Name-calling won't do At no time does Gilbert Beezley inform the reader that the residents of the Susana Knolls area are in opposition to the proposal to rezone a rural area to high density. It is the rezoning we oppose, not the property owner's right to build. If Mr. Beezley will refer to the General Plan Amendment Screening Guidelines, provided by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, then actually visit the site in question, he might be inclined to agree that this project does not meet the criteria for rezoning. Besides, as recently reported in The Star, it is on record that both the city of Simi Valley and the county claim to be "on track" with affordable housing. His dismissal of our concern for safety, as something that should simply be addressed as an afterthought, further suggests he is unfamiliar with the area in question. He claims that the safety issue is "not a valid reason" to oppose this rezoning proposal. I have to wonder how valid it would be if Mr. Beezley's family's safety was jeopardized by such a proposal. Safety is a very real and valid concern of the neighbors here. Adding another 600 cars or more to the area's single railroad crossing during a fire evacuation could be a recipe for disaster. The author, a resident of Oxnard, states that "the idea that affordable housing should be limited to certain areas such as Oxnard is an ugly concept." Could it be that Mr. Beezley is an Oxnard "NIMBY"? I have no record of any Susana Knolls resident making such a comment and I take offense that his commentary implies this! I can go on, but the bottom line is that Mr. Beezley makes claims based on the viewpoint of the developer, without regard to the hard-working residents who will continue to live here long after the developer has built and is gone. Shame on Mr. Beezley! Instead of playing fair, he resorted to cheap name-calling, much in the spirit of a schoolyard bully who has to flex his power when the facts aren't in his favor. - Susan Selvaggio, Santa Susana Knolls |