The Pajaronian welcomes letters. Letters and columns may be dropped off or mailed to the Pajaronian, 21 Brennan St., Suite 18, Watsonville, CA 95076.
Letters and columns may also be sent via email to
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Letters should be less than 400 words, and columns are no more than 800 words.
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Sidewalk work shows poor use of tax dollars
To the Editor,
My daily routine includes a drive down Freedom Boulevard with a turn toward the freeway onto Airport Boulevard. Most of the Freedom Boulevard drive is over third world potholes. No money to repair the roads?
Then I see the two brand new sidewalks to nowhere on Airport that end at the freeway. How much did they cost, and how much foot traffic is expected? I have yet to see a pedestrian on either sidewalk.
I’m sure there are explanations: Different jurisdictions, different pots of money, etc. Nevertheless, this is clearly not the best planning of how to use our tax dollars.
Don Eggleston
Aptos
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End the government shutdown
To the Editor,
We have employees working as Air Traffic Controllers (without pay), at the NPGS, DLI, VA, SSA, Weather Service, NRL and many more. Think about it! Do you want to be in an airplane, controlled by these unpaid controllers, who might be thinking about how to pay bills rather than concentrating on the aircraft under their control? We need to end this now!
The inability of our elected leaders to compromise has led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. I am proud of my work as a federal employee in service to the country I love. Federal workers nationwide are forced to stay at home and wait for the government to reopen, and are no longer able to provide the services on which our fellow Americans rely.
Middle-class federal workers and their families are stretching their pennies until the shutdown is over. Even though pay will be restored eventually, bills still arrive on time even if paychecks don’t, and many federal employees are being forced to make difficult and unnecessary financial decisions to make ends meet.
Our legislators in Congress and the president need to stop playing political games with our government’s services and those who provide them. We are now in a crisis and our leaders must work to promptly reopen the government. We must call them to reach consensus immediately so committed federal employees across the nation and right here at home can get back to work for our country.
Forney Lundy
Salinas
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Real public desires regarding the transit corridor are findable, but get ignored and misrepresented
To the Editor,
I attended the recent trail celebration, while opposing over-expensive trains, so I question the mischaracterization that we all want rail, too. Political truth: “Whenever you have a ‘fight’ (as we have about our Transit Corridor), a significant portion of legitimate, real people are not being heard.”
(See PeopleWisdom.org regarding Santa Cruz’s “Center for Wise Democracy” Wisdom Council on Jan. 12 about the Transit Corridor. Randomly-selected county residents unified in wanting, “…not a train on tracks but an innovative Santa Cruz transit combination scenario (such as PRT), as has been heretofore inconceivable and yet meme-worthy, as Jack O’Neill’s wetsuit once was.”)
My hundreds of door-to-door 2018 election discussions revealed only 25 percent want trains. Ask 20 people yourself…
At Jan. 17’s RTC meeting, countless more dodged requests for clear, understandable accounting of rail-pursuit expenditures angered the real majority again, but only seven of 12 RTC votes passed the flawed EIR! Progress to build upon!
Monica McGuire
Corralitos
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Disregard for the public interest
To the Editor,
It appears the current occupant of the Oval Office never attended a class in World History or he may have heard of the Great Wall of China. Two thousand years old, 2,500 miles long, and visible from space, it was built to keep people on China’s northern border out of the country. It didn’t work.
Walls like the one you want don’t work, Donald. The Berlin Wall is gone. The most effective walls surround prisons, which you and yours may possibly soon learn, personally. And don’t forget, you may pardon federal crimes only so long as you remain president.
Yes, Donald, there is, to quote you, “a disgrace happening in our country.” It’s you! When addressing troops in Iraq on your first-ever visit to a war zone, you said, “Whatever it takes, we’re going to have a wall,” probably prompted by negative criticism at home, like so many other self-serving moves. Donald, your insistent demand for a wall simply affirms your lack of fitness for the presidency which, along with so much other nonsense, is making our country the laughing stock of the world.
On another subject, the westbound bus stop in Aptos Village is finally in service. At a meeting of the Commission on Disabilities when the relocation of the stop was under consideration, a gentleman described the new stop in glowing terms of its accommodation for the handicapped with a series of rest stops and other features facilitating their movement up the increasingly steep slope to more level ground. None of these features are in existence which, I should think, presents a significant challenge to many of the handicapped.
Way to go, Metro, replacing a perfectly level, centrally located stop with this fiasco! Upgrades have resulted in a most unconventional and potentially dangerous intersection near the stop. People are going to be hurt there, hopefully not killed. There has already been an accident at the intersection involving a school bus and a small car.
Thomas Stumbaugh
Aptos
