Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor (January 14, 2005)

Governor going down wrong path

Editor:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is removing the mask of geniality he has been wearing over the last year and is now taking off the gloves in his latest attacks on unions essential to California's functioning.

He is intent on attacking anyone who threatens the hegemony of corporations over the future of our state.

His desire to kill CalPERs, the public employee pension fund, is clearly an attempt to muzzle a powerful voice against corporate governance abuses exemplified by Enron. His attack on teachers avoids the real issue of reduced support for education and reflects Republican objectives: destroying universal access to high quality education.

Unions, pension plans and the courts are the only viable counterweight to excessive corporate power; let's not take these weapons away from the working people of California. Ed Taub Devoto Street

Kasperzak's ulterior motive

Editor:

In your Jan. 7 article titled "Perry passed over for vice mayor," it is suggested that Council member Mike Kasperzak may have opposed Greg Perry's becoming vice mayor this year (which would put him in line to be mayor in 2006) because Perry had spoken out on such matters as VTA mismanagement and the two VIP Shoreline Amphitheatre season passes that city council members, by policy, continue to give themselves.

However, there may be something else involved. In 2006, Kasperzak may want to run for higher office such as county supervisor. Kasperzak's chance of winning would be greatly diminished if Perry were also to run -- especially from the position of mayor. The council member pushed by Kasperzak for vice mayor, Nick Galiotto, is far less likely to run for higher office.

Contrast the cynical, self-serving political maneuvering of Republican Mike Kasperzak with the principled and valiant position taken by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer on Jan. 6 in sponsoring the timely airing of voting "irregularities" in the Presidential selection process (illustrated in Ohio), including privately-programmed voting software with no paper trail to detect and deter electronic vote-shifting.

Kasperzak appears to stand for nothing, except himself. Boxer has stood up for us all. Gary Wesley Continental Circle

City doesn't need Mayfield housing

Editor:

Regarding the Mayfield site, when does a city realize that there is no more room for housing?

When will the city realize that we are bursting at the seams? That the taxes brought in from a home will not balance the city services to the home? That people are leaving the area because of shrinking employment opportunities? That the proposed housing project, priced at the current high market rate, would be out of reach for regular folk? (What is considered "affordable housing" in this day and age in the Bay Area?)

We need retail downtown for everyone, stable businesses and to keep our community activities flourishing. The challenge to the city council and citizens of Mountain View is to improve on what we have without having to build "new and improved" housing.

I have been a resident of Mountain View for around 40 years. I have seen the city grow and kind of isolate people. I'm not sure that we are the community that we once were. More housing does not provide a more community feel.

By the way, I live across town, but I honestly would not appreciate 600 to 800 homes built in my neighborhood, and I do not see the proposed project as benefiting our city. Lee Ann Norkoski Alison Avenue

A doctor's new-year wish

Editor:

My hope for 2005 is to be able to better serve the underserved. To go against what most of my colleagues consider a foolish pursuit, providing care to the low-income and uninsured percentage of the population, to care for people and not for profit.

To toe the line and actually provide charitable and inexpensive care without having to worry about what the "competition" is making monetarily. To measure my success in and by the relieved smiles of those I treat, rather than by my annual gross income.

To stop asking myself "whatever happened to the good 'ole days when a doctor made a house call, or treated a patient regardless of ability to pay," and just do it for the sake of patient wellness.

My hope is to live up to the oath Hippocrates put down for all healers: "... I will apply therapeutic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice and of all mischief." Dr. J. Salvadore Vega Rengstorff Avenue

League's suggestions for Mayfield

Editor:

The League of Women Voters of Los Altos-Mountain View is asking the Mountain View City Council to add an option for higher-density housing to the list of options that will be considered for redeveloping the Mayfield Mall site. We want to acquaint you and your readers with the reasons for our request.

Because of its immediate access to public transportation, HP/Mayfield is ideally suited to high-density housing. This alternative would certainly include an appropriate transition to the existing Monta Loma neighborhood.

We also urge the city to require that Below-Market-Rate (BMR) units be built as part of this development. We suggest these units be targeted no higher than 80 percent of median income for our area. Currently this would mean a top income of $84,400 for a family of four to be eligible.

Beyond this, the League hopes the council will take this opportunity to make this a "green" project -- preferably all of it, but at least part -- with resource-efficient buildings which could significantly increase the values of the development.

Developing this site provides an exceptional opportunity for our community. We hope the city will make good use of it. Jane H. Turnbull President, Los Altos-Mountain View League of Women Voters

Allow hunting at Shoreline

Editor:

I personally do not hunt. I get no satisfaction from killing a few of God's critters. But I write in support of hunting at Shoreline.

Opponents make a big deal out of animal deaths. So how is that different from buying a package of chicken at Safeway?

You say you are a vegan? That's just great. You are harvesting the most innocent of life forms. Plants absorb non-living minerals, water and make use of sunlight. They kill nothing. What is the morality of killing and eating plants?

In fact, it makes me shudder to think of a pasture full of plants being grazed by cattle. The poor plants can't flee. They have no defense at all. Hmm, maybe it is time to head over to Carl's Jr. to perform an act of Veggie Solidarity (that would be "eat a burger" for the slow-witted).

I would be more supportive of the anti-hunting side if there were safety issues. How many bystanders have been shot at Shoreline over the last 10 years? Also, keep in mind that hunters work hard to improve animal habitat. Far more animals are alive due to hunters than are killed.

Let's face it -- every single one of us is alive today because our ancestors hunted and killed animals. If you have a problem with hunters, perhaps it is time for you to walk to nearest mirror. Look into it and gently implore the person you are looking at to choose diversity and tolerance. Jim Uren Oaktree Drive

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