School Boards Battle it Out over Sagebrush

The ongoing debate between the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) and the La Cañada Unified School District (LCUSD) bring to mind the struggle the world is experiencing with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, who is hell-bent on achieving power at the expense of logic and peace. From my perspective, it is difficult to understand this man’s motives. I also have the same difficulty understanding the motives of the Glendale school board members who are behaving in a very Putinistic manner in negotiations with peace-loving LCUSD board members over the Sagebrush area transfer of students.

Like Putin, this group of so-called public servants keep upping the ante from an original $7 million to over $20 million with no justification apparent other than they wish to overcome the will of the people of Sagebrush who have for many years wanted to have their children attend La Cañada Flintridge schools and be fully integrated in the LCF community. Glendale’s tactic is to make the transfer untenable due to its ridiculous inflated dollar value – “If we up the ante enough, they’ll give up and we’ll win.”

The Sagebrush neighbors live in La Cañada Flintridge where they own their properties and where they identify with their neighbors as members of the LCF community. Their only connection to Glendale is their forced association by having the education of their children controlled by the people of the Glendale school board.

The whole mess smacks [of] unfairness and a power struggle at the expense of the Sagebrush neighbors and their children. The La Cañada school board members have been very gentle and tried over the years to work peacefully, calmly and cooperatively with the bullies from Glendale; their patience seems endless and now apparently unwarranted. They need to bite the bullet and go to the Los Angeles County Board of Education or the State of California for a ruling to end this long and tedious battle now.

I’ve lived in LCF 28 years and it seems this story has been in the news for at least that long. History has proven, time and time again, that you cannot negotiate with people like Putin who will tell you what you want to hear and then turn around and betray your goodness and sense of fairness. I really don’t like putting Putin and the GUSD in the same category, but if it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.

Dr. Al Restivo

La Cañada Flintridge

The Fate of the American Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving table is set, yet we are missing one important ingredient: gratitude. Let Congress lead us into prayer, for God to bless America, and rid themselves from the gluttony they have portrayed over the years. Congress greedily cuts the turkey, and cuts the budget, as opposed to giving gratitude. They have forgotten that gratitude is the essence of Thanksgiving rather than avaricious shopping mentality provided by corporations.

The roasted stuffed turkey and pumpkin pie have been consumed by Congress leaving We The People, once again, with cold turkey and a side of budget pie crumbs.

JFK’s wisdom echoes, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” Congress’ gluttonous appetite is stuffed with taxpayers’ labor, time and money, forcing the celebration to cease our home-sweet-homes as many homes have been foreclosed and possessions repossessed.

“I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other goods of man, public as well as private,” Socrates said.

We would like the state to generously return our gifts and distribute the wealth towards education, social benefits, the space program, and Medicare. Gratitude is the gift that will be the agent of change in our economy and become the bearer of new life to Americans.

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all other virtues,” Cicero said. Gratitude is a virtue and the motivator of behaviors.

We would like the budget to serve its virtue as a gift and not turn into Socrates’ metaphor of the “leaky jar,” where the budget is constantly replenished, yet remains insatiably empty.

Dear Congress, adorn the bountiful cornucopia to express the art of gratitude, hold the budget in place, and prevent any leak of debt, deficit and greed. It is then we can enjoy a pumpkin pie with a dollop of sweet whipped cream. The American Dream will be restored and the tradition of Thanksgiving will be saved.

Rachel Melikian, former GCC Woman of the Year Glendale

Pleas for Governor to Halt CARB

A plan by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to impose new cap and trade taxes on fuel will take effect Jan. 1 unless the Governor acts now to stop gas price increases. Cap and trade taxes are imposed on us as a penalty for green house gas emissions and global warming, but many people now realize that global warming was just another ruse to increase the size of government.   This much is true, however; the predicted 4-19% tax will raise the price of fuel by 16 to 76 cents per gallon based on current prices.

A 76¢ per gallon increase will harm California’s struggling economy.  Even without the tax, businesses are reluctant to hire and many have chosen to flee to lower tax and less restrictive states. Higher gas prices are the last thing we need right now.

The pain of over taxation is always felt by the workers of the world.  When business owners abandoned Detroit and Chicago, those left behind suffered from bankrupt cities, broken families and crime. California businesses are increasingly choosing to surrender or become refugees in other states. We don’t need any more taxes; we need more business and more jobs.

How does a 76¢ per gallon tax increase ride with you? We need to give a “shout out” to the state: no more taxes!

Rex Nishimura

La Cañada