Let residents judge traffic

Re: Dave Rodriguez's May 11 letter, "Bad traffic initiative":

Rodriguez is speaking for the League of United Latin American Citizens members who live and work in Oxnard when he voices concern about an Oxnard city measure? The Oxnard traffic initiative reflects the feelings of many residents who feel that the majority of their elected city officials have not been responsive to their wishes.

Rodriguez makes numerous misstatements about this initiative. He says it would place a financial burden on Oxnard taxpayers. This is not true. The burden would be on the developers to fix the worst intersections before building new residential developments greater than five units or commercial developments exceeding 10,000 square feet.

Only if the developers fail to fix these intersections would a measure be put before the voters (paid for by developers) to decide whether those developments should be built anyway. How is that a burden on the taxpayers?

The developers have made huge profits, yet, they have not been made accountable for the traffic congestion resulting from their developments. The reduced fees developers paid for traffic mitigation during the real-estate recession of the early 1990s were never increased during the boom of the early 2000s.

Rodriguez is correct that, if Oxnard city officials had been paying attention, we might not be finding ourselves in this mess. The Oxnard traffic initiative is definitely not about "affordable housing" or lack thereof. Right now, the median home price in Oxnard is $365,000, so I am not even sure what affordable housing means anymore.

Who is more qualified to judge traffic congestion in Oxnard than the residents who are forced to be in it daily? As an Oxnard resident, I am insulted by Rodriguez's assertion that Oxnard citizens lack the expertise or judgment to have a say about traffic in their city.

— Marika Arthur, Oxnard

Planning' misunderstood

Re: Dave Rodriguez's May 11 letter, "Bad traffic initiative":

First, I must say Rodriguez is one of the finest types of individuals one can hope to meet. He is a sports touring motorcycle rider, as I am, and on that basis he qualifies as a fine fellow.

But he doesn't understand the way Oxnard does business.

The process Rodriguez endorses doesn't exist in Oxnard. Indeed, there are educated planners in Oxnard, but they are employees at will. To not support a project desired by three members of the City Council of Oxnard would mean termination. Through whatever convoluted logic that might be necessary to qualify an otherwise bad project, that logic will prevail.

The Planning Commission? In name only. Oxnard has a land-use commission, and any project the commission votes down is automatically appealed to the council. The majority of the council has wanted development at virtually any expense to the quality of life for the citizens of Oxnard.

The members of the council include at least three who enjoy financial enhancement and power by seeking virtually unrestricted development.

Rodriguez lives in Camarillo, along with many business owners and members of the Chamber of Commerce in Oxnard. Some members use their business address as their place of residence so they may vote in the elections to ensure there is unrestricted growth in Oxnard — the kind of growth the citizens of Camarillo would never tolerate.

The Oxnard traffic initiative is needed, along with councilman districts and an elected city attorney.

— Martin Jones, Oxnard