SQUID SHOULD PROOF THE WEEKLY

Maybe Squid should pull his pointy little head out of his pointy little tokhes and pick on someone his own size. Last month was the TV news diary that reinforced just how sad and pathetic the local coverage is in our burg, and then last week Squid takes aim at the poor Herald—the Keystone Kops of the daily newspaper world—just because they can’t deliver a morning paper in the morning.

It looks awfully glass-house-like from over here. I’ll have you know that in addition to some insightful commentary, groundbreaking environmental news and pithy criticism in last week’s paper, I found a few typos in the Weekly. Squid, quick, attack your editor. —Hannah Gustafson | Monterey

SUPES BROWNWASH GROWTH AGENDA

County Supervisors’ continued disrespect of voters should disappoint all Latinos and others who care about the principles that protect our liberties in American society.

Supervisors hide behind the ideals of the Civil Rights Act to ignore voters who have been clear they don’t want Rancho San Juan, a project that will do little or nothing to address our community’s critical need for more affordable housing.

How will building more luxury homes increase Latinos’ chances of owning one when they can’t afford them and there are no more fields to provide jobs? It won’t. In fact, Latino farmworkers lose on both ends.

How does revoking my right to vote on things that affect my community, like the General Plan Initiative, make things fairer for Latinos? It doesn’t. My rights are being denied.

I came to this country and became a citizen to vote and exercise the responsibilities of citizenship that a free democratic system requires so that elected officials would take care of our needs, not the needs of a few wealthy developers with political connections.

Supervisors are hiding behind laws meant to increase people’s political power and protect their right to vote, not take it away. —Nancy Renteria | Salinas

GPU4: GOOD FOR BIG AG

Large county agri-businesses gain lots of perks if GPU4 becomes a reality. GPU4 allows development of 14 so-called “Rural Centers” in county unincorporated areas with fuzzy borders called “transition zones,” allowing large landowners to replace farmland with exclusive, large-lot subdivisions.

GPU4 lets rich landowners make big profits while average citizens pay for the impacts in overburdened county services, drying water wells, and more time spent stuck in traffic on substandard roads.

GPU4 expands the list of agri-business practices that can be conducted without permits—practices that have nothing to do with growing crops, like the construction of airfields and water reservoirs and the industrial processing of farm products.

GPU4 creates a winery corridor which provides special treatment for a few high-end vintners who want to avoid the level of environmental review required of any other industry in the county.

These are not sensible concessions to support mom and dad’s family farm.

GPU4 is a wholesale attempt by big agri-business to derail regulations that protect the public and make big money growing houses instead of vegetables. —Paul Salmon | Salinas

POLITICIANS CAN’T IGNORE VOTERS

GPU3, a General Plan Update, was developed through compromise by interested parties addressing the needs of our community for future growth.  Why are Monterey County Supervisors now holding meetings to develop a new land use plan, GPU4, for the future growth of Monterey County, behind closed doors?  

Through the referendum process, the voters have made their opinion on growth issues abundantly clear; they want a well reasonable growth plan, not uncontrolled growth. Supervisors take heed, the electorate is watching.  

I recently heard an editorial on KSBW by the general manager of Argyle Hearst; he blasted the public for their use of public referendums in regard to future land-use issues. He went on to say that we (the people) should let the politicians do the job they were elected to perform.

My response to his editorial: When the politicians decide to respect the wishes of the community they were elected to serve, then we (the people) will cease resorting to the use of referendums. —Azalea Perez | Salinas