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Opinion
Jan. 19 - Feb. 1, 2008 35
Community Commentary from Page 34
with information so that they can take to work fl exible hours at both of the sites. Volunteering to work at a VITA site of families who benefi t from these extra
advantage of this opportunity. The best part is that you don’t have to is a wonderful way to help those in the EITC funds. Those who participate not
This year, there are two VITA sites be a tax expert. Trained volunteers will community unfamiliar with the EITC. only receive thousands of dollars in tax
in Downtown Chandler: Community provide tax assistance to the public There are many positive results through credits, but the money also benefi ts our
Services of Arizona, 650 N. Arizona Ave., from February through mid-April. If Chandler’s participation in the VITA local economy.
and First Credit Union, 25 S. Arizona you would like to volunteer, please call Program. As the number of volunteers
Place. The City is now seeking volunteers Flor Lara at 480-782-3226. continues to grow, so does the number
Letters
to the
Editor
The old Goodyear water
world than those it tries to prevent. Dodge, thus stopping the inquiries? I variety of sources and then sell them –
tower at Ocotillo
It makes all the sense in the world am not questioning your patriotism,
no lost pet in the area would be safe.
Many people who have come to
because all one has to do is read what is just your purposes at this time. Your
Imagine, too, the dangers posed by
Snedigar Park may have noticed the
in them. In a free country there should activities appear Clintonesque.
testing pesticides and other chemicals.
old faded water tower nearby. This
be no mandates, especially when it Ray Pilara, Chandler
Since they engage in this sort of testing
tower is a signifi cant and important
comes to vaccinations. If they work
in their other facilities, there’s no reason
part of the history of the Ocotillo
so wonderfully, why do the medical Student opposes Covance
to think they won’t do so here as well.
area and is scheduled for demolition
Nazis want to mandate them? Vaccines My family and I came to Chandler
in the near future. I recently learned
should be a decision made by families,
nearly a year ago, and were very happy.
Cindy Erotas, Phoenix
of the impending doom of the old
not by government bureaucrats and
Ross, Target, Red Lobster and Harkins
Goodyear water tower. This tower was
politicians.
Movie Theatre are less than a mile away.
Chandler rethinks
built sometime between 1917 and the
Check out Vaccines, the deadly cure
But now, we are thinking of leaving
project grants
early 1930s by the Goodyear Tire and
at www.prisonplanet.com/archives/
Chandler, because of one reason: In a recent article in the Arizona
Rubber company to supply water to
vaccines/index.htm
Covance. Covance Animal Testing Lab
Republic, Chandler City Councilman
their new community of Goodyear. This
George Zacpal, Chandler
is literally across our subdivision! We
Jeff Weninger bemoans the method
community was built to house workers are outraged at this, and here are a few
in which the city of Chandler doles
for their farming operation to produce
Bruno, Anderson missed
reasons why:
out taxpayer funded grants to new
long staple cotton for the manufacture
among applicants
1. Covance has a B license, and
of tires for the military during World
I read news articles stating that 38
businesses occupying downtown
has a negative impact on the city of
War I. The cotton fi ber was made into
citizens have applied for the Chandler
Chandler.
Chandler’s historic buildings. The
cloth for fabric to cover the aircraft used
council seat vacated by Martin
2. Covance was originally pointed
grants are part of redevelopment of
during the war. Goodyear continued
Sepulveda.
in the Mayor’s direction, very close to
downtown Chandler. They’re intended
growing cotton in this area until the
From the articles, I was surprised
his house, but he said, “I don’t want an
to encourage businesses (i.e. tenants) to
early 1940s.
that some applicants listed education
animal testing lab near my house. Let us
invest their own money in an older and
There is precious little left of the
as a top city priority when the city
make it on the crossroads of Gilbert and economically challenged part of town
original town of Goodyear, built around
has no jurisdiction in that area (school
Queen Creek.”
where the risks to success are higher
the time of World War I by the Goodyear
boards do that). Others spoke of growth
He didn’t want it near his home;
than traditional Big Box shopping
Tire and Rubber Company. The old
management as a top priority when
we the people don’t want it at all! I
water tower (not to be confused with
residential growth has nearly peaked.
malls.
realize that he is the Mayor, but we the
the Bashas’ water tower) still remains.
None mentioned public safety and
Weninger argues that the building
citizens of Chandler believe that our
The original cemetery is still there,
transportation in the articles. How about
owners benefi t from the grants received
voices should be represented and heard
surrounded by an 8-foot block fence and
attention to older neighborhoods?
in this situation.
by the tenants and should be required
the Fulton Ranch development, but the
Most of the applicants seem to be
3. Covance did not pass the vote in
to contribute their money as well.
owners are not maintaining it. Bashas’
professional people who have run
California (I did some research).
However, that requirement would be
corporate offi ces and their magnifi cent
businesses, but don’t seem to know the
4. Covance are the largest dog breeders
like throwing the baby out with the bath
Western Art Gallery are housed in some
functions of the council or the city’s
in the world, I mean, who would want to
water. The building owners take an even
of the original buildings, which include
legal jurisdiction. The vast majority of
be shopping at Target and be smelling greater risk by restoring old structures in
the theatre building. Several buildings
applicants have never had an interest
dead animal carcasses?
a downtown area that may or may not
other than those owned by Bashas’
to serve on a city committee or
5. Covance is a mile and a half away
also remain. These include the original
commission, but somehow, now, seem
become vital in coming years. Should
from Ryan Elementary School. The
hospital building and the house next
qualifi ed for a council seat.
the Downtown Improvement Fund
students are going to get the idea that
to it, which was the residence for the
The most important upcoming duty
succeed in requiring building owners
they want to be animal testers when
hospital doctor.
is participation and contribution to the to fork over even more money of their
they grow up. Would you like to come
I lived in old Goodyear while a child
budget process. Among the applicants,
home and ask your child what they
own, further investment might quickly
from 1938 to 1946, and the tower has who has sat in on previous public
did at school today, and for them to
dry up. Downtown Mesa is an example
signifi cance to those of use who lived budget sessions or provided citizen
there when it was still named Goodyear, input? A council position requires a lot
respond to you, “We decided what we
than quickly comes to mind.
before it was renamed Ocotillo. One of dedication, and with the city budget
want to be when we grow up. I told my
City of Chandler offi cials instead
of my childhood friends fell from the needing approval, that experience
teacher, I want to be an animal tester at
should look at the result of their
tower one evening while climbing the among the candidates seems to be
Covance.” investment in the restored and
ladder on it and died as a result. If it is lacking.
Thank you for your time, and for all revitalized historic downtown. The
possible, I would like to see the tower I can only say that I am sorry not to see
you Covance workers out there, do you
downtown businesses cited in the
preserved as part of Chandler’s history. Patti Bruno or Dean Anderson’s name
really want this impact?
article are successful and fl ourishing.
It may be too diffi cult to remove and on this list. They are eligible and recent
Erin Kong, 5th Grade CATS Students
It was money well spent by the city.
transport it to a suitable place such as council members who have dedicated
at Ryan Elementary, resident of The
People are fl ocking back to what was
the Tumbleweed Park in Chandler – their lives to community service in many
Trails
previously a virtually deserted strip
actually the tower would be best served ways inside and outside of governmental
by leaving it in its present location. boundaries. Both have been through
Covance in Chandler ironic
of pavement on weekend nights. My
I will probably shed a tear or two the budget process many times. Both
Imagine the irony if Chandler’s City
wife and I have recently patronized
upon the old tower’s demise. I hope served unselfi shly, understood issues,
Council approves Covance’s proposal.
the businesses there and the energy
that the demolition decision will be are fi scally conservative and have lived
A town founded by a veterinarian
emanating from the old downtown’s
considered carefully, as the water tower in the community for 20+ years.
(Chandler was named for Dr. Alexander reemergence is unmistakable. There’s a
meant a great deal to those families Though a volunteer city committee
John Chandler who was the fi rst sense of community there; it’s becoming
both poor and affl uent whose lives would be a better fi rst step for the
appointed veterinary surgeon of the
a destination for us.
were signifi cantly enhanced by having applicants, thanks to all who applied to
Arizona Territory) and that boasts three
Mark Moorehead, Tempe (“A newly
running water to their homes. The help out. Any rookie is better than what
bark parks, the annual Ostrich Festival
frequent Chandler area visitor”)
tower is a monument and memorial we have had.
and a plethora of pet-friendly apartment
to those who lived at Goodyear from Mark Taylor, Chandler
complexes and hotels is no place for the
the World War I era and beyond; they
construction of a 400,000-square-foot
lived, worked and sometimes died in Sepulveda deployment
animal experimentation laboratory.
Letters to the Editor
Goodyear while producing a commodity questionable
Imagine the agony of the families
We know you have your opinion! Share
it with the SanTan Sun News. Unless you’re
of long staple cotton, which was vital to I have some questions that I would
of lost pets who discover their lost
the Mayor, please keep your Letters to the
winning World War I. This tower should like council member Martin Sepulveda
loved one was subjected to painful
editor around 200-300 words, or they may
not be destroyed if it is possible to save to answer. Did you volunteer for active
and lethal tests and then incinerated
be edited for length. Please include your fi rst
it. duty this time? Will you actually be in a
in the facility’s proposed pathological and last name, community or development
Charles Nickell war zone? Have you ever physically set
Waste Thermal Destruction Unit (an
name in Southern Chandler (Cooper Commons,
Chandler Historical Society Treasurer foot on Iraq soil? Will you request the
animal carcass incinerator). This would
Ocotillo, Sun Groves, etc.) or ZIP code and
city continue to pay your council salary be a distinct possibility because in the
daytime phone number for verifi cation.
Vaccines not government while you are away? proposed facility Covance employees
Anonymous letters are not typically accepted.
business I feel the answers to these questions would test drugs on monkeys, dogs,
Email is the preferred submission method, to
Letters@SanTanSun.com.
I found your story on the topic of to be signifi cant. You are currently rabbits, cats and other animals, and,
Opinions expressed in Community
vaccines not very accurate and very one under scrutiny for questionable because Covance has a Class B Dealers
Commentaries, Letters to the editor or cartoons
sided. It is my opinion that vaccines activities. Could your current License – a license that allows the
are those of the author, and not that of the
are responsible for more disease in the departure be a means to get out of company to acquire animals from a SanTan Sun News.
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