DEAR EDITOR:
The bankruptcies of Valley View Flower Company, San Jose Farmers
Produce and Dales Produce Company, amidst the plague of
insolvencies for local small businesses, coming hard on the heels
of the bankruptcy of our wine growers association, the liquidation
of Indian Motorcycle, the bankruptcies of Corbin Motors, M
&
amp;M Farms, and thousands of other small businesses, and the
closure of so many other local employers like Westside Transport,
Conrotto Trucking, etc., all share a common thread: government
oppression.
DEAR EDITOR:
The bankruptcies of Valley View Flower Company, San Jose Farmers Produce and Dales Produce Company, amidst the plague of insolvencies for local small businesses, coming hard on the heels of the bankruptcy of our wine growers association, the liquidation of Indian Motorcycle, the bankruptcies of Corbin Motors, M&M Farms, and thousands of other small businesses, and the closure of so many other local employers like Westside Transport, Conrotto Trucking, etc., all share a common thread: government oppression.
Micro-management by local government; over-regulation by state and federal government, chasing jobs overseas. Politician blight! Strangulation and suffocation are kind words to describe how our bloated government is killing-off small business.
Saving farmland is meaningless without preserving ag. Erecting apartments on cannery sites, like parking lots, eliminates rail commercial arteries through which ag products could reach viable markets throughout North America. Are we planning for serfdom – foreclosing future generations’ rail commerce opportunities? Why? Our California Government Code requires local government to preserve infrastructure investments, but lacks any punishment for violating this mandate. They would rather repeal Proposition 13 and tax everyone out of their cars than obey our law. And we let them!
All the attorneys I know are saying the same thing: this is the worst I’ve seen it in 25 years. Sacrificing small business so that bloated boondoggles like the Valley Transportation Authority can waste tax dollars is a price too high to tolerate.
If Gilroy had any leaders with common sense, we would withdraw from VTA, privatize transport, and stop the bleeding before we lose more employers. The truth of VTA’s deficit is not $1 million/year, not $100 million/year, but 85 percent of its operating budget (.85 x $327 million = $277.95 million/year), plus all its capital costs.
If transit riders want rides, they ought to pay for them, not the taxpayers. Government must be limited to creating and maintaining the infrastructure, not operating insolvent enterprises on it. The choice for local leaders is not BART or Caltrain. The real choice is small-business-killing bloated government or free enterprise capitalism. Is there an elected official or candidate with the wisdom and courage to tell Emperor Transit First that he is stark naked? Except for Sen. Tom McClintock, I don’t see one.
Joe Thompson, Gilroy
Submitted Tuesday, Nov. 4 to ed****@****ic.com
