A letter to the editor in the Jan. 1 edition of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times expressed a very negative opinion of the postal service. While I can't speak for the rest of the nation but only as one who has lived in nine different communities across the United States in the past 15 years, at least the Los Gatos Post Office deserves some special credit. The fact that the counter staff always seem to be friendly and courteous may partially explain why they continually attract a long line of customers.

While I applaud the employees of Longs Drugs for their holiday spirit, I think the writer was wrong in implying that the postal employees wouldn't have done exactly the same thing. On several occasions they have gone out of their way to be of service to me and my family, from keeping the back door open late for me to pick up mail or accepting holiday boxes that were "officially" too big to ship priority mail.

The one thing I appreciate most about Los Gatos is that the "friendly" is still in friendly service. Perhaps longtime residents take this for granted and only notice the extraordinary examples. My advice to all of you is to appreciate good service when you get it (if only with a smile) in all of its forms, and go out of your way to thank everyone from your garbage collector to the grocery store clerk.

—Dan Snyder, Los Gatos


Discussion might lead to some positive changes

In her letter published in the Jan. 8 edition of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, Ms. Panighetti consistently describes what she feels is an "overlying sentiment" against the families of those involved in the November accident involving Eric Quesada. However, what she calls "moralizing" by community members is not fruitless hand-wringing. Rather, it is the expression of a sincere and necessary desire to make positive changes.

In a circumstance such as this, people are often reluctant to assign blame out of respect for the victims. But if people want to make changes—and I'm sure that people such as Ms. Panighetti do want these changes—the only way to see what has to be done is to assess responsibility.

As a Los Gatos High School senior, I have seen firsthand the pain this accident has caused. With it comes a natural desire to let the issue rest. But this is not a productive attitude!

Ms. Panighetti correctly points out that people made bad decisions that night. However, she then goes on to neglect the root cause of these bad decisions. She correctly asserts that what happened in November is a community problem, yet she does not propose anything to address the problem she sees. So I challenge her and the entire community: What will provide for the most positive changes? Sitting around and saying, "It wasn't your fault" or having a frank and realistic discussion, assigning responsibility among the many parties that share it and deciding how to fix it?

The goal of such discussion is not to smear character; it is to take a realistic look at the situation. The goal is not to cause pain, though it might do so. And if people really want to help our community, they will endure the pain so that they will not have to experience this kind of accident again.

—Roey Rahmil, Monte Sereno


Minority was too small to stop Daves stoplight

Bill Ferguson's rage regarding the Daves Avenue light is misdirected. The folks responsible are those who did not show up at last May's Los Gatos council meeting. It was there that Councilman Steve Blanton ventured that the few people present against the light were an indication of its wider neighborhood support.

The truth was that the dozen or so neighbors who tried to make a safe crossing never wanted a full stoplight. And we had lobbied hard for a pedestrian-activated crosswalk with a landscaped, wide median to look more like Monte Sereno than Milpitas. But by the time of the Los Gatos meeting, most everyone was just fed up with the government's narrow response.

After many meetings, it became clear that the town's traffic consultants were handcuffed by their operating orders. They would not evaluate the real problems of speeding and safety on Winchester. It was obvious to all that narrowing the road and removing an unneeded traffic lane made a full light unnecessary. Though this had the greatest merit and was backed up by traffic studies, it was declared beyond the scope of the consultant's work and the neighborhood design suggestions and efforts were ignored.

The Monte Sereno City Council did listen. They got a new consultant to look at the neighborhood around the intersection and then voted unanimously to have these design elements included. However, the bureaucracy of government had by then turned the request for a safe crossing into a focused specification for a light. Los Gatos has yet to even respond to the Monte Sereno consultant's requirement to eliminate one lane (for 800 feet) as critical to any safe Winchester crossing.

So now the light will go in and do what lights do. And the reason is the informed minority was not large or squeaky enough to stop a well-meaning but clumsy bureaucracy from building this expensive "white elephant."

—Mark Brodsky, Monte Sereno


Learning more about an old friend

As a former Los Gatos physician, I was very interested in the obituary/life story you did on Ed Malatesta (by Shari Kaplan, Dec. 25 Los Gatos Weekly-Times). I'm retired in Medford, Ore., and haven't worked in my Los Gatos office since 1993, but a friend sent your article. I thought it was very well done, and I learned a lot I didn't know about Ed's life.

My old partner, Dr. Jim Ness, was Connie Malatesta's chief doctor for a long time, and I made house calls on them when he wasn't around. I also took care of the son, Father Ed Malatesta, on brief occasions when he was back from China or Rome. His soft-spoken manner was quite a contrast with the more loud, bombastic manner of his father—the old station manager, Ed.

Your article was so much appreciated, as I followed Ed through his life—so many things I didn't know. I kept thinking, "Boy, this is excellent reporting."

So regards from Dr. Bill Johnson, who spent many happy years in his office next to Los Gatos High School.

—William W. Johnson, M.D., Medford, Ore.

In the Jan. 1 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, an incorrect headline ran with an article previewing the Authors Lunch sponsored by the Los Gatos­Saratoga branch of the American Association of University Women, which takes place Jan. 30 at La Rinconada Country Club. There are two Bay Area authors speaking at the luncheon.

In the Jan. 8 story about the 10 Monroe Court project, the date of the Los Gatos Town Council meeting on the zone change was incorrect. The meeting is on Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. in town council chambers.