CAL FIRE can do the job for Gilroy and at much less cost to
residents
Go ‘green’ Gilroy with the plans for the new city library … or not …
Dear Editor,
Good article!
This seems very short-sighted not adhering to the green standards. Good planning usually pays off. The rest of the country is launching green initiatives, and Gilroy does not seems to want to come out of the stone ages.
Maureen Pramanik, Gilroy
Dear Editor,
I’m happy to hear the “green” standards aren’t being applied to the library. Most of that nonsense is a waste of money. Money’s too tight.
Jan Webb, Gilroy
CAL FIRE can do the job for Gilroy and at much less cost to residents
Dear Editor,
I was happy to see the recent editorial headlined “Fire Service, Dollars and Common Sense,” and very happy to see the consideration of CAL FIRE, (previously known as California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection).
Having retired from CAL FIRE after 34 years of public service and living in Gilroy all my life, I can tell you that CAL FIRE is capable of administrating the City of Gilroy Fire Department as well as any other fire service at a much less cost to the citizens of Gilroy.
There would be no reason to cut “PERS” benefits. The retired employees would receive all the benefits. Only problem for the firefighters is they would get a significant reduction in pay. But, they would still have a job with benefits that are very good.
I retired from CAL FIRE eight years ago and I receive half of what my “fire service brother” in the same rank received after his retirement from Santa Clara County Fire. So see how I feel when someone says to me, “You 90 people people are rich off the taxpayers.” No, I am not rich but I had a job that gave me medical benefits and a respectable income after serving the public.
I said this before in a previous letter to the editor. I totally support the benefits for firefighters and police, but … they should get in touch with reality and not price themselves out of a job. The “Our View” editorial hit something that is very significant in our city of Gilroy: ambulance service. This is needed for paramedic service.
The City of Gilroy wants firefighter/paramedics where they have an ambulance responding with paramedics at the same time they do. Having paramedics in a rural fire area makes sense because paramedic ground and air ambulance service does not get there before the fire engine.
Take, for example, Pacheco Pass and Hecker Pass. If you are not aware, the South Santa Clara County Fire District is administered and stations covered by CAL FIRE personnel under contract with Santa Clara County. Paramedics are on all the SSCCFD fire engines that respond to emergencies in rural areas. They are also in an “auto aid” agreement with Gilroy and Morgan Hill. They have the same engines and training as firefighters in both cities and are the second fire engine in many parts of both cities.
People in the rural areas should be aware and made sure you do not lose CAL FIRE/SSCCFD as your fire emergency response provider, or you will be paying a greater tax amount toward fire protection as Morgan Hill has and as Gilroy will if the city chooses to change.
All state employees are getting a reduction in pay during this financial crisis. Gilroy employees are losing their jobs. Our firefighters and police better listen to the past and be “proud to serve” instead of complaining they are overworked and underpaid.
I would urge the citizens of Gilroy to contact city leaders mentioned in the article to express their concerns in this matter to help save your tax dollars.
Zack Snyder, Gilroy
The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a well-written letter.
Way to save plenty of state money: Follow the English-only mandate
Dear Editor,
We all should know by now the serious and unprecedented financial condition our beautiful state finds itself in. How about this as a way for state and local governments to save an enormous amount of taxpayer’s money?
Begin printing all state and local government forms, regulations, voting ballots, etc., in one language only: English.
In the early ’80s, the people of California voted to make English the official state language. Why not comply with this mandate? It is estimated that the Canadian government costs are approximately 23 percent higher because everything is printed in two languages (French and English). With our state’s lefties approach to rescue the world, we are now seeing government forms printed in six, seven and eight different languages. Where and when will it end? We can no longer afford this luxury, and taxing people to death is not the answer to balancing the budget.
Over taxation and over regulation ran much business and industry out of the state – businesses that employed people and paid taxes. I see at least four important benefits to following the will of the people:
n It will have an enormous impact in reducing the cost of state and local government;
n It will encourage those already here to learn our common language of English and help them assimilate more into American culture;
n It will discourage people from sneaking into the country who are less interested in freedom and more interested in a free ride;
n Implementing English as the states official language is vital to preserving our democracy, the unity of our society and our way of life in America.
Lest you think I am nothing more than a redneck bigot, I assure you I am not. I was fortunate to grow up with English as my first language and am still learning it. I am also learning Spanish so I can communicate better with my students, but I don’t expect the taxpayers to pay for my lessons. Some day I hope to travel extensively through Mexico (forget Mexico for now, it’s too dangerous), Central and South America. I may even want to teach there someday, so obviously I need to become fluent in Spanish.
The bottom line is that if someone is too stupid or too lazy to learn the language of the county they have emigrated to, then many of us don’t want them coming to our beautiful state. We already have too many stupid and lazy natural born citizens, we don’t need to import more.
Jim Becker, San Martin
