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Letters
New development threatens an 'excellent' shop
In the Aug. 22 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, an article by Gloria I. Wang described the proposed Gateway Project for the property on the corner of Los Gatos Boulevard and Burton Road. The article states that developer Bill Errico has plans to demolish an existing structure at 14801 Los Gatos Blvd., which is described in the article as "an old gas station."
For many years now, that building has been occupied by Los Gatos Foreign Car, a very excellent automotive repair business managed by Jack Wu. Mr. Wu and his staff provide top quality automotive repair services to hundreds of people in both Los Gatos and the surrounding San Jose neighborhoods. I've been taking my car to Mr. Wu for the past seven years, and I am grateful for the consistently high quality services he and his staff provide.
I hope that as part of whatever development may take place at that site, some way can be found for Los Gatos Foreign Car to continue operating there. It would be a great loss to the community if Los Gatos Foreign Car was forced out of business by new development.
Diane Diggins
Los Gatos
State contractor board is no help to consumers
Is the Contractor State License Board helping or hurting? Recently, a state-licensed contractor abandoned our job after partially completing the demolition. Further, he lied to us and extorted a significant amount of money under false pretenses before he walked out.
Two months after filing a complaint with the Contractor State License Board and a claim with the contractor's bond company, we are very disappointed to see that the contractor in question still has an active license and the bond company has yet to even process our claim. Both organizations are citing a backlog in paperwork as the primary cause of delay.
Further, we received a letter from the bond company indicating that this contractor has multiple claims against him, including one in the form of a lawsuit filed in superior court. According to the Contractor State License Board, ours is the only complaint filed to date.
How can an organization, designed to protect the consumer, effectively do so if they rely solely on the consumer to report complaints, and then take months to process those complaints? At this point, the Contractor State License Board is doing nothing more than create a veil of legitimacy for a "licensed contractor" with a long trail of victims in his wake.
The contractor stole over $5,000, so we cannot use small claims court. If we want to pursue a civil claim, we are forced to spend even more money on legal representation. The bond looks to be exhausted many times over. The Contractor State License Board is unresponsive. What protection really exists for the consumer?
Karen Hartsell
Los Gatos
Garbage trucks making too much noise too early
Summer weather has many people in town sleeping with their windows open. Unfortunately, the contract with Green Valley Disposal, in addition to providing monopolistic access to our market, allows them to disturb our slumbers with their trucks in residential neighborhoods at 6 a.m. Green Valley Disposal betrays this agreement and sends out their trucks at 5:30 a.m. and earlier. I was wakened by a collector this morning around 5:45 a.m. and chased him down. I pointed out that it wasn't 6 a.m. yet, and he kept right on collecting.
The law prohibits operation of noisy machinery in residential neighborhoods before 8 a.m. The contract with Green Valley allowing operation at 6 a.m. represents a betrayal of the people of Los Gatos. Green Valley disposal has shown that they will not even comply with these overly loose restrictions, and have chosen to operate at their own convenience rather than ours.
I believe that it is just silly to allow these trucks to disturb our community on a daily basis. The town council has created this situation. They need to correct it or face replacement.
Herb Kutscha
Los Gatos
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
