Raises for Supervisors

When a duly elected official takes an oath of office, among other things he or she swears to serve “We the People” to the best of his or her ability and respond to the collective needs of his or her constituents.

Isn’t it a shame that after being sworn in they have a tendency to abort that belief and respond more readily to the pleas of special interest groups?

The voice of We the People is being effectively stilled by the silent clamor of a louder voice: money!

Why else would the duly elected decide to wrest the ambulance service from the Ventura Fire Department and give it to Laidlaw Transit, otherwise known as American Rescue Service, a few years ago?

Why wasn’t there an informed debate by all parties prior to the resolution to merge the county’s mental health and social services agencies, costing major dollars and bruising a lot of egos?

Why didn’t the Board of Supervisors pay more attention to a failing transit system and improve it to benefit all people dependent on good bus service, rather than buying a few cars to get former welfare recipients to work? We all have transit problems!

The latest proposal is to have Mercy Air Ambulance come in and spirit away helicopter ambulance service from the Sheriff’s Department, which has been doing a bang-up job for years. The taxpayers of Ventura County do not need to subsidize Mercy Air $1,900 a pop, thank you.

The nurses working for you at Ventura County Medical Center need a raise in salary a lot more than the Ventura County supervisors do.

ART KINNE, Ventura