Mr. Rodriguez (Madera Tribune, April 10, Page A1) labeled me a conservative, as if that is a bad thing. The problem is Mr. Rodriguez left a very important word out; I am a “Fiscal Conservative.” In the High-Speed Choo-Choo case, government shall not lie to the taxpaying citizen voters when putting high-tax items on ballots.
We have now gone through several HSR commissioners and boards. We now have commissioners who have quit the HSR project and are speaking out against it because of the outrageous burden on the California taxpaying citizen.
The United States Congress has now stopped budgeting federal money for the project. Why? Because from the start, Prop. 1A has been a complete taxpayer scam from the beginning.
It’s not what the taxpaying citizens voted on, which doesn’t seem to bother Supervisor Rodriguez.
Surveys have shown that if the California taxpaying citizen voters were able to vote today on Prop 1A (which will be a tax burden for generations to come) it would not pass.
All county supervisors have been given a report on the the great California exodus of business and taxpaying citizens leaving the state.
Supervisor Rodriguez implied that I am giving lip service to “jobs, jobs, jobs.” Since I have been in office, I have been working hard in just trying keep jobs in Madera County.
In 2009, Madera County-city lost our Enterprise Zone status with the state. The Enterprise Zone helps companies with tax burdens so they can rebuild or build within your county. This gave us an equal playing field throughout the state. Without the Enterprise Zone, and with the high cost of power, large companies are looking twice before looking at Madera County. I am working hard with the Economic Development Commission to resolve our Enterprise Zone issues.
Shoving more taxpayer-burden jobs down the throats of our already-broke state and county is not the answer.
Supervisor Rick Farinelli,
District 3