Ring went the Red Phone once again unleashing the Crimson
Crusader in its relentless pursuit of caller queries. Got a
question, need an answer? Call the Red Phone
– always listening, always online, always at 635-9219.
Ring went the Red Phone once again unleashing the Crimson Crusader in its relentless pursuit of caller queries. Got a question, need an answer? Call the Red Phone – always listening, always online, always at 635-9219.
Illegal, Illegal, Illegal
A red phone reader takes offense at columnist’s notion.
“On Wednesday Oct. 13 you had an article by Tom Elias about citizenship and non-citizens being allowed to vote and a lot of talk has been going on about this. Remember that if a person is an illegal alien they are illegal. They have broken the law and if someone hires them they have also broken the law. Why should we be giving people opportunities that legal people have, legal immigrants and legal citizens have, if they have broken the law. The word illegal means they have done something illegal. Why are they given everything? Any other country in the world, if they are an illegal person, they’re either in jail, shipped back to their country and not given any rights because they’re illegal. We’re already giving them free education, free medical and free just about everything that we have to pay for even though they are illegal. That’s my thought.”
Tom Elias column focused on the debate in San Francisco to allow non-citizen residents to vote in local elections such as school boards. It’s an interesting debate because people born in our country are granted citizenship even if their parents are not legal citizens. At the center of the debate is the question whether parents of legal citizens deserve a right to vote on issues that affect their children like school boards for example. Of course, California law says a person must be 18 years old and a U.S. citizen to vote.
Wind in the willows
Or if you’re not into allegorical literature, rain in the streets brought a caller to the Red Phone and another complaint of the downtown beautification project.
“Months over due has appeared to finally take its toll on the downtown beautification project. The rains pounding Hollister today not only flooded the concrete forms of sidewalks that haven’t been poured yet like in front of Elegant Touch, and the wind bent the small little trees on San Benito Street over like they were flowers. I wonder how much money’s worth of trees were destroyed?”
Downtown redevelopment guru Billy Avera said each individual tree costs $1400 installed. However, Avera said there were no reports of damage from the deluge aside from delays in pouring concrete until the ground dries.
As for the trees, Avera said the city does not own any trees yet and will not until they accept them on a tree by tree basis. So any damage from the storm wouldn’t be on the city’s dime, he said.
“Those trees aren’t ours yet,” he said.
When the trees are inspected, the city will accept the healthy ones and request new trees for the dead or dying ones. If a tree is accepted, Avera said, they will come with a warranty that guarantees they will survive for a specific period of time.
“One thing that is getting missed is the city has not accepted any part of this project yet,” Avera said. “Anything that is being done is under some sort of contract right now. Once we declare that we are accepting a particular tree it is under warranty to survive for a certain amount of time.”
However, Avera did say the rain has delayed the pouring of a curb ramp mentioned in the caller’s complaint and the city will have to wait for the ground to dry before taking any action. He said it will probably delay progress for ” a couple days.”
