As we begin the 2010 NFL season, the title “head coach” comes to mind. There are three new head coaches in the NFL this season, yet none is really “new.” Mike Shanahan is now the Washington Redskins head coach, after a long successful career as Denver Broncos head coach with 4 AFC West Championships and 2 Super Bowl victories.

To debate or not debate is not the question. What do you stand for, what changes do you want to make to better our community and lifestyle and, most importantly, how are you going to achieve it? Congressional candidates Ray Lutz and Michael Benoit apparently feel differently because they began a hunger strike last week to get 52nd District Congressman Duncan D. Hunter to agree to multiple debates (they have both since started eating again). Hunter has already agreed to a debate on Oct. 15 which would be televised, but Lutz, a Democrat, and Benoit, a Libertarian, want more than one debate as well as multiple locations.

The most powerful union in California is at it again. The California Teachers Association is sponsoring Proposition 24, an initiative that will permanently repeal a series of tax benefits (estimated at $1.5 billion annually) for California corporations that were set to begin taking effect next year. The teachers union wants the tax dollars to soften the budget cuts to schools, health care and other services. President Obama continues government spending by signing a $26 billion bill to slow teacher layoffs and will pay for it with increased taxes on corporations and decreased food stamp benefits.

   Like it or not, with the County Board of Supervisors approving the Montecito Ranch project along with the winery ordinance, changes are coming to Ramona; and the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

   The Montecito Ranch project has been on the drawing boards for over 12 years with many different variations from different developers. When the approved project is completed (several years from now) it will include 417 homes, an equestrian center, 8-acre park and a 12-acre historic park; both park areas will be open to the community to enjoy. There will also be approximately seven miles of trails and over 571 acres of open space. But with the good comes the bad. There will be significant impacts to highways 78 and 67 which will need to be worked out between the developers and CalTrans to minimize traffic problems.

First, congratulations and thank you to the chamber, the sponsors and all who volunteered in putting together last week’s Country Fair. The organizers promised four days of country fair fun, and that’s exactly what happened. While there are other family attractions in the county (where you can spend a lot more money), you can’t beat the down home fun of a country fair—so if you missed it, put it on next year’s calendar now. There has been some confusion as to why the animals were not there as in years past, but I believe the explanation from both the Chamber and from the Junior Fair Board expresses the concerns and the reasons for the two events not running simultaneously.

  Property owners typically start thinking about the wildfire season in the fall, when dry Santa Ana winds kick up the fire threat a notch or two.

   In reality, fire is a year-round threat in San Diego County, a point driven home last week with a handful of lightning-started brush fires in San Diego County’s backcountry and a 3,000-acre, weapon-started blaze aboard Camp Pendleton.

   Local fire officials are saying that the past wet winter helped germinate a whole new generation of grass and weeds over land that has previously burned in the Cedar and Witch Creek wildfires. This thin, low-growing vegetation accelerates a fire’s progress, the experts say.

  Rant:    Last week Congress gave final approval to a massive financial reform bill which places more authority on federal regulators to spot problems in the financial system to prevent another crisis. This goes right along with the health care reform bill that will create bigger and more intrusive government and does not guarantee there won’t be any future bailouts using taxpayer money. The ultimate outcome will undermine competiveness, stifle growth and cause more job loss. Case in point, several years ago, Sweden was one of the wealthiest countries in Europe. It experienced a financial crisis after which the government took more control of the banking and investment industries and the country is still struggling with slow growth and high unemployment.

   Here we go again. It’s time for leadership. Someone to guide, to direct, to take charge of the state Legislature. In the past 24 years, the Legislature has passed only one state budget within the mandated July 15 date. Lack of a budget costs the state $52 million a day! Three proposed budget plans are before the Legislature, one from the Democratic caucus in the Assembly, one from the Democratic caucus in the Senate and one from the governor; the Democrats can’t even agree on one plan and the Republicans have offered no detailed plan. Where’s the leadership?

   PRIDE is the one word that embodies the lessons my father left for me. I have often used PRIDE as a mnemonic device (a reverse acronym, if you will) to describe a path to follow. Pride in yourself, pride in your work, pride in your family.  P*R*I*D*E:  Personal power; Responsibility; Integrity; Determination; and Everyone.