Measure S is a fair compromise
Watsonville Mayor Pro Tempore Eduardo Montesino made some important points in his letter (The Pajaronian, Sept. 23) urging voters to vote Yes on Measure S and No on Measure Q. As a member of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees, I too often see our students suffering from learning disabilities that are often associated with exposure to pesticides. It is a sad situation when many farmworker families who would like their children to get educated aren’t able to because they suffer from severe health problems.
We also need more park space for our PVUSD children, more housing for our residents and for our teachers here in the City of Watsonville. Of course we all agree we need to protect farmland too.
Measure S creates a pathway for everyone to win and is a fair compromise for all of us here in the Pajaro Valley. Vote Yes on S and No on Q.
Daniel Dodge Jr.
Watsonville
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Flawed thinking
Last Friday’s Guest View, calling the proposed land use measures “flawed” because there was no community visioning process, and because they were backed by developers and corporate agriculture interests, missed the point and was incorrect.
Measure Q is on the ballot because over 3,000 people were personally talked to and engaged in the issue, wanting to see this on the ballot and voted for by the community. The opposite is true for Measure S, which contains a loophole and is on the ballot by 4-3 vote by a divided City Council, i.e. a single vote.
However, the real problem with this criticism is that it does not address the crucial issue, that being if the current Urban Limit Line expires in November, which it is slated to do, our farmland will be up for grabs before any significant public process can occur.
There is the opportunity to create a community visioning process as the City embarks on creating a 2050 General Plan. And the gorilla in the room when talking about the need for housing, which is true, is that there exists over 100 known sites within City Limits for infill development, plus the community-generated Downtown Specific Plan that identified 3,900 potential housing units. Build on what’s available before paving over farmland.
The Pajaro Valley needs a renewed public process, and with the passage of Measure Q, will be able to work on infill development on vacant and under-utilized sites while organizing the community for the future.
Ken Kimes
Aptos
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Twin-engine planes are hard to see over
I learned to fly in 1947 when I was 19 at Somerton, Ariz. with ex-Flying Tiger Major Sterdavant who had three Piper Cubs and a Stearman. Later on I became a flight engineer on a B-29. Just as a friend of mine, Chuck Brasier and I drove up, a Cub was about to land with the Stearman flaring for its landing. No way the pilot was going to see over the nose of his plane. He caught up to the Cub. I won’t go into detail because I have been trying to forget what happened.
Out here, I believe the single engine plane was on its final approach, and the twin-engine just entering its final approach did not see the smaller plane ahead and below it. Some of these twin-engine planes have long noses that are hard to see over. The sad part is if you clip wings that’s about as close as you can get to not colliding.
Anthony Ivelich
Freedom
