Letter writer supports 3/4% sales tax to pay for more police

Dear Editor:

As long as we citizens of Antioch have to lock our doors and windows, turn our alarms on, install motion lights, keep watch dogs and keep looking over our shoulders then the tax for police is a no-brainer.

Without the added police presence, our safety and that of our loved ones will be held in the hands of the criminal element- Those scum who prey on the unprotected.

I advocate for the 3/4% sales tax.

Richard Asadoorian

Antioch


8 Comments to “Letter writer supports 3/4% sales tax to pay for more police”

  1. Romy Myszka says:

    If the rental properties are causing most of the problems we should look seriously at the fee proposal. Make the landlords pay for the extra city services.

    Romy Myszka

  2. karl says:

    hello,

    no, no, and no new taxes.

    the council idea of a new sales tax is NOT a solution to our crime problem.
    at this point i would like to hear the “tough on crime” plans, harper, agopian and rocha promised they have during their re-election.
    specially from the mayor i would like to hear his plan, he is a 24 year police vet.
    he created a sup-commission in november, but there are no meetings, no reports..simply nothing.

    what we really need are all the cards on the table attitude.

    we need a “work load study” of our police department.
    just think about it. we’re hiring and paying tausend and tausend for consultants every month. the city even hired a consultant to teach the council members how to communicate with the residents…wow
    we just gave $ 3 mill dollars away, a christmas gift for 21 none safety employees.
    we just gave jakel about $ 40,000.

    70% of our city budget goes to salaries….hello

  3. Tom says:

    No new taxes. Everyone knows what the “real” problem is. Deal with the “real” problem.

  4. Walter Ruehlig says:

    Richard,

    Thanks for the courage of pushing the envelope on this important discussion and for not being politically correct. We need more like you.

    I agree with Karl that we need to go beyond talk and have no holds-barred strategizing. There are things we can do that would cost little or nothing, like a daytime student-age curfew that I’m confident could cut down truancy, shoplifting and, yes, home burglaries.

    That said, we need money for cops and community service officers (who can relieve the higher paid cops of much of their duties.)

    I, like Richard, would be willing to ante up more sales tax to get Antioch out of the current chaos it is in (it’s the Wild West). It will be dicey getting it to pass so, as back-up, I, like many other citizens, would like to see a measure to assess fees on owners renting. It is less painful and, I think fair, as it is a business. Other cities do it. Why not us?

  5. martha says:

    to richard and walter. since you both have plenty of money to throw around, which i do not, i hereby authorize you two to pay my share of this proposed tax increase. i am sure you want me to be safe as well even though more tax will make me homeless. if not keep your mouths zipped!

  6. Iris says:

    Although I understand why people are frustrated with well intended tough on crime promises that are made during every campaign season, we cannot confuse these promises with the needs of our Police Chief.

    Chief Cantando has shown himself to be a passionate professional who lives in, and loves the city of Antioch. He and his team understand more than anybody else what is needed to stabilize our cities neighborhoods and reduce crime. I do not believe for one moment that Chief Cantando would ask for support from Antioch’s citizens to increase staff levels unless in his professional opinion it is needed.

    We can all talk about what measures he needs to take to reduce crime without new taxes, but we are not walking in his shoes, and seeing what he sees. We are not the officers who because of staff shortages are less safe than they should be. It’s not us that have dedicated our lives to police service only to be frustrated by an inability to respond to alarms and 911 calls for help in time to prevent crimes from happening because of staff shortages. We are not the experts. We should not let our frustrations cause us to think we are.

    I firmly agree that there needs to be a wholistic strategy for reducing crime that combines law enforcement with programming that targets at risk youth, and creates ways to engage and hold parents responsible. But I also know that many of these crimes are not being committed by youth, and these strategies without adequate law enforcement staffing will not get us to where we want to be as a city.

    So, I will get off my soap box and simply say that I support a tax measure to support our police. They are on the streets supporting us everyday. I consider supporting them my reasonable duty. I want to be safe, and so I am willing to pay for it. After all, what makes us think we are “entitled” to any service without paying our fair share.

    Iris

  7. Annette Logan says:

    NO, NO NO SALES TAX INCREASE!! ARE YOU MAD???

    If the police need more money then they should have the landlords/investors in Antioch who are responsible for the majority of the police calls and services to pay for it!! Why burden the citizens and businesses who ALREAY PAY taxes to the city? NO!! The city council must understand that it is time for these landlords who profit from rentals in the city and who are responsible for many of the services to PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE!!!!

    REINSTATE RENTAL INSPECTION PROGRAM AND A RENTAL BUSINESS TAX. If you increase sales taxes everyone will shop outside the city of Antioch and businesses and consumers will incur the brunt of this stupid notion that increasing sales tax will increase revenue.
    When in actuality it will cripple businesses here.

    No, it is time for the absentee landlords who profit greatly from renting multiple houses and apartments to pay their fair share!

    This is a no brainer city council members and citizens.

  8. Tom says:

    If we address the “real” issue here everything else will take care of itself. Limit the number of section 8 homes in Antioch to 50-100 max. Boom problem instantly solved and we dont need any new tax or more do-nothing police.

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