We really don’t know how else to say it, but city hall has officially hit an all time low.
The delay tactic utilized by City Attorney George Logan is commonly known as “bumping” an initiative. The government entity, in this case the city, intentionally drags out the analysis with hopes of missing deadlines that essentially make an initiative ineligible for the nearest election (here they avoid the closer special election and buy themselves six more months in a general election).
The argument centering around cost is simply ludicrous. The city seems to have no problem paying unnecessary attorney fees, but the moment residents set forth an initiative, cost is somehow a major hurdle. According to our rough estimates, Patterson residents could initiate 10 special elections without exceeding the amount of money we’ve paid out to a floundering city attorney and others. Pathetic.
We still stand by our source that after the 30-40 day review period is up, the Mayor will reverse direction and support the move…her legacy as Mayor depends on it. Bringing a Taco Bell to Patterson isn’t going to cut it.
Where there is chaos lies opportunity. So if we’re wrong, and the Mayor and Co. continue down this destructive path, we’re stuck with the June 8 primary election. This presents an opportunity to take a long and hard look at a recall election.
A recall campaign would not seek a complete change of council, rather, it would target the candidate most deserving recall…..Annette Smith. We have never really hidden our disdain for Ms. Smith, she consistently blasts anyone who opposes her point of view and is simply a mouth piece for certain special interests. Over the past year, we believe the residents of Patterson have enough information before them to make an intelligent decision regarding Ms. Smith’s ability to appropriately serve the people of Patterson. Waiting until 2012 is not an option.
We would only need to gather qualified signatures from 25% of the registered voters in Patterson to make this happen. This would have to be completed in a 60 day window. Not an easy task, but nothing worth having is never easy.
Let it be clear, we want to give Ms. Smith an opportunity to do the right thing by approving the move without delaying the process any further. However, if the initiative is bumped to June, the residents of Patterson will be voting on two crucial issues, the move and whether Annette Smith is fit for office.
MrB said,
December 5, 2009 @ 2:11 PM
I can see the attorney now, at the meeting when the signatures are verified:
[Camera focuses on City Attorney George Logan] “The, uh, signatures, uhm, have been, uh, certified. They are, uhm, about 40%. I, uhm, think that it is enough to, uhm, put it on, the er, ballot. By city law, we will be able to put it on the November 2020 ballot, after the, uhm, study, and, er, the courts validate the measure. I will submit it to the courts very soon.”
OldTimer said,
December 9, 2009 @ 11:43 AM
New article on the IrriGator website regarding the initiative. Some of my thoughts from the article:
. “City Hall reeks of cronyism and corruption,” Maring said. “There’s
. obviously more to this than just zoning.”
Whoa, does Mr. Maring have it right, or what? As we have seen, cronyism and corruption are at the forefront of how this council does it’s business, how it does OUR business. I now know what that stench is every Wednesday morning downtown after a meeting. The reek of corruption.
. “We figured out where we’re moving, and now it’s being taken
. away from us,” Schut said. “I don’t understand the fight against
. this health care district.”
You got one part of the city, with the city attorney’s approval, going 5-0 to allow the move. Then, you get another part of the city, again with the city attorney’s approval, denying the move. This denial comes AFTER their landlord offers to let them go if they paid him a lot of money and they turn it down. Fortunately, our district board members are not going to allow themselves to be blackmailed. My hats are off to them. Thank you!!
. Campo said she supports the health care district but is opposed
. to and will not support the initiative, which she said is designed
. to benefit Keystone by making the business park zoning more
. flexible.
Let’s see, we won’t allow the health center to move, and now we will? But, we don’t want to make Keystone business friendly. We don’t want to do what we agreed to do when we invited Keystone to come to our community. We made an agreement, a “development agreement” that we, the council, decided we didn’t want to abide by. Nor do we want to make our community business friendly, at least Keystone. We will make anything Ramos owns business friendly and do everything in our power to bring in a Wal-Mart (which the majority of citizens DON’T want), but we won’t do anything to help the other business park. (Even after we told them we would.)
. “I will not take your responsibility on my shoulders,” Campo
. said. “You had a chance to do a zoning amendment long before
. all this.”
They tried, yet with the three amigos of Ramos on the council, there wasn’t going to be any movement from the council for a very long time. The district was told to wait for the general plan. That is still so far out, Ramos will be rolling in the dough from holding the district, the community, ransom.
ATTN COUNCIL MEMBERS: It is YOUR JOB, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, to work with the businesses of this town, and to ensure our needs are met. And, those needs mean medical care also. And, we aren’t just talking about your businesses or those of your friends. We are talking about ALL businesses in town. It really is your responsibility. You ran for the office knowing that you were to support the entire community.
In the article, there was also the following paragraph:
. Maring said the council’s actions — which included granting the
. appeal of the previously approved move by the center’s current
. landlord, John Ramos; reimbursing Ramos for legal fees he incurred
. during the appeal; and challenging the initiative in court and requesting
. a study of it that would push the vote to June — showed its members
. were siding with a powerful developer over the citizens they represent.
Again, I would like to point out Mr. Logan’s act of delaying his duties for two weeks. This enabled the council to ensure that when it came time for their decision, it would be within 6 months of the election. This coordinated “bumping” of the initiative is counter-productive to our communities well being. It is dividing our community and delaying an upgrade of our medical services, those of the West Side, for the benefit of ONE.
The current location is very inadequate for providing quality medical care. Yet, in order to satisfy the greed of one person, the city council and city attorney are doing all in their power to ensure that the move doesn’t occur. They say that want the center to move anywhere but Keystone. OK, where would you have them move? There isn’t (as far as I am aware) any other building ready, or near ready, for them to move in to. All that is needed in the Keystone building are the interior improvements. It is already built. This will cut down on the time needed for them to move. Had the council and attorney acted in the best interest of the community, the interior improvements to the building could have been started so that when the lease is up, they could have moved. BUT NO, the interests of one out weight the interests of the community. Not it will be difficult to have anything ready in this town for them to move in to come the end of their lease. The council and the city attorney have managed to ensure that if the center is to stay open beyond the term of the lease, they will be at the mercy of their landlord, who will very likely demand the sky as far as rent goes. What a sweet deal. That and the early Christmas gift they already gave Ramos will ensure he is very happy come the holidays.
Fed up said,
December 9, 2009 @ 11:52 PM
Well anyone surprised at the recent events… Why would our City council listen to the Citizen’s??? Our Mayor just said she would never support the “community’s supported initiative”… but to save face she will…finally have a discussion. Well if she actually can be the leader she has FLUFFED about since asking for OUR VOTE maybe we will see her support the move. Time will tell… Let’s all keep a close eye on our Mayor or will she follow her loud mouth insane Council member Smith… Is anyone else sick to death of that obnoxious woman!!! Can’t wait to see her next performance. Who is the MAYOR anyway? Do we have a Leader…. we will see!
MrB said,
December 10, 2009 @ 12:08 AM
You forgot one of the best ones in the article posted on the irrigator:
“I think there’s a way to get this done,” Morris told the health care board. “And pointing fingers is not going to get it done.”
I have got to know if he really said “pointing fingers is not going to get it done.”
Has he been absent during Smith’s loss of control? Has he forgotton her verbal assault of Kathy Wright at Save-Mart? Has he forgotten her other actions with regard to this initiative?
From all of my observations, the board of directors of the health care district have been nothing except professional. Kathy Wright, Luis Molina, and Keith Schneider have been calm, collected, factual and to the point. At every confrontation, they have remained calm while those seated in the council chairs didn’t.
You also skipped another important paragraph:
The meeting’s end result, though, at least offered the possibility of productivity. City Manager Cleve Morris — who also attended the meeting — and the mayor were scheduled to meet this week with Keystone representatives and health care board members and district officials, with the ultimate goal being a zoning amendment that would make the health center an allowed use in the business park.
Everytime I read that one I get a big laugh. Now, after all they have said, after all they have done, the mayor and city manager are going to meet with Keystone and the district? Now? Excuse me, but why now? And, who is going to submit the zoning amendment? The city council had a chance many months ago to do that, but decided that they didn’t want the center to move. Why the change of heart? Then, when the citizens decided that they were going to use a tool at their disposal (the initiative) to amend the zoning, the city council not only fought it, but is still fighting it. And now, according to the newspaper, they want to change the zoning? Really? Why the change in heart? Does Ms. Smith know that they want to change it? Do they have Ramos’ permission to change it? Did someone pay him off? Don’t forget, it was Ramos that said that if he were paid a substantial amount of money, the zoning issue would go away. Well, here it is about to go away and now we all have to ask, ‘was he paid off’?
If you thought there was a reek of cronyism and corruption before, wait till we find out why the change of heart. I think that there is something afoot within the council and thier supporters, and it worries me.
With what some of the council members have said, with how they were so vocal and forecfull with their disapproval of the move and initiative, they would lose what face they had left, what respect they had left, if they were to change their minds now. Yes, the citizens have spoken, and loudly, but at least three of the council members have dug themselves in so deep, they would seem crazy to change theri minds now. Really, can you ever see Annette, after all she has said and done, can you ever see her approving the move and initiative? After verbally assaulting Kathy at Save-Mart for doing what she has the right to do, by our state’s constitution, can she really approve the move and not seem insane?
So, if any of the three amigos, especially Smith, change their minds and allow the move, one would have to question why they were doing it. I don’t trust them now and I for sure won’t even come close to trusting them if they were to change their minds at this stage.
As it is, I, and quite a few other people in town, now ask that they have to gain whenever they vote on something. There isn’t a sense around town that our council, or at least three of the council members, would ever vote on something without first asking “What’s in it for me?”
That may not be true, but the preception is there that that is how they vote.
OldTimer said,
December 10, 2009 @ 9:40 AM
I am very curious what has prompted them, the city council, to finally decide to work with the district. It seems very fishy that even as recent as last week, at least three of the city council members were totally against the move, yet now they might be for it? (Anyone remember last week’s city council meeting?)
Even after sleeping on it, I still can’t see Annette “nobody uses the crosswalk” Smith or Dominic “I don’t recall” Farinha changing their opinions.
The IrriGator staff have posted their own thoughts on the recent movement here:
http://tinyurl.com/y8qqslk
Maybe it was the threat of the center moving out of town or just closing up shop for the time being that convinced the mayor that she had better finally consider accepting one of the many invitations to speak with the district and Keystone. The new senior center is a great “on my watch” feather in her cap. Can you imagine her legacy if the district decided to move the center out of town? I would bet that this is the reason that she and Cleve have finally agreed to listen to the citizens of this community. That the two of them have finally decided that maybe, it really is in their best interest to see what can be done to improve health care on the west side.
I am curious about the fight against the move. Besides Ramos, Logan and the three amigos, has there been anyone else, in print or in a meeting, that has voiced any opposition to the move? I very well may have missed it, so I am asking. Can anyone point me to anyone else besides those five that has voiced an opinion against the move? In all the minutes of the meetings I have read and everything I have seen in the IrriGator, I don’t recall anything or anyone supporting the council members fight against the move. Everything I have read, seen, and heard has been supportive of the move.
I would appreciate any findings anyone has. Even if it comes from the now silent “Patterson Villager”. (Is it really JH?)
OldTimer said,
December 11, 2009 @ 11:00 AM
Fred – regarding your twitter about Shelton pushing and then either Smith or Campo taking credit, hasn’t the mayor already done that with her meeting with the district? Hasn’t she now taken credit for the recent movement towards working with the district? Which, as the IrriGator editorial staff have pointed out, is long over due.
Why the city council and city management would decide to not accept any of the invitations to meet is beyond me. The fact that they are doing it now, and ONLY AFTER the district mentioned that it was considering either closing the center or moving it entirely out of Patterson, is unacceptable.
Why try to work with them now? Is someone all of a sudden worried about their legacy as mayor?
Let’s take a look at what they, the city council, fought to ensure for their legacy, for Becky’s legacy as Mayor:
1 – Taco Bell
2 – Wal-Mart
3 – Senior Center
4 – Loss of health center
5 – major citizen distrust of local government
6 – Special interest big win over community
7 – unsafe streets, a haven for gangs and drug dealers
They might be able to reverse #4, but they, the city, will have to work on it.
In keeping their current course, they, the city council and city management, have wasted way too many of our tax dollars. For the life of me, I still don’t understand why it took them this long to come to the table. I don’t know why they would refuse to accept the invitations to talk and try to work this out. Until now. Until the district began talking about either closing or moving the center out of town. Were they, the council members, so naive to not realize that if they pushed someone hard enough, they might actually move? Were they, the council members so naive to think that they could force the district to keep the center where it is?
I think that they owe it to us citizens to come forward and admit that they were complete idiots. If the city council agrees to reimburse the district their legal fees, which they should do on a 5-0 vote, they, our current elected council members, just on this issue alone, will have wasted well over 100,000 of our taxpayer dollars. Add to that the fact that they have also been paying Logan his fees, and you could probably take this close to 200,000 wasted taxpayer dollars. Had they used common sense and come to the table sooner, a lot of wasting money would not have occured. But no, in this case, special interest won out on logic and we, the taxpayers, put out a lot of money.
How does this make you feel? How does it make you feel, knowing that if your council members had done as the citizens of this community have asked, that they would not have wasted all that money?
It isn’t just Smith and Campo that have fought it. When I close my eyes, I can see Dominic “I don’t recall” Farinha telling us all that he doesn’t recall any citizen being supportive of the move. That he doesn’t recall any of the citizens that got up in the city council meetings speaking up in support of the district and the move. Just like he doesn’t recall any attempt to talk to him by the district or those bringing the initiative forward.
And we can”t forget George “I’ll submit it in the very near future” Logan with his convenient delays and incompetence. It was him that put us, the city, in this position to begin with when he conveniently decided against providing counsel to the planning commission. Had he done his job and provided counsel, none of this would have occurred. The district would have worked on another solution to their space needs.
The whole thing stems from one man’s lack of judgment. Add to that the incompetence of three voting members (out of five) on the council, and you have a perfect recipe for throwing away a ton of taxpayer’s money. And then when they finally come to the table, they think the citizens will be so pleased as to forget what they have done. Think again you shameful “leaders”. Think again.
MrB said,
December 12, 2009 @ 5:33 PM
How does it make me feel? It really ticks me off. How dare they waste all that time and money, only to come to the table with open arms, pretending to care.
Just as Ramos indicated he could do, are we to believe that Becky is going to just wave her hands and the zoning issue will just go away? Ramos wanted money to make the problem go away. What does Becky want?
With all she, and a couple of others, have done and said, can we really believe that thier coming to the table is genuine? That they are doing it for the community? That, now, all of a sudden, they have the best interest of the citizens in theri hearts? I don’t trust them. Not in the leaset. Especially after all their actions since this began months ago.
Now we just have to wait and see what underhanded dealings they have in store for us. They can’t have changed thier minds just because it is the right thing to do, it would be way out of character for any of the them to change their opinion. If any of them did change their mind, it would either be from a sign from Heaven or a secret deal. There can’t be another reason.
Before any of these three change their mind on this issue, and I mean honestly change their mind, I would expect that Rush Limbaugh and Obama become great friends and work together.
OldTimer said,
December 14, 2009 @ 11:35 AM
Now that I have had a moment to read the agenda with the minutes from last meeting, I have yet another question for the three amigos.
Again, there was not one person that got up in front of the council to express their support for delaying or not approving the initiative. Instead, there was the chairman of the board and one citizen that got up and spoke in favor of the initiative and against any further delay and against the Resolution.
If you add their input to the long list of those in favor of the initiative (many) against those against the initiative and for the resolution (ZERO), you have to imagine that the council would go with the citizens that have used their right to speak at the meetings. Yet, how did the vote go? 3-2 against the citizens. You have to wonder if maybe the three amigos are attending the same meetings as the citizens that they are there to support. Maybe their seats are positioned in a way that they cannot hear the citizens speak. Maybe all three of them are hearing something else. Maybe they only hear what they want to hear and block out what they don’t want to hear. Or maybe, they are so corrupt that they just don’t give a damn about what the citizens say in their meetings. They will ignore whoever doesn’t think the same way they think. Unfortunately, they have the power to do as THEY wish and not as their citizens wish.
I also see that Logan was given a clean bill of health. First off, the public was misled, intentionally maybe, in the purpose of the secret meeting for Logan’s evaluation. We now find out that it wasn’t an evaluation, but a review of his contract. Are the three amigos redoing his contract to give him more money? The funny thing is that Logan doesn’t even show up for the meeting. Was he excused so that they could discuss his Christmas gift without him in the room? Were they worried about spoiling the surprise for Logan? I wonder what sort of gift they gave him. It says the item was continued. It must be a doozy if they need more time to work-over the rest of the council members to agree to the gift so that it goes 5-0 instead of the usual, corrupt, 3-2 vote. They need the time to figure out how to get the other two to vote for the gift. How to sweeten the pot just right for the other two to go to the dark-side.
Hopefully, Cuellar and Shelton will hold out and not go to the dark-side. Hopefully they aren’t as corruptible as the others.
I still can’t wait to see how they proceed with the request from the district for reimbursement of their legal fees. If they vote against it, it would be the most concrete sign that they are corrupt. There couldn’t be any other reason they would vote against it. It was the same circumstance that caused Ramos to get his money back. Both parties had to shell out the legal fees for the exact same reason.
And now to the agenda. Here are my ponderings on the secret meeting they are going to have. It is titled “Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation.” My initial thought is “Oh no, not again!” Come on folks, here they are going in to conference with the same attorney that started this whole thing by ill-advising the planning commission on the move. Then he assists Ramos in getting $27K of our money. Then he fails to submit the initiative to the courts as he indicated he would. And now, they want his advice? They want his counsel in private conference?
Again, I ask all of you, if you had such an incompetent attorney representing you, would you go to conference with him? Would you seek his counsel? Would you, knowing the jam he put you in (more than once I might add), want his advice? And, again I say, if you ran a business and had the counsel that the city council has had, there is no way in hell that you would continue to seek his advice. None.
As Woodrow Wilson said, “Corruption thrives in secret places.” Take the three amigos with their friendly counselor in to their secret meetings (what they refer to as closed session at the city council meetings), and we are almost guaranteed the corrupted results we have been getting from this group. With the power they wield, they can have their way and get their way.
OldTimer said,
December 17, 2009 @ 2:51 PM
I saw, first in print, then on the web, the “Your Voice” section with Mel’s and also Laura’s comments. They hit it right on the head. I also saw a couple of added comments by “Brewer7″. Like Brewer7, I would have had Logan playing the part of Santa Claus and Ramos being the kiddie to get the gifts. And then the part of the float being a Wal-Mart shopping cart was just too funny.
Someone told me this morning that in the secret meeting on Tuesday night, they decided to move forward with the zoning change. Does anyone know if this is the case? I heard it over coffee up by the freeway this morning. Not my usual haunt, but it is where I ended up this morning.
Apparently, and this is the rumor that my friend had, the powers that be, the three amigos and Logan, have agreed to allow the move under certain circumstances. My friends source didn’t know what exactly those were, but that they were pretty substantial. From what my friend said, part of it has to do with ensuring that Ramos will be granted some zoning liberties with the Wal-Mart area, to include the council approving the project in the very near future. I don’t fully know the status of that project, but it seems, again according to my friend, that it was on the table for easing the health center move. Ramos also will be granted certain compensation from the council for some of his other properties. Not sure exactly what that means, just that, via his representative (maybe one who used to work for Keystone), some off-the-record discussions/negotiations have been going on with some (3) of the council members.
This is all rumors, all based on a friend of a friend of a friend.
But, if there is movement in order to allow the move, then something has to be converting the three amigos who have been so against the move, it would be unbelievable for them to change their minds. It’s not like them to change without some incentive. If there really is movement, then we, the citizens, will have questions as to why the change of heart. We would have to ask what is it going to cost us? What kind of backroom dealing has gone on to convince the three amigos to consider allowing the move?
Can anyone confirm if they, the powers that be, have indeed agreed to allow the move to occur?
OldTimer said,
December 17, 2009 @ 3:12 PM
WHOA!!!!!! Just saw your twitter comment, Fred. All I can say is WHOA!!!.
I am at a complete loss for words. Becky can’t really be considering another term as mayor or ever higher political office? She can’t. Nobody is that oblivious to their incompetence. Nobody.
I guess she really is thinking of her legacy with her recent discussions with the district. It really is all about her legacy.
Does she really think that the citizens of Patterson are dumb/stupid/naive enough to believe she is supportive of the move. That she has their best interest at heart? That, after all she has done to prevent and delay better health care for the residents of the west side, she thinks the citizens will forget?
WHOA!!!
OK – Now I am speechless.
WHOA!!!!
The Patterson Irritator said,
December 17, 2009 @ 4:33 PM
We feel fairly comfortable with our assertion, we were also floored. Even if the residents of Patterson grant Campo another term in 2010, she is long shot at best for supervisor. It’s our hope that she actually runs….then the residents can clearly demonstrate their disdain for her unethical abuse of power, conflicts of interest, and just plain old lack of leadership. Essentially an exclamation point to emphasize an end to her reign over Patterson.
A month ago, we tweeted that the Mayor would fold, and the district would be allowed to move. Can you imagine the outcry if the health district had to temporarily move out of Patterson? They (DPHD) have the slate were they want him on this matter. Again, Shelton comes out this mess smelling like a bouquet of roses. She made it clear at a few meetings, that a resolution to this mess could be achieved if the two sides just sat down like adults. Becky and Annette will try to take credit for this…but at the end of the day, the record doesn’t lie.
The stage is set for a big showdown in November 2010. If Cuellar and Shelton choose to run again, they have a more than decent shot at retaining their respective seats. This leaves the Mayor seat as the sole opportunity to change the current climate at city hall. Potential opponents are obvious, either Molina or Wright could easily defeat Campo if an election were administered TODAY. However, Campo will likely recover from this health district mess by then, making the race more competitive.
OldTimer said,
December 17, 2009 @ 5:24 PM
Unfortunately, she will come out on top on this issue. The mayor will be known as the one that got the health center moved. Even if she was one of the main parties to fight the move, to keep the center where it is, she will be rewarded for the move. Even if she fought and conspired against the move, she will manage to get the credit for the move.
As I mentioned when I first heard that she was all of a sudden for the move, it was for ulterior motives, her legacy being one of them. Now it seems that she is taking that to the people already, boasting her involvement in moving forward with the move.
You gotta hand it to her, she is a sly one. But then, what would you expect from someone that blatantly disregards the brown act and other rules and regulations?
She has herself set up pretty nicely. She has the city manager on a very short leash. She and the city attorney are co-conspirators to do as they wish. She has stacked the planning commission with a close friend, a co-worker of sorts, and a spouse of a close friend/co-worker. That is three votes loyal to the mayor. We have already seen the loyalty of two other council members, so the city council is stacked with a majority in her favor.
Add to that whatever incentives Ramos has given or promised her, and she is the queen of Patterson. Until the voters speak.
As far as Shelton coming out like a bouquet of roses, it is only for the people that pay attention to the events in Patterson that will see that. As with voting against Becky if she were to run again, unfortunately, those who don’t make it a point of knowing the issues will vote for the perceived results, those that give Becky credit for something she fought against. As Bess Myerson said:
“The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference”
If the voters are indifferent and don’t learn about the issues that are on the ballot, then they are just aiding and abetting the corruption. They are almost as guilty of the crime as the perpetrators of the crime are, as the conspirators are.
Red State said,
December 17, 2009 @ 11:26 PM
Annette Smith has said all along, all she wants the district to do is follow the rules that everyone else has to follow. There is a proper procedure to carry out what Keystone wants to do, and it not the initiative process.
You socialists shouldn’t be so confident that Cuellar and Shelton are safe, the silent majority of Patterson doesn’t necessarily like the way they just oppose everything the Mayor and Ms. Smith support.
Kathy Wright is just trying to regain the town’s spotlight, Molina the same. Ron West can easily make Cuellar or Shelton sweat next November. Don’t count the mayor out!
William Johnston said,
December 18, 2009 @ 1:58 AM
I think “red state” had too many pops tonight. I don’t always agree with this site, but after following the city council for the past three months, your claims about smith/campo look like they’re right on the button. Whenever this train wreck ends, the real losers will be the people of Patterson, unfortunate but true.
OldTimer said,
December 18, 2009 @ 4:43 PM
It’s a shame that Red State, would that be the Red State of Russia, doesn’t understand that we, the citizens, have certain rights. And one of those rights is that if our local government is not taking in to consideration the wishes and desires of its citizens, they have the right to file an initiative to correct the wrong. It is a right we have, Red State. And, since it is a right that we have, it is also proper. When it no longer becomes a right, then it will no longer be proper.
If the district were to wait for the council to do as they wished, which was wait for the general plan to be updated, they would be waiting several years. We, the citizens of Patterson AND the West Side, would rather not wait years for the district to be able to provide better care for us. We would rather not wait years for there to be room for a specialist to be able to provide the care needed to us. I know that I would rather do my twice a year stress test locally by my cardiologist, rather than having to drive to Modesto for them.
Red State, the citizens of our community took it upon themselves, properly using a right they have, to accelerate the process of getting us the health care we need and deserve.
If you do not think that using the rights that we have is proper, then maybe you should move to a place you would be more comfortable living. Maybe a place where the citizens do not have the same rights that we here in the United States have. That thousands of our men and women have given their lives to ensure we have.
To the rest of you, continue the fight. Continue to use the rights granted to us, protected by the lives of our countrymen (and women), to ensure our politicians listen to the wishes of the citizens. Of the many citizens that want better health care on the West Side.