As a local business owner and community volunteer I support the
Cherry Orchard Ranch development.
Dear Editor,
As a local business owner and community volunteer I support the Cherry Orchard Ranch development.
I believe it will be good for local businesses and the greater community. I believe the location in the southwestern portion of our city is ideal as well as the experience the developer brings to this type of “affordable housing” for active seniors. In addition, this type of housing adds residents without any additional strain on the school system.
Gilroy has a need for affordable senior housing. Gilroy also has a need to get development started again because it brings fees to the city and produces an enormous trickle down effect throughout the whole local economy.
We are lucky to have a developer willing to step up and commit to a project that helps solve all these needs while producing an asset for our community.
I urge the City Council and Planning Commission to approve this project.
David Boll, Gilroy, local business owner and past Chair of the Board of Gilroy Chamber of Commerce
Somebody please explain the looney tunes California election
Dear Editor,
Only in California can we:
– Re-elect ultra-liberal Jerry Brown as Governor
– Re-elect ultra-liberal Barbara Boxer to U. S. Senate
– Elect ultra-liberal Gavin Newsom as Lieutenant Governor
– Elect ultra-liberal Kamala Harris as Attorney General
– Vote in simple majority tax increases Prop 25
– Vote in cap-and-trade Prop 32
– Not legalize Marijuana
Can someone explain this to me?
Keith C. De Filippis, San Jose
Republican winners shouldn’t take any comfort in the election
Dear Editor,
Although the number of Democrats who lost in the 2010 election was huge it wasn’t just Democrats who lost.
There was also a huge number of Republicans who lost as well. They lost to Tea Party candidates in the primaries. This is the third election in a row where the voters wanted to throw the bums out.
Democrats made the mistake of thinking that in 2006 and 2008 that the country voted for Democrats when they were voting against Republicans. Because the Democrats have won so many seats there were far less Republicans to vote against.
The people are clearly dissatisfied with Congress. It would be a mistake for Republicans to think that people voted for them.
In the next election there will be more Republicans to vote against unless Republicans and Democrats start putting the people first and fix the mess they created.
Marc Perkel, Gilroy
Toll road plan for Highway 152 another transportation nightmare
Dear Editor,
Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Authority and San Benito County’s Council of Governments have a new “Mobility Partnership plan” for Highway 152 that would replace the existing highway with a toll road, built in conjunction with the Bullet Train.
It’s bad for Gilroy, bad for Morgan Hill, bad for South County, and bad for San Benito County.
Why do the radical socialists at the various transportation agencies want motorists to pay twice for the highways?
Why not divert some of their boondoggle money? We need to oppose such lunacy.
Joseph P. Thompson, Gilroy
1,100 runners will be out in force, come out and cheer them on
Dear Editor,
As the founder and past president of the South Valley Running Club, I would like to invite the residents of Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin to come out and root for runners participating in the Morgan Hill Marathon and Half Marathon, put on by South Valley Endurance.
Races take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Nearly 1,100 runners will be participating, between the half and full marathons. In addition, the weekend’s festivities will include a Lifestyle Health Expo and a Wine and Art Festival beginning Friday centered at the Centennial Recreation Center and nearby Community Park on W. Edmundson.
South Valley Endurance was started by a group of local athletes in 2009 with the goal of bringing “an endurance lifestyle to the South Valley and Bay Area” involving the disciplines of “road cycling, running, triathlons and duathlons.”
The Morgan Hill Marathon and Half, are, by far, their most ambitious undertaking.
I urge everyone to be a little patient Sunday; there will be runners on the road, and some of you may be delayed a few minutes to let them pass.
Runners, both local and from afar, will be participating, some will be running their first ever half or full marathon, while others will be adding more notches to their belt. But the journey for everyone will be the culmination of weeks, or months, of training.
So cheer them on; welcome them to our community, and send them home feeling good.
Craig Lore, San Martin
‘Secret Friends’ make a superhero cape for boy battling rare disease
Dear Editor,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank two very very special people, “Two Secret Friends.”
My grandson received a handmade superhero cape in the mail from two anonymous people. He was just diagnosed with a very rare genetic disease called Nieman Pick C. The “Two Secret Friends” had read a story about him in the Dispatch and decided to do something nice for him. They made this amazing cape and wrote a beautiful note.
It warms my heart to know there are such amazing and thoughtful people in this world, that took the time to make a special present for a little boy they didn’t even know. Johnathan loves his cape very much. I know he will have many hours of playing superheros. Whoever you are thank you, you’re the best!! Love,
Johnathan Spencer and family
The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a well-written letter.
Congress planning to loot IRA and 401 (k) retirement accounts
Dear Editor,
High Social Security payroll taxes have contributed to yearly Social Security Trust Fund surpluses now in excess of $2.503 trillion. However, Congress has elected to sacrifice Social Security on the altar of corruption by spending the entire surplus, requiring the U.S. Treasury to cover the embezzlement by issuing non-negotiable IOU bonds to the Trust Fund. Such economically irresponsible and morally reprehensible behavior demonstrates total disrespect for working people.
After successfully looting the Trust Fund, Congress now plans to loot individual IRAs and 401 (k)s because they contain the largest source of untapped revenue. At the end of 2009 there were $4.26 trillion of assets in IRAs and $2.77 trillion in 401 (k) plans. Confiscation of these retirement plans is now being formalized in hearings initiated on Sept. 14 by the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. When confiscation is enacted by Congress, our retirement accounts will be converted to Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs).
The confiscation of our retirement and savings plans will require our government to sell equities in the private accounts in exchange for the “safety of Treasuries.” However, there is no safety in Treasuries as they are Ground Zero when it comes to fiat (paper) currency risk. The Obama administration’s 10-year budget plan predicts that the national debt will exceed $25 trillion in 2019. At some total debt level a tipping point will occur, causing hyperinflation resulting in an explosion of the debt bomb. When that happens, your “safe” GRA will become worthless.
Robert A. Dahlquist, Orange
