LETTERS
The Recall, Cont’d
Regarding the gubernatorial debate, I was shocked and dismayed that Peter Camejo could say that the rich don’t pay their fair share. In 2000, when my electronic business was booming, I paid approximately 39% to the feds and 9% to the state from a nice salary. Add on sales tax and property tax and I end up paying approximately half of my income (a large amount) to the government.
What is enough, Mr. Camejo,60%? 70%? Let’s see, by having his legal residence in Florida, Tiger Woods saves approximately 9% on, what, $100 million per year? If California’s rate was even 5% maybe he and a lot of others would not have legal residences in Nevada and Florida while spending most of their time here.
Drew Giese
President
Giese International
Irvine
I find it very hard to believe that any grownups, even non-English speakers, could have so much trouble using a punch-hole ballot.
I feel this way because of my personal experience in assessing the English language skills of hundreds of school children.
One simple test asks students to look at a page of pictures and “point to the bananas” and “touch the box of crayons.” One hundred percent of the students are able to answer correctly! There are more difficult questions that some will not answer correctly, but that’s another story.
If very high percentages of children as young as 6 and with very limited English skills can point to the correct pictures, then there is no reason why adults cannot punch the hole next to the correct name on the ballot.
So please, no more excuses for delaying the recall election. I want it to be over and done.
Rex Ricks
Huntington Beach
Chairman Ueberroth?
If John Reed doesn’t work out as interim chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, maybe someone should ask Orange County’s Peter Ueberroth to step up to the plate (no pun intended for the former baseball commissioner).
The idea is not so far-fetched, considering Pete effectively offered his services as an “interim” California governor until he dropped out of the race and considering that he already knows where to meet and eat in Manhattan, since he worked at the baseball headquarters!
Denny Freidenrich
First Strategies LLC
Laguna Beach
Life Lessons
I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs. Whether in sports, business or life, I’ve learned that no matter how much you prepare and focus, sometimes you are just destined to do something else.
My baseball career in the Philadelphia Phillies organization ultimately ended with a series of injuries, including a blown-out ACL in my right knee and a torn MCL in my right elbow within seven months of each other.
I began a public relations firm in the San Fernando Valley in 1999, working with several dot-coms and a variety of small businesses. We took our lumps during the technology recession and were poised for a rebound when Sept. 11, 2001 hit. From that moment on, many businesses stopped spending money, especially on marketing.
To adapt, we changed our fee scale, setting a predetermined price for each service instead of charging clients the usual retainer or hourly fee. To date, several companies have found our concept to be extremely effective and affordable.
When my father’s cancer took a turn for the worse in 2002, we relocated back to Orange County so we could be closer to him and my mother. Although business has been a bit challenging, it allowed me the freedom to be with my father when he needed me most, and for that I am truly thankful.
Change is here, and change is coming. How we adapt to it will be the determining factor in our lives.
Bruce Petillo
Advance Small Business
Yorba Linda
