Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor (June 03, 2005)

Help save the Post Office trees

Editor:

I am deeply concerned about the seemingly sudden rash of tree killing in Mountain View. At this moment, two lovely trees are targeted for killing, directly between the Post Office and a city parking lot at 233 Hope Street.

The tree roots are not pushing up the pavement or causing any other disturbance. The structure behind the trees and the wall in front of it, however, are falling apart, and the wall is surely illegally butting out on to the pavement. One good quake and the wall and structure will be gone, but the trees would probably survive if they were given the chance. Why are the trees the problem here?

Please get involved to save these trees. Here is what you can do:

* Come to the June 8 public hearing of the Urban Forestry Board at 8 p.m. at the Mountain View Public Library, 585 Franklin Street.

* E-mail the Mountain View City Council members. All their e-mail addresses can be found at: www.ci.mtnview.ca.us/citygov/council/profiles.htm. Or call them at (650) 903-6304. Ann McKillop Whisman Station

Complete the missing link on Bay Trail

Editor:

It is time to complete the critical missing link in the Bay Trail behind Moffett Field referenced in Jon Wiener's May 20 article, "Mixed Bag for Moffett Makeover." For more than 20 years, trail users have been trying to get access along the Moffett Field shoreline.

Completion of this missing link will significantly increase recreational opportunities in this area by linking Shoreline at Mountain View, Sunnyvale Baylands Park, the Stevens Creek Trail and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's Stevens Creek Shoreline Nature Study Area.

NASA, through its recent decision on Site 25 cleanup, has demonstrated its willingness to work with the local community on issues of mutual concern. Completion of the missing link in the Bay Trail provides another important opportunity to continue this constructive cooperation.

We at the Bay Trail Project look forward to working cooperatively with NASA and others in the Mountain View and Sunnyvale communities to see this important project through to a successful conclusion in the near future. Our organization, administered by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), is actively working to complete the 500-mile Bay Trail that will someday circle the entire bay shoreline, providing recreation, commute options and nature enjoyment opportunities to communities around the Bay. Laura Thompson, Bay Trail project manager Association of Bay Area Governments

Response to LASD extended kindergarten at shuttered Bullis

Editor:

In response to the Los Altos School District's plan to offer extended kindergarten at the shuttered Bullis site, I think parents should keep a few things in mind.

Along with academic instruction, kindergarten is an introduction to the workings of a school and a time to gain a sense of belonging in the overall school environment. Kindergartners at the empty Bullis site will likely be deprived of a dedicated principal, instructors in physical education, art, music, drama, a library, and second-grade buddies.

Kindergarten shouldn't feel like an isolated, longer-day pre-school. It should be a transition to a whole elementary school, which cares about its first-year students. Kindergarten is also a time when long-lasting parental friendships are made and volunteer committees and PTA relationships are formed.

If the Los Altos School District wants to offer extended-care kindergarten, it should offer it exclusively at its six existing elementary schools. The children, the parents and the whole school community would benefit. Kris Moore, kindergarten parent Torello Lane, Los Altos Hills

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