Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - AntiochPress_05.02.08 - Index

20A | THEPRESS.NET MAY 2, 2008
“ Imagine asking a lawyer or a dentist to keep
cheerful and composed with 30 to 40 clients in their
office, many of whom are dejected, angry and not
wanting to be there.
Walter Ruehlig”
Winning Newspapers
Award
EDITORIALS, LETTERS & COMMENTARY
OPINION
National
Low-income fund should help
When is low income not low income? When it
comes to dispensing money from Antioch’s fund for
low-income housing.
Over a 20-year period, city offi cials have committed
to give some $2.3 million from the development
agency’s low-income housing fund to homeowners in
Vista Diablo Mobile Home
Estates. These residents can
EDITORIAL earn as much as $70,000 per
year for individuals; $80,000
for couples – 120 percent of the
median income – and still qualify for the subsidy.
While most of Vista Diablo’s residents are seniors
earning less than that, the fact remains that all are
actual homeowners living in a nicely groomed, gated
community with a pool, spa and clubhouse.
Council members have wanted to help the Vista
Diablo residents in large part because they are paying
above-market rents to live in the park. Ironically, the
Class struggle reveals true heroes
Editor:
Admittedly, Hallmark can overdo
the recognitions. May 14, though, is
unarguably a timely trumpet call for a
special class of unsung heroes. It is the
National Day of the Teacher.
If we are looking to emulate
movie stars, rock musicians, athletes
and supermodels, we’re simply missing
the point. Those folks are celebrities,
not heroes; too often modeling shallow
materialism and vacuous self-absorption.
By contrast, as an unknown writer
said, “A good teacher is like a candle
– it consumes itself to lighten the way
for others.”
For heroes, consider Dave Smith,
the schoolteacher shot to death shielding
his students during the Columbine
High School rampage.
Wanting a role model? Try Jane
Smith, a Fayetteville, N.C. teacher so
taken by the plight of a dying 14-yearold
boy, she donated a kidney. Hugging
on the “Today” show, even Katie Couric
fought back tears.
How about Doris Dillon, who
fulfi lled a lifetime dream of teaching? A
San Jose colleague remarked about her
gift, “She could teach a rock to read.”
Stricken with irreversible Lou Gehrig’s
Disease, Doris continued teaching by
computer-assisted voice. Later, she ran
two elementary school libraries, saying
she had one last lesson to impart, that
dying is a natural part of living.
Dramatic stories, yes, but the
drama is played out large and small,
day in and day out, in tens of thousands
of classrooms across the nation. Sadly,
city’s $2.3 million will be going to the park owners,
and the subsidy might actually contribute to the
higher rents.
Fortunately, city offi cials are taking steps to rein
in this generous subsidy by reducing the eligibility to
no more than 100 percent of median income for new
residents moving into the park and further reducing it
in 2012 to no more than 80 percent of median income.
But this will still result in more than $1 million being
paid out to the park owners in the next 10 years.
We believe there are better uses for the city’s
limited low-income housing funds. For example, in
this issue we describe the help that Antioch police are
providing for one homeless man, sending him back to
Texas where he can get a fresh start.
There are dozens more homeless people in and
around Antioch who live and sleep outside in the cold
and rain of winter and the scorching heat of summer,
eating food out of dumpsters and going without medi-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
though our schools are statistically the
safest place in America, with school
violence half that of 1993 and dropping
to levels not seen since the 1970s, we still
blame every societal ill on our teachers.
We expect them to be equal parts
parent, police offi cer, social worker,
psychologist, counselor, motivational
coach, mentor and No Child Left Behind
statistician.
First they’re asked to deal with dysfunctional
families, physical and mental
abuse, rampant sex and drug solicitations
and latchkey supervision. Oh yes,
then we ask them to teach. Imagine asking
a lawyer or a dentist to keep cheerful
and composed with 30 to 40 clients in
their offi ce, many of whom are dejected,
angry and not wanting to be there.
Need a hero, then? Go down
to your nearest school. Granted, no
dunked basketballs, no belted home
runs, no platinum record albums. Yet
at the end of the day, it’s the simple
heroics of passing the torch of productive
citizenship to the next generation.
Henry Brooks Adams captured it well:
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never
tell where his infl uence stops.”
I know this because 45 years ago
I was a confused teenager needing a
compass. Teachers recognized in me a
worth I didn’t see myself. They helped
me navigate blinding adolescent fog. I
am convinced that I am the man I am
today, and my children the individuals
that they are, because of those heroes.
In this maddening world, we need
heroes more than ever. On May 14
– better yet, every chance we get – let’s
thank a teacher. After all, in teaching
your son, they are also teaching your
son’s son.
Walter Ruehlig
Antioch School Board President
Stimulus bucks should stop here
Editor:
With the fi rst distribution of economic
stimulus tax rebates occurring this
week, I wish to share my thoughts. I am
not an expert at economics, though, and
I don’t intend to tell people how to spend
their tax rebates.
A great portion of the $168 billion
economic stimulus bill of 2008 is,
of course, intended to send Americans
shopping to jump-start the economy.
There is much buzz in the media about
millions of people rushing to buy bigscreen
TVs and merchandise.
Before we rush out and blow the
checks on electronics (most manufactured
overseas), I hope people pause to
acknowledge the source of the funds,
and plan to keep the funds invested in
our country to make the greatest return
on investment.
Our government is funded by the
people of the United States: taxpayers
like you and me. Of course it feels like
our government has some slush fund
and is injecting the money from some
magical place, but the ultimate source
of the money is hardworking American
families.
I was delighted to hear of the rebate
checks, and I doubt anyone would refuse
them, but I was also alarmed to hear
that, within a few weeks of announcing
the $168 billion tax rebate, the president
announced almost $200 billion in cuts to
federal programs. Turns out it wasn’t a
cal care. There are very few shelter spaces available for
them in East County and few places for them to sleep
outside that they won’t get chased out of.
We suggest that the City Council reconsider its
subsidy for the Vista Diablo homeowners – restricting
it to residents making no more than 50 percent of
median income ($29,350 for an individual and $33,500
for a couple) – and using the savings to subsidize shelter
for the homeless.
There are also a lot of people who are not homeless
but living on very low incomes – perhaps a check
or two away from becoming homeless – who could use
some assistance from the city’s low-income housing
fund.
When funds are limited, they should go to the
neediest people fi rst before being used to help couples
earning as much as $80,000 per year.
To comment on this editorial, visit www.thepress.
net.
magical slush fund that will pay for the
stimulus package.
My family isn’t going to be rushing
to Wal-Mart to buy a lifetime supply of
socks, or fi nance a big-screen TV that
will last a few years and ultimately cost
us a bunch in fi nance charges. Instead
we are investing in ourselves by paying
down credit card debt. If we decide to
go shopping with the check, however, we
plan to purchase goods made only in the
United States.
see Letters page 21A
We want you
In the coming weeks we plan to
launch another way for our readers
to speak out on the issues important
in East County. It’s similar to our
“Have Your Say” feature: it includes
the comments and photos of those we
interview. But instead of approaching
people randomly on the street, we’ll
be cultivating a group of regular
contributors who are up on what’s
going on in their community and
East County and whose opinions are
interesting and well articulated.
Each week we’ll e-mail a question
on various issues to this group
and publish the most noteworthy
comments on the opinion page. This
is your opportunity to become one of
the movers and shapers of opinion in
East County, and we look forward to
your participation. If you’re interested
or want more information, e-mail us at
editor@thepress.net.