In a time where children's remains are found within miles of our schools, and in a state rife with sexual predators (hundreds are registered within our immediate area), the concern of Los Gatos parents would seem to have foundation. Anyone would agree.

The concerns of parents regarding simple safety measures and background checks are unbiased toward any group of individuals—they stem only from a desire to keep their children as far from the mainstream population as possible while outside of their control. This premise aligns with school policy and has nothing to do with any single individual's background. All are scrutinized equally, whether they're in uniforms or suits.

Your recent cartoon, on the other hand, makes apparent your biases about the situation. It also indicates that you haven't been to the campus to see for yourself the safety hazards the children face. As the husband of a kindergarten teacher, I had been there many times early on and had seen some of the trenches that kindergarten children had to navigate to get to the bathroom, which was many yards away from the classroom and well inside the construction fences.

Portraying Los Gatos mothers as bigots for their safety concerns is unfair, irresponsible and immature. The only bigotry I've witnessed regarding this safety issue thus far has been your cartoon. Of course, anyone could surely appreciate the gist of the cartoon had it been executed in the proper context. Los Gatos is not mainstream America, but to distill a rational concern down to a label of bigotry shows not only an immense immaturity but a lack of compassion in an age where the brutalization of children is a very real threat.

I recommend that you review the databases established which provide the names and addresses of locally convicted pedophiles and then consider that it is the money of the women you've insulted that helps to pay for this paper.

—Mark D. Mastroianni, Los Gatos


District takes student safety seriously

The Los Gatos Union School District takes the safety of our students very seriously. As we begin construction at Van Meter and Fisher schools, we have reviewed the concerns that center around the desire for a "secured campus" and have addressed the issues in these ways:

* Hired a security person who will keep the children away from the construction area and the construction personnel away from children. This person will also enforce the badge rule for all visitors to campus as well as help with traffic flow, identification of safety hazards and more.

* Require that all construction workers enter the site through a separate entrance to receive a badge and highly visible vest.

* Reinforced the fences around the construction area and added a green barrier on the fence to make the division between the construction zone and the school area more visible.

* Instituted a daily safety check performed by school personnel and a weekly safety check conducted by a School Insurance Group risk manager.

* Repaired areas that may have constituted safety hazards.

* Arranged for numerous inspections by the fire marshall.

* Added a passenger walkway at Van Meter so that children and parents will not cross traffic leaving the drop-off/pickup area.

* Requested that the town of Los Gatos: 1. Reconfigure the crosswalk at Nino and Fisher to more safely accommodate children walking to and from Van Meter and Fisher; 2. Adjust the stoplight at Nino and Los Gatos Boulevard during heavy use hours to allow a better traffic flow from Nino Avenue onto Los Gatos Boulevard; 3. Re-stripe crosswalks near both Van Meter and Fisher schools to make the crosswalks more visible; 4. Assign patrol officers to periodically monitor traffic around Fisher and Van Meter.

We continue to look for ways to improve our campuses and pickup and drop-off areas. We appreciate the cooperation of our parents and community that is expressed in many ways, especially through your use of safe driving habits around our schools and your suggestions for improvements. We welcome suggestions, which can be made at the school sites (please place suggestions in the box in school offices) or by contacting Jim Silva, director of construction and facilities. Mr. Silva's email address is silva@lgusd.k12.ca.us and his phone number is 408.335.2014.

Because the Superintendent Chats are a valuable tool for learning about parent concerns, they will be held monthly. I will be holding these meetings so that parent voices can be heard and successes can be celebrated. The next chat is Nov. 25 at 8:45 a.m. at the Van Meter School staff room.

—Kathy Haugen, Facilities, Planning and Construction Secretary, Los Gatos Union School District


Disabled should not pay more

This is in response to the letter from the tourist Don Warner in the Nov. 6 Los Gatos Weekly-Times.

I would like you to provide the readers with the name or names of which "main motels" in this town "charge extra" for handicapped rooms. If that is the case, and they do charge extra, those establishments don't deserve our business.

It is hard enough for those who have disabilities to get around this town as it is, but to have to pay more for a motel/hotel room than others because of a disability is insane.

—Lynn Panighetti-Morin, Los Gatos


Praising work of county firefighters

We have lived on Locust Drive—directly across the mountain from the Myrtle Canyon fire that occurred on Halloween night—four years to the day. As we look out at our beautiful mountain view, we give thanks for the mountain life we know.

It is with great effort that we do not focus on the circumstances that caused the fire that could have destroyed our home; we just hope that the property in Myrtle Canyon will be cleaned up and its "squatters" living in life-threatening conditions cleared out. The property owner should be sweating well-earned bullets right now.

Rather, we want to focus on our neighbors and members of the Aldercroft Road Association phone tree who came together to alert us and the firemen who were at our service on Thursday night and then again on Friday night when the embers stirred and fire gripped the mountain once more.

We were fortunate to have the Santa Clara County Fire Department, University Avenue team camped out on our deck for the entire night, keeping a vigil in the bitter cold, taking care of each other, supporting us and our neighbors who joined us, reassuring us that they will protect us, literally with their lives. That is what hit us so hard. They protect us with their lives. We watched as the fire department and inmate crews climbed up from the canyon and down the steep grade of the mountain from Soda Springs, carrying hoses, chain saws and at times each other, crawling on their behinds, working their hearts out, to save our mountain, our homes and our lives.

Having felt the heartache of Sept. 11, it was now even more clear to us how precious people are, how easily lives can be lost and how much we took for granted—the hard work and dedication of our firefighters. The cooperation and camaraderie amongst these men touched our hearts and brought tears to our eyes. These men should be invited into every classroom the world over.

How can we thank you enough? Please, residents of the mountains and the towns, stop by with a hug and some gratitude the next time you pass a fire station. It was an amazing feeling when we realized that at any moment these (hungry and cold!) men, who sat with us all night and shared our worst fears, could be taken from us in a split second just because they are selfless and courageous. God has a way of reminding us to be grateful, lest we forget.

God bless you, our four new friends—Capt. Winters and your teammate heroes. We are humbled by you and your huge hearts. We are better for having met you.

—Beth and Terry Miller, Los Gatos


Nesbet the candidate of choice

Congratulations to Barbara Nesbet, who once again received the most votes in the Monte Sereno City Council election. I hope her fellow council members will take note that so many Monte Sereno residents felt Barbara was not only the best and most qualified candidate, but the one in whom they have the most confidence.

—Sallie Goodfriend, Monte Sereno


Home tour an uplifting experience

I want to thank all those who allowed us into their homes [for the Los Gatos Historic Homes Tour]. My husband, my mother-in-law and I had such a great time—the experience was very uplifting. I still feel good from it today. We have truly talented people working and living in this area, and we all benefit from it.

—Susan Narlesky, Los Gatos


Light rail simply does not work

t's time to pull the plug on light rail financing. We tried it, and it does not work!

More than 25 years ago, I first heard of light rail in an article in the local paper describing how it would be coming to the Cambrian area where I lived. The article reported that a person from the Cambrian area working at the GE plant on S. First Street could commute to work the six miles in six minutes. How wonderful—we could not wait.

For many years, half of transit funds went to light rail and soon a line was opened. Surprise—light rail does not travel at 60 miles an hour but rather at a little over 20 miles an hour, slower than many buses.

A few years went by and another surprise—we were told that light rail must have 80 percent of all transit funds. Then another surprise—we found in the Valley Transit 2020 budget, where it is first reported, that during the next 20 years jobs are planned to increase 21 percent and freeway capacity increased only 4 percent.

More surprises. It has been recently reported that for light rail to succeed it must impact development patterns.

This last week, the biggest surprise of all. We find out that only 21,260 trips a day are being made on light rail, while buses carry seven times as many.

Counting out and back, it is only 10,500 people who are using the service. What a sacrifice of lifestyle is being asked of the rest of us to make light rail available for these very few riders. A light rail system costs 20 times as much as a bus system to build. Transit share of trips nationally is decreasing rather increasing. Many studies show that light rail does not work.

We do have problems with congestion, air pollution and housing affordability, and we can solve these problems with an open debate.

Let's shut down light rail tomorrow and concentrate on buses, which are much more economical and flexible. The few existing riders will return to buses.

Studies from the Thoreau Institute in Portland (www.ti.org) have been liberally used in this letter.

—Lowell Grattan, Los Gatos