To the Editor:
I wanted to commend the three members of the City Council who were present at the April 27, 2010 city council meeting (Mayor Pro Tem Washburn, Councilmember Laurie Hernandez and Steve Conaway) for voting in support of the construction of Water Well No. 9. This new water well is needed for the future planning and development of the City and is especially critical to allowing the Fillmore Business Park to move forward. As has been previously reported, the Fillmore Business Park is expected to create many new higher paying jobs for Fillmore residents and should also provide a stronger and more diversified economic base for the community that will help to provide new customers for our existing downtown merchants and highway businesses such as El Pescador Restaurant and Wm. L. Morris Chevrolet.
I was also pleased to here Mayor Pro Tem Washburn state publicly from the City Council dais that all five members of the City Council support the Business Park moving forward. This 100% support from the City Council is very important because there are still several significant decisions remaining that need to be made by the City Council to clear the path to allow the Business Park to proceed with development. Several of the Fillmore Business Park developers were also at the meeting to express their continued interest in proceeding with development of their projects in the Fillmore Business Park.
With this renewed public/private Fillmore Business Park partnership I believe the entire community of Fillmore will benefit and be able to address some of the more pressing needs of the community.
Sincerely,
Roy Payne
Fillmore City Manager (1989-2005)

***

To the Editor:
It is a warm and exhilarating feeling to know that the Bardsdale Cemetery grounds are now immaculately maintained to demonstrate respect and dignity to those interred.
Having many family members laid to rest there, we are genuinely grateful to the cemetery caretakers for their marvelous work. It is obvious that tremendous pride is taken in the attention of the cemetery environment where our loved ones, as well as many others, lay at rest.
Thank you to Doug Basolo, cemetery manager, and his workcrew, Gabe Lopez and Richard Ruiz for their commendable and overall efforts. They are doing a superb job!
Thank you, also, to the Board of Directors, i.e., Lynda Edmonds, Monte Winkler, Gabe Asenas, Rita Rudkin, and Scott Lee, for their excellent vision and leadership in the development of this revered place.
Sincerely,
The Gene and Sonia (Morales) Getty family
The Frances (Morales) Jimenez family
The Ernie and Becky Morales family

***

To the Editor:
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
A. BACKGROUND: 1. There was a large influx of European immigrants into the U.S. in the 19th Century. Made up of numerous nationalities and estimated at 38M people from 1820-1920 2. Also a large number (unknown) of Africans (slaves) were introduced into the U.S. from early 1600-1863, 3. The immigrants from Europe became a large "melting pot" of people who lived in overly crowded conditions and slowly disappeared into society without citizenship.4. As a result of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the Africans slowly made their way up North. They too disappeared into society without citizenship. 5. History has shown this country was founded on immigration, but was meant to be controlled by our laws. 6. From the early 192 0's to the present, immigrants continued to enter the U.S. from around the world, with the largest group being those from Latin America. 7. Restrictions were imposed as early as 1882 and again in 1917, 1921 and 1924. There were further restrictions, the last establishing the Quota System, whereby entrants were limited to 3 percent annually of the number of citizens residing in the U.S. Revisions were made from this period to 1952,; which reaffirmed the "National Origin" features of the 1921 and 1924 laws. These laws have been in place with some minor changes to date. The implementation of these laws have been virtually non-existent. This, along with the large population growth has acerbated the situation. Our leaders over this entire period have led us to believe they have been afraid to take action for fear they would not be elected/re-elected, Whereas they should have enforced our laws. B A PROPOSED PLAN OF ACTION 1. Based on the above, we are faced with very complex issues and no one has come up with a detailed plan to correct said situations. Presently proposed solutions run from; do nothing, send them all back, send only adults back or provide amnesty.2. With an estimated number of 12-14 million illegals residing within the U.S., none of these proposals are a viable solution. A major part to the solutions is to let our elected leaders, local, state and federal, know now is the time for action. 3. Maybe the new legislation in Arizona will be a wake up call to our citizens as to the seriousness of the situation. We may or may not agree with Arizona's action. Whatever it is, we need to take a proactive roll. 4. The first action is to close our borders. Next, each state to develop their own problem/solution list with the voters approval. From the Governors' Office the list shall be taken to Washington by the States Senate/House Representatives. The Representatives to turn this data over to the Presidents newly formed "Task Force" who are to disseminate the data and present their findings for Presidential action. If no action is forthcoming within 6 months, the states to decide to impose their own legislation. I invite you to share your thoughts and solutions.
Ray Dressler
Fillmore