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Letters
Reader blasts a DeCinzo cartoon
Last week I returned home from holidays away and picked up my copy of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times and found another disgusting attack on our police chief, Larry Todd, in one of DeCinzo's drawings. One could hardly call one of DeCinzo's vicious drawings cartoons. There is nothing funny about them.
An article in the issue was about a law enforcement sting in which a number of Los Gatos High School students were arrested. The principal, Trudy McCulloch, assumed full responsibility for the sting after several situations occurred at the school involving substance abuse. The police department played a supporting roll, although a large and important one, in working with the principal.
I have occasionally volunteered in the police department in the Volunteers in Policing program and have come to have the highest respect for Los Gatos' finest, including the chief.
I think that every resident of Los Gatos should be incensed by DeCinzo's continuing vilification of our elected and appointed officials. When he wrongly attacks them, he attacks all of us.
What part of the words, "law enforcement," doesn't DeCinzo understand? Perhaps he would prefer anarchy. When people do their jobs, they should not be ridiculed. If they weren't doing their jobs, that is something else.
Bob Booth
Los Gatos
Nothing funny about cartoon
The three letters in your Jan 2 issue about drugs at the high school were excellently expressed, and I agree with every word. I congratulate Police Chief Larry Todd and Los Gatos High School Principal Trudy McCulloch.
The venomous cartoon by DeCinzo was not funny, and I don't think you should have published it. The police chief saying "I am the king of sting" made no sense at all, as far as I can see.
Virginia Halmos
Los Gatos
Safety issue questioned on Daves Ave. decision
A recent poll asked, on a scale of 1 to 4, rate what is most likely harder to find (1 being the hardest). Researchers found that nearly all respondents agreed.
* Osama Bin Laden;
* A parking space in Los Gatos;
* The Holy Grail;
* A needle in a haystack.
The good news is, my endless quest to find a parking spot has given me pause to reflect on the town's Daves Avenue/Winchester Boulevard traffic signal decision. (The Winchester redesign proposal is quite a separate matter. Is immediate safety its primary motivation? The jury's still out.)
Though painful for me to admit, I'm inclined to agree with the town's decision for a traffic signal, versus a roundabout--mainly because it's not a three-way arterial intersection. (Would a turnstile work at say, the Los Gatos Boulevard, Roberts Road, Shannon intersection? Or, might it portend greater hazard?)
Call me obtuse (it surely won't be the first time nor likely the last). As long as I'm locked in this holding pattern, in search of a parking spot, I've got extra time to deliberate ... especially on better reasons for a roundabout.
Greg Hall
Los Gatos
Gesture offered another reason to love the town
I have lived in Los Gatos for over 30 years. When our children left home 18 years ago, we stayed in Los Gatos because we loved it. I was growing my art studio into a fashion business at the time, and I thought, "If I'm good enough I can stay here."
Well, fashion is a tough business, and living here (far from a fashion center) makes it tougher. But nevertheless, I have survived--until Sept. 11. The effect on designers of luxury clothing was devastating, especially on small family manufacturers, which are now very rare in this industry.
Stores canceled orders. Our principal fabric manufacturer, in Lyon, France, a company we were dependent upon and which had been in business since 1811, went bankrupt. The saga is long. We were then faced with the necessity of laying off, for the first time ever, our very skilled and loyal staff--mostly first-generation Americans, from six different countries.
In November, I was telling this story to a friend while we were sitting in Los Gatos Coffee Roasting. The conversation extended to a group of women nearby, and we all got talking. The women were strangers to me, but they knew of my business. One of the women, Sandy Decker, our vice mayor, asked what they could do to help my situation, and by the end of the conversation they had formed a group to help my business survive this season.
On Dec. 4, just two weeks after that chance meeting, Marilyn Dorsa and her crew transformed our local treasure, the Historical Museum at Forbes Mill, into a magical place to display my collection.
With Sandra Foster organizing and Mary Gottschalk behind the scenes helping with the press, the stage was set for a unique Los Gatos event. Those who came enjoyed the most wonderful shopping experience--and when we opened our doors the following Saturday for our sample sale, we broke all our previous records! The two events helped our cash flow considerably, and generated work for our seamstresses.
Since we started our business in Los Gatos, I have had to focus on all the national and international problems the fashion industry dealt up each day, which did not leave much time or energy to get into local matters. The women I met that day in the coffee shop pulled off an amazing and magnificent feat, which helped our company enormously. But what those women also did was to connect me with my community, and the women and the businesses within it.
We will all get over Sept. 11 in our own way. I'm one of the lucky ones to have the support of the women in my community, who believe in what I'm doing. Space prohibits me from mentioning everyone whose energy and thoughts have helped maintain our business in recent months, but I would like to take this opportunity to specially thank the following wonderful people from the bottom of my heart: Laura Bajuk, Jade Bradbury, Noreen Christopher, Starr Davis, Sandy Decker, Marilyn Dorsa, Youwanda Dreger, Justine Forbes, Sandra Foster, Pat Fox, Terri Hope, Mary Gottschalk, Kathy Kelley, Anne Lambourne, Olga Nespole, Roberta Nespole, Grace Parker.
Also Betty Peck, Linda Protiva, Jane Przybysz, Mary Riley, Erna Schloh, Sally Socolich, Margaret Slemons and Aleta Watson.
Marian Clayden
President, Marian Clayden Inc
West Valley tries to hide ballot decision
Very few residents realize that the West Valley-Mission Community College District has placed a huge bond issue on the March ballot. That is because the district does not want voters to become familiar with this bond issue.
They called a special meeting to approve the bond measure, with no advertising and no public hearings. Not one member of the community was in attendance. The cost of this bond measure to residents in the West Valley-Mission Community College District is $269 million, and that amount has to be repaid in 38 years! That means it will cost most homeowners between $3,000 and $5,000 in additional property taxes.
If the district had placed a parcel tax on the ballot, then every extra tax dollar we spent would produce a dollar for the college district. However, they wanted their money all at once so they chose a bond measure and it will cost taxpayers $3 for every dollar raised for the district.
This bond measure is greed, not need. The college district already has a budget in excess of $100 million a year and they receive $3 million to $4 million a year in special local revenue that is not available to other community colleges. The truth is that according to the State Chancellor's Office reports, academic achievement by the West Valley-Mission Community College District has been deteriorating sharply over the last several years. The district has also been fiscally irresponsible and has lost millions of dollars through mistakes and other problems over recent years.
The district does not need or deserve a bond measure that costs us three quarters of a billion dollars.
I urge residents to register, vote in the March election and defeat Measure E. A "no" vote on Measure E will save you thousands of dollars.
Victor Monia
President, West Valley Homeowners Association
Former Trustee, West Valley-Mission Community College District
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
