Soka’s Push for Expansion
I have watched Assemblyman Tom Hayden’s bill to bar Soka University from using the term university from the bill’s introduction by Hayden--”Mr. Special Interest”--to its present state after many in-depth revisions. The bill was originally so poorly written that it directly attacked thousands of small businesses around the state.
I am interested because I support Soka University establishing a campus in our community. The school would be an educational, environmental, cultural and economical benefit.
Hayden’s bill was written with the “special interests” of Joe Edmiston and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in mind. I can hardly imagine a more “special interest” bill, a blatant abuse of power by Hayden.
We read day after day, in horror and disbelief, about the collapse of our economy, the loss of jobs and cutbacks in education with chain-saw precision. We have chased business from California. Now our legislators want to chase education out too.
As the gladiators of budget wars fight on, Hayden spends $6,000 (the cost of one of these bills) to take public relations potshots at Soka University. What a fantasy land these guys in Sacramento live in.
DAN MOLINA
Agoura Hills
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