LETTERS (Continued from page 23)
om how anyone would disagree with “most votes wins,” as this is how we elect over 100,000 political offices in every other election in America. The Senate, with each state regardless of size getting two representatives, is the balancing mechanism in place for small states to have more say in government. We don’t need another. Let’s act now; otherwise we will never fix this antiquated system. Ray Link Montecito (Editor’s note: Mr. Link reports that he is a retired CFO of FEI Company and currently serves on the board of directors of three high-tech companies. He is a CPA, holds an MBA from the Wharton School, and is a lifelong registered Republican. – J.B.)
Careful What You Wish for
Congratulations on the victory of your favored candidate for president. While it’s true that millions of citizen voters chose someone else, and the Democrat candidate alone, with all her obvious flaws, polled more votes than yours, still your team won, albeit a triumph only made possible by the Electoral College, an institution born out of negotiation with slave-holding states to ensure they had power incommensurate with their population and could thus keep their slaves. You chose to elect a narcissistic, authoritarian sociopath with no regard for truth (or women, apparently) and no appetite for understanding the complexity of the world in which he will likely be the single most powerful man. We shall see what damage he manages to do to the democratic institutions of the United States and the values of tolerance and inclusion that have marked our finest hours. Abetted by the radical ideologues in the House and Senate, he has almost no bounds to his will, and evidence suggests that’s exactly the way he likes it. You have, I fear, violated the precept proposed by Theodore Roosevelt in his extraordinary speech to the population
of Dickinson, in the Dakota Territory, on Independence Day 1886, on our particular relationship as Americans to the future. T.R. was still quite a young man when he said: “It is particularly incumbent on us here today to so act throughout our lives as to leave our children a heritage for which we will receive their blessings and not their curses,” a sentence perfectly clear in its import to me, if not to many of my fellow Americans (though, apparently, not a majority). Leaving aside my perhaps quaint 18th-century notions of rights and freedoms, which oddly do not include, for example, carrying semiautomatic weapons into schools and bars as a right or a freedom, the climate change denial alone will engender a good deal of cursing, and not only in Miami, which will be underwater in 20 years or so. I pray you never confront the most terrible outcomes your endorsed candidate may enable or foment, but take no comfort from that; my prayers are rarely answered. Cotty Chubb Montecito
Read the Constitution
A special note to those complaining that their candidate won the popular vote and should be president, that not doing so would be unconstitutional: the Electoral College actually is constitutional. You can find it in Article Two, Section One. It is the states that elect the president, and for good reason: in order to have a balance of power. I urge all Americans to actually read and understand the Constitution. Our founders gave us a republic (if we can keep it). Gregory Gandrud Carpinteria
Off to Africa
Let’s start the healing. As a veteran, I think Hillary would make a great ambassador to Libya. Dale Lowdermilk Santa Barbara
Charity? Maybe, Maybe Not
Direct Relief International, here in Goleta, one of the best – if not the best – charity in the country, has operating expenses of a bit over 2% if my memory serves me. I just downloaded and have reviewed the most recent IRS Form 990 for the year 2014 for the foundation with a heart: The Clinton Foundation. Just a few facts and rounded off figures for you: They took in revenue of $178,000,000. Salaries: $35,000,000 Fundraising: $850,000 Some other expenses: $45,300,000 (including $7,900,000 for travel) They distributed grants (the ostensible reason they exist) totaling $8,900,000. They gave away about 5 percent of what they took in 2014; “expenses” ate up 95 percent. Ernest Salomon Santa Barbara
MUS Refinances Bonds
On November 2 of this year, the Montecito Union School District sold roughly $2.5 million of refunding general obligation bonds in order to generate savings for taxpayers. The financing will close on Tuesday, December 6. Due to historically low interest rates in the municipal bond market, combined with high investor demand for the District’s bonds, the refinancing resulted in significant savings. The demand for the District’s bonds was primarily driven by the fact the bonds are rated “AAA” by S&P Global, which is the highest credit rating possible for its long-term bonds. Through this refinancing, property owners in the District will save over $200,000, which equates to approximately $82 for the average homeowner in the District over the remaining term (based on fiscal year 2016/17 assessed value data). In a school district general obligation bond refunding, similar to refinancing a home mortgage to a lower interest rate, proceeds of the
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• The Voice of the Village •
It’s over. I voted for Donald Trump. I’m not writing to gloat. I have intelligent and caring liberal friends who voted for Hillary Clinton. I respect their choice. Some disagree with my sincere belief that Barak Obama has been a feckless president of our great country. I never voted for him. I genuinely believed that his far-left liberal views would be harmful to the nation’s welfare. His election was a historical event. He did have the opportunity to successfully promote the advantages of the diversity that exists in our society and nowhere else in this world. In my opinion, he failed miserably. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton carried heavy negatives and character flaws. I believe Hillary doomed herself by promising to carry on the successes(?) of President Obama. And, putting the nation’s security at risk with her emails represents either a
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26 MONTECITO JOURNAL
Trump Deserves a Chance
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new bonds are used to retire the older bonds. Unlike refinancing a mortgage, the term of the original debt is not extended. The District was able to refinance at an all-in cost of 1.75 percent compared to the prior average interest rate of 4.03 percent on the original bonds issued in 2006. The lower interest rates reduce the debt service payments, which results in savings to taxpayers. The bonds were originally refunded in 2006 for taxpayer savings, and this refunding reflects the continued commitment of the Board of Trustees to effectively manage its bond program, which is funded by taxpayer dollars. As the prior bonds are paid off in the next 12 years, this refunding is a prudent step to ensure remaining payments are as low as possible. The result of this bond sale highlights the District’s sound financial management, excellent credit rating, and its stewardship of the taxpayers’ interests. Tammy Murphy Superintendent, MUS
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17 – 24 November 2016