A fresh look at the Pajaronian
After years of visiting the Pajaro Valley, I made a conscious decision to relocate here. I moved from Southern California and have been delighted.
I subscribe to your newspaper and I look forward to reading it weekly. What a wonderful chronicle of local events it is.
Yes, we have local newspapers in Southern California, but they lack the flavor and tone of the individual communities. They do not feature upcoming local events. They are stale.
I have only been here for two months, but I have enjoyed your coverage of the Quilt show, the editorials on land use, upcoming local election issues and changes in the community, both appointed and elected. I think the paper’s presentation is quite exceptional. For a small newspaper, it packs a big punch.
In closing, let me say Tony Nuñez has done a stellar job as a steward of this newspaper. The fact that he has been appointed to the new local hospital board only speaks to his capabilities. It should not be viewed as a threat to the Pajaonian. I look forward to many more Friday newspapers.
Elisa Trujillo, Watsonville
Upgrading to ‘Cordless’ transportation
Who doesn’t appreciate their cordless smartphone? Ever since the car allowed independence from the limited path of a railroad track, and roadways evolved to allow everyone means to conveniently get from where they are to where they want to be, the world experienced independence from limitations. In fact, this has become so popular that we now have situations where one can jog faster than the progress of traffic during rush hours.
The year-after-year wasted transportation corridor across much of the county can help alleviate this situation. Why not use common sense to implement a flexible foundation upon the corridor that can accommodate anything from a safe Trail-Only option to a strategically safe Bus-Trail?
Vote for measure D.
Bob Fifield, Aptos
Let’s add to our county’s organic movement
In 2020, there were 147 organic farms in the county on 8,000 acres, generating $135 million. We need to convince and incentivize even more growers to transition to healthy-soils-based organic farming. Only 15% of county farm owners/renters are Hispanic, but the numbers are growing. If a larger percentage of the 64,000 acres (100 square miles) of agricultural & ranch land in the county sequestered just a few tons of carbon per acre per year, we could vastly accelerate our progress toward zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The USDA has allocated $2.3 billion to “help farmers adopt and maintain conservation systems that protect water and air quality, reduce soil erosion, protect and enhance wildlife habitat and wetlands, conserve water and sequester carbon.” California’s $10 million Healthy Soils Program has similar goals.
Lakeside Organics in the Pajaro Valley is the largest family-owned organic grower/shipper in the country, with 3,000 acres producing 45 varieties of fruits and vegetables. Let’s build on this to make our county a model of farm-to-fork organic, healthy-soils agriculture for the benefit of future generations. Let’s make quality food affordable & available to all families—including the farmworkers who produce it—while addressing climate change by putting carbon back in the soil.
Woody Rehanek, Watsonville
The Pajaronian welcomes letters. Letters and columns may be dropped off or mailed to The Pajaronian, 21 Brennan St., Suite 18, Watsonville, CA 95076. Letters and columns may also be sent via email to [email protected]. Letters should be less than 300 words, and columns are no more than 700 words. All letters and columns must be signed and have an address and phone number for confirmation purposes. We reserve the right to edit and condense all submissions.
