Gale McNeeley

After two years of planning, community meetings, and a formal recommendation from the Planning Commission, our City Council decided not to listen to the community, the Planning Commission, or its own Recreation and Parks Department. Instead, they listened to the developers, who don’t want their projects to cost a little more, even if the money […]

There’s so much talk and print given to national and state candidates for Washington and Sacramento. But local races are so much more important. Who we elect for county supervisor affects all of more directly. That’s why Joyce Howerton’s run to unseat Joni Gray is a key race this year. She offers us an alternative […]

I like your paper. I read it weekly. That’s why I’m so disappointed in the paid advertisement you recently ran across from your opinion page. Why? Because it is nothing more than Andy Caldwell bashing John Laird. He paid you to bash John Laird in what looks like an op-ed piece when, in truth, it […]

I’m a disabled vet with a public health-care program, and I’m happy.   My mother felt secure with Medicare and a supplemental insurance. Now, Congress wants to give all Americans an option to buy public insurance at a rate they can afford—creating competition with the for-profits, who have been declining care for decades and killing […]

It is clear that some investments really pay off but not yours and mine, currently. The banks have been investing in politicians, and they are getting their money’s worth. Banks get bailed out, and we don’t. What if we invested our money in politicians and what if banks, corporations, and lobbyists were prevented from doing so? What if we […]

I just sent a donation to PCPA Theaterfest, not because I am rich, but because PCPA makes my life richer with the live theater they bring to me year round. I came to Santa Maria in 1985 to perform at PCPA in Gypsy, and last performed and taught there in 2000. I know from the […]

What happens when a majority of voters denies equal rights to a minority? It took decades for interracial marriage to be legal in every state. Now, we will have a biracial president. Why should we believe that the passage of California Proposition 8 will permanently deny marriage to all consenting adults? It is only a […]

When the Chinese government silenced the voice of dissent during the Olympics, the media and many Americans expressed outrage at their tactics. Now, when producers of the news show Democracy Now, filming a peace march at the Republican National Convention, are manhandled and bloodied by law enforcement coordinated by the FBI, where is the media […]