Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

Los Gatos should be concerned about 'towne's' image

I was driving around town last week, looking for things to steal, when I saw a most disturbing sight on the corner of Highway 9 and N. Santa Cruz Avenue. I think everyone has a good idea of what it was: there, hanging in the afternoon sun, was a banner advertising the yet-to-be-opened Double D's Sports Grille.

Needless to say, I was shocked that in this, the enlightened age we live in, someone actually had the audacity to spell grill with an "e" on the end. I will concede that this is a completely valid spelling of the word, but it just drips with pretense.

What do I mean? Well, most cars have a front grill; the average Ford has a "grill," while the average Jaguar has a "grille." Get it? Now, I don't know what sort of hidden message the Devincenzi brothers (or, as they were known in high school, the Enormous Breasts brothers) may have in this name, but is this "Olde English" style really the kind of image we want to associate with our town, or should I say "towne?"

If we let this simple grille slide by, it won't be long before we'll be going to shoppes in Olde Towne, or seeing shows at the theatre. Next thing we know, a Renaissance Faire will swing through town, and, people, we know what that means: tons of women running around in bustier tops.

Peter Arody
Los Gatos

Housing project on University Avenue offers a good mix

On July 1, the Town Council will decide whether to allow a 23-house development at the former site of the Woodworkers Lumber Yard. After reviewing the plans of the developer, The Riding Company, I would like to voice my support for the project.

One of the main issues upon which approval hinges is whether to allow a change in zoning from "light industrial" to residential. A change to residential use of this site would create a "mixed-use" condition which blends residential with retail and light industrial uses. I believe this mixed-use is one of the key elements that feeds the vitality of our town.

Every merchant in this town recognizes the benefits of having a good portion of their clientele able to walk to town. This project would be one that would add strength and vitality to the businesses at the north of Santa Cruz Avenue. The retail and light-industrial businesses that exist in that area of town would see an immediate benefit.

The residents of this project would be walking and riding their bikes not only to the adjacent parks and downtown, but also to the new development in the area of Blossom Hill Road and Los Gatos Boulevard, an area that it seems we are set on making "pedestrian-friendly."

The strength and vitality of our town needs to be nourished. New light-industrial buildings at the Woodworkers site would not fulfill this need. Families and new home buyers do fill this need. Mixed-use is a good thing for this town. The very nature of mixed-use calls for the council to examine each proposal for zoning change as a part of the whole. If that part makes the whole better, it should be approved. I believe this proposal is "good for the mix".

Mike Grabill
Los Gatos

Double D's name could specify the reference

Regarding the "Double D's Sports Grille," there seems to be an important point missing in the discussion so far. I find it hard to believe that the Devincenzi brothers have carried this nickname for all these years without understanding the negative connotations the term implies. In your article of June 29, the brothers state, "...the other connotation was not ever a consideration. Not even remotely." Perhaps it should have been, since a company name can often make or break a business.

Or perhaps, the name, with all of its connotations, was carefully chosen after all. There is a saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Would there have been an article and photo of the restaurant in your newspaper, a visit by the mayor, many impassioned letters to the editor and countless talk about the restaurant had the brothers chosen to call it "A Cozy Place to Eat?" Perhaps the joke has been on all of us.

I suggest another alternative for the Devincenzis: "Dean & Darin's Double D's Sports Grille," making it obvious to whom the double Ds belong. This name places the term in the "family" context that they claim to uphold. It also places their establishment back in the situation of gaining a clientele through an earned reputation of good food, atmosphere and service instead of the sensationalist atmosphere it has, wittingly or unwittingly, placed itself in thus far.

Jinda Mulvey
San Jose

Lots of businesses across country chose Double D's

Is "Double D's Sports Bar and Grille" an appropriate business name for Los Gatos?

Some writers of recent letters to the Los Gatos Weekly-Times felt that the name makes references to the female body, sounds like a potential clone of a Hooters restaurant, and isn't the proper image Los Gatos wants to portray on the busy thoroughfare through our town.

I thought it would be interesting to compare the type of services offered by businesses using "Double D's" in their name, to see if there was any common thread. I spent 30 minutes or so in an online search of business directories throughout the United States. To my surprise, I found dozens of businesses with a similar name.

Here are just a few: Double D's Dockside, Huntington Beach, Calif.; Double D's Cafe, Hood River, Ore.; Double D's Fitness, Prince Frederick, Md.; Double D's Conoco, Kingfisher, Okla.; Double D's Complete Auto, Kansas City, Kan.; Double D's T's, Sacramento; Double D's Lawn Service, Las Vegas; Double D's Soft Serve, Pekin, Ill.; Double D's Pizzeria and Deli, Whitehouse, Ohio; Double D's Used Cars, Beaten, Ky.; and Double D's Property Maintenance, Saratoga, Calif.

"Double D's" is not used among businesses performing similar services; in fact, the name is used by many businesses offering a variety of services!

Are we being overly sensitive to certain names and abbreviations? I must admit a few preconceived images came to mind when I heard the name for the first time. Business names are frequently derived from the initials and names of those in business. They are often chosen to provoke interest.

It's the customer's interest and curiosity that brings them to the door of an establishment, and eventually inside to spend money. It's good business.

Look around; there are other businesses in downtown Los Gatos with provocative names, displayed in prominent view (Leather and Lace, Backdoor Boutique, and Bare Escentuals, to name a few).

Isn't it a little early to judge the appropriateness of a business name, especially before it opens? Are we objecting to the name because of preconceived ideas and images? I believe so!

Maybe we'll formulate new images of the words "Double D's" after the grill opens and we have the opportunity to experience the atmosphere, food and service at our town's newest restaurant.

Craig Weakley
Los Gatos

Don't blame school for Little League litter

In the June 19 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, Keith Emmons, in his letter to the editor, expressed concern over the lack of recycle bins at the Little League games played at Blossom Hill field. While I support his cause, I feel compelled to point out that Blossom Hill School is in no way responsible for the activities within, or maintenance of, the facilities for the Little League.

I encourage him to approach the town or the league commissioner on this issue, as he suggests. Blossom Hill School provides recycling bins for the use of its students and staff but cannot and should not be held accountable for the actions or oversights of others.

Joyce Hopkins
Los Gatos

Los Gatos won't turn into a red-light district

Well Deborah Deverse, haven't we started a ruckus. I just had one note to mention to Deborah (whose letter to the editor in the June 12 Los Gatos Weekly-Times first pointed out the possible double entendre in the Double D's name), I believe in my Marketing 101 class it was established that any ink, good or bad, is a fabulous thing--so way to go, Deb.

As for the Hooters bandwagon: [letter-to-the-editor writers] Anne, Nicole, Claire, Shannon, and Shirley, in all of those many years of driving past the gateway to the downtown, did you not notice that eyesore of a building has never received such a beautiful and expensive facelift?

Dean and Darin Devincenzi are not some half-cocked, multimillion dollar firm hoping to turn Los Gatos into a red-light district. They are respectable small business entrepreneurs, as are many people in Los Gatos, like yourself or some of your friends and family.

As a business owner in Los Gatos, I will be proud to have an establishment such as Double D's I can recommend to my clients.

I guess if I had to make a suggestion I would recommend omitting those ugly vinyl banners posted on the corner... let Los Gatans consult their newspapers for upcoming events, like the rest of America does.

Calm down, sweeties; life doesn't have to be this intense.

Sherry McGuire-VonGwinner
Los Gatos

Ban leaf-blowers in Los Gatos!

I am a writer and professor who frequently works at home. My house is on a side street in a Los Gatos neighborhood. I am assaulted by the sound of leaf-blowers nearly every day of the week (including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays). The electric
leaf-blowers create an insistent, penetrating whine; the gasoline-powered leaf-blowers give off a brutal snarl.

Leaf-blowing, whether gasoline or electric, is noise pollution. Gasoline leaf-blowers pollute the air.

Why leaf-blow? For a hired gardener, waving around a leaf-blower for an hour a week is a very easy way to put in billable time, even if it happens to be pouring rain. Regular leaf-blowing is done without regard to need.

At what point does someone choose to leaf-blow? How many leaves does it take? Must the outdoors look like the indoors? Why not accept Nature as she is? A few stray leaves don't matter!

Of course, if there has been a heavy wind or a lot of time has elapsed, there really can be too great a clutter outdoors. But--guess what--it only takes half an hour to clear it all away with, of all things, a rake or a broom. Besides, raking and sweeping are healthy and enjoyable activities.

It would be wonderful if the Los Gatos Town Council would ban all leaf-blowing, gasoline or electric. People and their gardeners could rake and sweep, just as people all over the world have always done. Our neighborhoods would be peaceful and quiet. The air would be cleaner. And we'd all be happier and healthier.

Rudy Rucker
Los Gatos

Send the garbage debate to the PUC

The unending debate concerning garbage collection fees is much ado about nothing.

I am now saving $8.71 per month on my garbage bill. I am now a garbage sorter. I would happily pay any one of the countless city officials $8.71 if they'd sort my garbage.

At one time in California we had a Railroad Commission (later Public Utilities Commission), whose duty it was to determine the fair cost of service rendered by monopolies using the public thoroughfare to do business.

I think it's time to refer the problem to the PUC. They are expert in these matters.

E.C. Steffani
Monte Sereno

Women need to have a sense of humor

In response to the remarks of Deborah Deverse-Gaches on the name of the new sports bar, "Double D's", in Los Gatos, I can only laugh. Assuming that the name refers to, as she puts it, "a large female bust," is absurd and unnecessary. As she says she has done, I also took an informal poll of my friends and neighbors who live in Los Gatos. The idea never even occurred to them until they had read her opinion in the Weekly Times. It is obvious that Deborah Deverse-Gaches is just another feminist with nothing more to do but search for things to criticize, so she can feel like she is contributing to the improvement of today's society.

I consider myself a young, conservative, unoppressed woman, and I feel confident enough in my femininity that even if this were the intended meaning of the name, I could still see the humor in it. I certainly have no doubts that in the future, after the new sports bar opens, I will go and ask for a beer, and then I will thank "Double D's" and hope that my cup runneth over.

Tiffany Deegan
Los Gatos

Council could have found another way

It was disappointing on June 17 to listen to the rhetoric dished out by three of the Town Council members, (who gave) the impression that it was not their fault that the town did not have the necessary funds to keep a park ranger.

It was sad to see a dedicated ranger leave the chambers with a broken heart, knowing that all the devotion he gave to this town was going down the tubes.

Have the three councilmembers ever considered that it was partly their fault that the town is losing $46,000 a year in interest that could be generated from the $575,000 loans to the Town Manager and Chief of Police.

Pride is one thing, but when it gets in the way of good business practices and good judgment, it should be swallowed. I advised the council that they could save approximately $1.5 million by employing the services of the sheriff's department. Prior to the employment of the present town manager, the budget was prepared by the town manager and his assistant. The personnel and financial areas were handled by the town manager, and there were five people in his department. Now he has 9.15 people. Two new staff positions have been created, and his salary is the highest the town has ever paid, plus his perks (bonuses for managing the town into the poor financial position it now is in).

This council resembles a previous one, wherein all issues were decided prior to public hearings, and public hearings were a waste of time. Maybe when elections come up in November, the voters will consider these facts.

Bill Quigley
Los Gatos

Ranger cuts spur complaints about 'discrepencies'

To the hundreds of people who signed the ranger petition and spoke at the council meeting, thank you for your support. To say I am disappointed with the recent Town Council decision to eliminate one ranger position would be an understatement.

I intend to challenge the decision made by the Town Council on adopting the preliminary budget because of the overwhelming amount of discrepancies. By both verbal and written communications to our town staff, I asked for the salary and benefit packages for our top managers so to compare that information with the preliminary budget. What I finally received did not agree with the preliminary budget.

Also, during the June 17 council meeting, an esteemed member of our community, Vic Collord, asked for the cost of the Volunteer in Policing program and the DART team. Police Chief Larry Todd and Mayor Randy Attaway said that the cost was "zero." Later that evening, they said the only cost in replacing the ranger program with volunteers was the cost of the mountain bikes for patrol by the DART team. Mountain bikes can be anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars? I have come up against similar discrepancies before.

On June 18, I sent a complaint to the Santa Clara County Grand Jury, not with the intent to sue the town but to ask for their help in assisting me with gaining access to the salary and benefits information for our top managers. I also contacted the Santa Clara County Tax Payers Association.

Once again, I will not run for Town Council. I believe I can do more for my community by diligently requesting salary and benefit information.

Carol Ann Weber
Los Gatos