Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

WalMart appears in a dream with office supply stores

Last night, a dream. I was on the Planning Commission. When asked, "Why four office supply stores in town?" I evasively rummaged for a paper clip.

"Young lady," I gruffly snorted. "How is it that with four office supplies I can't find a paper clip?" My eyebrows inflected, she hid.

Foe slain, I bravely declared, "Four's not enough! Nay! Five! Five, I say! Citizens demand access!" (Besides, the Founding Fathers would have wanted it this way. So there you have it.)

Deafening applause aside, I calmly adjusted my hearing aid. Then with Caesar's resolve I loudly decried, "Why not five of every store in town? Five auto parts; five video stores; five banks; bookstores; 7-11s; you name it. Who cares about the small guy (or the view) anyway?" An ovation ensued.

Sweating, I awoke recalling that earlier I couldn't find that "book" I so urgently craved. Pouting, still groggy, I considered (of all things) the orchard on Bascom and Lark avenues.

Reassuringly, the Convenience Fairy proffered, "Soon, very soon, a WalMart will open. No need to even get out of bed." Thus, 'twas a dream, not a nightmare.

God bless Mom, Apple Pie, concrete WalMart. Oh, and also the Planning Commission. G'Night, John Boy.

Greg Hall

Los Gatos

Costs can be trimmed without cutting service

Recent articles and editorials all seem to imply that the only way to offset the cost of fixing our roads is by reducing services elsewhere in the town. I did not vote and take a strong stand against the passage of the utility-users tax because I believed that services should be cut.

Nor did I [oppose the tax in a visible way] out of a grand idea of running for Town Council myself because I will not. I took the stand because the town can be more efficient at managing its benefits and material costs.

There is an unusually high increase in the benefits and materials portion for the current budget. In researching past budgets for the town, I could not find increases to these areas as high as they are now.

When I asked the Town Council and David Knapp why the increases were so high, the only one who gave me a reasonably satisfactorily answer was Councilmember Steven Blanton. He stated that a buffer was always built into the budget. OK, I buy that, but how much is the buffer?

In doing my research, I found that the Planning Department has consistently reduced its overall budget. The materials cost within this department has actually been reduced, but within the Town Council and Police Department, it has been greatly increased.What exactly is the materials budget and why the increase?

Also within the non-departmental materials budget, there is a $50,000 increase in the category of Education Reimbursement. What exactly is that category? Are we spending money to send people to school? That sounds good except that in past years that category has only increased by $2,000 to $3,000, not $50,000. The Ranger Program could be saved if we cut back on the Education Reimbursement Program. I can't believe that employees of the town would want one of their colleagues to lose his or her job so someone else could get education subsidies.

I also believe that looking at why we gave top town managers housing loans is not going to solve our problems.

Staff members are a valuable resource within our town but more importantly, they are people with families. Our town employees and staff members should not be used as pawns in a vicious game created by our Town Council in hopes of extracting more money from its constituents. The message being sent to our town employees by this council is that town employees are expendable. Our employees are not expendable but come November, hopefully, the clear message to the Town Council will be that the council is!

Carol Ann Weber

Los Gatos

Opinion Policy

The Weekly-Times strives to present a full spectrum of community opinion on these pages. Letters to the editor, commentary pieces and cartoons reflect the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the editorial opinion of the Weekly-Times.

Letters to the Editor

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