A thought crossed my mind that should make any skater cringe while reading the July 6 article, "Skateboarders have all they need for a park--except money." This town thinks it needs a million dollars in order to build a skatepark that will open at 3 p.m. during the week. Think about the winter months during which darkness falls before 6 p.m. This million-dollar park will be open for less than three hours a day. To me, that brings new meaning to the word wasteful.

It blows my mind to see so much money used to build such a crippled facility. The design looks decent, but what a tragedy it would be to have a good concrete park that is useless for so many. Sure, the local kids can hit it up after school, but I've got a news flash for you--kids outgrow skating, like everything else, pretty fast.

I'm not saying there aren't a select few who stick with it (and good for them), but I'd bet 75 to 90 percent find something they like more after a year or so (like girls or their new driver's licenses). The skaters in the 18-and-up demographic are the ones who have usually been skating for a while and will continue for a long time. These are also the ones who won't be able to use this new park, since most (hopefully) have some sort of job they need to frequently attend, and cannot make the 3-6 p.m. window this park will offer during the week.

If the cost were cheap, then there would be no reason to complain. But it's not, and when I think of the kind of park that a million dollars could produce if given to a competent group of people, the idea that it will instead be thrown away on a high-class version of the daycare center over at the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Winchester sickens me. At least that place wasn't built by robbing the surrounding communities of hundreds of thousands of dollars that could go to parks that everyone is free to enjoy whenever they want.

The Bay Area is full of parks that are open as long as there is light in the sky, but unfortunately not many of them are designed well. Why produce the opposite of this, or even worse--a poorly designed park that is also poorly run? It doesn't cost a million bones to do that. My suggestion is to follow Campbell's lead, spend a fraction of what was originally planned on portable ramps, rails and boxes, and produce a cheap park that can reasonably be closed most of the day and still serve the intended purpose.

I'll accept that the locals are worried about "reckless youths" skipping class to participate in this destructive, noisy and intimidating-to-the-elderly activity. I've given up arguing for normal hours of operation. But it would be incredibly selfish of this town to accept the $750,000 grant that could be given to a less wealthy nearby city lacking these uptight concerns, where the cost of land would be cheaper and the motivation and common sense needed to run a great park would be present.

Brent Pearson

Los Gatos

Students riding
in limousine
without seatbelts

It is ironic that the musicians chosen for the Capitol Records trip ("Five young Los Gatos musicians go Hollywood--at least for a day," July 6) because of their commitment to the "Alive ... and Loving Life" initiative were shown riding in a limousine not wearing seatbelts.

Paul Dembry

Los Gatos

Leaf blowers
create dangerous
dust pollution

Congratulations on your recent editorial ("It's time to place a ban on noise intrusive leaf blowers," June 29). It is about time Los Gatos followed the example of Los Altos, and now Palo Alto, in banning the leaf blowers.

The dust created with this device has caused Los Gatos to lose its pre-eminent status of being the best place in the world to live, for climate. Now we find many people leave to go to Arizona or further down the coast of California (Santa Maria) where the air is clearer.

On the street where I live (the busiest dead-end street in Los Gatos), there are always booming leaf blowers because of so many planned developments where the gardens are taken care of by the management--that means a gardening service. I have watched them at work, and after raking the leaves in a pile to bundle up, the remaining dust is all blown into the street. Along comes a car and billowing behind it is a cloud of dust. This goes on all the time, so much so that several residents of The Commons have had to move to less allergic places. One lady had to experiment by going one day per week to beyond King City to find relief for her breathing. Eventually she went to Santa Maria and is enjoying her life much better by being able to breathe, and less visits to the doctor.

I can tell you of many more examples of this dust polluting Los Gatos.

Keep up the good work.

Danny Mander

Los Gatos

Independence Day is more than fireworks, BBQ

My heart rejoiced when I read the article, "We, the people, are more than red or blue" (June 29 by Moryt Milo), but the story must go a step further to truly see where America's purity lies. I was amazed to read in our modern times that someone is still taking notice of the morals of our founding fathers and what the colors of our flag really mean.

I am so very glad to see someone remember that Independence Day is more than just fireworks and a barbecue, but it is a time to remember our moral heritage that is full of purity, justice, and valor. It is a time to stop and reflect on the many men and women who risked their lives to give us the blessings of liberty.

Our country was founded by people who valued what was best for all, more than their own best interest--quite the opposite of society today. It is so essential that we keep these precious characteristics of true patriotism alive today. We must keep these documents of our independence before us, including the Constitution, because if we do not keep them before us the coming generations will never know how sacred our American heritage is (and our Constitution will be changed for the worse, which is the tragedy we already see happening today).

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution should be more than just a chapter in our history classes, but these documents must be in the hearts of every American, because they were in the hearts of our founding fathers.

It is so vital that we never lose sight of the purity or morality that is essential to our nation standing in integrity. The purity that our forefathers stood on was morality; they knew that in all they did they would have to give an account to God, and that is why they risked their lives, property and sacred honor for the generations that would come long after them. It would be remiss to not acknowledge that our founding fathers and early patriots were very much aware of God's involvement in our country's establishment and government.

Unless we will be a country rooted in the purity of true religion and morality, and share the same heart as our founding fathers, we have become the same despot that our forefathers fought to be independent from.

Rebecca
Schoenenberger

Los Gatos