API up? Oh really!
It’s apparently news to The Pinnacle that San Benito County has
more school districts than San Benito High, Hollister Elementary,
and North Monterey County . For while the Pinnacle reported the
increase in the annual Academic Performance Index (API) of most
major school districts in the county no mention was made of
Aromas/San Juan Unified School District. As this district is the
second largest in the county, it hardly seems an oversight that the
Pinnacle failed to report on its academic performance.
It seems more likely that while the API for two of the
district’s schools rose, The Pinnacle intentionally neglected to
report the dramatic 22-point decline at San Juan School . In
defense of the Pinnacle, it should be noted that the school
district neglected to publicly report the same information at its
September board meeting. In the future, when looking
”
across the board
”
at the API scores of county schools The Pinnacle might need to
look on the floor for the scores of San Juan School.
Ken Halla
San Juan Bautista
API up? Oh really!
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It’s apparently news to The Pinnacle that San Benito County has more school districts than San Benito High, Hollister Elementary, and North Monterey County . For while the Pinnacle reported the increase in the annual Academic Performance Index (API) of most major school districts in the county no mention was made of Aromas/San Juan Unified School District. As this district is the second largest in the county, it hardly seems an oversight that the Pinnacle failed to report on its academic performance.
It seems more likely that while the API for two of the district’s schools rose, The Pinnacle intentionally neglected to report the dramatic 22-point decline at San Juan School . In defense of the Pinnacle, it should be noted that the school district neglected to publicly report the same information at its September board meeting. In the future, when looking “across the board” at the API scores of county schools The Pinnacle might need to look on the floor for the scores of San Juan School.
Ken Halla
San Juan Bautista
Thanks for the housekeeping help
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Hollister Downtown Association,
I would like to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the volunteers and businesses who helped with our annual Fall Clean up of Downtown Hollister on Saturday, Sept. 15.
Specifically, I would like to thank Juli Vieira, Jill Martin, Leticia Castaneda, Haley Bloom, Logan Bloom, Emily Bloom, Katie Hoefling, Kim Johnson, Sherri Zook, Ashley Zook, Jean Taluban, Nicole Taluban, Emma Dorsey, Nick Hernandez, Jill Dorsey, Sandi Amaral, Gabby Sumaya, Alexis Sumaya, Adrianna Ledesma, Gabrielle Ledesma, Marvin L. Jones, Pam Riordan, Katie Riordan, Maggie Riordan, Kathleen Smith, Marian Ryan, Chevon Summers, Jonathan Summers, Jan Padrick, Aaron Silva, Shawn Mitchell, Eric Mitchell, Andrew Shelton, Philip Caltabiano, Josh Corrigan, Emily Schneider, Madisyn Schneider, Nicole Schneider, Tim Miller, Blake Miller, Collin Miller, Alan Camarillo, Kyle Tolentino, Tyler Klindt, Cindy Klindt, Tyler Evans, Vincent Parker, Adam Lopez, Andrew Lopez, Grant Bernosky, Jenny Bernosky, Jack Eisenberg, Barry Eisenberg, Ann Ventura, Gabe Ventura, Doris Parenteau, Wyatt Parenteau, Michael Acosta, Adrian Perez, David Perez, Alex Rangel, Gina Rangel, Cass Arballo, RJ Rogers, Bill Klindt, and Jordan Klindt for their time and energy.
These volunteers collectively logged about 138 hours in time with their efforts to make our downtown look great.
Many thanks also to The Elegant Touch, DMB El Rancho San Benito and Hollister Disposal/ Waste Management for their contributions to this effort.
Brenda Weatherly, Executive Director
Hollister Downtown Association
Let’s get the bypass right
I hope they get it right this time.
Now that the bypass is being realized, I hope that the planners have the foresight to synchronize the stoplights along this route. If they don’t, it will likely take even longer to get across town than it does now. Had they done this on San Benito Street, the bypass would likely not be needed for years to come.
Synchronizing stop lights has tremendous benefits. Since they are timed for people driving the speed limit it discourages speeding. By allowing traffic to flow smoothly, it saves fuel that would normally be wasted idling at traffic signals. This is one small step that can be taken to reduce oil consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emmisions. When it also improves the flow of traffic, it is something that should not be ignored.
Mark West
Hollister
Kiss the condors good-bye
The public lynching of State Fish & Game Commissioner Judd Hanna (ironically himself a Republican and a duck hunter) by the National Rifle Association and their cronies, with the help of 34 ethically challenged legislators (Republicans all) is a despicable example of the dirty politics in Sacramento. Good timing, too, just as the legislative session ended. And they wonder why people hate politicians. A pox on all their houses!
Judd Hanna is one of the best Commissioners we’ve had in years. He’s bright, knowledgeable and committed to protecting our beleaguered wildlife. Mr. Hanna is “Old School.”  He actually believes in good science, ethics and “fair chase,” unlike the majority of the hook ‘n’ bullet fraternity yapping on the fringes.
According to the L.A. TIMES (9/14), it was another Republican, former Commissioner Mike Chrisman, now Secretary of Resources, who told Mr. Hanna to submit his resignation. Mr. Chrisman is a decent man – I can only presume that he received his orders from Higher Up. Must politics always trump decency and the democratic process? So it would seem. And wildlife and all Californians suffer accordingly. We can likely kiss the condors goodbye, along with our vanishing game wardens.
We must demand a public statement about this sorry affair from the Commission, from the Dept. of Fish and Game, and from the Resources Agency. And the Fish and Game commission should resign en masse, as a matter of principle. This is an unforgiveable betrayal of the public trust.
Meanwhile, the citizenry should raise hell. Here’s some contact info: The Governor: tel. 916-445-2841; fax 445-4633; email [email protected]. The Fish and Game Commission (John Carlson, Exec. Director): tel. 916-653-4899; fax 653-5040; email [email protected]. The Dept. of Fish & Game (John McCammon, Acting Director):: tel. 916-653-7667; fax 653-7387; email – [email protected]. Mike Chrisman, Resources Secretary: tel. 916-653-5656, fax 653-8102, email [email protected].
Eric Mills
Oakland
Give Bush an ultimatum
Congress should pass legislation funding safe withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, with no funds to keep Americans in harms way to privatize Iraqi oil. Withdrawal should begin Dec. 1, 2007, and all troops out May 1, 2008. Make it clear to the president and his Republican henchmen that a veto will lead to the same funding legislation with different time-lines. Nov. 1, 2007 through April 1, 2008. Also make it clear that this is as good as it gets for the Bush war. No time-line, no funds. It is not acceptable to sacrifice 1000 additional American lives so big oil can control two-thirds of Iraqi oil reserves.
Frank Crosby
Morgan Hill
Hotel: ‘All we
want are the facts’
“Dum-da-dum-dum. Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.”
Det. Sgt. Joe Friday from TV’s “Dragnet” is instantly recognizable, with his stiff entrance into a room wearing one of his unpretentious off-the-rack suits and famous delivery of “just the facts, Ma’am.” In actuality, Joe Friday never said that. What he did say was, “All we want are the facts.”
In case you haven’t heard, out here in Tres Pinos concerned residents have been fighting the proposed construction of a 44-room hotel. Knowing that this project is far too big and inappropriate for the residential location, we’ve had to do our own detective work to sort the fact from the fiction. We’ve haunted the planning department, read the general plan, pored through county codes, read and written numerous letters to and from local agencies and protested at five Planning Commission hearings about the hotel, all in the name of getting the facts straight.
There’s been an awful lot of gossip around the county about this project, a lot of misinformation swirling about town. But the facts are right there for anyone who cares enough to look past the pretty pictures and through the smoke and mirrors to see them. I won’t bore you with all the problems we’ve discovered; just let me throw out a few of the more eyebrow-raising facts. They are:
– The proposed hotel is lacking 61 parking spaces, according to California Building Codes. (Imagine multitudes of cars blocking your driveway and taking up the space in front of your own home every weekend when they have weddings/parties in their banquet and meeting rooms.)
– The project site and the houses surrounding it are zoned residential for single-family homes. (Imagine what would happen to the quality of your own home life when your neighbor is a 24-hour a day business.)
– The hotel project has no viable water source. (Residents should not have to pay for improvements to serve new development.)
– 81 percent of the residential water connections in Tres Pinos signed a petition against the proposed hotel. (Imagine what would happen to this same project if 80 percent of the residents of Hollister or San Juan Bautista were against it.)
– The hotel project summary states using a 1,500-gallon septic tank, the same sized tank as required for a private home, while Tres Pinos Water District engineers say the hotel requires a 9,000-gallon septic tank. Also, TPWD has an ordinance which strictly prohibits septic tanks.
– The hotel project proposes to use a section of our children’s bike path, their main route to school, as an emergency exit, which worries Tres Pinos parents and the Tres Pinos School Board.
– The traffic report for the proposed hotel was figured incorrectly. It reports the daily trips generated from just hotel guests would be four trips per room per day. However, the San Benito County Trip Generation Factor Tables, which every other developer uses, indicate that it should be 11 trips per day. In addition, the traffic generated from the people attending the banquet and meeting rooms, which can hold 179 people, were never even mentioned.
And chew on this: the problems with this proposed hotel project are only the tip of the iceberg. There are other large developments planned for Tres Pinos in the near future. A 400-plus housing development on the northwest edge of town, a 99-house development on the southeast edge of town, and commercial development in the center of town. Tiny Tres Pinos, with our water and sewer moratorium, out-of-compliance fire protection, and parking deficiencies for the businesses already here cannot even begin to accommodate all this new development. The developers are putting forward their projects piecemeal so as to avoid doing full EIRs, which the town so desperately needs for regulated and appropriate development to occur.
Det. Sgt. Friday didn’t show much passion on-screen, but in fact he did in real life. He “loved jazz, strong drink and beautiful women.” I have a passion, too. I’ve lived in Tres Pinos for 23 years, and I love this town. The residential section of Tres Pinos is a close-knit community. Many neighbors came to our wedding reception here at my husband’s family home. There have been joyous births and tragic deaths. Then suddenly, a developer gets the bright idea of putting the largest hotel in San Benito County in our residential section of town. When we complain, we have pro-hotel people tell us we should move if we don’t like it because the hotel will be “good for the county.” Well, let me tell you … hell, no! I refuse to be run out of this town for a project with as many holes in it as Swiss cheese.
I have people calling, e-mailing and stopping by our house on a daily basis, wanting to know what’s happening with the hotel project. Many people are elderly or work long hours and aren’t able to lend a hand in protesting. They do care, however, even if their names don’t appear in the newspapers.
Through it all, Tres Pinos Water District and Tres Pinos residents have repeatedly asked for an EIR. A negative declaration for a project of this magnitude is ridiculous. We simply don’t know what the possible far-reaching effects would be from this development and subsequent developments. What we do know, however, is that someone should find out. A full EIR would tell us what we need to know.
After a recent Planning Commission hearing, one pro-hotel supporter told us, “I don’t know what the problems are in Tres Pinos, and I don’t really care. The county needs new development.” Unfortunately, this seems to be the view of more than one person.
Economic expansion should be done wisely. No matter how pretty the drawings of the proposed hotel are, it will be bad for everyone if it is allowed to go through with so many problems. The pro-hotel people say that the problems will be solved after the project is approved. But shouldn’t the developer prove he can solve all the problems before the Supervisors approve the project?
These are the facts. With its multitude of problems, building the largest hotel in San Benito County in the middle of a residential neighborhood and our children’s bike path to school would be a disaster for the people of Tres Pinos. This project needs a full EIR for all the problems to come out in the open.
As Joe Friday REALLY said, “All we want are the facts.”
Jaime Frusetta
Tres Pinos
