WELCOME

You are reading the thoughts of one who has kept them mostly out of the public venue. By virtue of the concept, blogs seem narcissistic so you can expect a lot of personal pronouns to show up.

I don't like being pigeonholed, though many have called me a conservative. I agree with much of what is often considered conservative views, but I do tend to occasionally differ on this view point. I have also been termed opinionated. Well, please remember this is my view, and I consider my view valid until convinced otherwise. That doesn't necessarily make it right; it simply makes it my view.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

NOTE: The posts in this blog are duplicates of the column I write for the Perris City News and Sentinel Weekly.

All right, let's get started. You are about to read neither the rantings of a madman nor the reflections of a genius. Perhaps somewhere in between:

October 11, 2014

Government Working in Our Best Interest?

 Ebola. The very name sends shivers up my spine. To catch Ebola is a death sentence. And like so many of the lethal diseases in the last 100 years, this too comes from Africa.

The director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Tom Frieden spent hours at a press conference trying to assure Americans that the spread of this horrendous disease can be stopped. When asked why he has not called for a halt to travel to and from the African nations where this disease is prevalent, he said it was not necessary and even claimed it would be counterproductive.

Are you convinced? I’m not.

I don’t want to be a fear monger, but didn’t the CDC make the same claim regarding AIDS? Yet, it spread from its origin in Africa to every corner of the world leaving a deadly path in its wake. Even Frieden admits that, “the only thing like this [Ebola] has been AIDS.” To which I might add, they not only failed to stop, they also continue to fail to control the spread.

According to the web site Avert (http://www.avert.org/), AIDS started in Africa some time between 1884 and 1924, then traveled to Haiti around 1966. Fifty-nine years later, we find AIDS in every village and hamlet in the country.

Can they really stop the spread of Ebola? Despite the Pollyanna attitude of the CDC, I’d have to say no to that too. At least our government hasn’t shown any positive steps to keep the disease out of our country.

The CDC recently announced steps taken at New York airports to screen for Ebola, but what about the hundreds of other international airports in America. And their idea of screening is limited to taking passengers’ temperatures. So, if you’re entering the country with the flu or having hot flashes, you’re going to the isolation ward.

Are there even effective screening procedures in place? According to an article from NBC News in New York, federal U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are saying they are not prepared, and have not been trained to implement the government’s new screening procedures. Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/health-workers-federal-agents-blow-whistle-nations-emergency-preparedness-prepared/#8Oza6HSJ5wspaAU2.99

And what is the World Health Organization (WHO) doing about the spread? Near as I can tell, that would be zilch. There are no restrictions on travel to or from the African countries where Ebola is epidemic.

And what about leadership from the Oval Office? Obama says, “you can’t get Ebola from setting next to someone on a bus.” Yet, the CDC advises to avoid public transportation.

This is yet another incidence where our chief executive has placed our country at serious risk. His refusal to disallow visitors from African nations with the Ebola epidemic, refusal to effectively secure our borders from terrorists or disease carrying illegal immigrants, and by allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the country without health screening has opened the country up to horrendous consequences.

Should we be scared? Well, I’m not going into doomsday mode – not yet. But we need to realize that our government is not always looking after our best interest, as it should. And when the government says everything is peachy, check the peach for worms.


One Good Man

 The other day I had a nice chat with Nathan Westphal. Nathan is the current President of the community group in my area called Residents Association of Greater Lake Mathews, RAGLM for short, and he has been a dynamic presence in our community. Nathan created and maintains the highly informative web site and on-line forum (www.raglm.org) that gives everyone in the community an opportunity to voice their concerns whether a RAGLM member or not.

RAGLM is a great organization that works to maintain a quality of lifestyle within the unincorporated areas of Lake Mathews, Gavilan Hills, Gavilan Springs, Mockingbird Canyon, and Woodcrest. Their motto is: "To keep the rural lifestyle, protect the open spaces, and to preserve the wildlife in our area known as Greater Lake Mathews." Their goal is to give our community a voice at the county level, and they have done an excellent job of it.

But Nathan Westphal is more than simply another community organizer. He has genuine concerns about many of the larger problems that face our county and state. Not just content to point out these problems, Nathan is one to take an active part in creating solutions for them.

A major problem within California and certainly within our county is water. Most of Southern California is served by a quasi-governmental agency, the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) and it’s sister agencies the Eastern Metropolitan Water District (EMWD) and the Western Metropolitan Water District (WMWD). An elected board of directors controls each of these agencies.

Beyond the serious issue of water scarcity due to the drought, there are major issues of agency administration, water quality, and rates we all pay for the water we use. Nathan followed these issues with the WMWD very closely, and decided to run for a seat on the WMWD board of directors in this upcoming election.

The issues he finds with WMWD include (from his website http://nathanwestphal.com/):

Cost of Water:
The cost of water in our region is getting out of hand. Just since 2009, we have incurred two new charges on our bills (Water Reliability Charge, MWD Readiness-to-Serve Charge) as well as a new tier structure and pumping zone charges. In this same period, WMWD has built two new facilities as well as holding more than $14 million in customer reserves. I would ask if these charges are supposed to be set aside for emergency purposes, why then do we build elaborate facilities and continue to increase pay of employees? I will stand for the customers and fight these unnecessary fee increases to make sure your money is going where it is supposed to go and not just to the expansion of WMWD.

Restriction of Resources:
With ever expanding development in western Riverside County, it is imperative that we find new ways to deal with our already scarce resources. I believe that new developments should be held accountable to existing residents when it comes to resources. We cannot allow business as usual. We must stop planting high water use lawns in medians simply for cosmetic reasons. We need to partner with developers to find ways to develop smart ideas while continuing to expand our local economy. We cannot just continue to rezone and pack homes into areas already suffering from restricted resources. Currently, 'Will Serve' letters do not go through the board of directors for a vote, but get automatically sent upon request to new development. I would argue that will serve letters should be voted on by the board and will work hard to make this a reality.

Accountability:
Recently the board voted to give their GM a 2% pay and pension increase. The board just voted to increase sewer rates in the Murrieta area as well as adding an annual property tax in some areas to collect monies on top of the collections they already take in from ratepayers. Currently WMWD is working to implement a new ordinance to allow further restrictions on water usage, as they did in 2010. These new restrictions are more severe than the ones originally implemented by WMWD. Additionally, these new restrictions, as well as the previous ones, only affect residential ratepayers as commercial ratepayers are not subject to the same-tiered structure. Should we not all be treated equally? In August of 2013, when the Riverside Grand Jury recommended the board tie stipend decreases to rate increases, the current incumbent stated, "I do not make enough money to support my family. All the work we put in, we do not get paid for." Last time I checked this was a public service and not a career. Changes must be made at Western and I will fight to make positive changes without the prospect of increasing my own stipend or increasing rates.

Well, there you have it. Nathan Westphal has my vote. I am confident he has a thorough grasp of the issues and will fight to make a difference. On Tuesday, November 4th I urge you exercise your right to vote, and if you are within the WMWD Division 3, please vote for Nathan Westphal.