All calls are edited for length and content. Due to content some calls may not be published. Please limit your calls to two minutes or less. Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of calls and space, some may not be published.
+ + +

A man who left his phone number and address said, “the apartment complex that I live in has threatened to throw me out in three days if I don’t pay a $600 pet deposit because they saw a stray cat on my outdoor patio.”

A woman “wanted to comment on the man who mentioned the 15 items or less line” in last week’s Red Line. She said a grocery outlet “on Howard Road is one of the biggest offenders.” She stated a personal incident when, in the express lane, a person had many more items and “paid by personal check. When I informed the cashier they said I should see the manager.”

A woman “gave kudos to the city of Madera for opening up the hazardous waste center. That’s the good thing, “ she said. “Now a bad thing.” She is worried about “what’s going to happen to all the traffic. The building (projects) seems to have no rhyme or reason. It would really be good if they try to improve some of the traffic patterns.”

“People of Madera, wake up,” began a male caller. “Our city has become a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. It is very evident in the way the police department; government leaders, the school district and businesses conduct themselves. Illegal aliens involved in a traffic accident are given a citation in which they never appear in court. According to the law, they should be arrested and turned over to the border patrol. Our law enforcement is turning its head and not enforcing laws that we the people enacted.” However, the caller added, “the legal aliens that are here deserve the same right as citizens.” In conclusion he added, “Madera is a sanctuary for illegals. No wonder nobody shops Madera.”

Several phone calls were received again this week concerning the “cutting of benefits and pay for city employees.” A man suggested, “we should elect the city manager, just as we do our city council members. He should be elected to a four-year term and hopefully we would get a better slate of candidates.”

Another female caller said, “a few years ago, the city department I was working in was having a lot of problem with the director. She micro-managed everything. Our best efforts were never recognized and when something good happened she took all the credit. Some people told the current city administrator, Mr. Tooley, about our problem. He came over, made one visit and had us waste over a hundred hours on developing a new mission statement for the department. This was done under the direction of the director we were having a problem with. David Tooley did nothing to solve the problem, and though he promised, it has been years and he has not returned or visited the department or staff since.”

Another male caller mentioned, “morale is at an all time low with city workers thanks to the efforts of the city administrator. He sits in his office, goes to work in his fancy sports car, and ignores the people who do the real work for the people of the city. The ones you see out fixing streets, water mains, mowing in the parks, and creating activities for the people. Yes, people of Madera, there’s your city taxes at work.”

A woman said, “I think there should be an investigation by the Grand Jury into the elections department.” She said, “we, too, were county voters, absentee voters and never received one thing about the recent election. When calling they really had no excuse for it. The Grand Jury needs to look into this. Maybe they don’t want the farmers to vote in the MID election.”

“Congratulations to Bakersfield,” began an all too frequent male caller. He said that city’s council “voted a pittance of money to apply for a state grant to start up the mandatory curbside recycling. Bakersfield,” he claimed “was going to charge $4 dollars, while Madera is charging $5.32. I guess we have more recycling needed. Congratulations Bakersfield,” he concluded. “You made a good decision.”

+ + +

A visitor to our online site www.maderatribuneredline.com wrote, “What a shame that you will not be able to read the Tribune online anymore. Being a former resident of Madera, I am always interest in what is going on with my hometown. Now living in Oregon, I won’t be able to read the news unless I pay for it — wow, not surprising for the Tribune to make a change.”

Another visitor wrote, “I’m disappointed that there will soon be a charge for the use of the Trib online site. It was nice to keep up on folks I used to know and to find out how the town I used to live in is doing. … This woman from Pittsburgh, PA will be sad to see my free access to the goings on in Madera end.”

A person wrote, “Hopefully with your new site it will contain everything that the paper has for that day including classifieds. Maybe try reporting or have a section on progress the city is making in regards to the shopping malls, new housing, the casino, and other things that could change our lives when living in Madera. Right now The Madera Tribune is an OK newspaper, but not a great paper. Best of luck.”

One visitor wrote, “How could I get a holocaust survivor to come to speak, how the gangs were when they were in the situation they were in? See most of these children are doing most things they do not understand. They think gangs are cool, but they cannot see what is the worst part about that. … I think this would be very important, maybe to help the children and older teen to understand… maybe even the whole community.”

One Web site visitor commented, “I live in Colorado, but I still like to keep up on the news in the valley since it affects my family in the area. But I will lose that ability once maderatribune.com becomes a pay site. I agree with Jim. I will switch to the (free) Fresno Bee (Web site) once this happens.”

+ + +
Thank you for your comments. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24-hours a day by calling 674-4478 or visiting www.madeartribuneredline.com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 at 5:00 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.