Letter writer supports sales tax increase

Dear Editor:

Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face,” was a comment I often heard from my grandmother whenever I would complain, as a teenager, about how I had been wronged in some way and wanted to get back at those that hurt me. She’s been gone now for over forty years but her advice is as good today as it was back then.

If the half-cent sales tax in Antioch is rejected by voters, the community will need a complete face lift, not just a nose replacement. It’s true that we need more police officers, but we also need a whole spectrum of other important things; community development, code enforcement, job growth, road repairs, care for our seniors and young people, water treatment, transportation and many others.

That’s why I accept the council’s decision not to dedicate all the new revenues to just police services and public safety. To do so at this time would be short sighted. If Antioch is to have any kind of a future we need to plan for it now while we still have the chance.

As to the argument that our residents will leave this area to shop in neighboring cities, I don’t buy that argument. Pittsburg and Brentwood residents haven’t flocked to Antioch because of their tax increases. They’re still shopping at the stores they like – it’s just human nature. The fact that the tax will be eliminated in seven years means that the economy is expected to grow and eventually be self-sustaining; making our community a place we can all be proud to call home.

I’m not happy about it but, it is, what it is and it won’t get any better until we all put our money where our mouth is. I‘m confident there are a multitude of people out there who will make darn sure our money is spent wisely!

Barbara Herendeen

Antioch


7 Comments to “Letter writer supports sales tax increase”

  1. karl says:

    hello barbara,
    the council has NOT released any plan how, and where they “plan” to spend money. the council also has NOT released a plan how they want to “fight” the crime in antioch. even harper, agopian and rocha run their campaign “though on crime”
    the council has NOT presented ANY solution to our crime, job, economy, infrastructure, problems, whats soever.
    have you looked around pittsburg, oakley, brentwood? the reasons for shopping in those cities is obvious..nice clean streets, nice attractive business, nice places to hang out. none of this in antioch at all. people can’t even go to church anymore without being robbed.
    businesses leaving antioch by the bus load. but we, antioch, approve more smoke shops, 1 dollar stores, 99 cent stores and so on.
    while i agree this is NOT just a failure of the sitting council, all the other councils have failed antioch too. i live now in antioch for 25 years, guess what..it’s still going down, while surrounding city grew.
    we hear the very same old promises..lets approve one more development..then everything will get better. we were told that the last 25 years.
    why do you think the council is not going for the 2/3 vote? they do not believe in their own cause.
    i would have supported a 2/3 vote measure with dedicated money going towards safety. but hey..no plan offered how they gone spend the money shows me, there are no intention, no commitment, nothing, to fix antioch.

    highway 4 is almost done..no plan, no discussion how to develop the hillcrest area.
    while the council declares a fiscal emergency, council woman rocha ask, and gets $ 20,000 for one of her projects.
    while the council declares a fiscal emergency, the council pays over $ 40,000 to the outgoing city manager to stay a little bit longer.
    while the council declares a fiscal emergency, council spends $ 42,000 on hiring a consultant to train them how to connect with the people. last time i was at a meeting at the pd community room, they drew with chalk on the side walk.
    the list is long…….

    a sales tax increase is NOT a solution, it just supports throwing good money after bad money, but no questions asks.

    we’re clearly having a spending money, but to fix that, we need to be “brutally honest” and put all the carts on the table. no more brain washing with “coffee with the cops” and seeing crime stats on a power point presentation.

    i would like to see, one on one town hall meetings lasting all day long with every council member on tables, listen to antioch residents, and most important…follow up, and listen to the people who voted they into office.
    did you had the chance to talk to anyone of the council members? the very first thing they say “can’t do this-can’t do that” they know down to the point all the laws etc why we can’t do things.

    in closing, the very best statement about the proposed 1/2 sales ballot measure came NOT from the council, it came per ballot measure analyses from our city lawyer.

    greetings

    karl

  2. karl says:

    hello barbara,

    one more thing:

    If the half-cent sales tax in Antioch is rejected by voters, the community will need a complete face lift, not just a nose replacement.

    you are right, but that;s exactly what we need. a complete facelift.

    • anne ray says:

      Well, the Big Question is…
      HOW does one take one’s town back from the criminally inclined hoodlums?
      If a big city like Oakland can’t do it, there is virtually no chance of a lesser city – with no resources – winning this game.

      How come we could walk down the streets of Calistoga and feel perfectly safe this weekend? …and they even have city workers washing down the bus stop benches…. when was the last time you saw that in Antioch? Comparing Calistoga to Antioch is the apples and oranges thing. Money flows into Calistoga: it’s a tourist destination. Antioch – on the other hand – is a bedroom-community-turned-slum. Money has flowed OUT, as jobs were lost and homes foreclosed. This is a downward spiral – as the “good” people moved out, it created a vacuum wherein the criminal element moved in. Law enforcement is stretched.

      Nothing more pathetic than concerned citizens’ candlelight vigils or “take back our streets” walks – one can almost HEAR the bad guys laughing at the city. The only solution politicians offer is ever increasing taxes to hire more police to process criminals. That doesn’t fix the overwhelming problem. –

      Adding to the problem is Antioch’s Chief of Police, who makes it his mission to DENY CCW permits to responsibly minded citizens, thus making us all soft targets. The courts are ordering the release of tens of thousands ‘low level’ law offenders into the mix which gravitate into areas like Antioch, just to repeat and escalate the crime ladder…
      We are sheep, waiting to be fleeced or slaughtered.

      Find myself wondering…
      WHERE can I go in this “FREE country” to be able to exercise my Second Amendment Right? If I’m not wealthy enough to live in Calistoga, I should at least be free to DEFEND MYSELF in Antioch!

  3. Barbara Herendeen says:

    Karl,

    After all is said and done, I’m glad we can agree on the bottom line – If the half-cent sales tax is rejected by the Antioch voters, the community will need a complete face lift not just a nose replacement.

  4. Barbara Herendeen says:

    Karl,

    I’m glad that after all is said and done you agree with my bottom line.

    Barbara

    • anne ray says:

      Don’t care about the sales tax increase, since it’s entirely UNSAFE to shop here – taking my business elsewhere, regardless!

Leave a Reply to Barbara Herendeen