Ringy-dingy went the Red Phone so far this week with two comments from concerned community members. Got beef with something in San Benito? Sound off on the Red Phone, but keep it clean and general. Save your personal assaults for signed letters to the editor. The Red Phone always online, plugged-in, and listening.
Slips that pass in type
Red Phone’s first caller pointed out how a typo was misleading people during the advertisements before the show at a local movie theater.
“My issue is with an ad Gavilan College runs at Premiere Cinemas before the movies starts. It has a slide that goes up and says transfer to USC and CU, neither of which is correct,” he said. “What they mean to say is UC or CSU, not USC and CU, which I don’t even know what CU is. I think Gavilan College should change that because they’re advocating people get an education there and they should at least have the correct information.”
Director of Public Relations Jan Bernstein Chargin knew full well the problem when called by Red Phone Tuesday afternoon. She said an outside company creates the slides for the movie theater and that was where the typo occurred, but the college is working to fix the mistake immediately.
Eyes wide shut
The second caller had a mouthful for organizers of the first Vision San Benito meeting held last week.
“It was not really run – the first meeting – in, I would say, a very professional way,” she said. “There were too many questions that are unanswered and too many people telling the local people what they need. A lot of people on the San Benito Business Council don’t live here. They may work here but they don’t live here and they’re telling us what we need. I don’t agree with that. Private industry council was brought up but they weren’t there. The San Benito County Chamber is part of this, but the first meeting was held on the same night as the Chamber mixer night – very bad planning. A lot of people that went to that meeting were not satisfied with the abrasive and dictatorial manner in which it was run. This is supposed to be for everyone, by everyone. Yet, the people who are running this think they know it all and have probably preplanned in their head what it will be all about without listening to many other professionals who are here. They were just put in little boxes basically and said you belong to this group, you belong to this group and you belong to this group. There needs to be a little more listening, instead of them telling. I hope they read this and get a little hint for the next meeting on July 28.”
Ouch! Fortunately the first meeting is only one of many that will be held over the next year and a half. According to a press release, the initial meetings are designed only to invite people to a be part of the Advisory Committee of Vision San Benito and hope to attract as many volunteers from different segments as possible. After the committee is established, it will meet regularly to collaborate on a practical document used to steer San Benito’s economic, environmental and social growth into the future. Learn more about the plan in the Free Lance’s online archives at www.freelancenews.com or at Gavilan College’s web site www.gavilan. cc.ca.us or by calling (408) 848-4724.
