Red Line (Sept. 22)
All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations some comments may not be published. More than one comment from the same person during the same week will normally not be published. Please limit calls to two minutes or less.
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Several calls were received from people who objected to the county supervisor’s decision to close the Boot Camp.
“Have they totally lost their minds?” said a lady. “First they get rid of part of the fire department. Vern Moss will not be re-elected. At least Bigelow and Wheeler had a little common sense to try and get it done in a different way. Why don’t they talk to their employees to see what they are willing to give up? The guys who did the graffiti are already on the streets. Thanks a lot, supervisors. Maybe they’ll hit your house.”
Another unhappy lady said, “Hey, supervisors, how do you sleep at night? County employees are willing to take work furloughs. Instead you’re cutting out the boot camp, fire assistance in areas, and a lot of jobs. Are you taking pay cuts? Since now you are causing more unemployment, more crime rate, and how about the surplus money you have set aside to keep Manfredi on retainer?”
A man commented on the headline “county reaffirms fire cuts. It’s interesting how supervisors Moss, Dominici and Rodriguez all live within cities that have fire departments. So why do they care about county residents? It is also amazing that the winter time staffing of the Rancheria fire station just below North Fork wasn’t one of two to be cut because supervisors Wheeler and Bigelow and ex-supervisor Gary Gilbert all live in the response area of that station.”
A man wanted to “comment on last week’s lady caller who complained about the planning commission complaining about the Hispanic places of business, the color of the stores, and window displays.” This caller said, “It is not just Hispanic stores. It goes for all stores as far as the colors go. Those colors may go quite well in Tijuana. But here in California they are a little out of place. When in Rome do as the Romans do.”
A man commented on “the needed light over here on Cleveland (Avenue) and Raymond Road. I wish somebody would put a traffic light there before there’s an accident or even a death. I talked to my (county) supervisor, Max Rodriguez, and he told me it was not up to him, but up to the mayor. I wish they would get it together and get a light there.”
A lady called in response to the man last week that said parents should buy life insurance on their children instead of having car washes to pay for funerals.
“He is wrong,” said this week’s caller. “Instead of paying corporations to do what we should be doing, for example having the community help each other, he’s suggesting we pay corporations to do what we can do as a community. That way nobody makes money out of us. It’s irrational and I disagree.”
A lady called “about the sidewalk on north (D Street?) … and Adell (Street), near Desmond Middle School. It is so bad and so dangerous. The traffic is bad and the children are walking in the streets.”
A woman “hoped the (Madera Unified) school board and athletic directors are liable for our kids when they go to tournaments.” She claimed “the girls volleyball coaches are speeding down the freeway doing 90 miles an hour with our kids. We need bus drivers taking kids to tournaments, not coaches.”
A man called about an article in another paper concerning “the swap meet at the drive-in and officials and city at odds over the owner exceeding the limits of his permit. I just wonder why the Tribune doesn’t print somewhat controversial articles or information for the rest of the city to be aware of. Is there some sort of good old boy network between the city and the paper? Are you afraid of losing a two-column, four-inch ad that the theater advertises on a daily basis?”
A woman said, “Every so often a large religious group uses the Women’s Improvement Club’s old building on north Q Street. The large group takes up all the nearby parking for the residents in the area. They stayed the whole weekend and all night. I wonder how such a large group fits in that small hall. I wonder if the city knows about it.”
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In addition to the girls volleyball coaches speeding, what about the drinking that the coaches were involved in at the girls “bonding retreat” weekend ? Somebody really needs to investigate whats going on behind the scenes with these coaches!
Glass houses … I think it is a shame that the interference and manipulation of parents has gotten so out of control when it comes to athletics. “Hard practices” are considered punishment. Look at the good that comes out of hard practices, teaching an athlete to be the best, push thru the hard times.
When every single thing is criticized, it only leads to dissention and mutiny. Coaches put a lot on the line for the children and get very little in return yet have every move evaluated and criticized at every turn … waiting for that “one moment.” It’s a shame because unfortunately the best say adios, don’t need this and the rest of the team suffers due to the manipulation of a few. Glass houses…
I have very, little if any, respect for individuals who do not have the integrity, courage or consideration to address someone face to face to address a concern but instead choose to resort to “public hanging.”
Let’s clean up Madera! First, start with Yosemite Ave. No crazy painting on the walls. Signs need to be in compliance. Madera roads are the worst roads in California! The businesses that open should have landscape that looks nicem not dirt! Some of the businesses look really good and others are awful. Where is the county and city to make the business compliant? No food wagons parked on empty lots, did they pay for a permit, taxes etc… Please, Madera, let’s clean up our act!
Shirley
People need to mind their own business because you guys don’t know what happen(ed). So stay in your place. This is all he say she say b-llsh-t and it needs to stop!
Leave the (WORD REMOVED) volleyball team alone!
A lot of mud being thrown. Plus language. Sad…
If coaches are doing wrong, then I am sure their MUSD buddies will look into it for the sake of the parents and students they say they serve.
I also agree with Shirley. Clean up the downtown and have signs in English or other(wise) held up to code.
As to the swap meets, twice a week is too much. Just move the whole thing out to the fairgrounds, traffic is bad enough at our wonderful Country Club, Cleveland, Gateway intersections.
Also: Where is Target or some other store like Kohls at in Madera? I’m real(ly) tired of shopping at Wally world. Seems we don’t have planners going after business to come here.
I am also tired of parents letting their children throw stuff in the stores and just walk away instead of picking it up and getting after their child/children.
But I like shopping in Fresno because of Madera’s lack of choice stores.
In the City’s application, one of the requirements is that you need a degree. How is it fair that someone with a degree falls short of employment to someone who does not have a degree? It shouldn’t be about WHO you know to get a job, but about WHAT you know. (Regardless that we are a small town) The people in charge should be more carefully evaluated and not so overlooked.
Why have you covered this story? (WEB LINK REMOVED) This is Madera County’s District 1 supervisor’s responsibility. Instead he is worrying about a few people smoking pot.
WEBMASTER’S NOTE: Your question is a bit puzzling. Nonetheless, we published an article on Madera County’s proposed fine of $510,600 for road construction-related erosion on the top of the front page earlier this week. We did so because we are a newspaper that reports on the city and county of Madera. If you are unaware that we wrote about this potential fine, am I right in assuming you do not subscribe to The Madera Tribune?
I am writing today in response to a person that suggested M.U.S.D. be investigated. I could not agree more. When you see wrong you want to right it or make others aware of the situation. Like many I too am posting without using my name, just to hold onto what job I have.
From my many years of experience with the district, their hiring policies are not in favor of: Older teachers no matter how qualified, they hire a lot of relatives of other employees, and more so in the last few years if you don’t speak Spanish, don’t bother applying. Last time I checked this was the United States.
It seems, in my opinion, that this district treats their highly qualified fully credentialed N.C.L.B. substitute teachers with no respect, no medical benefits (get injured, the flu, lice, too bad it comes out of your pocket), and this district has the gall to hold their pay checks, (as meager as those wages are), for close to two months. Why? Because they can. No one dares complain because they need their jobs, especially now with California’s economy in the pits.
I suggest they pay substitutes every two weeks, and thank them for the jobs they do. Plus, MUSD set many of their substitutes up for legal action because the school sites do not follow the rules. If a substitute is in a class and a student’s mom or dad shows up to pick them up from the room, during school hours, legally that substitute cannot let that child go. The parent or other needs to go through the office, and the office knows this, as well as the parent or other. The reason is because of the custody battles and who can pick up the child. Substitutes care about the safety of their students too as well as getting into a legal battled while not being protected by the district or any local CTA union.
{As a note, there is a Union for Substitute teachers, but Madera does not have representation. Quite frankly Fresno school districts pay better and I don’t blame many of Madera’s substitutes for going over there to work.}
Lastly, I am not bitter. I enjoy teaching. Teaching to me is not just another job. It is a passion. However, I doubt that this district will hold as much loyalty to me as I have them. For this I will take any other honest job that offers a better, less stressful work environment, (that will still help me pay off my student loans and keep me from living in a tent), that comes along.
Hopefully, someone will eventually investigate so many employees’ claims. I cannot say posting with your name will help you keep your job, so I’m not for now. But all of this is just my opinion, and years of experience with this district.