The Cupertino Courier

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

The only person being laughed at is Paul Fong

I am astounded that Paul Fong had the nerve to write a letter to the Courier (March 22) complaining about the outcome of the vote by the city council to reject the Taylor Woodrow development plan for the Measurex site that he has been aggressively promoting for them for months.

Even though he does not live in the neighborhood around the Measurex site, he explained to us that the people who do live in the neighborhood and who attended the council meeting were stupid and ill-informed and that Cupertino is laughed at by other cities for not approving this project.

I have to say, I think the only person that is being laughed at now is Fong. I think we all know that he is embarrassed because even though he let the developer use his name and address to promote the project, it was rejected.

I think it's odd that someone who lives 2 miles from the development would spend so much time and energy working with Taylor Woodrow to get this project approved.

Jim Carlisle

Cupertino

City council needs to
lead in civil dialogue

Paul Fong (Letters & Opinions, March 22) touched on something that has concerned me for several months. As fear and anger become drivers of public policy-making in Cupertino, we risk spiraling down into bullying, mean-spirited politics.

The talk radio and Fox News style of bullying debate seems to be a model for public conversation in Cupertino. Disagree with someone? Call her "stupid." Lack professional qualifications or facts to support your position? Claim the expert reports are "nonsense." Did the city staff, council or commission vote against you? Make unsupported charges of "corruption." Keep dismissing the ideas of others ... louder.

I am glad that there are people in Cupertino like Fong who are willing to take a position on an issue and stand up to the loud crowd.

Cupertino needs the city council to lead us in sustaining civil dialogue and cooperation. Those who are energized by people's fear and anger may resist these efforts. On more than one occasion I have offered to meet some community leaders to discuss issues facing the city and how we might work together. The disappointing response has generally been, "After the next fight." I will keep trying to bring them into conversation.

Of course, if city council members make the effort to restore civil dialogue, Cupertino residents and business leaders have a responsibility to support those efforts and join in those conversations.

Charlie Ahern

Cupertino

Real quirk about crane
is that nobody got hurt

To describe the collapse of the crane as a "quirk of nature" seems far too kind. A better description would be "criminal negligence." When heavy construction is done above shops that are open for business, failure to rigorously observe all safety precautions is hard to excuse. The weather forecast that day warned of strong winds. If the crane had been parked with arm downward, instead of extended crosswise to the wind, the mishap would almost certainly not have occurred. The real "quirk" was that--thank goodness--this incident did not injure or kill anyone.

Tom Schaefer

Cupertino

DeCinzo's cartoon about
mayor hits all-time low

I am a longtime reader of the Cupertino Courier and look forward to most of its contents each week. However, its normally tasteless and childish DeCinzo cartoons have gone to a new low (March 15). with his attempt at mocking religion and Mayor Richard Lowenthal.

If by using this cartoonist your intent is to offend your readers, you have accomplished that. If that is not your intent, you might consider alternative cartoonists.

Bill Hobdy

Cupertino

People who stopped Parks show democracy in action

Thank you to the hundreds and hundreds of people who helped defend our neighborhood from the well-oiled machine that was The Parks at Monta Vista.

Due to the fact that 38 residents took several hours of their time to share their concerns in front of the city council, the council rejected the flawed plan. (How often do you hear that many residents speak at a council meeting?)

I am proud of our local democracy in action. For the hundreds of us who signed petitions, jammed council members' mailboxes, shared our concern and frustration on the school newsgroups, yet had to stay at home with our young schoolchildren, I want to say a big thank you to those 38.

Thank you for avoiding adding more schoolchildren to our already overcrowded classrooms. Thank you for not turning the worst traffic intersection this side of 85 into a construction site for 18 months. Thank you for not caving to the peddlers of fear who claim the only alternative is Home Depot or Costco, and who represent the Measurex site as a haven for graffiti artists and misfits. Thank you for rejecting "parks" that don't even include enough parking for visitors. Thank you for not choosing money over the voice of your residents. Thank you for listening to the planning commission's sound rejection of the plan.

Let the developers make their money elsewhere, and let's start again with a sensible plan for the site.

On this day, Cupertino is a model of good government, where the members ignored the sleek campaigns of the deep-pocketed developers and listened to those truly impacted by the plan.

Scott Johnson

Cupertino

Affordable housing may not be good long-term

So-called "affordable housing" is a bad deal for all, and particularly for those who buy it.

Assume an "affordable house" in Condotino for $500,000. The buyer puts down $50,000 and takes a 30-year $450,000 mortgage at current rates. Monthly payments are $2,850, taxes $700, insurance $100, totaling $3,650 minimum. At the end of 10 years the buyer has paid $267,000 in interest and has $66,000 in equity because the buyer cannot participate in the market-based housing appreciation.

After 30 years the buyer has paid $574,000 in interest and gets $500,000 in equity when the property is sold back to the housing authority. Because of inflation even at 3 percent, the $500,000 equity has lost more than half of its purchasing power. They lose big money.

Now assume a person rents a home for $2,500 a month and invests the $50,000 plus the $1,150 of avoided taxes and insurance at 7 percent per annum--the stock market average for decades. After 10 years they have paid $300,000 in rent, and their investments are worth $299,000. After 30 years the renter has paid $900,000 in rent, and their investments are worth $1.81 million. The renter has $409,000 more in their pocket than the buyer of "affordable housing."

Those who buy "affordable housing" are being told by city officials and developers that they are getting a good deal when, in fact, they are being duped because they cannot participate in market-based appreciation. The fact that teachers, police officers and fire officials, as a group, own more market-based homes in Silicon Valley than any other group (Mercury News, Feb. 2, 2004) is testimony to the fact that they have the intelligence to recognize that "affordable housing" is a bad deal that only enriches developers who use it as a rotten carrot to induce city councils and social engineering advocates to support them. "Affordable housing" advocates should tell the truth rather than resorting to subjective platitudes, name-calling and innuendo.

Robert Garten

Cupertino

Housing is not the key to
success at Vallco mall

Councilman Orrin Mahoney has stated that Vallco's 135 condos would make "the flywheel go up." I totally disagree with his statement.

Housing is not the key element to make a mall successful. Look at Valley Fair and Stanford Shopping Center. Without housing, these two shopping malls are still successful. The key element for a successful mall is retail stores. All the city council members admit that they don't know what retail stores Vallco will bring in. Without the retail stores' commitment, how can Mahoney say condos make "flywheel go up?"

Look at the Vallco project's management. Everything is always in a rush, from overnight construction to the garage and now condos. Vallco always brings in new requests at the last minute. If Vallco owners managed the project well, they wouldn't need to bring in these piecemeal requests.

If Vallco really cared about the public, they would have lowered the crane before the bad weather started, and the Monday night accident would have been avoided.

We are afraid the flywheel will be out of control soon if everything is in such a hurry. It's time for Mahoney to open his eyes and look at the facts. It is time to slow down Vallco's requests until its management ability improves.

Patty Chi

Cupertino

DeCinzo cartoons express
humorless, biased viewpoint

Good cartoons are funny and smart, with subtle insights. They combine humorous sarcasm with constructive criticism, eliciting a hearty laugh and genuine smile from the readers. There is no clever humor or constructive content in the DeCinzo cartoons.

I often see ill-intentioned, polarized views and malicious personal attacks from the DeCinzo cartoons. Who is DeCinzo? Does he live in Cupertino? Does he truly care for what happens in Cupertino? Does he have the best interest of Cupertino residents in mind?

Please accept my apology if DeCinzo, in real life, is indeed a kind person who volunteers a lot at community functions and is dedicated to public contribution.

However, I sense neither goodwill nor credible value in his cartoons. Most of them express very single-minded opinions, and worst of all, often target individual persons maliciously.

Cupertino residents may argue and debate over many issues concerning our city; however, when you attend community gatherings--such as the Cupertino Community Services barbecue, the Lunar New Year Unity Parade, the Cherry Blossom Festival, Organization of Special needs Families Night, the CEEF gala, the High Schools Foundation's recognition dinner, the Cupertino Rotary crab feed, PTA/PTSA meetings, school/club sports events--there are simply too many to name each one of them--all you can sense are goodwill and friendship between people who have very different viewpoints regarding local issues.

Cupertino residents argue and debate for good causes, but most of the time, we are simply friendly neighbors with the best interest of our community in mind. Does the Cupertino Courier, our most favorite and widely read local newspaper, really need tasteless and offensive cartoons like these?

Hung Wei

Cupertino