‘$26 million Bastille’ and it’s silly to stop someone walking
home
Dear Editor,
I cannot agree more with Wendy Robinson, who takes the police to
task for arresting people for walking home, instead of driving,
after excessive holiday drinking. This is done because the local
badged thugs and the district attorney need to justify their
existence, especially after the taxpayers built them the $26
million Bastille, winner of the Gilroy’s Ugliest Building
Award.
‘$26 million Bastille’ and it’s silly to stop someone walking home
Dear Editor,
I cannot agree more with Wendy Robinson, who takes the police to task for arresting people for walking home, instead of driving, after excessive holiday drinking. This is done because the local badged thugs and the district attorney need to justify their existence, especially after the taxpayers built them the $26 million Bastille, winner of the Gilroy’s Ugliest Building Award.
By making these arrests their union can claim that “crime is up” and then try to con the Council into upping funding. Doubt it? Just look how many arrests in the police blotter are for victimless crimes.
This is a microcosm of the state. The prisons are crowded and overflowing with people who have harmed no one. But they release violent offenders early and subsequently hit up the taxpayers for more prison bonds. The prison guards’ union is excellent at this deception. It is no wonder that this authoritarian system has resulted in the United States having the highest incarceration rate and total prison population in the world.
Alan Viarengo, Gilroy
Glitz, glamour and fun – ‘Swing Shift’ at Gavilan is a real blast
Dear Editor,
Wow! What a show!
This weekend I attended a production of John Bisceglie’s “Swing Shift” at Gavilan College and boy, was I impressed. In the past I had heard about his large productions and being a fan of music from the ’40s, I decided to go.
The costumes and set were really amazing, and better than some big shows I have seen in San Jose and San Francisco. It was neat to see the wide range of ages including some parents all in one show.
The singing was great, the staging inventive and the high energy dancing was spot on. The show was very electric and sparkly with chaser lights and glitzy pin-striped zoot suits covered in silver sequins! Great period wigs, colorful feather fans and the giant art deco night club set really defined the big band era. This was a show for parents and kids alike to enjoy. At times it was sophisticated and elegant, and the next moment hundreds of balloons and inflatable saxophones were being thrown into the audience!
I had no idea that this type of professional theater was going on in Gilroy, and all this for a $12 ticket. Now I see why so many people participate and attend his shows. I will be coming back next weekend with my friend, who was a teenager in the ’40s. I know she will also love this show.
Congratulations to the City of Gilroy Community Services Department, John Bisceglie and the cast and crew of the “Swing Shift” for a fantastic job and very entertaining show!
Peter Nashed, Morro Bay
Print publication change might make mayor smile, but that’s it
Dear Editor,
The “watchdog” has been blinded! Yes, The Dispatch, Gilroy citizens’ “watchdog” to keep us alerted to what’s going-on in City Hall, City Council politics, the police department, and the community-at-large appears to have been communicatively blinded with its recent decision to a reduced publication schedule going from five days in print down to two days.
That’s an availability loss of 60 percent, and if applied to human vision, I suspect would render a person legally blind. Let’s hope that this reduction is not the first step to the total termination of The Dispatch, our community’s best source to keep us abreast of what’s happening in Gilroy. Mayor Al must be happy.
James Fennell, Gilroy
