Saratoga News Letters Reader watching city budget During the Jan. 20 City Council discussion on budget issues, it appeared the city's reserves earn only 1 or 2 percent interest. I hope this was an error, since I understand that in the previous several years they had been earning more in the 5-6 percent range. Also, [Saratoga resident] Jeff Schwartz correctly pointed out that with city revenues projected to grow at 3 percent a year, but with Sheriff costs at 5 percent, eventually all money will go to the Sheriff! Luckily, a little arithmetic shows this won't happen for another 80 years, and, over the next five years, the length of the budget projection, money available for non-Sheriff items will actually increase 2 percent each year. Tom Moran Farwell Avenue Fields task force forgets residents I am writing in response to the letter by Larry Fine in the Jan. 27 issue of the Saratoga News. Mr. Fine has several times used the term "NIMBY" (Not In My Back Yard) to describe the residents who are opposed to the proposed development at Blue Hills School. I find the use of this term to be insulting, indicating no interest in listening to an opposing view. Mr. Fine has stated that the park/playing field task force has spent a lot of effort in determining how to benefit the majority of the children in the area. This task force, however, was made up only of representatives of the city, the school districts and of the special interest groups looking for more fields. No representatives of the neighborhoods under consideration for development are on the task force. Two years ago, we learned that the task force had determined the best use of the available space was additional playing fields. They said this decision was based on surveys of Saratoga residents, but when was this survey taken and how was it conducted? Given the makeup of the task force, was any other decision possible? Concerns of the neighbors were brushed aside with comments that these were only recommendations and that the City Council would have the final decision. In November, we were shown detailed plans of the proposed development. The plans provided for a significant increase in the space for soccer, with a minor concession to the neighborhood of a couple of picnic tables and a small play area. While we have been invited to make suggestions on minor variations to these plans, they were the only recommendations considered for the council. The latest proposal, shown to the City Council on Jan. 26 contains some improvements but still fails to address the concerns of the neighbors. This entire process has proceeded with minimal input from the people living near the development sites. Now that detailed proposals are presented, we are derided as being "against children" or as "NIMBYs" for voicing our opinions on the proposals. By its very nature, the task force process seems destined to arrive at the impasse at which we find ourselves. I have a child participating in AYSO. I volunteer my time and energy as a coach because I believe it is important to provide activities such as organized soccer for our children. I believe that improvements need to be made to the playing fields in our city, but I also believe that there are other reasons for parks in Saratoga than as organized sport facilities. Mr. Fine and the other members of the AYSO board do a commendable job in managing this organization for Saratoga. I would ask, however, that we proceed from this point with the understanding that there will be opposing points of view and that no one opinion is absolutely correct. Park development proposals should reflect the wider range of interests in our community in order to benefit the whole community, including all of the children, not just those who play soccer. If the task force had been designed with this in mind, perhaps we would not find ourselves in this situation now. Thomas Soukup Goleta Avenue Trees nurture the earth, soul First, I wish to acknowledge former Superintendent Dan Ungaro's commentary in the Dec. 30, 1998 issue of the Saratoga News. Yes, we need to keep our trees. Yes, we need to keep intact our historic school building on Oak Street, built in 1923. Yes, there is room for a new school on the Redwood School site. Yes, we can move the district office and open up space for a preschool area and kindergarten classroom with a play garden. Let us listen to this wisdom. Trees are more necessary than basketball courts, baseball and soccer fields. Trees feed and stabilize the earth. Without the trees the earth weakens. They weave and hold it together. Let us teach our children to look down into the earth's structure and up into the nobility of the tree that feeds our sense of beauty. The trees feed our whole bodies. These trees are helping to absorb the fumes from the autos (the traffic is a much greater problem than the trees could ever be) by feeding the air. They take the gift of our breath (carbon dioxide) and give us their gift of oxygen. If this is considered, basketball comes into perspective. In the total scheme of things, it plays a small part in the total health of our community. Why must we seal the breath of the earth? Education is our job. Let us go about it with the knowledge that we are the caretakers of this planet. That we know how to keep our trees healthy and safe. That we know how to impart the love of the earth and the earth's trees and the need to play in a rich environment that includes gardens, creeks, hills, boulders, and the love and protection of a caring community. It is only right that we meet here to join hands and surround these young parents and their children with our concern and love. Betty Peck, Ed.D Retired Oak Street kindergarten teacher Saratoga good to Boy Scouts Boy Scout Troop 535 of St. Andrews Church has just completed its most successful fundraising drive ever. Each year, after the holidays, the boys pick up Christmas trees from Saratoga homes and have them chipped into mulch for local parks. The response and support we received this year was overwhelmingly positive. More than 300 Saratoga families gave a donation and asked us to pick up their trees. We are deeply gratified by the generosity, warmth and support our boys received on their visits to homes. The money will be used in our community service projects and will support our challenging outdoor backpacking program. What a great town. Willy McAllister Treasurer, Troop 535 [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 10, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.