Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - AntiochPress_07.04.08 - Index

20A | THEPRESS.NET JULY 4, 2008
“ The quality of life for homeowners and
renters will diminish under this program.
”
Joseph T. Zamora
Winning Newspapers
Award
EDITORIALS, LETTERS & COMMENTARY
OPINION
National
Taxation without representation
Editor:
The letter from Zell Dabelich of
Brentwood is well written and accurate
in the assessment of the Rental Inspection
Program in Antioch and Brentwood.
It is an illegal method of taxing
landlords and homeowners. A tax of this
type should be put to a vote on those
affected.
I strongly objected to this tax when
it was brought before the City Council in
Antioch. Of course, the council members
are intent on taxing the citizens of
these communities under the guise of a
quality-of-life program. This tax will be
a burden on the already overtaxed property
owners. Renters will also be affected
since rents must go up to pay for the new
improvements to qualify the rented units.
The quality of life for homeowners and
renters will diminish under this program.
Objecting to this tax by writing letters
and speaking at council meetings is
an ineffective way to handle this problem.
The councils will not reconsider this
tax unless citizens form a group to fi ght
this program. The tax-fi ghting organization
in Antioch and Brentwood should
lead the fi ght to legally challenge this
rental inspection tax. Citizens should
consider joining organizations that oppose
this type of tax, which is placed on
us without homeowners’ and renters’
votes.
Joseph T. Zamora
Antioch
Report card reflects progress
Editor:
Rome wasn’t built in a day. And
Antioch Unifi ed School District fl awlessly
fashioned holds to the same pattern.
Here’s my fourth yearly review, speaking
for myself only, on progress made, progress
needed.
The reforms build. Four years ago
the immediate platform at hand was to
move off the county fi scal watch list, earn
positive certifi cation, build healthy reserves
and acquire the highest bond ratings. We
accomplished all that.
Now we are two years into platform
two – what organizational experts say is
– be it school districts or corporations like
Chrysler – a fi ve-to-seven-year process of
total re-culturing. We are moving from an
entitlement to a performance-driven model.
The structure is now taking hold; merit
vs. personality advancement; objective
data, systems-driven modeling and strict
benchmarks as vs. “feel-good” reviews.
Platform three is also well underway:
a behavioral adjustment. Learning can
and should be fun, but kids must also see
education as a serious business. The ac-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
complishments include overall attendance
being up; suspensions down; Deer Valley
Shopping Plaza quieted; a night-and-day
campus culture improvement at Deer Valley
High School; closed campus at Antioch
High; photo lanyards; 11 schools adopting
uniforms; a Youth Intervention Network
promising holistic, inter-agency prevention
strategies to at-risk kids.
Reduced or not, any suspensions or
campus incidents are unacceptable signs
of root problems, though. Two school
sites are in particular need of support for
improved campus-climate. Also more
uniformity is needed between our high
schools on enforcing photo lanyards and
closed campus.
Platform four is innovation and
choice. We are moving there with our
second Charter Academy; a September
opening of Dozier-Libbey Medical Magnet
High School and Delta Performing
Arts Academy. 2009 may bring a Law and
Criminal Justice Academy. I hope, too, for
math-science-engineering and trade academies.
Not every child is going to college
but each deserves to be well prepared and
enjoy a seat at the opportunity table.
Platform fi ve, bringing to Antioch
uniform vs. isolated pockets of academic
excellence, is, admittedly, our biggest work
of art in progress. Engaging the innovative
Leadership Institute for our principals;
Carmen Dragon and Kimball Elementary
earning California Schools of Excellence
recognition; Deer Valley falling just several
points behind Heritage as the secondhighest
API-ranked far East County
high school; a math literacy overhaul of
greater consistency and rigor; adopting
more stringent curricula and graduation
requirements; upping middling test scores;
increasing tutoring opportunities; cultivating
greater SAT testing participation;
partnering with local community colleges
for co-enrollment; improving the GATE
Program, etc., are positive steps.
The work is underway. I was privileged
to grow up in Great Neck Long
Island, ranked in my day, the 1960s, as
a top-ten national district. My German
teacher spoke 11 languages; 80 percent of
my classmates went to college. Antioch has
that same potential. We have superb teachers
and eager students. We can run with
the Great Necks, San Ramons and Walnut
Creeks. As Henry Ford said, “If you think
you can, or you think you can’t, either way
you are correct.”
Walter Ruehlig
A.U.S.D. Board President
Abstention clarification
Editor:
In response to Judy Kier’s letter to
the editor last week in this paper, if you or
your readership had any question of why
I abstained from a vote to approve offi cial
minutes, I have attached the draft minutes
in question for your review. They will also
be available on the Discovery Bay Web site,
www.townofdiscoverybay.org, as soon as
they are approved.
Please notice that I was absent for the
meeting in question and therefore chose
abstention rather than to vote on something
that I did not witness.
While it may be “allowable” to vote
in such circumstances, I do not believe it
is responsible nor a common practice for
board members to do so – on any board.
It is a shame that Judy Kier felt it was
not important to include the most relevant
factors in her letter while taking shots at
the CSD board president, me and the balance
of the board.
David A. Piepho
Discovery Bay
A true public park
Editor:
In early May of 2008, the Bethel
Island Park Sub-committee of the Bethel
Island Municipal Advisory Council (BI-
MAC) mailed a letter to Bethel Island area
residents and property owners asking for
donations to support maintenance of the
Bethel Island Park adjacent to Scout Hall.
From the beginning, Bethel Island
area residents have been supportive of developing
the acre of land on Bethel Island
Road into a community park. Progress was
slow, using volunteers, but in June of 2006,
SunCal Companies of the Delta Coves
Project, Top Grade Construction and
Mike McCall Landscape, Inc. volunteered
to construct a top-of-the-line park.
In July of 2007, Top Grade informed
the Bethel Island Municipal Improvement
District (BIMID) that the value of
the donation was $500,000. They further
volunteered to maintain the park until the
community could take over the maintenance.
Neither the BIMAC nor BIMID has
any money to maintain the park. The Park
Committee reasoned that if residents and
owners were asked for a donation, they
would support the park and 100 percent
of the money would go to the park; not to
vote on a tax the county to collect it if it
passed.
The Park Committee was right. We
would like to say thank you to the nearly
200 donors who have contributed $6,825.
A $10 donation from everyone would be
enough to support the park for 12 to 18
months. So far, donations are short of the
$10,000 that the committee hoped to raise,
but donations continue to come in and we
hope to reach that goal.
Donations may be made at any time
and can be dropped by or mailed to the
BIMID Offi ce, P.O. Box 244, Bethel Island,
CA 94511 (3085 Stone Road) or taken to
the Bethel Island Chamber of Commerce
at 6163 Bethel Island Road, Bethel Island,
CA 94511. Checks should be made out to
the BIMID Park Fund.
Come and visit the park! The next big
attraction will be the annual Chamber of
Commerce-sponsored ’50s Bash the weekend
of July 19 and 20. Everyone is invited
to come out and enjoy the Bethel Island
Community Park.
Marguerite Lawry
Secretary, BIMAC
Park Sub-Committee
Relaying big thanks
Editor:
Summerset Originals Relay For Life
team gratefully acknowledges all who supported
our Big Band fundraiser. First and
foremost, we thank Jean Romer and Betty
Dalke for chairing this wonderful event.
We want to especially thank Alhambra
Hills, Bloomfi eld Vineyards, Cline Cellars
and Tamayo Vineyard for their wine and
beer from Bruce Standridge, Markstein
Distributors.
We are also grateful to Delta Sands
Florist, Party City, Party Helpers, Raley’s
Oakley, Safeway on Second Street, Village
Nursery, Brentwood Golf Club, Loard’s
Ice Cream and Starbuck’s Coffee/Subway
Sandwich for their donations to our raffl e.
Betty Larsen chaired the raffl e, which
included art graciously donated by Phyllis
Glasser, Joyce Hackett, Kathleen Henderson,
Colleen Menges and Richard Meyer.
This fundraiser could not have happened
without Mike Graziadei and the Summerset
Big Band and their nostalgic big-band
music.
An added bonus was having Ray
Carter and his wonderful voice joining the
band for a song. Nothing was overlooked.
We appreciate the efforts of so many to
benefi t American Cancer Society Relay
For Life.
Sue Owens and Donna Coker
Brentwood
Eloquent silence
Editor:
Recently I sent a request to Supervisor
Piepho, asking her for some additional
information on what could or couldn’t
be done as it relates to the current ULL
(Urban Limit Line) associated with the
continued traffi c nightmare on American
Avenue and Balfour Road when school is
in session.
I received a very detailed and timely
answer to some of my questions regarding
the ULL by being provided a copy of an
see Letters page 22A