Beware – Bond Issues Are Coming

By Neil Rubenstein

Observer Columnist

I know it isn’t November but let’s talk turkey. Get a little closer so I can whisper a deep, dark secret that the Board of Education doesn’t want you to know. Before I start, take a look around. See anyone listening to our conversation?

Okay, here it is. This bond issue, if passed, will go up every year if the value of your home or apartment goes up. The Board – and you just have to love them – isn’t concerned with seniors and renters. If you cannot pay, move, because the prices are headed just one way and it ain’t lower. Now, I believe in school bonds because while that money cannot be used for employee benefits, it will free up other bucks because Sacramento needs BIG money to fix the teachers’ pension system. Mark my words, more local bond issues are coming, and coming soon.

Do you really believe they need all that money now? Those Wall Street bankers say yes. They sure do – big profits them. But I would say that because of the economic mess we’re all in, a compromise is needed. I suggest we vote NO and then lower the amount from $100 million to perhaps $60 million and have a fixed yearly assessment rather than this one with an escalator and yearly adjustments.

Save the middle class, save your home, keep your apartment and vote NO now.

I have several thousand hours of books on tape and old time radio shows. Last week I heard Fred Allen say, “My father never raised his hand to any one of his children, except in self-defense.”

It seems every day brings our city one day closer to the May 22, 2014 deadline. That date is the drop dead deadline when long-range property management plans must be submitted to the California Finance Department in Sacramento. It’s the redevelopment properties thing and rather than trying to figure out all the “this and that” I leave it to the city hall team.

Have you ever been to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley (800-410-8354)? No, I didn’t vote for him either, but if you want to see Babe Ruth’s bat or Joe DiMaggio’s record-setting baseball or Jackie Robinson’s, Mickey Mantle’s, Willie Mays’ or Hank Aaron’s jerseys, or Air Force 1 or a piece of the Berlin Wall, then you just gotta be there by September 4. Tickets: http://www.reaganlibrary.com/baseball

Speaking about baseball, on April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson made his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The opening game saw the Boston Braves lose 5-3.

Do you remember March 22, 1984 when the seven people who worked at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach were indicted on charges of sexually abusing the children? All were either acquitted or had the charges dropped. It was in the news for months.

After July 1, 2014 California consumers won’t be able to purchase some types of rat poison. It will be only pest control companies and trained professionals with state certifications. If you use it, better load up soon.

Strange but true – In February the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that David Bell could not avoid being charged with a DUI merely because he passed all six “field sobriety” tests.

Are you a model train nut? Well, I am, too. So I plan to travel to 6503 Katherine Road, Simi Valley and see the depot, museum and railroad artifacts. It is open Saturdays and Sundays 1-4, with a $1 donation requested. Call 805-581-3462 or visit http://www.santasusanadepot.org.

For those of us who studied the history of California, we were amazed and disgusted to read of all the anti-Chinese laws in effect at one time or another. I went through my file labeled “discrimination” and on March 28, 1898 the Supreme Court, in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, ruled that a child born in the United States to Chinese immigrants was a U.S. citizen. Before then that child would not have been so designated.

Instead of topping off your tank on weekdays, time your fill-ups for the weekend. In a study of all 50 states it was found that the cheapest days to buy gas are usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday; Tuesday and Wednesday were generally the priciest.

Mid-March figures show the average federal tax refund was up 1.9% to $2,197, compared to last year.

The Museum of Ventura County is free on the first Friday (100 East Main Street, Ventura; 805-653-0323, ext. 318; http://www.venturamuseum.org).

Talk about being brazen . . . In the past year illicit refunds cost the federal government nearly $4 billion. They arrested 880 people in the past year. Can you believe two men pleaded guilty in Georgia last year for trying to get a tax refund by using the name, social security number and the date of birth of Eric Holder, the United States Attorney General?

For those with youngsters, mark your calendar. May 29 on http://www.collegesavings.org you will find promotions on National 529 College Savings Day to include waived fees. State-by-state offers will be shown so you can notify friends and family across our great country.

I am not in the stock market at this time but if I were I would consider the Fidelity New Millennium Fund. 1 year up 32%, 3 years up 18%, 5 years up 30%, 10 years up 9%. Don’t buy anything without talking to your financial advisor.

Police in a suburb of Paris are taking DNA samples of all male students and staff. It’s voluntary but if any of the 527 males refuses he could land in police custody. Police are searching for the person who raped a teenage girl on the school campus.

Perhaps the oil companies have used their influence to downplay this in the newspapers, radio and TV. In Oklahoma in the week ending Saturday, April 12, 2014 they had 48 quakes larger than 2.5, and during March they had 157 quakes. One hundred fifty-seven!

Since 2009 the earthquake activity has been almost 40 times higher than in the previous 30 years. At this time there is nothing conclusive, but many believe the probable cause could be fracking.

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.CulverCityObserver.com by placing Rubenstein in that website's search box.