Enough with the name calling
Oops we did it again! Voted our beliefs, and I for one did it
with an informed, unbigoted and fearless mind. Who gave Dave
Moseley the right to tell me how to think, feel or vote? We should
be able to differ with civility, not name calling.
Katy Haselden
Hollister
Enough with the name calling
Oops we did it again! Voted our beliefs, and I for one did it with an informed, unbigoted and fearless mind. Who gave Dave Moseley the right to tell me how to think, feel or vote? We should be able to differ with civility, not name calling.
Katy Haselden
Hollister
I’m outta here
The city and the county have done their very best to reduce many of us to begging for money from the state/federal governments to survive. I’m taking my business and money elsewhere. San Benito County as a whole has no opportunity for most which will persist long after the rest of the country is back on its feet. Ten years is a conservative estimate. Has anyone looked at the unemployment rate for those under 25 or over 55 in the city/county? Fiscally and morally irresponsible comes to mind.
The 18th Century scholar and philosopher Christian von Wolff said it best: “The function of the state is not to dominate the individual, but to widen the opportunities for his development.”
David Waddell
Hollister
Elections are run well
I am writing in response to your editorial on Nov. 14. I have worked as a poll worker in the past and served in June and November as a member of the write-in voter (absentee) board. Vote counting started the week before the election and several county venues were used. State election laws have requirements for the handling of ballots and these were followed to the letter. Write-in ballots must be individually opened and checked before they can be fed through the voting machine. Fifty-four percent of the votes came in absentee!
Total vote was just about 80 percent of the county’s registered voters. That is an amazing number and much higher than expected from primary counts. Fourteen to 18 people worked diligently and carefully on these write-in votes. The voting machine must be in a room that has room for observers; all county residents have the right to observe this process.
Machines stall and break down and a repairperson had to come from San Francisco. Budgets, staffing and estimates are all based on primary turnout. San Benito County is very well managed and the department heads work very hard to stay within their budgets. At budget time a voter machine was requested but purchasing of additional equipment must be approved by the Board of Supervisors. I am sure the supervisors weighed between a $200,000 voting machine or two additional sheriff’s deputies, probation officers or social services workers.
The county clerk recorder has a talented and extremely hard-working staff. Staff worked a minimum of 18 hours on Election Day with supervisors working 24 or more hours. Long hard days including the weekend were needed to evaluate and process this tremendous vote.
I feel the voters and residents should consider all the things the county clerk/election office does. If you requested an absentee ballot you received it in a timely manner. When you went to the polls you were made to feel that your vote was very important to the staff and everything was in order for your right to vote. This all took a great deal of preparation and training by the elections staff. We all received sample ballots in the mail. Preparation for an election is a tremendous job and this county had three elections since February. Anyone who wanted to register or vote at the elections office was treated professionally. Staff in this office wears a great many other hats besides elections.
State finance and budget cuts will affect our county and cities and the budget will grow tighter in the future. Consider why the state of California and federal government and businesses are in such dire straits – they did not stick to their budgets. Be proud of Joe Paul Gonzalez and his department as well as the county administration for being fiscally responsible and living within their means and be positive and come up with constructive suggestions.
If you had researched why County Clerk Joe Paul Gonzalez was part of the homecoming parade you would know that his daughter was a senior princess. It is an honor to escort your daughter in the homecoming parade and at the homecoming game. This was a special moment in Gonzalez’ daughter’s life. As a parent I would not have missed that moment for the world.
Bev Holthouse
Hollister
Where’s the ‘Department of Peace’?
Hollister People for Peace celebrated along with our whole town the occasion of Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2008. We especially remember when Nov. 11 celebrated the end of World War I and was called Armistice Day, which means the cessation of the use of arms at which time that war was meant to be the end of all wars!
The speeches given locally in front of the Veterans Building reached eloquent and noble peaks. Young Marines stood erect in colorful uniforms sparkling with medals on their chests. They anticipated service in Iraq where they believed they would help people even though their medals advertised expertise with weapons and marksmanship.
At the podium one Marine described Iraq bases that sounded like recreational summer camps with abundant meals, basketball courts, visiting entertaining media stars, movies, and McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell. The down side involved patrols going out while some did not return.
Our group supports veterans, their health care and education. We support Iraq Veterans Against the War. A World War II veteran and an Air Force veteran proudly belong to our group.
One of the speeches concluded, “Marines never lose!” Enthusiastic applause followed. The reality is the mirage of victory only sows the seeds of anger and vengeance and exposes the myth that wars bring peace. The truth is only peace brings peace. President John Kennedy began the Peace Corps. Now our country needs a Department of Peace.
Mary Zanger
Hollister
When will it end?
At 10 a.m. five representatives from Hollister People for Peace gathered in front of the Veterans Memorial Building to remember the fallen in all the foreign wars and those who were lucky enough to survive. We brought signs which we placed on the sidewalk, pictures of the U.S. casualties along with photos of wounded children who died in the latest of our foreign wars. Our signs reminded the bystanders of the fact that 90 percent of causalties in modern wars are noncombatant civilians – men women, children, grandparents like you and me. As we were standing on the sidewalk, the organizer of the services came up to me and told me, “You shouldn’t be here. You are distracting the people from my ceremony.” I explained to him that we were here to honor the dead and help the living. He was insistent that we were a “disruptive” influence. It was interesting that in one speech, the veteran mentioned that the vets had fought for our constitution and our bill of rights. I reminded the organizer that we were honoring our constitutional right to free speech and free assembly.
During the hour and a half that we stood vigil we talked to two Vietnam vets who thanked us for being there and told us what they had suffered as returnees who were denied health care because “there was nothing wrong with them.” Their stories were a poignant reminder that more than 50,000 Vietnam vets died of war trauma after the war ended – more than had been killed on the battlefields.
We also had conversations with two Viet Nam vet widows whose husbands had died in their 50s, partly as a result of the trauma of war.
One of our signs said, “We need an army of peacekeepers, not an army of warmakers.” “When will it ever end, when will it ever end?”
Natasha Wist
Hollister
