Letters to the Editor 1-3-13

Fighting parking fees
Editor: “Parking fees at beaches! Carrillo vows to fight!” Reminds me of people who want health care and good schools but don’t want to pay for it.
I live on the coast part time. We see the joy people get everyday using the beach. We also see the ugly human side of us that leaves garbage, and lots of it. Some of the state beaches don’t even have garbage cans. This could be from funding or lack of location to place one. The parking lots or bathrooms are usually in disrepair.
With the amount of tourists who come visit the coast it would be extremely beneficial for people to pay for parking. In return we could have better facilities and care for our state beaches. Carrillo was responsible for finding tax money to save our sheriff helicopter. We have been complaining that they fly over the coast too often and too close to homes. Maybe he should spend time on saving funds from our taxes wasted on the gas!
We vacation homeowners also pay a special fire tax to fund our healthy funded fire department. Research shows people who use theses services on the coast are tourists. On top of this special fire tax, we just received an additional fire tax. Fight for local residents to have a parking discount pass. Stop expecting homeowners to add yet another tax, just because you think we can. Please!
Rick Gutierrez
Oakland