Letters for September 26, 2002

No connection
In regard to the letter written by Jimmy Ogle entitled “Pot endorsements” [Sept. 19], we, the Green Party of Butte County, would like to make it clear that we are not connected with the Green/Pot/Christian Alliance for Medical Marijuana—GPCAMM.

Diane Suzuki
Green Party of Butte County
Chico

Market respect
Best community event … and the winner is … Saturday Farmers’ Market! [Best of Chico, Sept. 19.] The people have spoken. Perhaps now the Chico City Council will give the Saturday Farmers’ Market some respect.

The market is feeling growing pains and recently requested that the city allow it to close one block of Wall Street and one block of Third Street. The city refused, stating that it would hurt the businesses located on these streets. Well, on Third Street there are no businesses. On Wall Street you’ve got three: The Brick Works, Christian Michael’s and The Garden Walk Mall. The first two are not even open during the market, and the mall would only benefit from the market.

On the other hand, the city bends over backwards for the downtown Thursday Night Market, closing Broadway, one of the major streets through town.

Whatever personal vendetta our city leaders have against the Saturday Farmers’ Market should be overlooked for the good of our town.

John Geiger
Chico

A taste of gratitude
If there is one thing I’ve learned as the executive director of the Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA), it’s how to organize and produce high-quality community events. The overwhelming success of A Taste of Chico 2002 is proof of our commitment to create and maintain a thriving and exciting destination hub for all.

However, A Taste of Chico is more than just your everyday special event—it is literally a “community event.” This year alone, over 250 individuals volunteered their time and energy to help orchestrate A Taste of Chico, the annual celebration of the simple things in life that Chico does so well: food, fine art and entertainment.

Before the sun rose until long after dusk settled in, there wasn’t a single moment when I didn’t encounter the cheerful smile or willing hands of a dedicated volunteer. Such enthusiasm speaks volumes not only for the love of this event, but also of a personal desire to be a part of something much bigger—a true community.

On behalf of the DCBA staff, directors and members as well as the participants, businesses and sponsors of A Taste of Chico, I would like to publicly thank each and every volunteer who was instrumental in helping the DCBA “make it happen.”

If there is one thing I know as Katrina Davis, average Chico citizen, it’s how incredible it is to live in a place where so very many people take ownership and pride in creating a community that benefits not only themselves, but also all others who live in it.

Katrina Davis
Executive Director, DCBA

Chico

Clean sweep
As one of the site coordinators for the Butte Environmental Council’s 2002 Fall Bidwell Park and Creeks Cleanup, I’d like to thank the nearly 100 volunteers who reported to our Horseshoe Lake site to get their assignments for cleaning garbage out of Upper and Lower Bidwell Park and portions of Lindo Channel.

The volunteers at our site nearly filled a full-size garbage Dumpster with trash and filled an equivalent of at least six large roller garbage bins to their brims with recyclables. This event was one three big-scale Chico cleanup events coordinated to coincide with the California Coastal Cleanup Day, which occurred statewide on Saturday, Sept. 21. (The other two events were BEC’s Big and Little Chico Creeks Cleanup, coordinated out of the Foster’s Freeze site downtown, and the Chico Community Shelter Partnership’s cleanup of Comanche Creek).

Chico residents should be very proud of all of the civic-minded volunteers who donated countless hours of hard work at their respective cleanup sites to help ensure that Chico continues to be a great place to live.

Mark Gailey
Chico

Welcome noises
I am reading the letter to the editor from Mr. McLaughlin [“Enloe expansion,” Sept. 12] in total disbelief. I am employed by Enloe and have the great honor and privilege of working with the FlightCare crews. These are kind, caring, wonderful individuals who put their lives on the line every time they board the helicopter. One of those lives was lost on Sept. 22, 2001, in Butte Meadows.

To be based at the Chico airport or in Paradise would not work, as the crew works in the emergency room while waiting to be called out on an emergency. Precious time would be lost if they had to leave the hospital, drive to the airport and then fly on to the emergency. Would the helicopter return to the airport or Paradise and then transport the patient by ambulance to the hospital?

Check with the people who have been injured in the middle of nowhere and had the helicopter land on a narrow remote road in the dark of the night to bring them in for treatment. The helicopter flies over my home too, and when I hear it I thank God for the dedicated, caring, compassionate, selfless people who have chosen to care for and serve this community. Enloe is a good neighbor, and I can bet that if the need ever arises, the people who are complaining will thank God for this service too.

I will continue to say a prayer each day for the safe return of each of these people to their families. God bless you all. You are a credit to your profession and are very much appreciated by this community.

Ruth Phillips
Chico

Enough already
While we in Chico discuss the availability of homes, national economists discuss the relationship between home prices and consumer income. According to ABC News, home prices across the United States have risen by nearly 10 percent, while income levels have risen by only 2 to 3 percent. The discrepancy is more exaggerated in Chico. Home prices here have jumped 100 percent in the last five years, while wages in the North State have risen only 1.4 percent (CN&R Sept. 12).

Councilmember Rick Keene says that high prices result from lack of availability. On the national level, experts say prices result from a buying frenzy driven by record low interest rates and the stock market plunge. The Chico housing market is being overwhelmed by people looking for safe investments. Houses have become the safe alternative to stocks. Building more houses has not lowered prices; every new development is priced higher than previous ones.

Keene and Mayor Dan Herbert have made the “housing crisis” a cornerstone of their campaigns, meanwhile supporting the efforts of Bob Linscheid to attack the prevailing wage. Prevailing wage is a standard of pay for all construction work; lowering it will hurt workers, and it will hurt the tax base. And it won’t mean lower home prices, just higher builder profits.

These corporate candidates with their simple-minded arguments do not convince me that they are concerned for the community. Enough of their developer-driven agenda.

Juanita Sumner
Chico