Vivian David complains that Democrats are "standing in the way" of Bush judicial nominees ("Democrats should not stand in the way of nominee," May 18). Democrats have vigorously objected to just 10--out of the 218 judges nominated by Bush--for their extreme right-wing views, and Republicans are apoplectic.

Yet, Republicans prevented 60 of President Clinton's nominees, some with personal stories as compelling as Janice Brown's, from receiving a vote because they were allegedly too liberal, and that's apparently just fine. I guess that's what they call "Republican logic."

Gary Rose

Los Gatos

Facts missing
in letter about
judicial nominee

I don't often put fingers to keyboard to respond to a letter to the editor, but I think there are a few facts that Vivian David missed in her letter last week ("Democrats should not stand in the way of nominee," May 18).

Janice Rogers Brown was first nominated to the California Supreme Court by Pete Wilson. At the time, Ms. Brown was rated not qualified by the Judicial Nomination Evaluation Committee. Pete Wilson appointed her anyway. At the present time the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary has rated her qualified by a majority of the committee and not qualified by a minority of the committee. And based upon the information on the committee's website, not only was it a split vote, but it was not even a super majority (10 to 13 members out of 15 total) who thought she was qualified. If close to half of the people who rate potential judges believe that Ms. Brown is not qualified, why should we give her a life appointment?

Beyond Janice Rogers' qualifications or not, however, is the bigger question of absolute power corrupting absolutely and whether either political party being in total control of both houses and the White House might not have a tendency to push too hard for their agenda. Personally I think it very important to leave the minority party the possibility of the use of the filibuster for any reason as a possible check on the power of the majority party. It is not a tool that is used lightly, nor even all that often.

For a good history of the use of filibusters for all sorts of reasons, one can read the May 10 op-ed piece by George Mitchell in the New York Times.

I hope that cooler heads will somehow prevail and a bi-partisan compromise can be struck by senators who understand the potential ramifications of changing the filibuster rules.

Linda Lubeck

Los Gatos

Wasserman doing a 'fantastic' job
as town's mayor

Mike Wasserman is a fantastic mayor. In the past we have had mayors like him. He has the time and talent for the job. I feel it is time for us to consider having mayors serve more than one year. In the meantime, I thank our mayor and town council for jobs well done.

Alice H. Hansen

Los Gatos

Parents need to be
aware of state
school funding

Today a parent at my daughter's school yelled an expletive at a teacher for standing in front of the school campus with signs urging parents to become educated about the effects of the governor's legislative proposals on our schools.

Los Gatos is a community with a long-standing reputation for putting its money where its mouth is by supporting our schools through initiatives such as the parcel tax and the Los Gatos Education Foundation's annual $1 million fundraising campaign. These two endeavors, supported by the Los Gatos community at large, provide 25 percent of the Los Gatos Union School District's annual budget. As a result, the schools in our town rival any of the best across the state, and, I would venture to say, in the country.

In addition, school districts across the state are looking at ways to reduce programs, increase class sizes, shut down schools and lay off teachers. The Los Gatos Union School District, on the other hand, is visionary in its desire to improve education in our community.

The E-squared (Excellence in Education) Task Force, supported by the district's board of trustees and the parent community at large, was implemented in 2004. This group has been tasked with the goal of identifying key initiatives that would further improve the quality of elementary and middle school education to provide a world class program for the children of the district.

My husband and I feel fortunate to live in a community like Los Gatos that puts public education at the top of its priority list. My children have been fortunate to have teachers like Linda Nanez, who has served more than 25 years in this community dedicating her life to children and to excellence in and out of the classroom. Thank you, Linda!

Let's also, as a community, continue to educate ourselves about the ever-changing complex world of state funding for public education--by all indications it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Kelli O'Gorman

Los Gatos

An error appeared in the Taste column, "180 focuses on the food, not the noise or crowds," in last week's issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. There has been no change in ownership at Café Marcella. Alain and Martine Staebler remain the owners of the restaurant at 368 Village Lane that they have operated for 15 years.