Letter
to the Editor
Once again I find myself distracted from doing the work on my desk
to respond to the factual errors set forth in an article of the Valley Journal.
The editorial written in the May 1, 2008, edition of the Journal alleges that
my clients (of which only one is a member of the Chumash) entered the riverbed
adjacent to Ms. Crawford-Hall’s ranch, on Jan. 14, by “surreptitiously creeping
up the riverbed at nightfall like some kind of raiding party,” claiming to be
hunting birds. Here are the corrections that should be made:
• The case in which I represent the three young men occurred on
Dec. 17, 2007, not Jan. 14, 2008, and to my knowledge these young men were not
seen or cited on the date alleged in the Journal.
• The entry into the riverbed was neither surreptitious nor at
night. They rode down the riverbed on ATV’s (not a very stealth mode of
transportation), and they did so prior to 4:00 p.m. (the legal shooting time
for ducks on that date went up to 4:54 p.m.). The Department of Fish & Game
received a complaint about the men’s presence at 4:10 p.m.
• As for the purpose of the young men’s presence, I would suggest
the facts strongly point toward duck hunting, since all three had valid hunting
licenses, appropriate State and Federal waterfowl hunting stamps, a Labrador
Retriever, and last, but not least, fourteen ducks (which fell within their
legal limit).
It is my firm belief that legal cases should be tried in the
courtroom, not the media. While the media certainly has a right to report the charges
in pending cases, when it cites facts that are incorrect and inflammatory in
nature, I find it necessary to respond.
I wish to make one last comment — there is nothing positive
that can come from the type of divisive and ethnically-charged remarks that
have been appearing in print recently. One can oppose certain tribal policies
of the Chumash, as I do, without throwing ethnic slurs, and to somehow
attribute the actions of one member of the Chumash to the entire tribe is both
unfounded and unreasonable.
— Kay Kuns
Santa Ynez
_______________________________________________
To the
Editor:
Every election in which we choose candidates for county offices in
Santa Barbara, I have felt adequately prepared to vote until I came to a choice
of judges on the ballot. At that point, I’d realize that, often, there was
little or no information given about the candidates. It doesn’t seem like a
good thing to make an uninformed guess on such an important office, so this
time I gathered a lot of information, and I am impressed by the qualifications
of John MacKinnon.
He has served as senior deputy district attorney for 13 years,
prosecuting more than 60 jury trials, most of which were criminal [cases]. He
also has served in drug and mental health treatment courts, which sometimes
offer alternative sentences for those who need them. His concerns for public
safety include teaching and leading seminars to educate citizens for the
prevention of Internet scams and predatory sex crimes.
Having grown up here in the Santa Maria community, and now raising
his own family here, John MacKinnon is involved in community efforts, including
being a board member of the Santa Maria Valley Boys and Girls Club.
I have every confidence he will serve the community well as a judge.
— Florence Franta
Santa Maria
_______________________________________________
Dear
Editor,
I was quite surprised that Sheriff Brown was involved in this
outrageous incident [trespassing violations at San Lucas Ranch].
It hasn’t been that long since the voters turned out former
one-term Sheriff Anderson for his unhealthy and perhaps corrupt connection to
the Chumash gambling casino and the effort to glorify the oppressive Armenta
Chumash tribal government currently in power, and to suppress all information
about the rampant criminal conduct routinely taking place there.
— Jim Marino
Santa Barbara
_______________________________________________
Letter
to the Editor
Arts Outreach would like to thank all of the special education
teachers in the valley, along with Dr. Wally Olsen, Director of the SYV Special
Education Consortium, for helping to facilitate the 1st annual VSA-CA Arts
Festival held at Oak Valley Elementary School last Saturday. We had over 100
pieces of art displayed by students of various abilities from throughout the
Valley Schools. Special thanks go to Principal Joel Williamson of Oak Valley,
Ramona Clayton of Terramonary, Solvang Bakery, Olsen’s Bakery, Jim Fiolek,
Chris and Jessica Beebe, Karina Puente, and many Family School parent
volunteers. Very Special Thank-you’s must go to Cynthia Devine, who brought the
VSA-CA organization to Arts Outreach’s attention six months ago and with
Cynthia’s help, has now been designated the VSA-CA site in Santa Barbara
County. We were all thrilled with the parental support and hope to make this an
annual event!
LauraMcNamara
Executive Director
Arts Outreach
_______________________________________________
No More
of the Same
I think I can speak
for many people in this county, state and country. We are sick and tired of our
representative government doing nothing more than representing their own
agendas and interests. And, when looked at closely, these agendas usually
circle back to the self-interest of money.
Santa Barbara County
is no different. Their agenda is to increase the size of the government and
then use development as a means to support it. The health and safety of the
people make little to no difference in this equation. It is all about money.
It is time for the
people to stand up and say “no more of the same.” Third District candidate
Steve Pappas has been saying this for more than three years. Over the past
three years he has attended hundreds of county meetings in an attempt to both
understand and hold our county government accountable to the people.
I know of no other
candidate who has spent so many hours of his own time on county issues in an
attempt to stop the back door dealings that are going on. His motives have been
to ensure that our government is representing the best interests of the people,
not developers or special interests.
Steve Pappas has been
working on the outside trying to keep our government accountable and
transparent. It is time to get him on the inside.
— Rolf
Richter
Los Olivos
_______________________________________________
Dear
Editor,
Many of us didn’t care for a number of Supervisor Firestone’s
actions, but he did stop the county split and, for the most part, he did keep
the 3rd district independent of both South and North county.
That’s what I want, a supervisor that will keep us independent and
vote for the good of all. I have evaluated the claims and educations of all
candidates. One candidate is so allied with the 1st and 2nd Districts that he
would probably return us to their control; some are single issue, land use,
housing mandate or Indian gaming. All have experience with government. However,
I find that Dave Smyser has taken time to participate and educate himself for
the specific task of County Supervisor, and I believe only he meets those
criteria and will keep us independent.
Some may call him an opportunist, but I feel it was a desire to
prepare for the job. Dave Smyser’s education: Bachelor of Science in
Agriculture; Masters in Education; a Law degree; he worked in environmental law
and public law; Instituto de Lenqua Espanola; verbal and written fluency in
Spanish.
His local experience includes having been chief of staff to
Supervisor Firestone; Santa Barbara County Planning Commissioner; Former Mayor
of Solvang; Former Solvang City Councilman; Santa Barbara County Association of
Governments; Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District; Santa Barbara Local
Agency Formation Commission; Solvang Planning Commission. No other candidate
can match these qualifications.
Keep us independent — vote for Dave Smyser.
— William R. Gilbert
Goleta