Voters have spoken: No BART to San Jose
Editor:On June 6, the Santa Clara County voters spoke loud and clear. They want VTA to stop planning to build a project that no one will ride and no one else will help pay for. It is time to close up shop on the BART-to-San Jose project and look to other solutions to our transportation problems.
Will the politicians and political establishment listen? The backers of BART-to-San Jose seemed to consist mostly of companies that stood to make billions off the construction and the politicians who wanted to be there for the ribbon cutting ceremonies and photo-ops.
Maybe it is time to elect new leaders who will spend money on practical transportation projects that actually help people get to their jobs and their doctor, leaders who don’t have a bust-the-bank-attitude and a BART-and-only-BART myopic vision.
It is time now to look at real solutions that don’t require Santa Clara County to mortgage its future to build a single 21-mile rail line that will barely service any county residents.
Patrick Moore
Transportation Chair,
Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter
Budget surplus should go to shortfall
Editor:Your article “Retirees will cost a bundle,” in the Sept. 9, 2005 issue of the Mountain View Voice, is relevant for any reader of your recent article on the new budget (“Members cautious with new budget,” June 9).
In the article on the new budget we learned that there is a $6.7 million surplus for the current fiscal year and city staff is projecting a similar number for the coming fiscal year. In the 2005 article we read that the city is $30 million short of funding its liability for retiree medical benefits.
So, what should be done with this current fiscal year’s surplus and the expected surplus for the coming year? Let’s use it to address some of that $30 million funding shortage by setting aside the surpluses toward that end. It will be important for voters to watch carefully and to remember the council members who act to make that happen. When possible, vote for them in the future.
Members of the council, this is a great opportunity. Let us see you do the right thing with those surpluses.
Fred Levins
Snow Street
Council should use surplus wisely
Editor:This year there will be a surplus of $6.7 million in the Mountain View city coffers. Although you may think this is quite a stash, I would remind our city leaders to be thrifty. First of all, we have seen in our current environment of rising energy and health care costs that surplus money has dried up rather quickly for many local governments and states as well as our federal government.
I believe our leaders should use this money to take care of the city employee pension liabilities and then “bank” the rest. That’s right. Save it for a “rainy day.”
Saving money may not be as glamorous for the council as building a community center or funding some other new programs. However, when we experience the next economic downturn, Mountain View would not have to lay off workers or cut back services. Just think of what people would say about our sitting council members. It would look like pure financial genius.
I would ask all Mountain View residents to write letters to or call our city council members and encourage them to take care of the workers that make our city so wonderful, and then think ahead for the city’s future needs.
T.J. Campbell
Showers Drive
Home Depot not a good fit
Editor:I’m writing in response to the reader who wants to “give Home Depot a chance” because it would not be close to a residential location. This is incorrect. It would be close to a residential location, namely The Crossings, which would easily be within earshot of the heavy machinery used to unload and move merchandise at Home Depot.
Any Google search on the Internet with the words “Home Depot,” “neighborhood” and “noise” will return countless hits, showing that Home Depot is not a good neighbor. Neighborhoods throughout the country are at battle with Home Depot over noise, traffic congestion and pollution. Do the same search with any other retailer’s name and you will not find these complaints.
A big-box retailer will not revitalize San Antonio Shopping Center. People don’t go to Home Depot to “shop” and visit other retailers. No — they go there, usually in a big truck, covered in paint and sweat, and mentally immersed in their home improvement project. They buy their ton of bricks or lumber, and they leave and get back to their project.
I urge the shopping center and the city council to consider a more appropriate replacement for Sears — perhaps a Borders, Fry’s, CompUSA, MicroCenter, Old Navy, Best Buy, etc. There are many other retailers that would be more beneficial and complementary to the shopping center and the surrounding community.
Kathryn Delander
Sondgroth Way
