NEWSLETTER

KLASSY KARROT KOTTAGES

Newsletter

February 2008 - written by David S. Vernon

There have been so many changes since the last newsletter in 2007. We are suing (for adverse possession) the developer who wants to build a mall just south of us. In the mean time the developer has installed a fence so that we no longer can use the land which the owners of the Klassy Karrot, including us, have used for some 60 years. There are dozens of no trespassing signs on his property which I notice the campers who come for the Carrot Festival are ignoring. We are now using our front lot for parking, and storage. This is the first year that we are not allowing people to park on the lot for the Carrot Festival Parade. Sorry about that folks. Maybe if we win our law suit, next year we can allow parking again.

The Progress, the newspaper that Pat Galliher started is now out of business presumably as a result of the costs of losing law suits with the Holtville Tribune. We are back to being a one newspaper town. That is a pity as we enjoyed Pat's feisty views. Pat has also resigned from the city council. On the plus side, our street, Fern Avenue is finally being paved all the way between 5th and 4th. We will not enjoy the additional traffic but look forward to no longer being the only street in town that is not paved. The City seems to have obtained grants to upgrade the water treatment plant and to improve the main street through town. Things are looking good. There seems to be an ongoing effort to shut down the two trailer parks in town which we disagree with because low income housing is needed. Seems like the parks should be given help to upgrade instead of being closed down. Indeed that does seem to be happening. Holtville seems to be in the news in the Imperial Valley Press about every other day. For such a small town we sure do generate a lot of exciting controversy.

Highway #7 that links Interstate 8 to the East Border Crossing has been on line now for quite some time and we get a kick out of driving a mile south of town, catching #7 and being in Mexicali in about 15 minutes. We truly are the closest town to East Mexicali right now. We love Nuevo Mexicali on the East side because most of it is newer and fresher and easier to navigate that the downtown part.

We continue to be a very special town. I dont know of any other in Southern California remotely like it. Cute as a button and surving despite being one of the towns that was bypassed by Interstate 8 in the 70s.

The BIRD FESTIVAL is happening next week by the way - Feb 14th - 16th - call 760-344-5359

Until you have spent some time in our area you have no idea how many spectacular birds there are just hanging about acting like ordinary folks - I mean who expects to encounter a whole tree full of huge white birds evenly spaced looking like holiday decorations - encounter it on the way to work no less. Daily we drive by birds with very long legs just hanging out in a ditch. One of these days I hope to have the time to attend the various lecutres so that I know more about the birds in our area. In the mean time I just enjoy them.

July 2007 - written by David S. Vernon

It is about time for an update, dont you think? We have been so busy with our fixer upper real estate business that there simply has been no time. Since January 2006, Pat Galliher resigned from the city council in a storm of controversy. He also decided to quit publishing the paper, which is a serious loss to the town.

The developer who purchased the railroad property south of the Klassy Karrot at a rather ridiculous $1/sq ft - about 6 acres for $300,000 - has gotten most of the zoning changes and permits required for building a mall.

But so far nothing has happened except the installation of a fence which is making our lives difficult. There is continued talk of putting an airport just east of town. Just west of town there are still plans for a whole new city with commercial and houses and even apartments. The Connecting road between the Eastside border crossing and Interstate 8 is on line. Holtville is all but next door to the fastest growing town in Calif (Maybe USA) - the town of Imperial. "Progress" is continuing. Sigh!

January 2006 - Written by David Vernon

Good News! We have a second newspaper in town. Congratulations to Pat Galliher for following through on intentions he told me about last year. For a small town newspaper it is quite spectacular. I hope he makes a profit and stays in business for many years.

When the reporter for the Holtville Tribune told me that the editor had a policy against covering issues, I felt like spitting. What good is freedom of the press, if the press doesn't use that freedom? When a newspaper ignores important issues while writing columns of stuff about the visit to Jacumba by the local Garden Club - a club apparently consisiting of 5 elderly woman - they've lost my support. Hey I have nothing against the Garden Club and I thoroughly enjoyed the story but come on . . .

I like the name of Pat's newspaper . . . "PROGRESS". Progess is great. BUT IS GROWTH NECESSARILY THE SAME AS PROGRESS? I think Pat might have more accurately named his newspaper "GROWTH". Let's address that issue. . . . again!

APPARENTLY IT IS A DONE DEAL. HOLTVILLE IS GOING TO DOUBLE IT'S POPULATION IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. Lets do a little math. If we calculate doubling every 3 years and that rate of growth were to continue for a generation - lets say 21 years - then we are set to become a town of well over 1/2 million. As a matter of fact in 24 years we will be a town of over 1 million. Yikes. I moved out of LA because I didn't like big cities. Looks like the big city may be coming to me.

Anyone living here and watching the decline in businesses in the last 24 years might say that a population over 1 million in Holtville is impossible. Not so! In the 50s you could pick wild flowers almost anywhere in the San Fernando Valley. Hemet and Morena Valley were sleepy towns in the 80s. If we grow as fast as they did, WE WILL HAVE 1 MIILION POPULATION SOON!

Here is a scary thought. If Holtville is a town of over 1 million by 2030, the Imperial Valley could have a population of 25 million. You can say goodby to farming of any kind. We'll be door to door malls, and tract homes, and stop lights, and freeways. We'll probably merge with San Diego and maybe even Riverside or LA. We will have horrible smog, terrible crime, slums, and traffic jams. No one will know their neighbors. House prices will sky rocket. Schools will tend toward the 5000 student monstrosities that kids get lost in. We'll even have skyscrapers, and $6 per 1/2 hour parking.

Many of us who live here now won't be bothered as we will have moved on. I guess we'll have to move to Montana or retire in Mexico or something. Some will stay and they may have a hard time paying the skyrocketing property taxes but that is their tough luck.

Is this NIGHTMARE inevitable. No of course not. WE HAVE THE POWER TO STOP IT.

The first thing on the agenda is don't buy anyone's specious arguments that growth is a wonderful thing.

More people means more business. Yea! Just exactly what is wrong with going to El Centro for your McDonalds hamburger. What is wrong with being a bedroom community.

More people means more people to contribute to the cost of infrastructure like water tanks. According to a real estate salesman friend from Moreno Valley, the infrastructure has become a nitemare in their town. Of course the developers paid for sewers but lots of things were not taken into account like new roads. You can see that problem with the road from Heber to the Mall. It is a farm road with city traffic on it now. Whose going to pay for that improvement? The old timers of course!

Why do we have the right to try to AVOID SUFFERING FROM GROWTH? When the rest of California is all but buried in it.

We feed people! ! !

Why should all our good agricultural land go for buildings and roads?

California needs variety. There is a place for a bit of small town life.

How do we stop growth? Big Question! ! ! !

One thing I know we can do is MAKE FRANCHISE BUSINESSES ILLEGAL in Holtville. That will preserve the small town atmosphere even if we grow a lot. There is nothing wrong with one little corner of California being free of McDonalds, Walmart, and Big O. Give the family businesses a chance.

This time I really will try to update this newsletter by next quarter - April 1, 2006.

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IN THE NAME OF - PROGRESS

April/May 2005 Newsletter #2

Remember the TV game called called "Family Feud" . The contestants offer common words to fit a catagory. Imagine a catagory called IN THE NAME OF______! Possibilities?

Jesus

love

morality

freedom

democracy

the fatherland

Allah

I'm calling such words ITNO or plural ITNOs. ITNOs are abstract , usually positive, concepts which unfortunately are often used to justify actions which are unethical, illogical or at least counter to self interest . I dont think this NEOLOGISM is particularly elegant Feel free to suggest another word or tell me if one already exists.

PROGRESS is a favorite ITNO! Almost as common as "freedom" - The American all time favorite!

In the IV Press this Sunday there were three articles and a great letter to the editor by Calexico resident Ellie Holloway - all relating to Holtville and the issue of PROGRESS.

First an article indicating that Route 7 between the East border crossing and Interstate 8 is finished and will be open in about 4 weeks. With the Interstate connection being within a mile or so of Holtville, Holtville is set to boom.

Second an article indicating that 20 participants met to discuss the future of Holtville. Pat, our new city councilman told me about the meeting weeks ago. I called city hall and asked to be put on a mailing list to receive the "when, & where" details. What happened.? No notice! Didn't see a notice in the Holtville Tribune either. IT SHOULD NOT BE THIS EASY TO MISS AN IMPORTANT MEETING. Community participation is important IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY! But we have to know when things are happening in order to participate. We are all busy so help us out by publicizing events, PLEASE! Steve Hogan, our city manager obviously reads this site so STEVE please make it easier!

The article quotes Steve Hogan "The city needs to be different from other Imperial Valley cities . . . No Cookie Cutter homes". Let's salute that man. He is thinking in the right direction.

Malvina Reynolds wrote the song "Ticky Tacky Boxes" in response to the tract homes taking over the hills of Hayward, California in the 60s. (Right where Alida grew up , in the San Francisco Bay Area}. The song refers to a "pink one and a blue one and a green one and a yellow one". Isn't progress great? Nowadays most tract homes are pink - no more blue, green, yellow - just pink! Uniformity that is what this country needs. Let's get rid of all that pesky character that comes from painting identical houses 4 different colors. So how are we going to avoid "Cookie Cutter homes"? Some developers build 2 kinds of homes - a single story and a two story. They alternate them. Sometimes they even face them in different directions. They tend to be big - much bigger than the ones built in the 60s. So does variety and size avoid "Cookie Cutter"? I dont think so!

What gives Holtville it's character? Our homes, commonly are small and simple, so why don't they feel "Cookie Cutter? I think the answer is that the lots were sold to individual families and each chose their own builder or built themselves. The same situation with businesses. Everyone in Holtville would like to see more stores. No one wants to drive to El Centro to buy almost anything. But do we want to replace Del Sol and Union Market and Imperial Hardware with Walmart and Home Depo? I shop at both but Multinational Corporate stores are just not the same as family owned businesses.

So how do we get more homes and businesses that are not cookie cutter? Had I known about the meeting I would have gone and made my opinion known. We need a COMMUNITY CHARACTER STATEMENT in which we limit the number of homes built by a single developer and the percentage of new businesses which are corporate owned and/or franchises. The details would have to be worked out. Maybe only l out of l0 new businesses could have more than 3 outlets and maybe only 3 houses on average could be built by the same developer so if ONE house is built by a single family then l developer could build 5 houses - average would be 3!

Does this sound like too much government control? I tend to be a Libertarian but the reality is that cities already control growth with zoning laws, building codes, special tax privileges, grants and loans and even eminent domain in which property owners are in essence forced to sell to companies that will pay more taxes . Holtville has ZONED Browning Trailer Park out of future existence. Apparently Browning is likely to be a vacant lot in 2 years. Don't quote me on this. I did not get elected to the city council and am not privy to the details but I know that I am against eliminating housing for low income people ( IN THE NAME OF BEAUTIFICATION - another ITNO!). Why not use some of our redevelopment money to help the owner upgrade the park? The residents could be helped to upgrade their trailers, a fence could be built and trees trimmed. Why eliminate much needed housing. Well the point is not to debate what should happen to Browning but to point out that the city is already totally involved in PLANNING. Let's plan in the direction of a really special and different town. We may have to forego some GROWTH - another ITNO. We may lose some tax dollars but we are likely to have a much more liiveable town in the long run. Maybe we do not have to be over run with developer homes with the inevitable "pink one and a pink one and a pink one and another pink one."

The key question is who is going to benefit from growth. The people of Holtville or multinational corporations and rich people. Maybe for once the ordinary people could win this one. Sooner or later we the voters are going to wise up and vote for our interests. Maybe the internet will help.

Note what Wellington CORPORATION president Glenn Pace says "You can't let OPPORTUNITY slip away". OPPORTUNITY - another ITNO!Let's get smart and let PROGRESS, BEAUTIFICATION and OPPORTUNITY pass right on by. Lets keep character and liveability and diversity instead. Remember follow the money. That is the president of a corporation spouting nonsense.

The third article is really just a picture of the building going on at the east end of town. The caption says "The Orchard View Family Apartments . . . will feature 8l units". Goes to show that not all growth is bad. The apartments will be an addition to Holtville. Not so many the town will be overwhelmed and not fancy or rich .. Much needed housing for low to medium income families. A good move by our city council. We have the council members who have been running the city for the last 20 years to thank for Holtville's specialness. I had disagreements with the council but, all in all, one way or another, they have created something special. I want to acknowledge them for their decisions and encourage them to go further.

To repeat: WE NEED A COMMUNITY CHARACTER STATEMENT LIMITING THE KIND OF GROWTH WE ARE GOING TO ALLOW!

Finally read the letter by Ellie Holloway titled "Progress is in the Eye of the Beholder". Calexico is losing Super Shopping Apple Mart in favor of Super Wal Mart. Apparently not everyone is happy with the new mall. Ellie is definitely not a Happy Camper. Are we looking at Holtville's future? I hope not.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005 newsletter

I plan to write a newsletter every month or so. But please click on the other pages as well. Take a moment . Go to "Links". I aim to offer an extensive list of web sites relevant to Holtville and the Imperial Valley. If you are interested need housing in Holtville check out "Klassy Karrot Kottages" to see if we meet your needs. I am a "Musician not a Politician" and I've added the words of a number of songs to that page. "The 2004 City Council Election" tells the story of how I ended up running for city council. "Contact us"! Call, write, e-mail, or even show up at the front door. Everyone is welcome.

After checking out other pages of this website don't forget to come back every month or two to check out the NEWSLETTER

Welcome to my web site

Holtville, California - a very special town. It is a town in California that has not experienced that mixed blessing called growth in any significant way. It has changed relatively little from the 80's or maybe even the 50's. We only have a couple of franchise businesses in town - Seven-Eleven and Big Johns. And very few new homes.

Will it stay this way? Not if the "growth is inevitable" folks have their way. What does growing 3-4 times in 10 years mean? Well for one thing it means the loss of a lot of prime agricultural land. In the interest of avoiding "ticky tacky boxes" as the song goes - (Click on Musician not a Politician for the words) we can increase the lot size. Result 1/2 million dollar homes - thousands of them - in a town which is now low income by any standards. And of course the inevitable malls that follow. Who will that benefit? Probably not the people who are the present residents of Holtville.

Why do small towns like ours allow such "growth" which seems counter to self interest. Well maybe because the infrastructure is old and needs big inputs of money. All those developers will pay big bucks to help renovate the water system , improve police pay etc. But isn't this just a type of pyramid scheme? Why can't the present population pay for the needed improvements? Well, that is going to take some serious number crunching. And what are the laws? Is it really OK to turn prime agricultural land into parking lots? Is that legal? Should it be? Another song refers to "They paved paradise" (again words from "Big Yellow Taxi").

I've had battles with the City Council (click on "2004 City Council Election") but I've come to respect the result of the decisions they've been making. Holtville in the winter really is about the closest to paradise that this planet has to offer. Ask the many winter visitors.

It is my goal to make this web site a forum for ISSUES that affect Paradise - uh I mean Holtville! Also, while I'm at it I hope the web site will be useful in the same way a phone book is useful. Before you go to a search engine, check LINKS. If it has to do with Holtville, chances are you will find it there. If not today, in the near future. I am improving the web site every week.