Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor (August 19, 2005)

Infrastructure needed for smart growth

Editor:

There is nothing smart about a city adding more population than its infrastructure can support.

Yes, "Scott Rafferty, the heckler ... left town." ("The battle over smart growth," Aug. 12.) But if the Voice wants to educate readers about this issue, you would do well to invite Scott Rafferty to write a series of articles.

He researched thoroughly and brought to bear his background in economics, politics and real estate law in making sense of all the information and putting it into context. He articulated his knowledge and insights with clarity. He never heckled; he did share at meetings, which were held for the purpose of neighborhood input and were not "loud."

He probably moved because of a combination of personal and professional reasons, like anybody else, and did leave contact information.

Gloria Jackson, who you said has given up, is a down-to-earth and responsible parent and grandmother. She took the initiative to find ways to express the view, held by hundreds of others, that the city should give much more careful study and thought to the issue of rezoning before turning over industrial sites and green space to housing developers.

This view hit a brick wall when the city council voted to consider no other alternatives but dense housing for the Mayfield site, overriding the recommendations of the Environmental Planning Commission.

As for "All those cars stuck ... on the bridge," people live across the bridge because they get more for their money there. Building five stories of crowded units that will sell for top dollar does not affect that traffic and pollution. It will, however, add approximately 1,200 more cars to neighborhood streets as well as to major arteries such as Rengstorff, San Antonio and Central Expressway.

And those "single-story homes along the border" do not exist. The plans for the housing development at the Mayfield site do not include single-story homes along the border. Buildings will be at least two stories high; in fact, at the corner of Mayfield and Whitney Drive, at the very edge of the neighborhood, three- to five-story buildings are proposed. Laura Kostinsky Elka Avenue

Council won't listen

Editor:

As I read Jon Wiener's article on growth in the Aug. 12 Voice, the emotion all came back.

Like many neighbors in Mountain View, I too have become disenfranchised with the re-zoning process and the direction our city is headed. Believing at first that we could influence the process in Monta Loma, I also contributed to the various neighborhood meetings, city council meetings and EPC meetings.

But having lived through the entire process, I see now that our comments and opinions have fallen on city officials that already have their minds made up and have no interest in representing the citizens of Mountain View.

City council member Greg Perry is naive to believe that adding "medium" density housing to every street corner will solve a regional problem. Commuters are driven by convenience and cost. Larger, affordable housing out of town with ever-widening freeways and roads will continue to deter people from moving closer in.

I am opposed to the "medium" density (25 units per acre or more) housing projects because I believe these are wrong for all of us. I don't disagree with the need to add more housing but we need intelligent debate about the amount of redevelopment and appropriate densities for our city and surrounding communities to ensure that Mountain View continues to be a place where we want to live. The council needs to listen to the citizens of Mountain View and act on their behalf. Michael Fletcher Dell Avenue

Perry's comment draws a laugh

Editor:

The comment you published Aug. 12 from Mountain View councilman Greg Perry made me laugh.

Doesn't he realize that if the drivers of "those cars stuck in traffic on the bridge" lived here, their cars would be here, polluting our air and clogging our local roads 24/7?

This is yet another example of our elected Mountain View politicians caring more about the Tracy corridor commuters than they do for their own residents. If I didn't laugh, I'd have to cry. It's that pitiful. Mike Ritz Hamilton Avenue

Immigration editorial was off base

Editor:

It really bothered me that a Mountain View newspaper endorses criminal activity.

Why do you say that "so-called illegals" can almost always find some work? They are not so-called illegals, they are illegal. They came in illegally and are living here illegally.

Just because it has become the norm does not make it right. You talk about "the value of a huge pool of workers that often get paid under the table." So are you endorsing the practice of people not paying taxes?

I agree with you that everybody from this country (except the Indians) came from someplace else, and in part that diversity is what has made our country great and Mountain View great.

But, did you forget about 9/11? We need to have controlled immigration. The Border Patrol has too few people to do the job. You are right that there are some vigilantes involved, but there are also average citizens trying to help out, which you fail to mention.

The massive influx of Mexicans and others has put a huge burden on our society, from health care to schools to gang activity and so on. You are right when you say immigrants do a lot of the menial jobs. But there are far more workers than work, or you wouldn't see hundreds sitting on the street looking for work every day. Charles Channing Marich Way

Another view of immigration argument

Editor:

I read with great interest Robin Iwai's reaction to the Voice's July 15 article about the Mountain View Day Worker Center.

Although Ms. Iwai's piece contained the usual collection of pro-open border platitudes, one statement in particular struck me as remarkable. Iwai writes: "I am proud to be associated with the Worker Center. In the past 10 years I've employed dozens of men and women who were eager, polite and hard working. It is gratifying that I can help lessen the unequal distribution of wealth in the world by employing those who were born into less fortunate circumstances than I."

Iwai excuses what I consider to be her criminal behavior by claiming to be lessening "the unequal distribution of wealth," while conveniently ignoring the well-documented fact that illegal immigration depresses wages among the poor, including recent legal immigrants.

I am also curious about how much in payroll taxes, Social Security and Medicare Ms. Iwai has withheld on behalf of her "less fortunate" employees over the past 10 years. I am sure the IRS would be curious as well. Michael J. Curley Franklin Street

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