262 replies to this topic

[Nancy]

First of all, EDF, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know it's been a long time, but something like that can hurt for a long time.

I think you're right about the media. CMT would totally be in. Most of the music industry in fact. He's one of those artists who cross over really well. I've never known anyone who didn't know a few Johnny Cash songs. I mean, Everlast is doing a cover, for crying out loud.

We could tie all sorts of things in . We could do an annual music festival / annual bridge walk, etc. Maybe a percentage of the money raised could go toward prison ministry and/or a similar type of non-religious help for the victims and their families as well as inmate rehab and support for the families of the inmates.

I'm not terribly familiar with Johnny Cash's life story, but wasn't he a christian at one point, or later in his life? Not to make this a "religious discussion". (Please!) But I remember hearing that he developed a heart for helping people. No matter whether you subscribe to a certain religion or none at all, I think everyone can respect someone who is willing to lend a hand, a listening ear or an encouraging push in a better direction.

[EDF]

I sent this open letter to the men of the City Council and I also sent a copy to the Folsom Telegraph.

Take a look and let me know if you agree with me or not...

**********************************************************************

Gentlemen on the City Council

I think most of you know me and while I haven't been down at City Hall getting involved lately in what you have been doing, I want you to know that I am aware of what is going on in the City.

Yes We’ve Had Issues:

While I may have had many disagreements with some of you over the years in the development of the City, I will say that I am proud to be a Folsom Resident and your "stewardship" to date has been a big factor in making Folsom a great place to live.

In spite of those many disagreements with you, I know we share a love of and lots of pride in being a Folsom Resident.

You deserve and can take much of the credit because of the vision that you folks have had in choosing the fine and capable staff of civil servants we have at City Hall.

Now with that said... I'm now asking you to "re-visit" and change your position and name the new bridge after Johnny Cash.

The Real Reason Behind Your Decision…?

Because we still are a small town, it's really no secret amongst the residents here that none of you personally like Kerri Howell, the only "female" council member. Because of this fact, many of us feel this is the real reason you didn’t support her motion in favor of naming the new bridge after Johnny Cash.

OK, So What if Kerri Howell put this idea forward…

You know, as much as I didn't like her either at first, I have come to respect her because you know what...? SHE'S A DOER!!!

She did yeoman's work on getting the Cash Family to support naming this new bridge after Johnny Cash. They have indicated that they would be here as part of the dedication if you approve of the name change. Who knows, they might even donate a “guitar” he used for display at our museum.

Why is Folsom Famous…?

We all must agree, before INTEL and before most of us moved here, Johnny Cash had made Folsom Prison world famous, not withstanding that history records Folsom had the fist rail line west of the Mississippi and Folsom had the first Hydroelectric Plant supplying AC power to the City of Sacramento over 110 years ago.

You are missing a "golden opportunity" to harness the power of the National and International media to come to the opening of our new bridge, which is something I didn't see when we opened that new Gekkeikan Sake distillery back in 1992 or 1993 or when Kikkoman opened their new Soy Sauce plant here.

A Week of Celebration Before the Opening and the Bridge Walk

Because of the involvement of the “Cash Family”, there would be massive TV coverage such as: The NBC Today Show, ABC Good Morning America, The Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends, the local "Good Day Sacramento" probably would do a week of programming here, both Country Music stations would be here, CMT (Country Music Channel), Access Hollywood, maybe even Larry King and CNN. They love stories like this.

You’d have just about every politician such as the “Governator”, Senators Diane Feinstein and Barabara Boxer, Rep Dan Lungren and the new Congressman from Rocklin, Tom McClintock. Of course we’d invite the County of Sacramento Supervisors and who knows, we might even get the President of the United States to come if we invited him to see how “bi-partisanship” works in a Government Project.

We could schedule concerts with Johnny Cash Tribute bands for example.

Think of news coverage... TV Reports about the new bridge with the great views of the canyon, the surrounding hills, the lake and the sunsets that will be part of all this coverage, not to mention the beautiful neighborhoods with our unique parks, such as Folsom Kids Play park in Lexington Hills and the Aquatic Center. We can show case our emphasis on the environment that is displayed in our restored wetlands bounded by the nature trails.

Of course there would be the report of the contribution of the INTEL facility, but they’ll go “wow” when they see the commitment by Folsom residents in the education of our kids after they take a gander at our two high schools and the “award winning” programs we’ve got there.

I haven’t even mentioned the Folsom Prison and it’s history…!

Because of the New Bridge naming, you’d have the opportunity to show the world;

The old Rail Road Turntable that’s been restored, along with the Old Rail Station which is now our Chamber of Commerce building. They will see the new light rail system. You can show the world the old Hydro Plant with the visitor center and Lake Natoma with our world class trail system, our Rainbow Bridge . We will get to tell the story of the Old Truss Bridge we use for our trail system.

Of course there would be a report of the neat “ Old Town ” that by that time might have the “new look” that you have envisioned that is the center of so many activities for families and the large array of restaurants and night life.

What do we lose if you don’t change your mind…?

We will lose MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF MEDIA COVERAGE given to us for FREE.

Have you given some thought about how much money people will spend in Folsom to attend these events, the crowded hotels and restaurants, the upswing in the night life, the concerts and events you could sponsor.

To get this kind of activity, I wonder how much Folsom Chamber of Commerce dues you’d have to collect for an “Ad Campaign” to make up for that kind of publicity?

Finally:

I hope I have gotten you excited as much as I am about the prospect of having a spectacular and most "memorable" event that only happens once in our life times.

Please give this your consideration and do the right thing, let’s the name the new bridge after Johnny Cash.

Thanks for your time,

Ed Favinger
Proud Folsom Resident since 1989

[ngilbert]

interesting timing of all this -
Everlast (the rapper/singer who did "Jump Around", "What It's Like") just did a remix of Folsom Prison Blues, I heard it on the radio today. I'll post the video on the front page when it's available, it's supposed to be pretty cool.

Thanks for posting that - The constant little whistles on that song get pretty old pretty fast, but otherwise it's a cool remake.

[Dave Burrell]

My question to anyone is if naming the bridge after JC is such a wonderful opportunity for tourism as advocated by Kerri, why hasn't she urged/demanded that the chamber do a better job of promoting JC & the prison prior to this? She approves the tourism agreement with the chamber, why hasn't she expressed this belief before?

She's doing it NOW - so why not support her and the rest of us now who agree that its' a great idea that it could do well to promote the city in a very big way.

This is why I feel she is playing games. If she has been advocating all along at council meetings the need to promote JC & the prison as a toursit attraction, I would be very supportive of her. So would her colleagues.

She's doing it NOW so why aren't you supportive of her now??

IMHO, She is being a political opportunist in running with an issue she is trying to make into a wedge issue just to garner publicity for herself.

just exactly what is there for her to gain out of this? I don't know if you've noticed or not but Kerri's not the only one who is for this idea

There are valid reasons why Kerri can't get her colleagues to support her for being mayor. Its too bad because she does work very hard and is extremely intelligent, but there is a lot more to it than this.

they don't support her because they want to be mayor themselves, I thought that was kind of obvious..

I don't hate Kerri Howell, but I don't appreciate politicians misleading people and using them for games. I would say the same thing if it was Eric, Steve, Andy or Jeff.

Honestly Robert and no offense, but I think you're trippin' and still hating on Kerri - I do not see how this is a game to be doing what the vast majority of people here want - I know its a shock when a politician actually LISTENS to the will of the people, but I for one am glad that at least ONE member of the city council is willing to listen to what the citizens of Folsom are interested in.

[mylo]

Thanks for posting that - The constant little whistles on that song get pretty old pretty fast, but otherwise it's a cool remake.

Something about that song makes me want to jump around...

[ChipShot]

If there's no "I" in team, why did she undertake the Cash thing behind the backs of the other Council members??

Maybe that's why she didn't get their support. And maybe she's now alienated herself from the Council, which may make her ineffective from now on.

I dunno.

[Dave Burrell]

I sent this open letter to the men of the City Council and I also sent a copy to the Folsom Telegraph.

Take a look and let me know if you agree with me or not...

**********************************************************************

Gentlemen on the City Council

I think most of you know me and while I haven't been down at City Hall getting involved lately in what you have been doing, I want you to know that I am aware of what is going on in the City.

Yes We've Had Issues:

While I may have had many disagreements with some of you over the years in the development of the City, I will say that I am proud to be a Folsom Resident and your "stewardship" to date has been a big factor in making Folsom a great place to live.

In spite of those many disagreements with you, I know we share a love of and lots of pride in being a Folsom Resident.

You deserve and can take much of the credit because of the vision that you folks have had in choosing the fine and capable staff of civil servants we have at City Hall.

Now with that said... I'm now asking you to "re-visit" and change your position and name the new bridge after Johnny Cash.

The Real Reason Behind Your Decision…?

Because we still are a small town, it's really no secret amongst the residents here that none of you personally like Kerri Howell, the only "female" council member. Because of this fact, many of us feel this is the real reason you didn't support her motion in favor of naming the new bridge after Johnny Cash.

OK, So What if Kerri Howell put this idea forward…

You know, as much as I didn't like her either at first, I have come to respect her because you know what...? SHE'S A DOER!!!

She did yeoman's work on getting the Cash Family to support naming this new bridge after Johnny Cash. They have indicated that they would be here as part of the dedication if you approve of the name change. Who knows, they might even donate a “guitar” he used for display at our museum.

Why is Folsom Famous…?

We all must agree, before INTEL and before most of us moved here, Johnny Cash had made Folsom Prison world famous, not withstanding that history records Folsom had the fist rail line west of the Mississippi and Folsom had the first Hydroelectric Plant supplying AC power to the City of Sacramento over 110 years ago.

You are missing a "golden opportunity" to harness the power of the National and International media to come to the opening of our new bridge, which is something I didn't see when we opened that new Gekkeikan Sake distillery back in 1992 or 1993 or when Kikkoman opened their new Soy Sauce plant here.

A Week of Celebration Before the Opening and the Bridge Walk

Because of the involvement of the “Cash Family”, there would be massive TV coverage such as: The NBC Today Show, ABC Good Morning America, The Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends, the local "Good Day Sacramento" probably would do a week of programming here, both Country Music stations would be here, CMT (Country Music Channel), Access Hollywood, maybe even Larry King and CNN. They love stories like this.

You'd have just about every politician such as the “Governator”, Senators Diane Feinstein and Barabara Boxer, Rep Dan Lungren and the new Congressman from Rocklin, Tom McClintock. Of course we'd invite the County of Sacramento Supervisors and who knows, we might even get the President of the United States to come if we invited him to see how “bi-partisanship” works in a Government Project.

We could schedule concerts with Johnny Cash Tribute bands for example.

Think of news coverage... TV Reports about the new bridge with the great views of the canyon, the surrounding hills, the lake and the sunsets that will be part of all this coverage, not to mention the beautiful neighborhoods with our unique parks, such as Folsom Kids Play park in Lexington Hills and the Aquatic Center. We can show case our emphasis on the environment that is displayed in our restored wetlands bounded by the nature trails.

Of course there would be the report of the contribution of the INTEL facility, but they'll go “wow” when they see the commitment by Folsom residents in the education of our kids after they take a gander at our two high schools and the “award winning” programs we've got there.

I haven't even mentioned the Folsom Prison and it's history…!

Because of the New Bridge naming, you'd have the opportunity to show the world;

The old Rail Road Turntable that's been restored, along with the Old Rail Station which is now our Chamber of Commerce building. They will see the new light rail system. You can show the world the old Hydro Plant with the visitor center and Lake Natoma with our world class trail system, our Rainbow Bridge . We will get to tell the story of the Old Truss Bridge we use for our trail system.

Of course there would be a report of the neat “ Old Town ” that by that time might have the “new look” that you have envisioned that is the center of so many activities for families and the large array of restaurants and night life.

What do we lose if you don't change your mind…?

We will lose MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF MEDIA COVERAGE given to us for FREE.

Have you given some thought about how much money people will spend in Folsom to attend these events, the crowded hotels and restaurants, the upswing in the night life, the concerts and events you could sponsor.

To get this kind of activity, I wonder how much Folsom Chamber of Commerce dues you'd have to collect for an “Ad Campaign” to make up for that kind of publicity?

Finally:

I hope I have gotten you excited as much as I am about the prospect of having a spectacular and most "memorable" event that only happens once in our life times.

Please give this your consideration and do the right thing, let's the name the new bridge after Johnny Cash.

Thanks for your time,

Ed Favinger
Proud Folsom Resident since 1989

Ed we may disagree about politics at times, but I gotta say you rock! - that was a great letter and I am 100% in agreement with you about everything you said in all your posts about this subject and I think that's great that you took the time to write such a good letter to the city council

If I ever see you out and about - the beer is on me, you earned it

[Dave Burrell]

If there's no "I" in team, why did she undertake the Cash thing behind the backs of the other Council members??

Maybe that's why she didn't get their support. And maybe she's now alienated herself from the Council, which may make her ineffective from now on.

I dunno.

maybe they're pissed they didn't think of it first - or bother to pursue it.. or listen to the will of the people...

just a thought

[mylo]

maybe they're pissed they didn't think of it first - or bother to pursue it.. or listen to the will of the people...

Remember, you're talking about the same people that believe this new bridge crosses folsom lake... *boggle*

[Dave Burrell]

Remember, you're talking about the same people that believe this new bridge crosses folsom lake... *boggle*

hehehe so true.... laffable, yet scary at the same time that that's the best they could come up with - was it just to oppose Kerri? (lets pull a name out of our bums just to get back at her for having a better idea before we did..?)

good grief, of all the bad choices they could make.... (still shaking my head) - it's shameful and embarrassing, there's no way I will ever call it Folsom Lake Crossing - heck if no change happens then I'll be calling it American River Crossing and I'll just have to tell my visitors that the city council was high when they chose the other name (I kid!)

[ducky]

EDF, your Post #135 rocks, as does your letter. I am so sorry to hear about your loss.

You and I have had very similar experiences with Kerri. I certainly haven't agreed with her 100 percent of the time. If I only respected people's opinions that agreed with me all the time, well, that wouldn't be very bright.

I like that she's approachable with residents' concerns. If that makes me a stupid lemming in Robert's eyes, then so be it.

Kerri has not only responded to my emails about problems specific to my neighborhood, but she actually took action that helped address the concern. (I must give Eric King some credit here, because he also responds to emails, but Kerri is the one that took acton.)

I don't see what's so wrong about finding out how residents actually feel about this issue. How is that political game-playing?

[Jolene]

Something about that song makes me want to jump around...

Jump up, jump up and get down?

[Folsom Guy]

Robert...

Hey I think you are wrong about Kerri on this issue...

Now trust me.. If you remember... I've gone head to head with the folks on the City Council...

The Lexington Hills Community Organization which I was a part of fought the battles back in 98 and 99 over the apartments that are part of the "triangle" there... and lost.. I believe Kerri was on the council then and voted us down...

We also had that big battle when Val Doss and I tried to fill in for Al and Bob when they decided to modify the Empire Ranch plan and it created a wet land that was bounded on 3 sides by houses.. Kerri was even kind of condesending to Val...

We also fought them on the water meter issue and Kerri was against us there...

We had a big time fight with the City Council over the south of 50 plan and Kerri was one of the council members against us on that one...I'm still miffed at that..

But you know what... As much as I didn't really much care for her back then.. at least she did listen and I think she's made her own judgements and voted for what she thought was right...

I didn't have a dog in that hunt over the Veterans memorial by the library and her reason for voting against the libray site was the ball fields which I guess we still haven't replaced...

But since I've not gotten involved in the last couple of years with the doings down there... I do watch what is going on... and I wound up supporting her when she ran last time...and had her sign in my front yard... I think along with Val Doss..

So... for you to say she's got maybe some other agenda is wrong in my opinion...

It sounds to me like she got it lined up to have the Cash Family go along because they don't approve of just anything that someone wants to use the family name on...

Naming this bridge after Johnny Cash... such as the "Johnny Cash Memorial Bridge" or the "Johnny Cash Folsom Prison Memorial" bridge... you know...? just sounds kind of neat...

I think we would be fools to let this city council approve of the current name the way it is and just "fritter away" a golden opportunity to garner some real "National/International" publicity that the "Bridge walk opening day" would bring to this city...

This is a "once in a lifetime" event... even bigger than the one we did back in August 14, 1999 which was the day we did the bridge walk for Lake Natoma Crossing... All we did to celebrate it before the walk was a fire works show the night before.. I remember because I was there watching it from the Power House Pub... and the day after the bridge walk...? my girl friend died of a brain aneursim, Sunday the 15th... so I remember that period for lots of reason....

We'd have a lot more "dignataries" at this one next year... the "governator".. I betcha we'd get "Babs Bouncer"... "Di-Fi"... Danny Lungren... the new congressman from Placer county Tom McClintock.. both the Country Music Radio stations here would be there... CMT would have a crew there... Access hollywood... Fox News... CNN... NBC Today Show... Good Morning America... Good Day Sacramento...

We'd probably have a whole week of celebrations.. parties... concerts.. I mean come on... Let's have some fun with this....

I mean are you crazy for not wanting this kind of publicity... ?

Somebody... Somebody... bring me some reasons not to do it... OTHER THAN...

It's not a good idea because Kerri Howell proposed it... Folks.. she got this all approved by the Cash Family.. She did all the "yeoman's work" to get it approved...

But yet... we have a couple of City Council Guys who don't like her and of course they are human and don't want to give her the credit...

And you know what... That's what this is all about...

RANT OVER...

+100000