All of San Diego and the nation is mourning and outraged by the death of Chelsea King.  The pain and heartbreak her family has endured is unimaginable.
   As our hearts and prayers go out to the King family, we also need to take a stand to deter these terrible acts from reoccurring.  We can be very proud of the outpouring of volunteers and love and support by our community, as well as the resolve and diligence of the authorities searching to find Chelsea. We should be ashamed at the blatant inadequacies, horrible decisions and negligence of our justice system.
   John Gardner, the suspect in the Chelsea King case, is also suspected of attacking a jogger in the same Lake Hodges area in December. Why wasn’t he incarcerated then? In a prior conviction, Gardner was labeled a “threat to society” by the evaluating psychiatrist who urged he not be released. Dr. Matthew Carroll wrote in sentencing documents, “There is no known treatment for this type of individual. It is my opinion Gardner would be a continued danger to underage girls in the community.”

   I am a recent immigrant to Ramona, moving here only about three years ago from that bastion of the left, Santa Cruz. I feel like a true minority here, being both a liberal and a hockey fan. I have read many  letters in the Ramona Sentinel that have made me laugh or cringe at the opinions expressed and have previously been able to control my urge to respond. But the commentary by John Selck in the Feb. 25, 2010, edition was too much.
   While I must agree that our taxes are high, I cannot condone the attacks on the Obama administration and their attempts to make some changes to our current social and economic situation.
   Selck’s  assertions that the administration is “engaged in a climate of corruption,” “determined as ever to impose outright socialism,” and “not at all abandoning its quest for virtual life-and-death control over your health” so exaggerate the facts that they remind me of the hockey term “diving.” Hockey is a physical game with a lot of blocking and hitting, but there are limits and, when a player feels as if he has been impeded by an action which is against the rules, he sometimes falls specifically to highlight the infraction. While the original contact often results in a penalty, the dive can result in a penalty being called for unsportsmanlike-like behavior. 

 Ramona Tea’d, found on-line at www.Ramonatead.com, is holding another exciting town hall meeting at the Ramona Main Stage Theater on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 27, from 1 to 3 p.m. Like last month’s standing room only meeting, this one will be both powerful and memorable.
   Many Ramona Sentinel readers know that Ramona Tea’d has embarked upon bringing monthly citizen involvement events to Ramona all during this politically critical year of 2010. In January, we focused upon the Obama healthcare plan with expert Gary Gonsalves, M.D. and upon the critical importance of our Constitution with Jeff Wangsgaard cracking the lid on that vital topic.

  I am a 58-year-old American citizen. I believe in small government, capitalism and our Constitution. My brother and I served during Vietnam, my father and four uncles served during WWII and Korea. I was a registered Democrat until Jimmy Carter made me realize how out of touch my party had become with my values. I then registered as a Republican, but now I feel the Republican Party no longer represents my views or the issues that are important to me.
   There must be someone in Washington who will represent me. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you’re willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please tell me you don’t believe larger government is the answer. Please stand up now.

   In response to Jim Tapscott’s guest commentary, I would like to remind him of a few inconvenient facts.  Our national debt began growing at a frantic speed the minute George Bush Jr. and the Republicans took over in the year 2000. It has been proven that we cannot cut taxes, increase military spending, fund and create Homeland Security, and give Medicare recipients an unpaid-for drug benefit plan without seeing huge debts pile up year after year.  Why have the Tea’d-off Ramonans suddenly taken an interest now in exploding deficits? Which government programs, specifically, do you and your fellow Tea partiers want to eliminate and who would be taxed for the rest?

 On many occasions we have heard the common refrain from elected officials who hold Ramona’s destiny in their hands that we need to develop one voice for Ramona in order to effectively impact policy. Ramona has many self-appointed committees and organizations formed to do the “public good” without any idea of what the people of Ramona believe to be the public good.
   Several weeks ago, I sat in on a meeting with 24 other Ramona residents in Supervisor Jacob’s El Cajon office to discuss with Caltrans and the Sheriff’s Department the issue of Highway 67 safety. This group of individuals, not one of them representing more than their own opinions, managed to redirect the focus of the County of San Diego regarding Highway 67 in a very substantive way.  Twenty-five individuals out of a population of 45,000+ got their way because they were there to voice their opinion.

   Our local tea party, Ramona TEA’d, is holding a town hall meeting on Saturday, Jan. 30. It is the kickoff of an ambitious year of citizen involvement events in Ramona, and our reasons are several and serious.
   The year 2009 was a year to remember—or better yet, a year to never forget. It was the year our nation was faced with a sudden change as America was being   “fundamentally transformed” as promised by the incoming Administration. It was the year when our national debt grew at frantic speed and to record size as if all of this effort to bring “hope and change” must be done before anyone realized what had happened.

   After reading your editorial of “A Sound Investment,” I felt I had just read an obituary for the Barona Noise & Pollution Action Committee. Before you issue a death certificate, I would ask you and others to wait for a secondary autopsy, one which is based on all the facts.
   Your article seemed to parallel the response the Sentinel received from Barona’s Chairman, Edwin “Thorpe” Romero, and I couldn’t help but notice your bias toward the tribe, taking into consideration data which you obviously have not personally reviewed.
   As Paul Harvey would say, “and now for the rest of the story.”
   I, like many others, purchased a home in the San Diego Country Estates in 1989, because it was  beautiful, peaceful and a great place to raise my children. At that time I’m sure I received a disclosure as to the “mini motocross” track and my observations thereafter found it to be a small, occasionally annoying venue catering to youngsters riding 50cc mini bikes. It sounded like bees, occurred once or twice a month, and for the most part it appeared to be a nice pastime for youths.

   Most residents of Ramona don’t seem to be aware of the Salvation Army’s plans for its conference center on Mussey Grade Road. If they have heard of the project, they generally think that the Army just wants to expand a church camp to provide more camping and wilderness experience to underprivileged children. This is not the whole story!
   Before the army purchased it, the facility had been used as a church camp that could accommodate about 150 people. About 11 years ago the army applied to expand the major use permit for this camp to accommodate about 1,000 people in 240,000 square feet of buildings. When the army presented its original plan to build this conference center, it was presented as an opportunity for underprivileged kids to enjoy the wonders of nature. When asked how much of its time would be dedicated to kids camping, the reply was about eight weeks a year. The rest of the time the facilities would be rented out to other groups, generating a lot of income for the army.