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Letters to the Editor for August 13, 2008

Batch Data Processor | Saturday, Aug 12 2006 5:30 PM

Last Updated: Saturday, Aug 12 2006 5:34 PM

Don't trust 'em

Like everyone in Kern Country, I received mail from "Kern Council of Governments" asking us to vote for a sales tax increase to fix the roads.

I will vote no on that request for two reasons: I don't believe them and I don't trust them.

I moved to Bakersfield in 1981 and the crosstown freeway was being studied then and it is still being studied. Not one shovel of dirt has been turned to build it.

State and federal funds are given to Kern County every year for the purpose of filling potholes and adding new shoulders, synchronizing local traffic signals, etc. Where does all of this money go?

Rep. Bill Thomas got us over $700 million for our roads. What has been done with it? Is this going for more studies to augment the studies that have been going on for the past quarter century?

This is only a fraction of the reasons why they are not to be believed or trusted.

Bakersfield's voters are no longer uneducated, dust-bowl immigrants and good ol' boys. The vast majority of today's voters are well educated and see right through this money grab.

-- JIM BROWER, Bakersfield

In this together

As someone who works for a Bay Area-based public policy and grantmaking foundation that has been focused on and funding San Joaquin Valley air quality efforts for the past four years, it is disappointing to read San Joaquin Valley air district administrator Seyed Sadredin's opinion ("Public pumps out ideas at air district meetings") about the so-called "elitist mentality" he feels organizations like Earthjustice; Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment; and mine possess.

There is more that the district can do to clean up the valley's air and Sadredin knows it. There is nothing elitist in that attitude.

It is, instead, common sense, environmental justice and caring about the human condition that propels organizations like mine to work side by side with our valley public health and environmental colleagues to improve the region's air pollution problems.

With people suffering and dying from air pollution, we should all be working together to solve the valley's air quality crisis, instead of continuing with a message of "my hands are tied."

We agree with Sadredrin that all sectors need to be involved in crafting the solution. So let's work together, regardless of where the helping hands are located, toward the same goals.

-- SUSAN FRANK, Vice President, Public Policy Steven an Michele Kirsch Foundation, San Jose, CA

Hire qualified teachers

Regarding recent articles concerning teacher standards, I think "qualified" is a better term than "well qualified." Too many teachers in the lower grades are not well qualified to teach English and math. Schools should be required to place only qualified teachers in such classes.

So why don't they? It's a money thing. Schools, especially elementary schools, typically hire lesser qualified applicants because they are paid less than those who are more qualified. Economic compromises are very evident when hiring new teachers.

I think passing a test of reading, writing and math skills is a good idea. Doesn't at all threaten those who can pass such tests.

-- JIM BUDDELL, Taft

Castro's legacy

I disagree with the assertion made by Cal State Bakersfield professor Mark A. Martinez in The Californian that Fidel Castro's legacy will be that he "instilled Cubans with the sense they no longer had to bend to the demands of the United States."

Instead, the tyrant's legacy will be the sense of fear he instilled in Cubans who might dare to speak their minds or read a banned publication. Maybe his legacy should be the level of poverty inflicted on his people when he stole their private property and businesses.

And let's not forget how the beloved dictator brought us to the brink of nuclear war by aiming Russia's missiles at us.

While singing the praises of Fidel's social programs, I wonder if Martinez, facing a critical illness or a catastrophic accident, would really prefer being treated in a clinic in Havana.

A murderous thug's ability to stand the test of time should not be object of idolization. Unfortunately, the enemies of freedom and democracy will always find favor with a certain anything-the-U.S.-does-is-bad crowd.

-- GARY CAMERON, Bakersfield

No big shocker

What a big surprise. I worked at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, 29 years ago a year after the pipeline started running. The consensus was that the piping would last about 30 years!

Here we are, 31 years later, and the problems start. Why wasn't there preventative maintenance done through the years? This problem could not have just been discovered but what perfect timing! Will BP have record profits this year like Exxon? Time will tell.

-- ELLEN J. EGGERT, Bakersfield