparent quid pro quo bargain that inappropriately moved Measure S money into salaries for every member of the bargaining unit.
•••
Why does Sanger have so many grand jury
investigations? In my opinion it's because a line of arrogant city managers and naive and gullible city councils have believed a grand jury report is no more of a threat to business as usual than a Sanger Herald editorial.
TheyknowSangervoters aretheonly ones who can change the business as usual attitude and Sanger voters are notorious for not paying attention to what goes on at city hall as long as trash gets picked up and toilets flush.
•••
The 2011-2012 grand jury report criticized,
in my opinion, the biggest travesty foisted on Sanger voters - before the current arrogant city manager, Tim Chapa, convinced a naive and gullible city council to rush the renewal of Measure S to the polls in November of 2016 before its ambiguous language had been clarified.
In the November 2010 election only 8 percent of registered voters turned out to approve Measure L which changed the way Sanger elected its mayor and councilmem- bers.
Before Measure L, Sanger had five council districts electing representatives at large and the sitting council then selected the mayor from among council members. Measure L, city ordinance 1113, created four districts that elected councilmembers by district, rath- er than at large, and provided for an at large election of a mayor. Councilmembers served the usual four year terms but the mayor, under Measure L, got only a two year term. It didn't make sense.
The Herald repeatedly ranted against the measure and the grand jury echoed the Her- ald's comments.
Thanks
The Screamin' Demons Motorcycle Club would like to express our apprecia- tion to the Sanger area people who donated to our toy drive.
Without your support our efforts would be in vain.
So on behalf of the Screamin' Demons Motorcycle Club, a sincere thank you, God bless and happy holidays.
The current city council is thinking about reviewing and revising the measure so there will once again be five council districts, each electing a councilmember for a four year term from within the district. The mayor would, once again, be selected by the council.
Waytogo to the new mayor pro tem Daniel Martinez for asking for the review.
Sanger is a general law city, not a charter city, and the mayor whether elected at large or by the council is still only another council- member who gets to preside at meetings and show up at ceremonial events - unless Sanger is trying to become more like Orange Cove.
•••
I hope you had a great Christmas and will
have a wonderful, healthy and wealthy New Year!
"Let our New Year's resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow mem- bers of humanity, in the finest sense of the word."
- Goran Persson
Comments, complaints and suggestions may be emailed to sangerherald@gmailcom or may be made by calling 875-2511.
Dick Sheppard
In my OPINION
Best wishes for surviving and thriving after
another confusing California Christmas
By Fred Hall
Silly legislation such as this really harms no one but it does point out the amount of frivolous law-making which is done in a “feel good” by the legislator or an attempt to show usthatthey“reallycare.” Toobadthatthey don'tseemtocareabouttherankandfile
of the populace instead of special interest groups.
In sharp contrast with the silly laws are those like the “values act” which has already resulted in death and injury to California citizens—the most recent episode being in TulareCounty. Thatinanebitofaction—also known as Senate Bill 54, was quickly passed to send a message to the new President as to who was really the boss in California.
Our State government's insistence on resistingthePresidentatallcostshasresult- ed in the release of criminal aliens back into thepopulationwithoutadvisingICE. Inan attempt to publicly spite the man who was electedtorunourcountry,ourlocalelected officials decided to release criminals, who aren't even citizens, back into our population towreakhavoconthecitizenry. Thatsingle bit of idiocy has already resulted in death, injury and property crimes which were avoidable.
This law even goes so far as forbidding cooperationbetweenlawenforcementin California and Federal immigration authori- ties. Themakingoflawisfineifthereisan area in need but it should never be done in such a capricious manner as displayed by our DemocratmastersinSacramento. Weurge those legislators to consider the Hippocratic Oath, to which medical doctors swear to, first ofall,donoharm. Intherarefiedairofthe State Capitol, these folks seem to quickly lose touch with the reasons they were elected in the first place.
Addthistothewell-cloakedballotini- tiatives—47 and 57—in which the people wereliedtoandtrickedintopassingwhich reduced felonies to misdemeanors and expe- ditedthereleaseofsomereallybadpeople back to the streets so they could continue to ply their trade.
Withthecurrentstandardof“Howmuch legislation have you passed or authored” beingtheonewhichlegislatorshavesub- scribed, one shouldn't expect any improve- ment. Shortofcommonsense,research
and thought there seems to be little hope
for improvement because our politicians seem incapable of such basics requirements. Welcome to California!
However, one area which they refuse to address that has gotten out of control is social media. Itseemsthatsuchasimpleactas declaring that those who claim status as a platform for messaging would be identified aspublisherswouldbringthemunderthe sameguidelinesasrealpublishers. Having to deal with libel claims would put a stop to a lot of the current garbage.
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.
It isn't difficult for one
to imagine hearing the joy- fulsoundsChristmasat
thispointintime. Listen
carefully and one will hear
joyous laughter, the sounds
of Christmas carols, the
ringing of bells as well as
all kinds of indications of the
happiness this wondrous season has tradition- allybrought.
I've even been able to move beyond
the report by one CNN reporter claiming Donald Trump hated the month of December because he was jealous of the fact Christ receivedmoreattentionthandidhe. That bit of breaking news was so asinine that it wasquiteeasytoignorebecausethelarge amount of hate needed to even utter such crap. Astatementsuchasthattrulyshows the amount of contempt our “main stream” press feels for the American people.
Now,abrandnewyearisuponusand every Californian needs to securely fasten their safety belt—and hide their wallet— because the state, as usual, has enacted more ridiculous laws and mandated more regula- tions. Itseemstheonlyonesnotimpacted by legislative intrusion are those who do notworkandthelawmakersthemselves. Perhaps I should hedge a bit on that procla- mation because our rather sizable criminal elementhasseenareductionintheirsen- tences for crimes and felonies are now mis- demeanors. Everwonderwhyitseemsever morelucrativetobeacareercriminal?
The Democrats, who now seem to be
in charge of about everything, continue to treat the impending pension crisis as a shell game. We'relookingatanundertakingby our government which is severely under- funded. Whenthegreat“bankcall”comes on this, guess who will ultimately responsible formakingupthedeficit. Thatwouldbethe hard working folks in the private sector who will have no pension of any kind when they retire. That'safteralifetimeofworkingreal- ly hard at about half the rate at which public sectoremployeesarepaid. Governmentrep- resents a huge voting bloc here in California whoalwaysseemtovotetoprotecttheirself interest which is usually at odds with com- mon sense and the private sector.
New, for 2019, laws, rules and regulations range all the way from being nonsensical and innocuous to some which are truly egregious in terms of economic costs and intrusions onourConstitutionalfreedoms. Wefindat the lower end of the scale one new offering which truly turns the biology we were taught inschoolonitsear. Mybestrecollections arethattherearetwosexesofeachspecies. Now, in California that is no longer true.
It seems that the folks who look after our best interests in Sacramento have discov- eredthereareatleastthree. In2019,your driver's license will indicate whether you are male,femaleornon-binary. Binaryappar- ently indicates you are composed of either two very different factors; a male side and a femaleside. Interestingastowhatisconsid- ered politically correct these days!
Fred Hall
P.S. See you next year!
Glenn Drake
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