Letters to the Editor 9/5

Giving it away

Well, I see the current mayor and City Council majority in Morro Bay has decided we’re just too rich to accept fees from their friends, the builders and speculators. At the last meeting, the council voted to extend to three years the elimination of building fees, as though the builders really need the savings.

If you check with most if not all cities in the county and the county itself, you’ll find their charge to builders to be somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000 to cover water and sewer buy-ins and other city services.

I guess we’re so rich that the city fathers think the current residents can pay the tab.

Why is it that the current residents have to pay the bill and not the ones making the profit on the development? If it’s not profitable, then they should be built!

Chuck Reasor

Morro Bay

Stand-up service

Recently I was on a trip to Southern California and had some truck trouble. I had my truck serviced prior to leaving, so I was a bit miffed!

All I could think about was getting back and giving someone some grief for the hassles and the worry. With some nice people and some good luck, we were able to make it back to Escondido without any permanent damage to our truck. Now the good part.

I called the shop that had serviced my truck before leaving and talked to the service manager. He not only took full responsibility for my troubles but was over and above in taking care of any added expenses I had incurred. Bottom line is that we have some real stand-up people and businesses in our area, and we should support them whenever we can.

My recommendation and thanks goes to Dennis Lochridge and his group at Golden Auto GMC, a local merchant making his word a value and committed to great customer service.

Raymond Bayliss

Atascadero

A real difference

Do we ever think about whom we support when we simply go to a movie? What about dinner at a restaurant chain? Or a concert at the fair? I don’t.

What if you could have a terrific evening of live music in a beautiful outdoor venue and know that your 30 bucks will stay in San Luis Obispo County and help the developmentally disabled adults that rely on Escuela Del Rio every single day? You aren’t really buying a ticket. You are making a donation. This is a true nonprofit organization.

The wonderful work they do is getting more expensive to provide. Everything costs more these days, and that is a very real challenge for the clients and staff at Escuela. That donation is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

After the Aug. 27 Escuela benefit concert, I went home knowing that I had a great evening especially for the price. But there is something much more here than a good deal:

1). Terrific lineup of talented musicians;

2). Spectacular yet intimate venue among the oaks and vineyards;

3). Making a real difference in the lives of real local people who really need it feels really really good.

Peter Zahm

Templeton

Green jobs

Victor Davis Hanson argues that clean energy and green jobs are a pipe dream and a failure, and pursuing them will wreck the economy (“The old ‘not enough’ excuse,” Aug. 29).

Here’s a small sampling of the many facts he ignores:

• The EPA’s program for green jobs has resulted in $121.7 billion in private investment and more than 53,000 jobs.

• 85,000 people are employed in the wind energy industry, which, in the teeth of the recession, added or expanded 70 turbine manufacturing plants, creating 13,000 jobs when other industries were shutting down facilities.

• In California, 500,000 people work in clean tech or green jobs, a sector which grew by 5 percent in 2007-08, when statewide employment otherwise fell 1 percent.

“Dollar for dollar,” points out Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, “investing in clean energy creates more jobs than investing in traditional energy like oil and gas.”

More real information can be found at Recovery.gov.

Steven Marx

San Luis Obispo

Wealth inequality

From what ivory tower did Mary Cook write her Aug. 30 letter? In it she denies there is a wealth inequity between the rich and the poor in America. Yes, Mary, new wealth is created every day, but according to “The Atlantic” magazine, two-thirds of new income in the United States between 2002 and 2007 went to the top 1 percent of Americans.

The wealthiest 400 Americans own more wealth than the poorest 150 million Americans combined, and these wealthy have seen their incomes double over the past 12 years, while their tax rates have been cut. Wealth inequality now is at levels not seen since the 1920s.

As for the policies of FDR, when he was inaugurated in 1933, unemployment was at 23 percent. In just one year more than 2 million jobs were produced, and the national income had risen by a quarter. Industrial production returned to 1929 levels around his re-election in 1936. It was only when FDR cut government spending because of opposition cries that the government was spending too much that the 1937-38 recession occurred.

Let us pray that your apparent wealth is not lost, or that you don’t become disabled. You might find yourself the recipient of one of LBJ’s Great Society programs designed to help the poorest among us, that you so disdain.

Beryl Bennett

Morro Bay

Answer to prayers

Thank you to the unknown gentleman at CVS pharmacy at the Laguna Village Shopping Center who returned my wallet to the store last week.

You were the answer to my prayers, and I cannot thank you enough for being so honest and so kind.

You are proof that there really are good people in this world.

Carol Sossamon

San Luis Obispo

Want money back?

Over $5,000 was raised on the condition that no Sunny Acres clients would be evicted, regardless of the code issues between the county and Dan De Vaul. Thirteen sober-living clients were told to leave Aug. 29 by court order and supervisor insistence. In some respects my effort failed.

Since the “vacation order” (nice vacation!), I have offered to refund anyone who felt the precondition for the funds was invalidated; however, I also allowed donors to give to Sunny Acres, Inc. (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit), if they wanted to see it work toward a 14-room residence. Sunny Acres is still operating; remaining clients are now residing in the main house.

I did try to draw attention to the more liberal Alternative Owner Builder codes now enacted in at least four rural California counties. De Vaul and his helpers are owner-builders, and building codes were originally devised for contractors building for individuals with little knowledge of health/safety living in dense cities.

I ensured the evicted received some “travelin’ money,” plus a book I wrote about housing alternatives. Anyone who wishes to receive their money back can still do so. If they do not ask for it, I will be sending the money to Sunny Acres by Sept. 30.

William L. Seavey

Cambria

Thanks to many

The Women’s Community Center and the Commission on the Status of Women hosted the 37th annual Day With Creative Women in Mission Plaza on Aug. 13. We’d like to thank the many sponsors that helped to make the day a fantastic success.

We’d like to thank Coast Hills Federal Credit Union, The city of San Luis Obispo, The Beach Radio 95.3 FM, Meathead Movers, SLO Graphics, Bill Gaines Audio, the county of San Luis Obispo, and Core Mediation Services.

Thanks, also, to the many vendors who shared their wonderful and creative wares and the fabulous musicians who entertained all day. Lastly, thanks to the community for your support of the good work of the Women’s Community Center, and the Commission on the Status of Women. The programs we provide help women and their families throughout San Luis Obispo County.

Robin Rinzler

San Luis Obispo

Cook for office!

Letter writer Mary Cook of Cayucos should run for office. We need people in Sacramento and the White House who understand the economy. Someone with foresight and not to steal from the rich to give to the poor or Obama’s answer to the problem — redistribution.

Betty Andersen

Nipomo