Letters

My name is Jim Gibson. I am a member of the board of directors at the San Benito Health Foundation and have been the treasurer of the foundation for two years. In a recent interview with the Free Lance and, in an editorial that quoted me extensively at a Hollister City Council meeting which I did not attend, I do not feel that my views on the proposed Salud Para La Gente-led federal grant application have been adequately expressed.  With your permission I would like to do so now.

This letter is in response to Marty Richman's letter to the editor of July 20. Marty lists RDA bonds, sewer bonds, a $920,000 loan from the water fund to the general fund and Calpers payments as excessive debt which could destroy the City.

I am confused by the new Friday Free Lance (the old Pinnacle).

Sheriff Thompson has demonstrated common sense, good judgement, compassion and leadership in making it clear that the Sheriff's department will "not deport people" (Free Lance News, Friday, July 20, 2012). Undocumented immigrants come here in search of work and to feed their families.  Most are not criminals and they help support our economy. Most pay taxes and do not qualify for tax returns. Also, due to strict requirements, most undocumented immigrants cannot access pubic assistance. 

On August 9th, 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned. (After a bipartisan vote of the House Judiciary Committee to impeach “Tricky Dick”.) Then the newly-elected Miss Oklahoma visited Washington. Asked if she’d seen the Senate Office Building ("the S.O.B.”) yet, “Miss O” innocently replied, “Oh – is Nixon still in town?”

Did you know Hollister had to borrow about $920,000 recently from an enterprise fund to pay a bill it owed the county? The loan was necessary to take advantage of future savings from moving emergency dispatch to Santa Cruz 911, but the fact that we had to borrow the money shows just how little financial wiggle room we have left. Unfortunately, the loan becomes just another piece of the puzzle usually shown to public only a little bit at a time. City budgets and finances are complex issues under the best of circumstances, when there is no central thread to hold the information together it becomes impossible to see the big picture.

The 4th of July Celebration Committee would like to sincerely thank the following for helping to make this year's 4th of July a special “original Hollister” event with the annual Kiddie Parade and Community Fireworks Show:

What about "Patriots & Rebels" as a keystone upon which to build the celebration of patriotic rebels in Hollister, declaring Hollister a sanctuary from public-sector transit fiascoes, declaring that Hollister local government won't support more gouging of motorists, motorcyclists & truckers by subsidy-dependent bigger government transit of all modes, from rickshaws to bullet trains, and feature the self-reliant pay for their own expenses, no handouts, for those liberty-loving motorists, motorcyclists and private-sector transport enthusiasts. We could extend it to rail by initiating as part of the long-range transport planning re-instating TOFC/COFC service for the Central California Coast Region, and companies like West Marine that desperately need better, more environmentally friendly logistics. We could shame COG's Directors in public. Shame the board of supervisors, for backing higher taxes on motorists, motorcyclists and truckers. We could shame COG & BOS for sacrificing motorists' lives with their "Emperor Transit First" policy. Adding the "rebel" and "patriot" factors would show just how fed-up the taxpayers are at having to subsidize the pork that COG & BOS give-away to their public-sector union special interests. We could show how "green" citizens are, and how "anti-red" we are, and pro-American at heart, right here on the fringes of leftist central Bay Area. Hell, who knows, we may even deter a few small business owners from fleeing to taxpayer-friendly States, and keep a few jobs right here in SBC, currently one of the worst Counties in the USA thanks to COG's Smart Growth lunacy.