Permit for Movie

A recent movie project was granted a permit without due process to the neighboring businesses. The businesses were merely informed of what was to take place.

The permit was issued for a Friday afternoon, the peak hours for this poverty pocket called Santa Paula. Traffic was halted and parking spaces on Main Street were occupied by the movie makers’ employees. The rear parking lot housed the horses. The railroad depot was used as additional parking for the crew. There went the hundreds and hundreds of tourists who are deposited by our Fillmore railroad, just like the Las Vegas “redeye.”

And then a film-crew “gofer” came into my shop to borrow a big bag to pick up what the one horse chose to drop, showing its appreciation.

Yep! They dump other cities’ trash near Santa Paula. They dumped the jail here also and now this movie making--with the horse adding the final exclamation point!

If filmmakers want to impede our business for their profit, they should compensate those businesses for the loss of revenue.

JESS VICTORIA

Victoria’s Shoe Repair

Santa Paula