Editorials

Bella Vista shows what can be done

The new sense of quiet on Bella Vista Avenue near Los Gatos High School is proof that traffic can be discouraged and slowed when the effort is made. Just last spring, neighbors were in an uproar over heavy use of what should be a quiet residential street.

Not only were high school students using Bella Vista as a shortcut, according to residents, many of them were racing their cars. Then there was the sound of police sirens.

Neighbors took their complaints to the town, and what followed was a cooperative effort between Los Gatos High School administrators, local police and the town's parks and public works department.

A number of traffic-calming measures were implemented--not the least of which was the increased presence of police.

While the active participation of school officials is helping reinforce the message with students who were making traffic a nightmare on Bella Vista, it doesn't mean similar programs wouldn't work in other neighborhoods.

Many other neighborhoods also suffer from speeding cars whose drivers treat residential streets like race tracks. And residents have complained that they get no satisfaction when they ask for traffic calming in their neighborhoods.

Just last week, however, community development director Paul Curtis suggested that the town might be able to piggyback on a traffic study the county did in the neighborhood of Faith Lutheran Church where traffic concerns forced the Planning Commission to deny a use permit for Mariposa Montessori preschool.

These are positive steps, and they show that when the town makes the effort, traffic problems can be reduced and neighborhoods can be improved.

We hope this is just the beginning of a stepped-up effort by the town to respond to complaints about neighborhood traffic.

Attaway, Randy

The Brazilians, it appears, just can't get enough of their hero, Randy Attaway.

And who can blame them? The summer of '94 remains a standout in the memories of everyone who shared that Brazilian experience.

Attaway says lots of people contributed to the success of that summer. And he's right. But Attaway was the mayor, and the community took its cue from him.

From the trip he made to Brazil to facilitate arrangements to the gracious manner in which he welcomed the 1994 World Cup team and made the entire team feel at home, Attaway was a first-rate host.

Now the Brazilians are saying thanks in a big way.

To that we say, Olé, olé, olé!

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