Step back for a second and ask yourself why Measures A, B and C are on the ballot in the first place.
Measure A: Ventura city officials are obviously overly influenced by local public safety group interests who want to keep the gravy train going. This is nothing new. To accomplish goal, city officials propose a half-cent sales tax increase and cleverly promote it as a means to fixing potholes, paving roads, maintaining parks and cleaning up our beaches and rivers. It's classic bait-and-switch. Who in Ventura doesn't want their pothole-ridden roads repaved and our parks, beaches and rivers cleared of junk? Yet according to the City of Ventura Web site, when the increase to public transit is excluded, less than half of the total collected funds will be dedicated to these specific needs. Want your roads paved? Then give us more money to increase ex-Police Chief Mike Tracy's already ludicrously high $186,000-per-year pension for life.
Measure B: If city officials had not railroaded an unnecessarily obtrusive and quite ordinary-designed high-rise medical center extension blocking hillside views, would this measure have even reached the ballot? Probably not. The issue here is lack of trust in elected officials. What's next, a brand new steel and glass downtown high-rise police center? Perhaps a concrete prison on the beach to bring in extra revenue and jobs? Or how about a 10-story monument to firefighters topped with a big bright red fire truck blocking Anacapa Island views?
Measure C: A Walmart megacenter is just what every modern, vibrant, forward-thinking, dynamic town overlooking the Pacific Ocean needs. Has this city reached to such a low level that we have to rely on Walmart to bring low-paying jobs and the rather measly $350,000 to $500,000 in tax revenue to the community? These are the same people who think the plethora of massage parlors and tattoo shops on Main Street are great for downtown business.
-- Cris A. Sabo, Ventura