Simi NIMBY*
(*Not In My Back Yard)...
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Tomorrow Is Too Late!
Tomorrow is too
late - Participate TODAY!
I’m not a professional
webmaster, but I build a lot of websites (mostly non-profit ones)… One of the
hardest things to do is to plan for all the possibilities in advance… Having had
to move one (such as with this website) or to re-do an entire website (and I’ve
had one of those too – with over 3,000 pages when the company changed their
system!), I can tell you from personal experience it is a PITA…
My point in making this
statement is that I understand it is difficult to think far-reaching in advance…
BUT, this is why I spend time at the beginning, trying to think things through
and plan for all of the possibilities to save myself work and frustration down
the road… As a matter of fact, I do this practically in everything in my life,
for I’m one of those “A-type” personalities that cherish result-effective goals
that can be achieved… To consider tomorrow’s objectives, I have to remain in
today, but consistently remember yesterday to avoid past mistakes…
Government doesn’t operate
like this… They are like steamrollers… Slow to get started, but once they do?...
“Stand by” as The Man says… And this is one of my greatest fears with this
landfill expansion application – it has started and because those people who
will decide upon it don’t live right aside of it, obviously support it and the
public has not been fully informed about all the ramifications, the application
process will continue and it might even be approved, despite the objections of
the residents who don’t want it.
A news story is in the
Ventura County Star that is VERY similar to what we local residents are facing –
it is “impossible now” to stop the building of the Ventura County Medical
Center… Please see
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jun/11/county-unlikely-to-stop-building-of-clinic/
for further details, but in a nutshell, the height will be 70-90’ when completed
(it was started in 1994 but has faced numerous delays)… And the residents were
“outraged yesterday” to learn about the height and how it will diminish
unobstructed ocean views for residents as well as lowering property values…
I’m not against progress… In
fact, I think most people think the same way… The problem is that progress (when
in the selling stage) is not usually laid out completely to all it will
eventually affect… Without progress and change, you might as well crawl into
your coffin now and get it over with in fact! Life is progress and change, and
those who do it best are the most successful in their personal lives…
HOWEVER…
Most people I have talked to
who are “in the loop” insist the general public has had more than enough time to
get involved and speak out against the landfill expansion… A few blurbs in
several of the newspapers and the information listed on a few governmental
websites is just not enough notice – sorry!
I firmly believe that the
vast majority of the Simi Valley residents don’t have a clue as to how this will
personally affect them if the landfill is allowed to expand – I’m also afraid
this is just ‘step one’ in a series of steps with this landfill… If we allow the
first doubling of the landfill so far in advance of it being needed, instead of
looking at alternative solutions, down the road there will be a ‘need’ to expand
it again… and again… and again…
I’m also irritated by public
officials to really say they are in support of this application if they are…
Some seem to have stepped out of the loop or ‘ignored’ what is going on because
they themselves don’t want to be responsible or ‘take the heat’ by allowing the
application to be approved…
Trash is not a political
issue – it’s a bi-partisan issue… We all know (in the general public) that
political officials receive contributions from big businesses in the area – and
having looked personally at Waste Management’s political contributions, they
donate to both parties heavily to be assured of success in achieving what they
want to achieve… Donkeys and elephants don’t cart that trash to the landfill…
It’s big green trucks, and huge tractor trailers coming across the San Fernando
pass all day long and into the night…
Yesterday there was a news
story about the budget crunch in Simi Valley and the possibility several
employees will be laid off… I understand (and can appreciate) tight financial
issues… But for all those residents who CHOSE to NOT live in the San Fernando
Valley or Los Angeles, but instead CHOSE to live here in Simi Valley, this
‘superdump’ was not in our plans when we bought our homes with the intent of
making this community ours!
Name me one house that will
sell with this description: “Beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath home recently renovated
complete with 50’ pool, 2-car garage, carport patio cover and many extras. Home
to the prestigious Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and city is consistently
in the top 10 of the safest cities in America. Located within 2 miles of a
superdump for easy access in trash removal.”
‘Community’ is based upon the
residents who choose to live in an area, raise their children and their children
raise theirs. One doesn’t develop ‘community’ overnight… it takes time,
dedication and a commitment to weather the financial storms and change with
progress to adapt to new things… For some, it is dealing with extra traffic… For
others, it means traveling close to an hour to an airport… And for others?...
Basically it means compromise for the eventual balancing out of things important
to them…
But Lady Justice does not
stand on a mountain of trash in a superdump with her balance… And in this case?
I truly believe the residents of Simi Valley are as blind-folded as much as Lady
Justice is – for a superdump on one side of that balance cannot be outweighed by
any set of community services the city would chose to render to even things out…
“Space for 60 soccer fields”
30 years down the road does not do it for me… Increased traffic?... Well, we
already have that with the amount of trash trucks – and that’s not a perk… I can
already hear traffic to the point my husband keeps the windows closed at the
back of the house so he can sleep! Added smells?... I prefer the smell of
jasmine in my backyard…
Bottom line, there is nothing
that this superdump is going to offer me, my family or future generations that
will encourage my children and grandchildren to CHOSE Simi Valley as their home…
And there goes the sense of ‘community’ that is essential for steady, consistent
growth and quality of life for its residents…
This application process will
get to the point where those who decide will say the same thing they are about
the medical center – there is no turning back…
UNLESS…
… we, the residents, get
involved NOW and tell our government officials we do NOT want this superdump in
our backyard outside the city limits… Tomorrow is too late… It needs to be done
NOW… If we had learned more from our past mistakes in dealing with trash, we
wouldn’t even be here today with these issues…
Speak up to the elected
county official who will make the determinations regarding this landfill
expansion:
Simi Valley - Mayor Paul
Miller
(Simi Valley has no vote in this matter, by the way, but it would help if our
mayor knew how we residents feel about this issue!
- Simi Valley Mayor Paul Miller
Send e-mail to
pmiller@simivalley.org
- City Manager’s Office
City Manager Mike Sedell
Phone: (805) 583-6701
Fax: (805) 526-2489
Get involved – become
part of your neighborhood council process – visit the website here:
http://www.simivalley.org/index.aspx?page=129
and find out which district
you live in – then PARTICIPATE!
Keeping it real (always),
Linda
Stay tuned for further updates HERE
©Copyright 2008 - Linda Nelson - All Rights Reserved
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