Our communityTo the Editor:My heart burst with sadness last week as I read letter after letter addressing low-income housing, ethnic pride, pushcarts, etc. All were very passionate; and of course, ethnic background played a huge role in what was expressed.There is a LOT of pain that has divided our community and kept us at odds with one another. Yes, that pain is rooted in a very deep past: one of betrayal, hatred, and injustices between people groups. And yet, here we are, many years later, in OUR COMMUNITY. We’re ALL here TOGETHER. I love my community and proud to be part of it.Let us press toward living peacefully and joyfully with one another - leaning toward our similarities, rather than our differences. After all, if we really think about it, there are few differences between us…. We ALL want the best, and must continue to strive for the best, for OUR COMMUNITY. Let us choose not to remain stuck in the past, where mistakes as numerous as the stars have been made. Rather, let us AIM for a bright, beautiful future… for the sake of our children’s children. Yolie CerdaSanta PaulaThe Push Cart Paradox, S.P. Times 8/15/2008To the Editor: The County of Ventura, Dept. of Health has many responsibilities including the following: Enforce laws and regulations to protect health and safety. These vendors have not passed County regulations, no exception! I raised the issue and the problem of the “corn on the cob street vendor” at the July 28, 2008 City Council meeting. My angst, which was and is directed at all street vendors, has everything to do with hygiene, littering, and quite frankly, respect for my peace and quiet. Frankly, if anyone of wants to buy a corn on the cob from a street vendor with the understanding the street vendors hands may have been in undesirable locations, then have at it. But remember, street vendors do not pull sanitary toilets along with their carts, good luck!As for nostalgia, yes it would be wonderful to again hear the whistle of the Helms Bread truck passing through the neighborhood, but today the whistle has been replaced by the hideous sound of the “Macarena” or the ridiculous Bozo air horn of the “corn on the cob street vendor”. The 3 sympathetic souls, Mr. Montes, Ms. Guerrero, and Mr. Juarez are welcome to come to my neighborhood if so inclined and help pick up the litter generated from the “corn on the cob entrepreneurs”. I personally don’t need a street vendor to simplify my life. But then the central theme repeats again, racism. It seems any criticism of illegal aliens, farm workers, human smuggling, etc. is considered racism. Would it be considered racist if these street vendors showed proof of paying sales tax, workers compensation, and liability insurance? I never hear from Chicano Activist or Latino Activist marching against violence by Latinos against Latinos, the raping of female illegal aliens by “coyotes” before crossing the border, the intimidation tactics used by gang thugs against other Latinos climbing the ladder to success, they’d rather whine about the inequalities of yesteryear. Andrew F. CastanedaSanta PaulaStreet vendor problemTo the Editor:The mentality of some of those supporting unlicensed street and pushcart venders as expressed in recent Santa Paula Times opinion pages tells us all a lot about why Santa Paula is in the fix it is in today. First, it tells us that these people writing in support of unlicensed vendors know nothing at all about public health issues and food safety. The same laws that apply to restaurants apply to street vendors, whether they like that idea, or not. There are valid reasons. Cooked food must be kept at 140 degrees or higher, or if cold food, refrigerated at 40 degrees, to be safe. Remember, ignorance is no excuse for causing sickness or of being in violation of Health Department rules. Santa Paula requires that 4 different licenses be obtained before anyone can sell food on the street. Currently, having just checked with the city, not one operating in Santa Paula is properly licensed! Allowing people to be unlicensed street food vendors, without setting reasonable health and safety standards, is asking for trouble. This could result in a tragedy. We should all know this is true and you and I know that our hospital will be called on to help those who fall ill from food poisoning. Let’s hope they’re insured! I hope that Santa Paula gets up to speed on this problem. Some people do not have the ability to think long range or to comprehend the serious economic realities of Santa Paula. I have lived in poor countries where street venders sold all sorts of things including dog meat.Recent pictures of street venders at the Olympics in China showed us live and dead insects, worms, snakes, rodent and dog parts being offered up and this brought back some old memories to me, and not good ones. If you had a legal restaurant in Santa Paula, would you like a street vender out on the sidewalk selling roasted Scorpions on a stick out front? I have no problem with the Chinese selling lizard tails, embryos, chicken feet and frog hearts on the their streets as long as they stay in China, but, please, not here!!David KaiserSanta Paula
Letters to the Editor
August 22, 2008
Opinion
Good news
To the Editor:Re: Article about Caitlin HeldCongratulations!! Caitlin, what an honorable thing to do. Larry Loughman’s family must feel the same.Your parents must be very proud of such a fine young lady.It’s good to read about the good things that young people do instead of negativism.Georgia JettSanta PaulaSensible solutionTo the Editor:I think we should start drilling for oil here and use less oil from foreign countries. I think this would be a good idea because it would lower the cost of gas and create more jobs for people in the U.S. and people would be able to spend more money on other things, which would help the economy.Lower oil and gas prices would mean less money for hostile governments in countries like Iran and Venezuela. So drilling for oil here makes sense.Xavier BagdazianBoy Scout Troop 304Santa PaulaStop whiningTo the Editor:Re: “Chicano” Enlightenment, by Daniel Zapata HuertaS.P. Times 8/15/2008I thought the ‘60s had long passed us. I haven’t seen any “Che” T-shirts lately. Fortunately, Mr. Huerta doesn’t speak for me. I respect his pride and dignity of his heritage and the same for Mr. Xavier Montes, Carmen Guerrero, and Maria Mendez but nevertheless neither speaks for me. I have always had trouble understanding as well as accepting liberation theology. My conservative views create heartburn for liberals and socialists for example; the last time I heard that Mexico was reclaiming the Southwest, I couldn’t stop laughing. The person entangled in this myth and doing his best convincing me had a point though; we are being occupied, overburdened and overrun by illegal immigration!Mr. Huerta alleges that there are 160+ high school students homeless and getting worse. The homeless include over 100 families per month facing foreclosure; Mr. Huerta also blames Prisons, Alcoholism, Illnesses, and the Degeneration of stability in the individual and family. Wow! These accusations sound like snippets and sound bites of the un-Rev. Jesse Jackson, un-Rev. Al Sharpton and the un-Rev. Wright. The rest of the article is unpalatable and therefore unworthy of comment. However, I am deeply grateful to the Franciscans and Conquistadors who brought Catholicism to the New World. Thank You Lord! The irony of this subject is that there are those who speak little or no Spanish much less the native tongue of “Meztiza” but yet hail to Chicanoismo. I have nothing against Chicano Pride if that is what the individual desires. However, the bothersome message of these proclamations by these individuals is that even though their far left wing education was advanced in most cases through Affirmative Action by far left educators, and at taxpayer’s expense, especially the ones in the higher tax brackets. But there is no need to severely scorch America for past inequalities. Is this whining ever going to cease?Andrew F. CastanedaSanta Paula
