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April 6, 2003 Dear Anna,
To whom it may concern,
I love your e-paper.
I have a great passion for Puerto
Vallarta, and look forward to reading your paper each
week, hearing about the local news , and what will be
happening...
I have been to your wonderful home
15 times, and have made some very special friends..
and look forward to retiring there in the years to come....
Please keep up the good work.
Your friend
Brian McP.
Dear Editor,
Are there any positions in your area
to teach English as a second language - middle school
to high school grades??
Thank you.
Ms. Kai Graff
Dear Anna,
I have been coming to Pt. Vallarta
for many years and look for your articles first upon
arriving. I just left last week. Since then, I have
been trying to think of a way to lend a local woman
a hand. She is very brave, in my opinion, and in need
of our support. Perhaps you have some ideas.
Maybe you saw this… on Sunday,
March 2nd of this year while watching a friend's TV
I saw a very moving one-hour Dateline special about
a PV resident named Anna Busby who had taken her son
from the United States in order to protect him from
being abused in his father's house. He is now 19 and
in no danger, but she is wanted by the US authorities
and must return this year to face serious charges. They
showed what a horrible ordeal she had been through in
the US court system and how the courts there clearly
had failed in their duties. Dateline had been following
her family for 6 years.
Maybe you know her. I believe she
is an English teacher at one of the local schools.
Anyway I learned her friends and
family started a website called www.SaveAnna.com
It has some details I can't recall at the moment.
Excuse this rambling letter, but
this matter has been on my mind. I intend to make some
calls on this end and maybe start a letter writing campaign
to the DA.
Sincerely,
Randy Jones
P.S.: Small world - in trying to
find her, I learned Anna and her husband have a small
business in the Marina area (near McDonald's), where
I buy water when I'm there.
Dear Editor,
There are so many local and world
issues I could be addressing today but I am not, I am
going to just tell you that I await each week the cover
of your newspaper. It is always so colorful, beautifully
done and starts me off feeling happy, and grateful I
am here.
To you and your staff, have a wonderful
day and thank you.
Debbi Egan
Dear Editor,
I had the opportunity to compare
my electric bill with that of a friend who lives in
a house in Pitillal. I live in a condo in the marina.
I was shocked to discover that CFE
(the electric company) has joined the ranks of those
who are ripping off consumers by charging inflated rates.
My friend’s charges for electricity
are broken down into a 3 tiered system: Basic for the
first 150 kw, Intermediate for the next 250 kw, and
Excess for the remainder. The charge (per kw) for Basic
is 0.507, Intermediate is 0.607, and Excess is 1.515.
These figures are for March, 2003. The figures for January
were slightly lower.
My electric bill has only the Basic
category, for which I pay 1.515 per kw.
In March paid $1,199 pesos for electricity,
but if I had been charged using the 3 tiered system,
my bill would have been $677 pesos, a difference (overcharge)
of $522 pesos.
We looked at my January bill and
the figures were similar, I paid $1,180 pesos, but should
have paid $667 pesos if CFE wasn’t overcharging
(by $513 pesos) those who live in condos in the marina.
If the good citizens of Puerto Vallarta
continue to allow this and other abuses to continue,
they’ll soon find that Americans and Canadians
won’t come here, and that will result in massive
unemployment, vacant stores and buildings, and economic
depression for the area, among other things.
F. H.
Re: Progress at a Price in Paso Ancho
Hola,
By way of brief introduction, my
name is Kurt Sinner and I'm a teacher just outside Portland,
Oregon. I've been coming to Puerto Vallarta for twenty
years, vacations mostly. The past several years I've
frequently stayed up in Paso Ancho. The following addresses
a very real concern I and many others like me have.
As dignitaries descend today on this
small enclave to inaugurate the “Puente de Paso
Ancho,” a monstrous highway-like bridge spanning
the Rio Cuale and opening access to the Sierra Madre
above Puerto Vallarta, a cloud hangs over the once sleepy
“Wide Pass.” For some it’s the cloud
that signals the end to tranquil days along the banks
of the river. For others it’s a cloud that portents
opportunistic, economic prosperity. But for all who
must breath the air in Paso Ancho, this cloud isn’t
symbolic of change, it’s a cloud that rises from
the dirt road running through the town’s center,
affecting both children and adults with cold and flu-like
symptoms—raspy coughs, runny noses, sore throats,
irritated eyes and nagging headaches. There is dust
everywhere, a mixture of dirt and dried animal feces.
It filters into homes and onto food, it gets into the
pores of the skin and permeates newly washed clothes,
and it is sucked into the lungs of anyone taking a breath
along the route.
The cause? Certainly the bridge,
but more specifically the constant flow of traffic—primarily
buses—that now cross the river and dump into this
town unprepared to handle a hundred-fold increase in
vehicles. Now, in a 12 hour period, over 100 buses rumble
back and forth down Felipe Angel, Paso Ancho’s
main street, making the air brown and people sick.
There is an immediate, practical
solution to this unfortunate by-product of progress:
stop the buses from running the length of the town until
the road is paved, and then regulate the number passing
through per hour. Give back to the people a semblance
of the day they once knew. Give back their health and
control over the air they breath.
Until such a time when those politicians
who came to Paso Ancho today to talk of progress bring
with them a solution to the health hazards their bridge
now creates, the least they can do is say “no”
to two hundred and forty passing buses a day.
Kurt Sinner
Dear Editor:
The International Friendship Club of Puerto Vallarta
wants to thank a special lady. Carolyn Chambers, the
Executive Producer of the soon-to-be released movie
"Puerto Vallarta Squeeze" for her donation
to the IFC's Annual Bazaar of the props and accessories
from the movie set. The donation of these goods was
greatly responsible for what we consider produced the
most successful bazaar in our history.
Ted Pentecost, a lifetime IFC member, said that Mrs.
Chambers has been a seasonal resident for over 20 years.
Four years ago, she purchased the rights to produce
the movie and was told Puerto Vallarta lacked in facilities
and suppliers. Despite many odds -and the persistence
of Mr. Pentecost- everything needed was purchased from
merchants here, plus additional revenues for the substantial
amount for hotel rooms needed for actors and crews.
We commend and thank you again Mrs. Chambers for your
support of the IFC's charitable programs through your
generous donation. We hope others will follow your example
and help with local charitable endeavors and promotion
of our vital and beautiful Puerto Vallarta.
Alfonso C. Ward, President
International Friendship Club of Puerto Vallarta
(Club International de la Amistad)
Dear Editor,
On March 1, 2003, when we landed
at the Puerto Vallarta airport, a Mr. Garcia, who identified
himself as an RCI representative, approached us to attend
a presentation at the Mayan Palace.
He promised us two tickets on the
Santa Maria Cruise as well as a bottle of Tequila and
a bottle of Kahlúa if we attended the 90-minute
presentation, as well as a complimentary breakfast.
Early Sunday morning, someone called our hotel room
at 07:30 to confirm that we would be ready to be picked
up in the lobby of our hotel for our 09:30 appointment.
When we spoke to Mr. Garcia, we told
him that we were timeshare owners at the hotel Plaza
Pelicanos and that we had no intention of buying any
more timeshares. He even noted this on our invitation.
When we arrived at the Mayan Palace,
we handed the invitation to a young woman who noted
aloud “Do not intend to buy”, she then verified
our ID and credit card, then introduced us to a gentleman
named Rob. Rob chatted with us about Canada, he said
he was from Toronto, and asked us questions, which we
answered truthfully. After speaking with us for about
15 to 20 minutes, he asked “Do I have a snowball
chance in hell of selling you anything today”
to which we replied, “We don’t think so”.
He then told us that he was going to speak to his Manager.
When Rob returned, he asked us to
follow him. He then led us outside where he introduced
his Manager, as “This is my Manager”. The
“Manager” then proceeded to tell us that
they had their quota of “French Canadians”
and that they could not complete the tour. He then advised
the people at the reception to put us in a taxi back
to our hotel.
We were not given breakfast, or the
promised items namely the Santa Maria Cruise, Tequila,
and Kahlúa.
We are both diabetics and having to wait until we returned
to out hotel before having any breakfast was not only
a time consuming inconvenience, it was also detrimental
to our health.
When we agreed to attend the presentation,
Mr. Garcia made us promise “On our word of honor”
that we would be there. Even though we took our promise
seriously and gave up some of our precious vacation
time to attend the Mayan Palace presentation, we were
treated with disrespect and callousness and we were
insulted as well for being “French Canadian”.
We our proud of our French Canadian heritage and resent
any inference that we are not as valued as others
.
We find the treatment we received unjustified and cruel,
and consequently, we intend to never visit any of the
Mayan Palace facilities.
Although we realize that we are only
two retired people, we intend to warn anyone going to
Mexico about the treatment they can expect at the Mayan
Palace.
This letter was registered in Puerto
Vallarta with the Canadian Consulate, and a formal complaint
was filed with the Municipal Tourism Office and the
Time Share Condominiums Association.
Michel V.
Editor’s Note: We should mention
that this case does not illustrate the norm with the
majority of the timeshare developers.
Re: A new scam at Pemex
Dear Editor,
I hesitated to write this as I am really tired of reading
complaints about Vallarta, but for the sake of information
sharing I am sending this to you.
I have learned to watch the attendants
at the gas stations. I make sure the pump meter has
been returned to zero and that I do not get shortchanged
100 pesos if I give them a 500-peso bill.
Now they have a new scam. I have
not figured out how they do it, but twice, when my attention
was distracted, the pump meter indicated a cost that
could not have possibly been correct. When I challenged
them, they banged the pump on the side and the meter
changed to a figure that was most likely correct. I
suspect that while I am watching them bang on the pump
they are flipping a switch, or something, with the other
hand. If it happens again I will try to watch more carefully.
This has happened both times at the
Pemex station near the Medasist Hospital.
D. M.
Dear Editor,
Did certain timeshare operations
provide funding to restaurants to rebuild after the
hurricane in exchange for permission to market on their
premises?
The reason that I ask is that I,
and my companions, were approached by timeshare representatives
in two different beach-front restaurant when we were
in Puerto Vallarta in March. This has never happened
before and it looks like it could be spreading. Friends
of mine said they were also
approached in a different restaurant and others stated
that they were approached while in stores.
It is bad enough to be approached
in the street, but I am used to this and have accepted
it. However it is most disturbing to find that one is
not even safe while dining in a restaurant. I, for one,
simply will not return to an establishment that allows
timeshare people to approach me. I am paying for a meal
and the ambience. Timeshare people are not part of the
ambience for which I am paying.
Dan Freeman
96 Schermerhorn Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
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