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Homepage » Opinion » Guest Opinion
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The good, the bad and the ugly in our community

By Marcelino Varona Jr.
Published Tuesday, July 28, 2009 10:12 AM MDT

ABRAZOS to a Blast from the Past; March 1961. (See below)


If you have a photo of people and/or places in our community, drop it by the NI with your name and telephone number and write Abrazos on the envelope. The photo must be at least 35 years old and the NI is not responsible for returning the photo.

COSCORRONES to the tax and spend liberal administrators at Nogales Unified School District. Both Superintendent Shawn McCollough and his assistant Steve Zimmerman are proposing an increase in taxes during the worst economic conditions our community is facing.

Maybe if these two bureaucrats would shop locally or take a walk down Morley Avenue they would comprehend the financial struggle of local merchants, the reduction in hours for employees, the great number of people continuously looking for employment. Families without health insurance are trying to budget for medical expenses, meet mortgage or rent payments, and clothe their children, and senior citizens are stretching their limited incomes.

McCollough said at a recent school board meeting that he is on a tight schedule so, he “wants to move as fast as we can” to get committees together to discuss a bond override and $15 million bond issue. He not only wants to raise taxes but shove them down our throats.

McCollough and Zimmerman recommended salary cuts for employees and administrators yet did not reduce their own salaries as district leaders. No matter what the financial conditions of our community is they both have guaranteed checks with full benefits. We can only hope that our elected officials stand tall.

ABRAZOS to Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel and Councilman Cesar Parada for understanding the impact of economic development on our community. During a recent city budget meeting the pair offered an amended motion to include full funding for an Economic Development Office in the tentative budget. Parada also presented a petition with over 150 signatures that demanded a vibrant economy and employment rate. Even though the motion failed on a 4-2 vote, I give them credit for not backing down.

COSCORRONES to those who do not favor community development. Councilman Nubar Hanessian at a recent council meeting talked about the adverse impact on our sales tax if we were to allow Rio Rico to attract a Target store. This, according to him, is being considered. Hanessian stated, and rightly so, that the city should actively be involved in recruiting Target to our community. Then at a subsequent meeting when addressing economic development Hanessian claimed that he has spoken to people on Morley Avenue and no one is in favor of economic development because the business community wants no competition. So which will it be?

ABRAZOS to the fiscally conservative among us. Citing research on economic multipliers published by the Federal Reserve Bank, the Goldwater Institute recently noted that out every dollar of government spending results in 70 cents of job-creating activity after two years. A dollar in tax cuts, meanwhile, results in $1.30 to $3 of job-creating activity after two years.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “There is nothing that can’t be done if we raise our voice as one.” -- Michael Jackson 1958-2009
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Copyright © 2010 Nogales International

Comments

    Upset wrote on Aug 5, 2009 8:57 PM:

    " Besides the high salaries our NUSD administrators have - they also have free medical and dental insurance for themselves AND their family members. This is so sad since there are classified personnel that are being paid a little over the mininum wage. Most of their salary goes towards the purchase of medical insurance for their families (which is very costly). If the district wants more money, then they should have the administrators pay their families' medical and dental insurance. This will save the district thousands of dollars since we have over twenty administrators with free family insurance. "

    Manuel C wrote on Aug 2, 2009 3:57 PM:

    " "Reduced 30 positions without laying off anyone" is a much better PR statement than saying "reduced the salaries of every single employee" - which has a negative connotation. It is all McCollough and his ways of misdirecting opinion for his own political gain and publicity! "

    NI Reader wrote on Jul 30, 2009 2:55 PM:

    " Hey, Pro Hispanic,

    Why not just post both of your comments as one person or in one comment? Why disguise yourself as Pro Hispanic if is clearly and obviously the Economy Major still writing? "

    otro insider wrote on Jul 30, 2009 1:36 PM:

    " Yes, Dr. Varona,

    Decreasing salaries 'across-the board' including all employees -and administrators-, was an option that was mentioned shyly and only briefly just to quiet everyone, but was never reconsidered. If we assume every principal earns more than $65,000-$70,000 a year and all senior admininstrators' salary is around $100,000 a year ($120,000 for McCollough and $110,000 for Zimmerman), the math would have allowed to not decrease the contract of 98 employees to 10.5 and 11 months. Unfortunately 'Batman and Robin' are not the philanthropy type. "

    Pro Hispanic wrote on Jul 28, 2009 1:37 PM:

    " Marcy obviously doesn't care about the people of Santa Cruz County. African Americans and Hispanics feel the effects of a downturn disproportionately. Assuming that unemployment for these groups tracks the overall unemployment in the same way as it did in the last two downturns, the $100 billion increase in spending can be expected to reduce unemployment among African Americans by 0.71 percentage points and among Hispanics by 0.67 percentage points. The payroll tax rebate lowers the unemployment rate among these groups by 0.57 percentage points and 0.53 percentage points, respectively. By contrast, the corporate tax cut will lead to drops of just 0.14 percentage
    points and 0.13 percentage points, respectively. As for the bigger picture: a $100 billion increase in spending will cause the
    overall unemployment rate to drop by 0.5 percentage points. A reduction in the payroll tax of the same size will lead to a 0.4 percentage point drop in the unemployment rate, while the same cut in corporate
    taxes will cause the unemployment rate to fall by just 0.1 percent. And the $100 billion increase in spending leads to a 0.7 percentage point increase in total employment. The payroll tax rebate increases employment by 0.6
    percentage points, while the corporate tax cut leads to an increase in employment of just 0.14 percentage points. "

    Econ Major wrote on Jul 28, 2009 1:23 PM:

    " I don't think you know what you're talking about, Mr. Varona. The numbers you quote from the Goldwater Institute are exactly the opposite of those accepted by economists everywhere. Tax cuts increase labor supply, not jobs. There’s never been an episode in which we’ve tried reducing taxes when interest rates were this low. When we’re in uncharted waters, we’ve got nothing but economic theory to guide us. And the theory says it’s safer to stick to a spending-based stimulus plan. Do you really believe the Goldwater Institute does not have an agenda or that they are above using statistics to lie to us? This is one time you should listen to people from both parties, not just one. "

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