Cheers for the fire station
The following people, organizations and events deserve either a Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down this week.
THUMBS UP: For the city’s new $2.5 million fire station, which is coming in $100,000 under budget. Those are sweet words you rarely hear spoken about a government project. But the best thing about the station is it will reduce the fire department’s response times to the southern area of town. That’s a relief because it was taking from seven to 10 minutes for firefighters to show up. In a life-threatening emergency, the response time should be under four minutes.
THUMBS UP: For the Board of Supervisors cutting the string once again to District Attorney Office volunteer Andy Simpson, a process server who some say was portraying himself as an investigator for the office. The board is wise to keep Simpson and his apparent antics away from an already lawsuit-burdened county. Volunteering to help your community is one thing, but when a volunteer provides more problems than assistance – when he last made news, it was because law enforcement officials were worried he was portraying himself as a law officer and possibly carrying a badge and a gun – it’s time for them to go.
THUMBS UP: For schools throughout San Benito County for their progress with English Language Learners. According to recently released test results, the county is doing just fine with helping our youth learn to speak English. It’s refreshing to see a positive result from our schools who have had countless challenges since the federal No Child Left Behind act flooded them with difficult mandates and the state reduced funding to near critical levels. Keep up the good work, we know our schools have a difficult, but important job to do.
THUMBS UP: For the return of Bill Murray to the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tourney. Murray is hilarious even when sitting still as Thursday’s front page Free Lance photo featuring the comedian shows. He’s become a Central Coast favorite, and it’s good to have him back after he missed last year’s charity event.
