Letters to the Editor

School Bond Survey

So you say you took a survey and decided that the majority of the community is in favor of raising property taxes to pay for a school bond! Well how many of those people you surveyed actually “own” property? How many are seniors who are on a fixed income with no children in the Ramona school system? How many are illegal aliens who would agree to say yes to any survey that benefited them? In other words, “How many people were surveyed that actually have to ‘pay’ for this bond?” Then let’s see you publish your findings!

We are facing a property tax increase for the “special fire” tax for those of us who opt to live in a somewhat rural area and now the schools want to pile on with their bond and how could anyone object? Well guess what — I do.

I did not plan the size of your family — you did. If you cannot afford to transport your children to the doors of that school and buy their school supplies and pay for their lunch and extra activities, then practice some form of family planning. Birth what you can support, not what you can manage to dump onto the backs of others to support.

As for the teachers and their Union — you prevent us from firing the inept among you because of your longevity contracts. Until you cure that problem, don’t cry for money.

The best thing that could happen to the school system is that it be privatized. Parents should have the right to select a charter school or a religious school and not have to pay additional taxes to the public school system. Parents should dictate what their children are exposed to including less chance of bullying and fewer drugs — not a liberal, socialist segment of our society. Their target is on denying children our flag, the Pledge of Allegiance, our Constitution, marriage and family, and a prosperous future not burdened with trillions in national debt. I left out that three letter word that begins with G and ends in D. We all know that the minority segment of our society removed that from our schools already.

As I see it there is absolutely “no amount of money” that will satisfy the school unions ever. You are a self-serving, bottomless pit that gives out very poor end results in educating the children of this nation in return for the thousands of dollars you receive already. I hope this bond is voted down!

Ramona

Major Hasas vs. SSGT. Robert Bales

After reading the headlines about the U.S. soldier who shot up Afghanistan civilians, I couldn’t help noticing an irony. There is all this clamor to try this guy quickly and execute him, never mind his having suffered a traumatic brain injury. Yet this Major Hasan, who shot up Fort Hood while screaming Allah Akbar, still hasn’t stood trial, and they are still debating whether he was insane, even with the clear evidence regarding his motive to slay as many infandels as possible.

So we have a guy in a war zone who cracks, and he must be executed immediately. But this Muslim psychiatrist who was stateside in a nice safe office all day murders 13, wounds 29 of our own guys, and they try to argue the poor lad suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome, from listening to real soldiers who had actual battle experience. Two and a half years later, they haven’t tried him!!!

One of the soldiers killed at Fort Hood was my friend, John Gaffaney, who saved a soldier by hitting him with a chair before he was killed. Never forget what happened at Fort Hood.

John Schwaesdall,

Ramona

CHP officers made a difference

This is a thank you to the CHP, particularly Brian Katke. A few weeks ago our car broke down on 78. The CHP arrived within seconds (we did not call them) to help. They could not do enough to help us out.

While my husband waited for the tow truck, so did another officer wait with him, until the coast was clear. Unfortunately I did not get that officer’s name. Meanwhile Officer Katke did everything he could to get me and our daughter home.

I know some of you might say they are just doing their job, but in this day and age we assume and take for granted way too much. I did not expect either one of these officers to do as much as they did. They were obviously there to help, and that they did a fine job of. So we thank both of you for being there for us!

Esther L. Lucchese,

Ramona

CPUC hearing is important to ratepayers

San Diego Gas and Electric and its parent company, Sempra Energy, are proposing that its ratepayers be financially responsible for uninsured wildfire losses. What this means to you and me is whenever faulty SDG&E equipment starts a wildfire, we the ratepayers will have to cover the losses beyond their liability insurance coverage.

In the near term this means that all SDG&E ratepayers will have to pay more than $460 million to cover uninsured losses for the 2007 wildfires that SDG&E’s equipment was responsible for starting. On average that’s more than $325 for each of SDG&E’s 1.4 million electric meters.

In the long term, this proposed policy sets precedence, enabling SDG&E to rest on its laurels when it comes to power line maintenance, knowing ratepayers will pay for future wildfire-related losses beyond their minimum liability insurance coverage. This effectively socializes the risk of operating an electrical power distribution system while privatizing the profits of running the same electrical power distribution system. Basically ensuring their shareholders receive a dividend check while ratepayers pay for the damages of lax power line maintenance.

Over the last four quarters, Sempra Energy experienced earnings well over $1 billion.

Seems like a company of that magnitude would have sufficient revenues to amortize SDG&E’s wildfire losses over time without socking it to its ratepayers and still give their shareholders a reasonable stipend. But that’s not how they are proposing to do business, with Sempra’s most recent quarterly report anticipating ratepayers paying all their uninsured losses of the 2007 wildfires.

The good news is that if you don’t like their plan you have a chance to voice your opinion on Thursday, April 5, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Al Bahr Shriners Memorial Auditorium, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road, San Diego.

To be effective this meeting needs to be well attended. Otherwise the CPUC commissioners will surmise that the ratepayers won’t mind paying for SDG&E’s mistakes while they continue to generate huge profits. We the people, need to speak out.

Rick Morgal,

Ramona

Bulldog Cars & Crafts Show supports music

The Alliance for Music Education is a 501(c)(3) organization that was formed to help support the band programs in grades 7-12 in the Ramona Unified School District. We are an entirely volunteer organization comprised of parents of band students, who desire to see the arts continue to be a part of the regular curriculum in our schools.

Recent studies have shown that students involved in music scored 20 percent higher on standardized tests, because music helps develop the part of the brain involved in critical thinking. Did you know that music majors are the most likely group of college grads to be admitted to medical school, and that the foremost technical designers and engineers in Silicon Valley are almost all practicing musicians?

As most people know, continual school budget cuts over recent years have squeezed the operating budgets of all the schools, and numerous programs have been eliminated as a result. Most recently, a preliminary decision was made by the RUSD Board to eliminate all classroom music instruction in RUSD elementary schools beginning next year.

Music programs in particular require significant funding because of the expense of musical instruments, instrument repairs, music, instructor salaries, uniforms, transportation to competitions, etc. The amount of money provided by the school budget is about half of what it costs to provide for Marching Band, Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, Drum Line and Pageantry for the school year; thus, as parents we step up to fill the gap with fundraising.

One of our largest fundraisers for the year is coming up on April 28; we will be hosting our 4th Annual Bulldog Country Charity Cars & Crafts Show from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ramona High School. Our goal is to present an event that is a fun outing for the entire family; we will have plenty of classy cars for your viewing, crafts and other vendors, and activities for the kids. Admission to the event will be FREE.

We are actively seeking registrations for the car show, sponsors and vendors for this event. More information can be obtained by visiting www.bulldogcarsandcrafts.com or calling 760-315-0566. Thank you, Ramona, for your support of music in our schools!

Kathy Kubiak,

Ramona