The Cupertino Courier

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

Wheel abandoned cart back to store yourself

Yesterday evening I watched a gentleman address the city council about "doing something'' to remove the abandoned shopping carts from his neighborhood. In the Feb. 28 issue of the Courier an article stated that Mayor Wang is "leading a beautification program'' and is asking volunteers to help spruce up Memorial Park and reunite the community.

Why not extend this request to neighborhoods to police their own areas rather than expect the city to remove the abandoned carts? Pushing a cart or two back to the store locations is a bit of extra exercise, good for your health and removes the clutter without relying on the city's personnel.

Alex Howard

Cupertino

Mayor deserving of
citizens' support

While I agree with Mr. Robinson that students would benefit from walking/biking to school and school districts should provide bus service, his vicious attack on Mayor Wang (Opinion, March 7) is inappropriate and unjustified.

In a 2-2 vote on the Measurex site with one city council member not even voting, Wang can hardly be accused of casting the deciding vote unless she is the target of personal vilification. Wang has consistently voted to preserve our schools and the character of Cupertino. With a past record of representing developers and their supporters for fees,. Robinson has little credibility in telling us NIMBYs of the benefits of more housing on the Measurex site or its impact on our schools. The proposition that housing on the Measurex site, adding more students to the surrounding schools, would reduce traffic congestion defies all logic.

Wang is providing leadership to Cupertino in the spirit of former Mayor Wally Dean who sought to improve the quality rather than the quantity of life in Cupertino. She deserves the support of our citizens and an apology from Robinson.

Robert L. Garten

Dexter Drive

Criticism of mayor
unfair, misleading

I would like to respond to Mr. Robinson's letter about local traffic. The letter is very one-sided and misleading to folks who might not be familiar with the current situations in Cupertino. Here are a few examples:

"A small crowd of NIMBYS"--I would think Mr. Robinson is well-informed about the voting result from the November ballot. Two-thirds of voters voted against the re-zoning. It's grossly misleading to call that a "small crowd."

On the matter of the rejection of the Woodrow project, a 2-2 voting result simply meant that project was not convincing enough to gather a majority support of the city council members. Naming Mayor Wang as the deciding vote that brought down that project is really a malicious personal attack.

Statements like "hundreds of new cars" is another example of ill-intended statements to distort facts. Most of the tech workers will not compete with traffic with parents dropping off kids at school, since it's way early for them to start their days. Also, unless we got Google to move to that site, I don't think we will see "hundreds of new cars" anytime soon.

Comments about the anti-obesity program are totally irrelevant to the subject. I am shocked to see how Mr. Robinson made such insensitive and tasteless statements about our school-age children and family.

I think citizens' participation in the last November ballot shows how much we the people care about our city. We should all be very encouraged to see such participation and enthusiasm. Mayor Wang has shown her ability to articulate situations we are facing, and come up with workable alternatives to face such challenges. We should applaud Mayor Wang and our city.

Eric Yang

Alcalde Road

Wang says resolving
issues is team effort

Addressing everyday problems is one of the great pleasures of serving Cupertino. Exploring various ways to alleviate traffic congestion and doing what I can to develop a better sense of community among neighbors, even if it seems as trivial to some as planting flowers, are just few of the issues that need to be addressed head on within our city.

As a member of the city council, and now as mayor, I am fortunate to work with people every day who care about this community. While unanimous agreement is often difficult to achieve, my hope is that the community continues to collaborate and voice their thoughts on how we can find long-term solutions and real results for the issues in Cupertino.

Our community is fortunate to be served by all our council members and staff members who spend countless hours working to solve these complex issues faced by our city. It is a pleasure to work with them and numerous volunteers in continuing to make Cupertino a great place to live.

Kris Wang

Mayor, Cupertino

Wang reflects the
views of residents

In his letter published March 7, Richard Robinson attacked Mayor Kris Wang. Why? Did Mr. Robinson clarify that he is a paid political consultant by profession? He seems to hope that readers have a short memory. He seems to reiterate his belief that if you say the wrong things enough, people will believe them. He blatantly blames Mayor Wang for "traffic problems." He seems to forget that there are five city council members who took action that night in one matter or another. He seems to be contradicting himself in being concerned about the impact of traffic when he pushes the agenda for advocates who do not care about negative impacts on our traffic or schools.

Did Mr. Robinson write the letter because he now represents another individual seeking office in the upcoming city council election or because he continues to represent special interest groups seeking high-rise, high-growth, high-density housing platforms in our city?

Thank goodness for Kris Wang. She has continued to reflect the views of the majority of voters in Cupertino (remember the last election was won by 65 percent of the voters) who are concerned about sensible growth and the quality of life in Cupertino. Kris Wang speaks with integrity and honor and without intended misconceptions and untruths.

Dennis Whittaker

Concerned Citizens of Cupertino