Statewide ‘Extravagance’

According to USA Today, May 8, 2018: “The average American household’s pretax income is $74,664. When you add up the money that is paid for goods and services or taxes, the average household spends more than 90% of their income whereas California’s income is $83,000, or 11% higher.”

According to payscale.com, the cost of living in Los Angeles is 43% higher than the national average. Specifically: groceries +12%; utilities +7%; healthcare +9%; transportation +31%; and housing +127%. 

California’s average sales tax of 8.5% is the highest in the country (US Today) and we are locally paying 10.25%.

Sales taxes actually account for a larger share of total revenue that either property or individually income taxes (USA Today).

California government is responsible for many Californians leaving our state, holding back further economic recovery, and being in severe state debt. Its thirst for money has caused 63% of small businesses to fail since the recession from December 2007 to June 2009.

Its demand on the people will continue to grow because of greater demands from CalPERS to meet pension shortages that are [increasing]. There is a partial solution before bankruptcy and that is to turn back pension benefits for public safety employees that were increased illegally in 2002 contrary to the State of California procedure (ballotpedia.org). State government didn’t proceed on the ballot initiative of 2014 [California Government Employee Pension Reform Initiative] and we continue to have various living increases to avoid facing the problem. [According to ballotpedia.org, “its sponsors, however, did not submit any signatures to election officials by the deadline.”]

Please, for the sake of our children and grandchildren, investigate yourself and make your concerns known to our extravagant government.

Ken Grayson

Montrose

Shining A Light on Need for Border Wall

First of all, I loved President Trump’s speech and his call for unity. Bravo! I also, loved the two recent letters to the editor regarding the immigration issue. Schiff, Pelosi and some other Democrats argue that the wall does not work and that the border crisis is not real. And yet they present no facts. They say it, so it must be true? Really? Where are your facts?

In contrast, in President Trump’s recent newsletter he said this: “Of all the Democrats’ arguments against a southern border wall, the shadiest is that it would not work, Deroy Murdock writes in National Review. The evidence says otherwise: ‘Love them or hate them, their effectiveness is indisputable.’

“Murdock gives eight examples. Here’s just one: ‘A barrier between the Tucson, Arizona sector and Nogales, Mexico was erected in 2000. That year’s 616,346 arrests plunged to 38,657 in FY 2017 – down 93.7%.’ That doesn’t just mean less illegal immigration. It means fewer potentially fatal encounters with smugglers and traffickers for our law enforcement officers, too.”

A former DHS agent, Timothy Ballard, has this to say: “I’ve Fought Sex trafficking as a DHS special agent – we need to build the wall for the children” (Timothy Ballard: “I’ve Fought Sex Trafficking as a DHS Special Agent – We Need to Build the Wall for the Children”). This is what the Hill has to say: Crisis at our southern border is real and growing worse without the wall (https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/427421-crisis-at-our-southern-border-is-real-and-growing-worse-without-the-wall).

Certainly not all illegals are criminals, but the fact is that some are! The border wall and our immigration policy is the only way to effectively screen out the criminals and let the law-abiding in.

Why do Schiff and Pelosi show no remorse for the increase in the deaths of children shot by illegal immigrants (watch the video of the father who lost his daughter at theremembranceproject) or for the increase in child trafficking due to our unmanaged boarders? See the article written by Calleen Petersen (anordinarymom.site) where she states, “From coast to coast across this great land of ours is an insidious practice that keeps growing – the sex trafficking of children. Most people do not realize just how prevalent this horrible crime is.” (https://medium.com/@calleenlymanpetersen/separation-of-children-at-the-border-and-sex-trafficking-f7986192160).

Schiff, Pelosi and other Democrats continue to ignore these horrendous acts of violence and instead want to investigate separation of children at the border. If they really care about our welfare, they should be acknowledging and investigating these terrible crimes rather than denying them. What if it was their child that was shot or kidnapped and put into sex slavery?

CBS reported that over 70% of the people approved the full border wall. Are the Democrats listening or ignoring what the people want?

John Kretz

Glendale

Ideas for Old OSH Building

Here are some ideas about the old OSH building and what the space could accommodate. If a buyer could be found, perhaps they might consider that it could house more than one establishment such as:

A market similar to the MOSS market that was in Montrose.

A Gymboree-type of store might appeal to young families, or even grandparents.

How about a bookstore; we don’t have one close by [on Foothill in La Crescenta]?

A reasonably-priced breakfast/lunch type of restaurant that would provide quick small meals for those on the go.

My rainy day thoughts.

Tracy E. Collins

La Crescenta

Officer Matt Welcomed Back with Pie!

When I heard that Officer Matt Zakarian was returning as our community liaison to the Glendale Police Dept., I just had to bake pies to bring to our neighborhood watch meeting.

[At the meeting] we had an excellent briefing by Officer Matt and crew regarding our role as neighbors in the neighborhood watch system and our relationship with the GPD in keeping our neighborhood safe by deterring crime.

What struck me the most significant, and worth repeating, is how vital it is that we simply get to know our neighbors and pay attention to our surroundings. We need to be able to tell what is out of the ordinary in our neighborhood in order to prevent crime.

I find it easy to be wrapped up with life and “livingness,” which includes communications from my cellular device. I noticed I was ignoring the life around me if just for the time my attention was on my phone.

I take lots of walks around our neighborhood. Now I take my phone with me for emergency use only. I used to save my “catch-up” conversations for when I was out walking but, when I returned home, I had the feeling I missed out on something. I realized I did miss out. I missed out on observing the world around me, including saying “hello” to fellow neighbors. Getting to know one’s neighbor and one’s neighborhood is not only vital to keeping our neighborhood safe from crime but I find it can be therapeutic as well!

I invite all our neighbors to attend the next meeting on May 8 at 6 p.m. at the Sparr Heights Community Center. I mentioned to Officer Matt that I would bring more pie. I’m also organizing a potluck dinner in case one happens to miss their evening meal in order to attend. (Contact me if you like to cook, bake, get more info on our neighborhood watch, or all of the above.) Our Sycamore Woods Area Captain Julia Leeper has been on post for the last 30 years and is a pro at organizing neighborhood watches. So if you are interested in starting a watch, interested in community welfare or simply interested, come to the meeting; we would love to have you.

Penny Keaton, Neighborhood Watch Captain

La Crescenta