Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor (March 25, 2005)

Seniors have difficulty with parcel-tax exemption

Editor:

Here we go again on the merry-go-round regarding the Mountain View-Whisman School District's parcel tax, for which qualifying seniors can claim exemption.

A year ago, problems arose with the forms, which were made available at our local Mountain View Senior Center. When the matter was resolved, qualifying seniors who filed felt that the exemption would automatically be continued on their future property taxes.

In the past few days, based on information given to me from a highly reliable source, my understanding is that the parcel-tax exemption is not on going.

Supposedly, new forms will be made available in April, and qualifying seniors must re-apply for the exemption and personally return the form to the administration building, whose location is not familiar to many of us.

This would be a difficult and inconvenient situation for seniors, given that there are a large number with disabilities and others who don't drive.

To further complicate matters, it is not possible to contact the administration building from a home rotary phone. Calls are not completed when dialing 526-3500.

What are people supposed to do? Why can't forms be made available at the Senior Center and be mailed in from there? Frances Trimmer S. Rengstorff Avenue

Criteria for a new school superintendent

Editor:

Here are some qualities I would like to see in a new superintendent for the Mountain View-Whisman School District:

A person who still remembers what it's like to have small children away from home and in the care of other people. A person who still remembers what it's like to have small children under your care, that are not your own.

A person who still remembers the hopes and dreams a parent has for their children. A person who still remembers what it's like to feel safe, nurtured, valued and cared for away from their home.

Only then can a person become what our children need them to be -- a great superintendent. Patricia Goates Sherland Avenue

Time to adopt a fair, progressive tax policy

Editor:

President Bush's advisory panel is now discussing desperately needed tax reform. Our current federal tax system is a horrifying maze favoring special interests, big business and campaign contributors.

Estimated compliance costs are in the billions of dollars every year. Those billions could be spent creating jobs and raising wages, but instead they go to accountants helping their clients get out of their fair share.

Now is the time for a truly progressive, fair tax. The Fair Tax bill, H.R. 25, is exactly that. It eliminates all federal tax burdens, including payroll tax, on the working poor. It restores the ability of the small business owner to compete with corporations. It puts collected dollars to work in federal programs, not wasted on IRS collection activities.

There are tremendous benefits to this bill for our economy, including our ability to compete in global markets and keep our jobs here. I urge everyone to become familiar with the Fair Tax at fairtax.org and convince your elected officials to do the same. Eric Decker N. Whisman Road

Delay school closure and put assessment on ballot

Editor:

I believe the Mountain View-Whisman school community should only close Castro School if voters turn down a special assessment tax to rescue it. The tax would be levied on those large businesses in the district that benefit most from the school's continued existence.

I would propose that such a special assessment would be applied to for-profit businesses employing more than 500 people. It is these companies that benefit disproportionately from inexpensive janitorial and landscaping services performed by parents whose children attend Castro School. It is companies such as these that benefit from the pool of illegal labor traded more in and around the Castro School than any other area in the district.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that those two reasons both justify a special assessment for education if approved by district voters.

If the special assessment is approved, then a class-size reduction program could be implemented at all schools in the district, in proportion to the amount that each apparently need it.

I believe that we should strive for a class size ratio of about 13:2, as chosen by the nearby Juana Briones Elementary in the Palo Alto Unified District, according to the U.S. Department of Education. James Salsman Mount Vernon Court

School test scores matter

Editor:

A common question that homebuyers ask is, "What are the schools like here?" People want to send their children to the best schools and feel that the resale value of their home is more secure if they buy in a good school district.

But some say that the Academic Performance Index (API) that ranks schools is unfair and only measures how well students are trained to take standardized tests. Some say that the API doesn't work in our multicultural county. Schools that California deems "similar" aren't even close, with vastly different environments and operating budgets.

API matters. But I feel that API should be a tool used to discover struggling schools and help them, as a major overhaul in the way our schools are funded.

Voters are more willing to accept higher school taxes only when they fund teachers' salaries and school expansion at high API schools. That's backwards and asinine. Certainly continue to fund the schools that are doing well, but the schools that need money are the ones with low API. They need more staff, better buildings and modern technology. The economic well-being of our community depends on improving education across the board.

I'm a realtor. I admit, the high-API trend is an excellent selling point for homes. Does my Web site offer a list of the schools that are above a 900 API? Of course. The report that I wrote says, "Until someone comes up with a better system, API is the only yardstick that will measure the performance of your child's next school!"

But I wish that all schools were above 900 API. I think API needs to stop being an educational status symbol. It needs to be an agent of change. We have to be willing to pay a little more in taxes. That's how we invest in the future of our children and in the future of our great community. Bill Ricardi El Camino Real

Salary transparency should apply to everyone

Editor:

Thank you for asking the question: Just what is your compensation? For a small local paper, you manage to do a fine job.

This transparency thing by public officials in high positions needs exposure. Somebody said, "It's not that people lie to you; they just don't tell you the whole story."

Come on Lee Domanico and friends, tell us the whole story. You do live in a glass house, and if we weren't all that interested earlier, we most certainly are now.

P.S. How about we ask those in the police department the very same question? Barbara Goodwin W. Middlefield Road

Ironic that El Camino supports ethics conference

Editor:

I find a tiny bit of irony that El Camino Hospital would so veraciously try to keep secret CEO Lee Domanico's annual compensation while at the same time put its name on the 6th Annual Ethics Conference on April 2. (See El Camino Hospital ad on page 19 of the 3/11 issue of the Voice).

I have no problem with any compensation plan a person can negotiate, but those they serve have a right to know the details of those plans. Dale Ganzow Nilda Avenue

Hospital actions do not inspire confidence

Editor:

Thanks to the Mountain View Voice for the coverage of the situation at El Camino Hospital, in particular, the issue of salary and benefits for the CEO. Thanks, also, to the attorneys retained by the Voice who filed the lawsuit requesting that the records be open.

I am puzzled, though, by a quote in one of your articles stating that the CEO was hired to bring El Camino Hospital into the 21st century. I don't know what this means, in reality, for the quality of care that people can expect at the hospital. And, I was also appalled that contract negotiations can go so awry that the entire anesthesia department could be cut out and replaced. It does not inspire my confidence.

I am a 49-year-old physician "retired" due to Lyme disease. Did you know there is a support group at El Camino Hospital for Lyme disease patients, but that there is not any physician affiliated with the hospital who will treat chronic Lyme disease? And infected ticks that carry Lyme disease have been reported in Santa Clara County, as reported by the California Department of Health Services?

I am a very sophisticated consumer of health-care services, and in my opinion, the quality of health care that people get around here is a coin toss. Sometimes it's truly excellent, sometimes it's absolutely pathetic. Behind closed doors -- when no one is listening or watching -- I am stunned at how many physicians are interpersonally abusive. It reminds me of all the literature I have read on domestic abuse, but instead of men abusing girlfriends or wives it is doctors being abusive towards patients. I have begun to wish that all interactions were routinely audio-taped, just like the way phone calls are taped for "training purposes," or so we are told when put on hold by the telephone company.

For the record, I did not train or practice here but came from the East Coast to take a job at a law firm but became too debilitated from the Lyme disease to continue working. My point here is that I do not have any particular axe to grind regarding the events at El Camino Hospital. I write from the standpoint of a patient and one who has a medical education and some decided expectations about what is quality medical care. Lynn Shepler Whisman Road

Hospital board should affirm 'public' status

Editor:

El Camino Hospital CEO Lee Domanico finally disclosed his earnings for last year as $615,000 plus benefits. What is of concern to the public, beyond this high level of compensation, is that he and the hospital's board of directors repeatedly refused to divulge this information to citizens and news organizations for about one year, claiming they were not required to make this information public.

During his disclosure, Domanico said, "Determining whether or not El Camino Hospital is in fact a public agency or not is unclear." He acknowledged that the hospital is supported by tax dollars benefiting the hospital, and the hospital is receiving the Measure D funds. They are hiding behind the hospital's dual board structure.

I find the administration's notion that they are not necessarily a public agency offensive and dangerous. The hospital board and the district board should each immediately pass resolutions confirming that the hospital is a public agency and is bound by all public disclosure laws including the Ralph M. Brown Act and the Public Records Act. If they do not, the dual-board governance of the organization should be eliminated, and all control shifted to the elected district board.

In addition, either board should make available the information typically disclosed on 990 forms for nonprofit organizations, including the top five salaries and top five consultant payments each year, whether required by the IRS or not. It's just good government. The citizens must be able to keep an eye on the actions of their elected representatives. Len Doberne Honfleur Drive, Sunnyvale

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