Web facilitator's note: This is a letter to Carl Pellatz and the Eye regarding the real deal with the figures for the City's curbside recycling program. Carl's response is included below.
The Arcata Community Recycling Center obviously isn't on the up and up with the costs per ton. I've had this in my ear since Mr. Filbert in 2000, and other sources; of course it's better to locate the public media for confirmation.
The Arcata Economic Development Corp. is a philosophical problem because of who gets welfare from the public weal. They say it "benefits all of us", "brings money into the City", etc. but it is not exact as per a return to the taxpayer. This is something I would do hands-on studying the figure flows and figuring out the exact fairness of returns. How can one rationalize to others that such and such a business deserves help but not others?
As I said in my Op-Ed piece, in so many words, the banking system needs to free up capital for those who intend to produce. Who particularly "causes inflation" relative to any kind of production? And often it is simply a matter of too little disposable income for people to buy from endeavors that would otherwise be profitable...without Gov. assistance. A "liberal" would point out that civilization is retarded, but then the bandaids entangle the mess with these matching fund deals which manipulate us at these local levels...sort of like "unfunded mandates". And it becomes a cop-out for the liberals from their ideals, such as Ms. Stewart's acquiescence to the changes in solar power requirements at last Council Meet.
Bottom line here is that as long as we're living in this socialist sort of welfare state we have to at least make it fair, and then the policitians have to try to rationalize why individual taxpayers should subsidize certain business redevelopment welfares...that we aren't profiting from nor necessarily wanting to "consume". So we "always" here the "it benefits because money is coming into the City" generalization. But then* where does the money go? There is no requirement against a "helped" business's free choice to then "help" somebody else? In Santa Barbara the Redevelopment Agency was blatantly corrupt: Large chain stores like Nordstroms got a downtown mall built for them through a quasi-public agency from City taxes, etc. (I don't remember if there was matching fund from the State or Fed or what). That Redevelopment Agency went into debt and was going bankrupt and Nordstroms threatened to leave if the City didn't bail it out. Turns out that Nordstroms was in on the Redevelopment Agency, plus basically getting a downtown venue built, while paying rent to the Red. Agency that it had its hand in. So the City of Santa Barbara coughed it up to keep business in town, etc. And "the homeless" were ever more visible and anti-social on State Street.
These are complex tracks in terms of economic justice, never mind politics. And I do think that the problems with the "homeless" have been exacerbated by the way the laws are written about standing or sitting, rather than spacing with businesses, and people not choosing the closer interactions especially with 'imposed speech' (what you have to hear though you don't choose to, in your face harassment, which violates freedom of (including from) speech). And yet there is the perception that by writing the laws wacky so that conflict is not resolved, it distracts from the merchant class looking up at its' overhead/financing stresses. Who likes being a skapegoat for others' problems. Politicians' cop-outs. We want to solve these things, not play them.
I've got to go get some dinner; I haven't proof read this. But thanks for writing 'cause it's good to make these effects whether one is elected or not this time.
From: "Carl Pellatz" <cpellatz@ars-insurance.com>
To: <jeffersonzuma2@hotmail.com>
Subject: What going on
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 10:45:34 -0700
Dex:
What up with looking for information on AEDC? Best of luck trying to find anything on what happened, because Mr. Test does not want to talk about this one. You are right about the costs compared to rest of State but they have these numbers buried.
Carl
Go back to Dex Anderson, INDEPENDENT candidate for Arcata City Council in 2002 main page.