Council Briefs Council Briefs (August 19, 2005)

Death penalty moratorium scrapped

In a rebuke to community activists and its own human relations commission (HRC), the city council voted 4-3 to prevent the body from discussing the idea of supporting a moratorium on executions and death sentences in California.

The HRC had asked the council to grant it permission to hold hearings on and discuss the item. In response, Nick Galiotto, in uncharacteristically forceful comments, said the issue of a death penalty moratorium was not relevant to the local community and not one of the issues the council recently asked the HRC to focus on.

"This is a misuse of the resource that we were granting the commission," when the council voted to keep the commission alive and give it more support from staff. "It basically is a slap in the face to Council to say that we are going to take the limited resources that you've given us and use them on this kind of an issue."

Greg Perry, Matt Pear and Tom Means voted with Galiotto. Mike Kasperzak, Laura Macias and Mayor Matt Neely voted for the commission to study the issue.

Council won't fight feds over hunting access

Rather than fight the federal government over whether duck hunters can drive across Stevens Creek Trail, City Council members indicated they would rather focus on guaranteeing the safety of the proposed crossing at Crittenden Lane.

"I don't think it's worth getting into a legal battle over," said council member Mike Kasperzak.

Clyde Morris, director of the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge and author of the hunting plan, made a presentation to the council Tuesday afternoon. Four hunters also came to the study session to argue that vehicular crossings are less intrusive than hunters carrying guns, dogs and dead ducks with them across the trail.

Greg Perry argued unsuccessfully that the crossing would be dangerous. There are no reported incidents of people getting hurt there in the past.

The intersection will be only one of two points on the trail where users and vehicle traffic will cross each other's path. The city is planning to build an overcrossing to replace the other, at Moffett Boulevard.

Santa Clara man dares city to arrest him

Sparky Cohen has been trying to talk his way back into the Mountain View Public Library ever since getting banned for harassing reference librarians earlier this year. But Cohen, who denies he did anything wrong, can't seem to get another meeting with city officials. So Tuesday night he came to the City Council meeting to announce the time and date that he would attempt to reenter the library.

He said that the city will either have to let him in, serve him with a restraining order or disable his card. Cohen, who lives in Santa Clara, said that if the city tries either of the latter two options, it will constitute a civil rights violation and would be grounds for a legal action.

"I hope to see you Thursday at 1 p.m.," Cohen told the council members, many of whom looked perplexed or struggling to keep a straight face.
-- Jon Wiener

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