Panoche Panache

Congratulations on Kera Abraham’s SEJ award. We of Save Panoche Valley are so proud that yourhard workabout our plight in San Benito County (“Will Central California’s proposed place in the sun ruin life for sustainable farmers?” Feb. 25-March 3) won this honor.

It was an amazing experience for me those months back.I traveled from my home in Hollister and was enjoying a latte and delicious treats at Parker Lusseau. As I was reading through the Weekly, to my amazement was your article before my eyes! I gathered about 10 copies throughout town.Then the next day, Sunday, I went back and gathered many more at the stands.They were distributedat the workshop in Panoche Valley where many groups were represented: Defenders of Wildlife, Audubon, Biodiversity, BLM, Fish and Game, Pinnacles, Sierra Club, Monterey Native Plants,etc. It was an important source of information and well balanced.I still have a master copy.

Your work has been of great help to us, [Nic Coury’s] photography, your delightful presentation of personalities, good expression of what was said by the residents. In fact at the Solargen Open House, [Mike] Peterson, the [Solargen] corporate big shot remarked before the group that he liked being called handsome!Let’s hope that’s all the positive results he gets, and his project is sent to Westlands. We can keep our valley for farming and wildlife habitat and use rooftop solar on exisiting infrastructure.

Congratulations again and keep up your excellent endeavors. You deserve all the credit.

Blaming Laird

That the first item in your news section (“Assessing the Cost,” Aug. 19-25) should be followed by “Laird Loses, Again” is supremely ironic. How about an assessment of the cost to California of Laird’s political career, to which (with luck) this unnecessary election will provide a fitting end.

During his six years in the Assembly, Laird served as chair of both the Assembly Budget Committee and the Special Session Committee on Budget Process. During the same period, the Democrat-controlled body laid the groundwork for the fiscal catastrophe now facing the state. Upon being termed out, Laird first accepted an $11,000-per-month taxpayer-funded sinecure and then had the unmitigated gall to run for state Senate. Having, not unexpectedly, been soundly beaten in a district gerrymandered to ensure Republican control, he then imposed upon the taxpayers the cost of a special election, the result of which was a forgone conclusion. Our permanently incumbent “representatives” of both parties are as morally bankrupt as they have made the state financially. The only hope for California is for voters not to vote for anybody who has been termed out of either house and insist on rational redistricting, i.e., minimizing the length of the boundaries. The 27th district could serve as a poster-child for the sorry state of “representative” government in California.