My
business Am’Gone with the invasion of Am’Gen
Helicopter’s
buzzing overhead ...
The shutting down of local businesses; men in
uniforms lining the streets; huge metal trucks snaking though
the night into the city; the inability to feel safe and peaceful in one’s home
... A typical day in the lifestyle of Baghdad, Iraq, right?
No — This is actually
Feb. 22, 2008, in Solvang — a quaint Danish community in Southern California!!
What caused this? The “invasion” of Corporate America’s Amgen
Tour of California Bike Race!
Let us also take a moment to make it clear —
no one is against bike racing and the fine athletes, but ... might there be an
area to race in all of California that does not shut down local businesses
(mine included!), the post office, and the schools? Did you know that the
employees at the Solvang post office were docked one of their allotted vacation
days because the post office was forced to close for this day? Isn’t it also
ironic that Amgen is a pharmaceutical company that sells cancer drugs, but one of
our friends could not wade through the bike blockage in town to even get to our
local hospital to have her cancer treatment?
We,
in fact, have got an awful lot of other roads in California that could be used
— but if they were used would corporate America and Corporate International
benefit as much, and get their names seen quite as much on TV — names like Road
Sports (formerly T-Mobile of Germany), Bouygues
French Telecom, Toyota-United
Pro Cycling, Jelly Belly Cycling, and Dutch Rabobank.
If
you looked close enough in the background of the huge TV screens that were set
up all over town and telecasting all over the world, you might have noticed the
signs in the windows of the local business owner’s shops that said: “Closed.”
Did
you also notice that it was as if circling locusts descended on the area for 24
hours and then flew to their next landing spot, leaving trash, vacant motels,
and vacant restaurants? My theory is
also that even the normal tourists didn’t even show for the weekend because
they thought the area would be too crowded.
If
this event negatively affected you, please stand up and write in! Please again
understand that I am not arguing the value of the event in general; I’m saying
the event was not done right, and I’m stating the clear fact that Solvang is
not large enough for such an event.
Sincerely, Local
Small Business Owner
Dear
Editor:
It’s
always great to get good news — and today I got just that when I learned that
our assembly member, Pedro Nava, is spearheading a legislative initiative to
make dog fighting a felony in California.
It’s hard
to believe that we are one of a few states that still treat dog fighting as a
misdemeanor. California has strong
animal protection laws in other areas, but we are behind the curve on this one.
The Michael Vick case made it clear that this country does not support dog
fighting or the cruel practices that inevitably accompany it. It is time that our state’s laws reflect
that.
Special
thanks to Assembly member Nava for taking a stand on this issue. His support of
strong protections for the California condor, and co-authorship of the
California Healthy Pets Act (intended to cut down on pet overpopulation by
mandating spaying/neutering of most dogs and cats) is a sign of how serious he
is about animal and environmental issues.
Having had the chance to rehabilitate and care
for an eight-week-old Pit Bull puppy (Rocky), that was brutally tortured by
having his ears sliced off for future dog grooming, we at Animal Rescue Team
Inc. strongly support this legislative initiative. Rocky now has a wonderful,
loving home, and is awaiting his previous owner’s trial in March in Santa
Maria. For more information, check out Animal Rescue Team’s website.
www.animalrescueteam.net.
Sincerely,
Julia Di Sieno
Executive
Director Animal Rescue Team Inc.
Dear
Edmond and Nancy:
Once
again the people of the Santa Ynez Valley and the entire Santa Barbara County
owe your paper a debt of gratitude for shining the light on the underside of
local politics. Your recent investigative article revealed that 3rd District
Supervisorial candidate Mr. David Smyser’s primary
source of campaign donations were disguised in multiple large contributions
from what appears to be a Hotel and Casino mogul with addresses in San
Francisco, Chicago and New York. What is most concerning is that Mr. Smyser states that he does not know who his major
contributors are and does not really want to find out who they are. I also hear
from good sources that his other benefactors are in the gambling business. Hmm.
Pretty good for a small town local lawyer running for office.
Jennifer
Sorensen
Dear
Editor:
I find it
incredible that Mr. Smyser, who is a candidate for
3rd District Supervisor, is so naïve as to think he has no obligation to see
who is contributing to his campaign. His quote in last Thursday’s Journal, “As
I mentioned before, I have sent thank you notes out to the campaign
contributions … I think as a candidate, that’s all I’ve been expected to do,”
makes me wonder about his ethics. I guess, if you were
to adopt his belief, one could take money from organized crime or drug cartels
and only have the obligation to write a thank you note. Is this really the type
of person we want representing us?
Mike
Hadley
Santa
Ynez
Dear
Editor:
Thank you
for the news story and editorial on David Smyser’s
3rd District campaign donors. It was very revealing. He can no longer claim
that he doesn’t know who these out-of-town development interests are.
How can
we look at these facts and not believe he knew he was being supported by BIG
development interests with BIG expectations? On January 28, Smyser
disclosed that more than half of his campaign contributions (six $5,000
contributions) had come from two principals of the major New York development
firm that owns the Bacara Resort, and four unknown
companies in San Francisco. Then on February 7, seven weeks after he cashed the
checks, Smyser told Independent reporter Chris
Meagher that he didn’t know who those San Francisco entities were. However,
just two days before, the Santa Barbara News-Press had reported that those San
Francisco contributions had come from “individuals and entities associated with
the Bacara.” Again on February 10, after the
identities of the mystery donors had become public knowledge, Mr. Smyser told Santa Maria Times reporter Chuck Schultz, “I
don’t know who those folks are.”
At least
$25,000 of his campaign funds have come from interests associated with Bacara owner and New York real estate tycoon, Alvin Dworman. And, what are Dworman’s
interests in our county? He wants to subdivide agriculturally zoned land on the
Gaviota Coast for more intense housing development
than the General Plan and zoning ordinances allow, and is asking to build a
large number of high-priced condos on the beach near the Bacara.
Who knows what else he and his associates have in mind.
It is
just not acceptable that a candidate for county supervisor should take so much
money from out-of-town development interests, and it is not plausible that he
didn’t know who they were. The citizens of Santa Barbara County deserve a full
explanation from Mr. Smyser.
Mike
Lunsford
Goleta