Page 3 - Sanger Herald 10-25-18 E-edition

By Dick Sheppard
I haven't been able to get my head around some of the strange things that hap- pened this week. It's prob- ably because Halloween
is less than a week away. Strange things are a part of Halloween, like ghosts and goblins and witches.
Dick Sheppard
"business friendly." Weird because Martinez is in the compliance division of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, according to the district's website. It will probably come as a surprise to Mr. Martinez that the average San Joaquin Valley business owner/manager does not consider his regula- tory agency to be at all business friendly.
Then Martinez talked about how bad it would be if the appellant, Vincent Wall's "pay to play" proposal, was forced on baby food manufacturer Initiative Foods which is about to rebuild in Sanger after a terrible fire a couple of years ago. That's weird because that ship has sailed. Initiative Foods has already gone through the planning commis- sion/city council process and, in fact, has already had a groundbreaking for its new plant.
See what I mean? Weird. •••
Maybe the weirdest of the weird was what Wall did when he appeared at that public hearing on Monday to defend his appeal of
a planning commission decision approving a conditional use permit for a power company - which was slightly weird in itself because Mr. Wall is one of the planning commissioners.
Wall said at a council meeting on Sept. 20, when he announced he had filed his appeal, that it was not as much about the power plant or the environment as it was about the city's lack of transparency and letting the coun-
cil knowthecitystaff,inhisopinion,isnot
and not ongoing operational expenses like salaries and repairs and maintenance. A sales tax is appropriate for ongoing operational expenditures like salaries.
• Political Situation – Measure B is being handled by the Sanger Unified School Dis- trict (SUSD) board. People care about their kids and schools and are vocal. Parents/PTAs, unions, and periodic state audits have created a situation where SUSD must be open and transparent. Measure S is being handled by the city manager and the Sanger city council. There is no large vocal group that must be considered. The City of Sanger is not open or transparent.
• Use of Funds Potential Issue – The big- gest potential issue is the use of funds. The SUSD oversight committee will oversee
the monies received from the bond issue. A percentage tax to cover fixed bond service requirements will result in getting more tax revenue than needed. Especially since the Western part of the SUSD district area is growing rapidly. Will the additional monies be spent to pay down the bonds early? That may be for the future oversight committee and SUSD board to decide.
Measure B should be considered on its own merits and how it benefits our children and Sanger.
I support it. Measure S and its handling should have no impact on your vote.
James Miser
Sanger
doing its job of providing timely, complete and unbiased information that could be used by the commission to make fair and equitable decisions. That's pretty much what I've been writing about in this column since the current administration took over - and I was really looking forward to last Monday's public hear- ing.
But what did Wall talk about? The power plant. Environmental issues. He said nothing about the city staff. Nothing about transpar- ency - or the lack of it. It was a foregone con- clusion that Wall would lose the appeal. But the hearing provided a wonderful opportu- nity to preach about the same kind of munici-
pal governance problems criticized by the Herald and the recent grand jury report.
I wasn't the only one who thought that's why he filed the appeal.
I hope the Halloween spell will be broken next Wednesday and I'll start to understand what's going on - but that's probably not going to happen until after the election on Nov. 6. If then.
•••
"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.
Random thoughts I hope the Halloween spell will be broken next Wednesday ...
It wasn't as much fun as ghosts and gob- lins, but an encounter with an L.A. politician was just plain strange. The Herald received an email on Tuesday from the "press team" for U.S. Senate candidate Kevin de León, letting us know de León was going to be in Sanger for a day of campaigning. The email went into great detail about de León's itiner- ary - times and places - tours of city hall, the police and fire departments, a stop at Emilio's Barber Shop for a quick shave and then a sundae at Fosters Freeze. Photo ops right? What else?
We couldn't help wondering how often deLeóntalkswithhis"press team"after we went to the trouble of showing up at one of his stops and he wanted to know how we found out about his agenda and told us "No photos."
•••
It was weird to hear councilmember
Daniel Martinez criticize an appeal of a plan- ning commission decision because it was not
Measure B and Measure S Comparison
I have read the Measure B information
as printed in the Sanger Herald and have spent hundreds of hours on Measure S and its finances, history, and management. I am a vocal opponent of how Measure S has been interpreted and is being handled by the City which has resulted in the underspending of required monies on public safety.
Full disclosure, I am a CPA and vice chair of the Measure S Committee.
I find a large difference between Measure B and Measure S and how they are/will be handled.
• Purpose – Measure B is for a bond issue with specific goals. Measure S is for addi- tional public safety personnel and equipment. Prices cannot be finalized until Measure B is written and contracts are signed. A process that will take months. Some flexibility is needed in bond issues. A bond issue is ap- propriate for long term capital expenditures
In my OPINION
The liberal mob has reinforcements on the way
SANGER HERALD 3A THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018 EDITORIAL & OPINION
By Fred Hall
The problems arising
from many polls and statis-
tics are that they are often
conflicting in information
as well as counterintuitive.
Take for example the one
that indicates that Califor-
nia is number one in the na-
tion in ease of registration Fred Hall
and availability of methods and opportunities to cast one's ballot, while ranking dead last in percentage of population participating in the process.
Placing the Department of Motor Vehicles in charge of registering voters has already proved itself to be a bad idea. Apparently thousands of non-citizens have been placed on voter rolls while they are being provided with driver's licenses which opens all kinds of doors to mischief within our system. We've always felt there was a large number of voters who were allowed to vote illegally in California ev- ery year.
I don't know about you, but my trust of our infamous DMV is about as minimal as possi- ble! Agencies such as this leads one to the con- clusion that government is incapable of doing anything well. That one is inarguable because our bureaucrats go out and prove us correct every working day. I use the term “working” rather loosely. If you've had the opportunity to observe their activities, you will know exactly about that of which I speak.
Think it can't get any worse? Think again! At the time during which this is being written there is a virtual army of 7,000 migrants from Central America, which is growing every day, headed toward The United States. The script- ed response which is being echoed by the main stream media is that all of these poor people are seeking asylum from their native country. There are a couple of problems with blindly accepting that as a rationale. First of all, there are a number of countries much closer that could, and would, provide sanctuary. Secondly, most of these appear, from photographs and T.V. Coverage, to be young men. Most parents of young children would not normally place their young families in the middle of such a dangerous trek. It appears, to us, that when one sees families featured on television they are photo-ops.
Strangely enough there is nothing about this that indicates such a gathering happened or- ganically. Perhaps we are too cynical, but it ap- pears there is organization and money needed to put together such an endeavor. America of today is awash in left-wing money being used to finance such disruptions.
There seems to be little doubt—at least in my mind—that, given the size, organization and timing that everything about this is sup- posed to impact the mid-term elections in America.
Given the fact that California has become a virtual “candy store” of benefits and freebies for those who choose to come to our country illegally, there can be little doubt that many of this horde will seek out the “golden state” astheirnewmailingaddress. Giventhewel- coming arms of the Democrat establishment we shouldn't be surprised when our newest “citizens” arrive at our southern border with
a greater understanding of their “entitlements” than most legal American citizens. The politi- cians in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sac- ramento make up one giant de facto “welcome wagon.”
Politicians of all stripes send up a hue and cry about our “broken immigration system” but the truth of the matter is that there are a large number of laws on the books specifi- cally dealing with immigration into this coun- try. They deal, in great specificity, with the requirements for legally immigrating to and becoming a citizen of The United States. Presi- dent Obama and both of his Attorneys General chose to ignore the enforcement of those laws but that does not mitigate their existence. In our country, which is a constitutional republic, the very basis of our living in peace and har- mony is an adherence to basic law dealing with human interaction.
One can't choose to obey those with which they agree and show total disdain for those which may offend their sensibilities. Such is not the extent of peaceful coexistence without anarchy or tyranny.
What ever happened to the idea of becoming self-sufficient without becoming a burden for others, learning the language and assimilating. By assimilating, we mean becoming an Ameri- can, loving this country and everything about it that has made the United States the greatest and most successful of democracy known to man.
If we accept anything less with foreign flags everywhere and so many languages be- ing spoken in the public square as to resemble the Tower of Babel we are facing the break- down of a great, strong nation into tribal divi- sion. Our national motto which is literally, 'out of many, one' truly typifies what the Founders had in mind when people came from all over the world to become American citizens and form the great, singular in purpose, American culture.
Sadly, we are now watching a mob descend on America, intent on joining the political mobs which have recently become the benchmark of selfish politicians. The careers and power of the political class has, without reason, become a case of the ends justify the means. Abso- lutely no thought is being given by the new Democrats and Socialistic Democrats as to the damage they are doing to America as a healthy, prosperous republic.
As for the caravan (that's the officially ac- cepted term from the mainstream press) which is growing in size every day and still headed for the United States, I do have one final thought. If this were truly about seeking ref- uge from oppression there are countries within the 500 mile range instead of the 2,500 mile trek. There's more to this than consideration for their safety in their home country. Come to think of it, if the country they are leaving is so repressive why are many of them carrying flags from those nations? Sorry, I don't believe in coincidences.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
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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