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Letters to the Editor

Not another liquor store at Moffett, Central

Editor:

You might know that Moffett Liquors, a shop at the corner of Central Avenue and Moffett Boulevard, recently closed. Please, please, please don't replace it with another liquor store. This neighborhood already has more than its share of lowbrow establishments.

I hope that the next owner takes its cue from businesses that cater more to the community. In our area, El Mercado market and Taqueria Tres Hermanos are useful, thriving places. How about something like an outpost of the Milk Pail or a mini Whole Foods?

Moffett Liquors was a blight on the community. Please let's have something new that benefits the majority of our area.

Cynthia Schuman

Horizon Avenue

No democracy without a free press

Editor:

Thanks for publishing the three-part story by Sam Chapman about the distressing situation and outlook for the newspaper industry. As newspapers are consolidated, downsized, and driven by profit-above-all motives, our democracy will be undermined and the unthinkable will become probable: The citizens will lose control and those with wealth and power will take control.

Expecting true democracy when a free press is absent is like expecting your home to stand as you sell off the pillars of its foundation, one by one. It doesn't fall right away, but it will fall and that's where we are headed now. Newspapers are businesses, but they should not be managed in the same way as other businesses. I was appalled that the Mercury News was forced to sell because stockholders found its 10 to 20 percent profit margins inadequate — performance that many businesses would envy.

These newspapers are not just businesses and need to be handled by different rules. Freedom of the press is not a commodity. What's next? Privatizing the court system? We need to protect and cherish our newspapers (print and online) and find a better balance between journalism and the bottom line.

Finally, Alexa Tondreau's companion article about the decline in coverage by big dailies for local school and arts coverage ("Educators bemoan declining coverage," Jan. 11) was also important and complemented Chapman's piece very well.

Craig Sherod

Begen Avenue

Proper postage for absentee ballots

Editor:

Please note that the absentee ballot requires 58 cents postage. The Santa Clara County absentee ballot is too heavy for a first class stamp. Don't waste your vote with insufficient postage!

David Copeland

Sutter Creek Lane

Posted by Ago, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Jan 25, 2008 at 9:09 am

Seems to me like the area by Central Avenue and Moffett Boulevard would be a great place to expand downtown Mountain View. The neighborhood is just north of Castro Street with easy access to and from the train station, parking lots and garages, shops, offices, residential areas, etc. Currently, the area is populated by liquor stores, struggling businesses, empty buildings, etc. and looks to be ripe for redevelopment.

The southern end of downtown Castro Street across El Camino has been successfully extended with the new Peet's Coffee and other up-and-coming businesses.

Has there ever been any thought by the city of expanding downtown northward? Perhaps long-range expansion plans could include construction of pedestrian walkways that make it easier and safer for pedestrians to cross both Central Avenue and El Camino Real.

Posted by Neighbor, a resident of the Jackson Park neighborhood, on Jan 29, 2008 at 12:28 am

Regarding Cynthia Schuman's Letter: "Not Another Liquor Store at Moffett, Central"

I'm surprised the Voice printed this rather hateful letter. I was friends with the owners of Moffett Liquors. Having moved to the United States several years ago, this couple worked extremely long hours and have two children they are putting through college. If you visit their store you can even donate towards the building of a new church in their home country.

Ms. Schuman must have a different sense of community than I. It's sad that a business establishment that gives a family the means to create a future is denigrated in such a manner. Besides, the Voice is not really the forum for such a complaint. Ms. Schuman should speak with her city council representative to air her grievances. While we'd all like to have a Peet's or Whole Foods down the street, there is a place for a Mom and Pop store. They have just as much a right to a business as the "useful" ones Schuman so fervently desires.