The following letter was printed in yesterday’s Coastal View News, here in Carpinteria. Actually, 2 words were excised by the editor, which I have emphasized below.

The future of beautiful Carpinteria should be up to us, the citizens of Carpinteria, not Venoco. A vote for Venoco’s Measure J means giving the oil company too much control of our future. We should not vote away our rights for local government and environmental protection.

Venoco’s claim that onshore drilling is better than offshore is a clever deception. Venoco already operates offshore oil rigs off Carpinteria. Their plan is to drill onshore also, not instead.

It is not true that the Paredon project would impact only the Concha Loma area. It would affect our entire community. Besides, is there any number of homes and families that we are willing to turn our backs on? No, in Carpinteria we are all neighbors and we care about each other.

I am voting NO on Measure J, and I hope that you will join me.

Kyle Kimberlin
Carpinteria