 |
|
|
|
|
Letters
Town needs a dedicated senior center
We need a senior center. Yes, a dedicated center for seniors. I realize we have a community center, but that will not do.
I have paid taxes in Santa Clara Valley for three generations. Every Friday I work at "brown bag," a place that donates a bag of good food to the poor. I deliver many bags to poor people in Los Gatos. Most folks don't realize the number of shut-ins and poor people in Los Gatos. We need a place that is dedicated to the seniors. A place for fellowship, a place where folks believe they belong.
What can I do to get the town of Los Gatos to establish a senior center?
Howard Theobald
Los Gatos
'Free Speech Advisory' is just another 'spin'
Your Free Speech Advisory is an equivocation and smacks of lawyerly or "Clintonesque" spin.
We readers certainly realize that letter writers' creations are solely theirs, but we also know that you can choose which, or any, to print. You also have freedom to edit those submissions.
We also recognize that your staff and editorials are free to express their own opinions, but that you also edit their contributions for perhaps grammar, syntax and certainly validity and ethics.
So you have a measure of control of the content printed in your paper.
It seems clear to me that your editorial cartoonist frequently pushes the envelope of decency and propriety, and while certainly he is entitled to express his opinions, and you are entitled to print them-- you cannot equivocate, spin and waffle and escape the taint.
You have allowed the cartoonist to become the focus, not the events or people about which he was editorializing. That's bad mentoring.
Alan Caras
Campbell
Blue rubber bands are ecologically unsound--and also maddening
OK, now this may not be the most important thing that I've ever written to complain about, but it is one of those little nuisances that could/should be easily remedied. I'm talking about those little blue rubber bands that hold my Los Gatos Weekly-Times neatly rolled up--they are everywhere.
Take a stroll down Los Gatos Boulevard and look carefully around your feet--you'll see them--seemingly hundreds of little blue rubber bands.
My dogs certainly notice them and so do the birds. Now I haven't done a definitive survey of how widespread this phenomenon is or whether this was just a one-time appearance. Given that the half-life of a rubber band is certainly 50 years or more, what I'm seeing may just be a single dispersal by some deviant newspaper carrier. Regardless, the fact that such a wide stretch of the Boulevard is littered with these things, I believe, warrants some further investigation on the part of the Weekly-Times.
I recognize that the problem of how to secure a newspaper or magazine in an environmentally sound way is not easily solved. I've been fighting with PC Week for years over their use of plastic bags. And on a related front, I keep threatening to pick a fight with whoever the company is that makes the tops of the Odwalla juice bottles--you know the ones that if you tear the tab far enough, it comes off and instantly becomes litter. These issues are small but the amount of trash and it's potential impact on wildlife (and my sanity) is great.
Few too many people remember that the reason the tabs on soda cans stay attached is because someone many years ago recognized the danger that the disconnected tabs posed to the environment. But I digress, and at the moment, I'm focused on rubber bands.
Surely, in this highly sophisticated and creative town, there is some inventor who can provide the LGWT (and maybe their sister publications, assuming they too use little blue rubber bands) a more ecologically safe method of securing the paper in a tight protective roll.
Now on to bigger battles!
Larry Perlstein
Los Gatos
Town's growth has impacted local wildlife
We just received a letter from the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, the only wildlife rehabilitation group in this area, stating that the town of Los Gatos has refused to provide their portion of requested funding for this valuable service.
As Los Gatos business owners devoted to wildlife, we, of course, are members of the Wildlife Center. During the year we have hundreds of customers and non-customers alike calling our store about what to do about a baby or injured bird or coming into the store with a bird for us to take to the Wildlife Center. We always help when we can but always refer these concerned citizens to the Wildlife Center. Where else can these questions be answered? Who else can care for injured or orphaned birds and wildlife?
Since the growth of Los Gatos has had such an impact on wildlife, this simple and nominal funding is but a small investment in the preservation of the remaining wildlife. We hope the town will reconsider its refusal to share in funding this important rehabilitation service.
Freddy Howell
Wild Bird Center Los Gatos
Sign is gone, but tomatoes still available
Have my many customers missed my usual "tomatoes" sign at the end of Charles Street? After selling tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, apples and wood for many years, the "powers that be" told me to take down my "firewood" sign or he/they would remove it.
As a longtime resident at the dead end of Charles Street, I was most unhappy to hear that ultimatum.
Anyone who wants to buy beautiful, unsprayed tomatoes, please call 356-4474. Thank you very much.
Frances Boden
Los Gatos
Town's decision to ignore wildlife is embarrassing
I am saddened and ashamed that our town could not budget $3,949.50 for our share of the cost of caring for injured and orphaned wildlife. Our town seems to be more concerned about appearing beautiful, building parking lots, luring new business and building new homes.
With all the new revenues, you would think that we could allocate some funds to the animals and birds that we are displacing by using every square inch of land and increasing traffic which also puts the wildlife in danger.
I do not live in town but in the surrounding hills. My address is Los Gatos; I graduated from Los Gatos High School, do 90 percent of my shopping and dining in Los Gatos. Los Gatos is my town, and I strongly disagree with the decision to shirk our responsibilities, particularly because our town is surrounded by beautiful mountains, and I am sure that a large percentage of the wildlife injured or orphaned comes from our town.
Please do not use the excuse that we can use the services of the state Department of Fish and Game; we all know better than that.
Susan Bjorlie-Score
Los Gatos
Closing exit to highway is a bad idea
The attempt by town officials to even consider closure of S. Santa Cruz Avenue ramp is extremely short sighted. It appears that a town that depends on visitors is trying to harass these same people who bring revenue to it.
The closure of the ramp will probably only reduce traffic on S. Santa Cruz Avenue. Most of the drivers will ignore the road signs and drive on. There will be horrendous congestion at the Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue intersection as cars turn around. Also traffic will still come down Santa Cruz Avenue and turn left at the intersection with Highway 9. I cannot see the closure solving any problem.
Also, frequently Santa Cruz and mountain residents will stop in downtown and either shop or dine. This short-sighted attempt will make these same folks--including me--go elsewhere. I do not use a shortcut through town but I will go to town to shop or dine in order to allow the traffic situation to abate.
The town turned off a lot of these people in the past with its parking problems. Now the same town leaders are at it again. A town that depends on visitors for much needed revenue dollars sure has a very short sighted policy if they close the ramp.
I think the solution is not with the town of Los Gatos, as it does not control Highway 17. This problem will arise every time there is an accident anywhere on Highway 17 south of Los Gatos exits.
Please leave the ramp alone and do spend your energy trying to reduce the problem of increasing graffiti and vandalism in town.
Desmond Gunatilaka, M.D.
Los Gatos
De Cinzo gets on right track
Recently, the community had a chance to weigh in on Los Gatos Weekly-Times cartoonist Steven DeCinzo.
Just to be fair to him, I want to say that I have found his cartoons in the past few weeks to be clever, focused on issues, and (something I like a lot) using wry humor to spotlight some of the idiosyncrasies of our local culture.
Keep up the good work!
Mike Abkin
Los Gatos
|
|
|
|
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
