Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

Fiesta de Artes was a winner

This is an open letter to the local Kiwanis Club: Thank you for an outstanding Fiesta de Artes on Aug. 22 and 23.

I was amazed when I drove past the Civic Center Saturday night and saw the stunning setup-- a field of charming white tents had sprung up in the 24 hours since I had last been in that area.

On Sunday, I eagerly visited these same tents, had something to eat and drink and--wonder of wonders--discovered lovely large umbrellas providing shade at tables where we sat, ate our lunch and more or less held court, as various people joined us and moved on, and others moved in.

We met people from Norway, Japan and Virginia, a couple recently moved here. You thought of everything, including fencing in the property. I hope you did well. See you next year.

Marionette Tack
Los Gatos

Soccer story struck a familiar theme

I just read Sandy Sims' article about the growing popularity of soccer in the Aug. 26 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.

As a longtime Los Gatos resident and a "soccer dad," it struck a familiar theme, and I enjoyed it very much.

I hope that in the future, more such articles will appear on this very important activity in Los Gatos.

Pete Uhrowczik
Los Gatos

Foot patrol should keep walkways clear

As a resident of Los Gatos, I have come to live with the traffic and parking mess downtown. What bothers me and--as I gather from reading the cover story about downtown night life in the Aug. 19 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times--most residents is that we don't get to enjoy our own town.

When my wife and I go downtown on Friday or Saturday nights (most nights during the summer), we end up asking ourselves "Why did we come down here?"

I understand that kids hang out, but it would be nice if we could at least use the sidewalk. On many occasions we have found kids sitting in the middle of the sidewalk refusing to move, so some people end up walking in the street to get around them. I just ask them, "Would you like to move, or should I walk over you?" I have a strong presence so this works.

But this does not make for an enjoyable evening, so we are going downtown less.

In the article there is a picture of two police officers, with a caption stating that they walk foot patrol starting at 10 p.m. warning teens about hanging out.

I suggest we have a foot patrol that walks N. Santa Cruz Avenue to help keep the sidewalks clear enough so people can easily frequent the shops all along the street, instead of just the parts where the kids are not hanging out.

My wife and my mother-in-law have lived in Los Gatos for more than 35 years, and they are not comfortable going downtown at night without me because of the sidewalk battles they have had.

Dennis McCarney
Los Gatos

Overpopulation is not a problem

I am intrigued that people are discussing population growth (in a number of recent letters to the editor) with the view that overpopulation is a real and present danger.

Their presumption is that a human life is a net liability to society and the planet. If any individuals claim to truly believe this, then I challenge them to prove their belief. Let them do society and the planet a favor by taking their own lives. Their actions will tell us where they stand on this issue.

The presumption is wrong and so, therefore, is the conclusion that the human population is a "problem."

Andrew Lowd
Cupertino

Did writer's letter represent views of students or teachers' unions?

Mary Bergen's letter in the Aug. 26 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times was most helpful in evaluating the state of our schools. As president of the California Federation of Teachers and vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, she certainly qualifies as an authority on education practices.

She says the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program scores "represent only a fuzzy snapshot of education that should not be mistaken for the big picture." Yet she fails to tell us why this is so or why any test would not reflect a snapshot of student ability at that moment, or what she would propose that would not be a snapshot.

She says "the more important test will determine how kids perform to established standards." What standards? How does it avoid the snapshot test? Are the test scores relevant or not?

She says "the STAR test told us how kids performed on a given day compared to other kids in the country." Actually, "kids" are young goats. Why does this educated person use slang for children?

She says "any similarities between the content cannot compensate for the missing information." As a professional educator, does she not know "between" is a preposition referring to two items, not one?

In a column-and-a-half-length letter, Ms. Bergen does not explain why, after centuries of schooling, we still don't have it right.

Perhaps she should go back to teaching arithmetic, spelling, grammar and reading. Geography and history would be helpful, too. Periodic testing would evaluate student progress or lack thereof. Ms. Bergen doesn't explain any substitute for plain old teaching and testing.

One must wonder whose interests Ms. Bergen represents: our students' or her union members'.

Kent Josephson
Los Gatos

Purple building is an eyesore in the downtown

I thought that I must have taken the wrong exit from Highway 17 last month. I had planned on driving into Los Gatos. However, as I drove down N. Santa Cruz Avenue, on the way to the post office and came face to face with Purple Monster building on the right-hand side, I thought I was in Disneyland.

After recovering from the shock of seeing a building painted a color which, in my personal opinion, has absolutely no connection with either anything in the vicinity or with the town's ambiance, I confidently drove past, saying to myself, "No problem; that'll be painted over within 24 hours."

I returned to town this past weekend and was surprised and dismayed to find that the purple building [formerly Cat 'N' Canary, now Virtual Gallery] is still a shocking purple.

This week I have made several telephone calls. I have found that I am one of many people who have not been able to believe their eyes. I believe that there has been a fair amount of activity at Town Hall-- activity created by citizens most unhappy with the choice of paint color.

We have also found, to everyone's great surprise, that evidently the town of Los Gatos, while having one of the strictest city sign ordinances in the valley (if not the strictest), has no restriction as to what color a business may paint the outside of its establishment.

I am really confused. When the town made the commitment to change the sign ordinance (giving the then current business owners five years, I believe, to come into compliance), the merchants may have grumbled, but they also knew that long-term, the town itself and the businesses, residents and visitors alike would benefit from the result.

The sign ordinance was, and still is, extremely cumbersome for new downtown merchants to get approval. I personally know merchants who, after paying the permit fees, still had to wait months and months and literally fill out form after form.

I feel that as a town we appear to be talking out of both sides of our mouths. While business owners must encounter some pretty frustrating barriers to put up a tasteful business sign, evidently anyone can paint the outside of their business any shocking or wild color without any recourse from those of us who have to look at it from the outside. Working on the inside of such a painted building, one doesn't have to look at it.

So the question is: Are we destined to look at the Purple Monster building as a permanent addition to our community? I would welcome input from readers of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.

Jennifer de St. Georges
Monte Sereno

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