”
The front page article appearing in the Aug. 28 issue of the
Free Lance addresses the need to repair and preserve the Mission of
San Juan Bautista.
The author is remarking about donations and private funding that
is helping to restore the mission, which is well and good. That is
where it should come from.
“The front page article appearing in the Aug. 28 issue of the Free Lance addresses the need to repair and preserve the Mission of San Juan Bautista.
The author is remarking about donations and private funding that is helping to restore the mission, which is well and good. That is where it should come from.
The article also addresses the $10 million that Congressman Sam Farr is trying to deliver to mission restoration from the federal government. This is taxpayer money that has been sent to the treasury from all faiths.
The Catholic Church owns the mission. They do not pay property tax or contribute to the federal treasury. It is not a government building. Private funding is the way to go.
Sam Farr is wrong to try to take taxpayer money for a private institution, no matter the historical value. If he is successful in obtaining this money, maybe the Masonic Lodge should lobby Sam Farr to help with the restoration of its famous building in San Juan Bautista. Perhaps the Native Daughters of the Golden West who owns the wonderful Adobe Home and who struggles to raise funds to keep the home preserved should receive government help.
This taxpayer money would be going to a religious institution and set a precedence for all faiths to tap the till. Where is the separation of church and state according to the Constitution?”
“I don’t wear a ski mask or a white sheet, nor do I have friends in high places to hide behind. I am an average citizen with an opinion the Free Lance allows to spout off, within reason, without fear of becoming a target for the local legal system.
I admire the courage of people like Bruce Kiefert and Octavio Salazar who bravely sign their names and take on the system without fear of retribution. Me on the other hand, I don’t trust the system to do the right thing and allow me to just speak my peace.
Tim Foley, county superintendent of schools claims the Citizens Voice has, ‘degenerated into a scurrilous trough of unsubstantiated aspersions and personal attacks.’ Mr. Foley, that sounds like an accurate description of the Grand Jury system. The Grand Jury operates secretly behind closed doors and at times uses unsigned complaints to start investigations.
If secrecy and anonymity is good enough for the Grand Jury, why isn’t it good enough for a newspaper column? Hell, we vote in secrecy, which is just another way of voicing our opinion. As you can see, secrecy and anonymity is a big part of the ‘democratic discourse we cherish.'”
