I think the city council has made a bold stand in refusing to sell the naming rights to public buildings.

Allowing people to simply write a check really cheapens the good deeds done by those currently honored.

If the council had decided otherwise, some would surely wonder how much Bob Quinlan paid to get his name on the community center.

—M. Conens, Former Cupertino resident, Medford, Ore.


De Anza Media Center is not dependent on city

I want to clarify some information in the July 23 Courier article on the relocation of the city's public access studio to Mountain View.

For 20 years, Cupertino Community Access and De Anza College enjoyed a mutually beneficial working relationship, but the realities of the state budget situation forced a change.

The first paragraph states, "Cupertino's community programming was off the air for 10 days because the city could no longer afford to support the Broadcast Media Center at De Anza College." In fact, the access programming was off the air temporarily while a new contract was being negotiated with KMVT in Mountain View.

Moreover, the financial support provided by the city of Cupertino was dedicated exclusively to Cupertino Community Access and only comprised about 25 percent of the work produced annually at the Broadcast Media Center.

The college's media center continues to provide more than 7,000 hours of programming on two cable channels, both devoted exclusively to educational content required by thousands of distance learning students.

I'd also like to address the article's fourth paragraph, which described what Cupertino funds paid for.

For 19 out of the last 20 years, the community college district paid the entire salary and benefits of the full-time employee assigned to coordinate public access. During that time, the city's financial support was used for the operational costs, technical and engineering support, equipment upgrades and part-time employees associated with public access.

It was only during the final year of our association that we were forced to shift the cost of the full-time employee to the city contract. That change was necessitated by reductions in state funding for community colleges due to California's more than $30 billion budget deficit.

—Marty Kahn, Production Supervisor Media Center De Anza College


Councilman's letter is against usual tradition

Traditionally, Cupertino City Council members have had a policy of refraining from writing their opinions in your Letters to the Editor column.

Council members are provided adequate access to the public via televised council meetings and the city's monthly newsletter and have preferential access to your reporters. As I recall, Don Burnett was the first to breach that tradition, and a few other council members since have followed suit. And now Richard Lowenthal presents us with two meritorious examples of the sagacity of the original tradition.

First, I wonder what compels Mr. Lowenthal to co-author a letter so strongly commending the outstanding leadership of Mr. Lowenthal and his co-chair for the overwhelming success of the Lunar New Year Unity Parade. Is he planning reelection soon and seeking additional support?

Second, Mr. Lowenthal's (new) explanations of the fireworks cancellation for reasons of an inadequate site are questionable. The city council and its staff merely were asleep at the switch. The council waited until June 16 to announce the fireworks cancellation.

The inadequacy of the site was put forth as the true culprit only after the event, contrary to the city's July monthly newsletter, which stated "... you will appreciate the city council's decision to forego 20 minutes of fireworks in lieu of over 200 hours of library service."

That claim of 200 hours for 20 minutes is ludicrous. Two hundred hours of library service for the announced fireworks' cost of $55,000 equates to $275 per hour. Does anyone really believe the library can be operated for $275 per hour on Sundays, when it must require a staff of at least 10 employees, extra janitorial service, pre-opening and post-closing efforts, utilities and all other related additional expenses?

The glaring omission from the city council's consideration was that it did not have to spend the $55,000. I know the term save is akin to poison in the minds of politicians, but it would have been a rare and daring action! And garnered a modicum of respect from the residents.

Other letter writers to you have confirmed my fervent belief that no matter what is the issue of a public discussion or the positions of any of the participants, there always exists at least one humorless low person in the audience who will cry "racist!" at those with a differing view.

I strongly endorse Fred Chan's possible donation of an aquarium for the new library. Perhaps it could be named "Chan Lake" in his honor (amend the new naming ordinance—quickly!) with appropriate Tchaikovsky melodies playing in the background. However, the city council also should secure perpetual funding for continuing care and maintenance of the entire aquarium, lest we more patriotic folks suffer forever without fireworks in Cupertino!

—Gordon Frolich, Cupertino