Letters

DeCinzo's depiction of youth is skewed

As a Saratoga teenager and member of the Saratoga Youth Commission, I resent the cartoon by Mr. DeCinzo that appeared in the Jan. 30 issue of the Saratoga News. Mr. DeCinzo depicted the youth of Saratoga as a bunch of juvenile delinquents and "punks."

I cannot understand how a man who implies that Saratoga's teens are so immature and infantile can simply slander the idea of a skatepark without actually knowing anything about it. I would like to personally invite Mr. DeCinzo to attend the next Youth Commission meeting so that he can ascertain some actual facts about the skatepark. If he did, he would learn that the proposed park is actually a mobile skate park.

It can be easily compacted into one parking space and stored on city property. He would also learn that the plan is supported by the Saratoga Youth Commission, the Saratoga Parks and Recreation Commission, and the Saratoga City Council, as well as many community members, young and old.

I hope that Mr. DeCinzo realizes what he has done and that next time will engage his brain before his pencil.

James Ballingall
Saratoga Youth Commission

Saratoga Gateway project needed for all pedestrians

This responds to a letter in the Jan 30 issue of the Saratoga News from Marcia O. Kaplan that denigrated the Saratoga Gateway project.

I live in that corner of Saratoga and have walked all the streets in that area. The most unwalkable and hazardous from a pedestrian point of view is the stretch on the east side of Saratoga-Sunnyvale between Prospect and the Azul Crossing.

To walk in that area you have to divert through parking lots and potholes or onto the highway itself. The best stretch of sidewalk is a macadam-paved half-block where the pavement is badly distorted and broken up by tree roots.

It is physically impossible for a handicapped person (and, owing to a recent stroke, my wife is one) to negotiate between Prospect and Seagull, even with assistance.

It seems that the author of the letter to the editor looks at the problem solely from the point of view of the driver of a car, and has no sympathy for or understanding of the plight of the pedestrian. Perhaps it would be instructive if she were to park her SUV off the road, where it probably belongs, and try walking. She might then have a different perspective on the Gateway project.

Fenwicke W. Holmes
Atrium Drive

Committee answers Measure D questions

This letter is a response from the Bond Oversight Committee to questions raised about the manner in which some of the Saratoga Union School District Measure D funds have been spent.

Contrary to what you may have read, most of the Measure D improvements have been completed or will be complete by June of this year. Thirty-five classrooms have been constructed districtwide and are now occupied. The Master Plan approved in January 1997 recommended the addition of 35 classrooms.

Almost all of the modernization and renovation projects outlined in the Master Plan have been completed at Saratoga School and will be complete at Foothill and Argonaut schools in June of this year, including the complete renovation of over 60 classrooms. At Redwood, 16 new classrooms have been constructed, and the multipurpose room as well as the library/media center have been expanded and renovated. However, there is insufficient funding available to complete the rest of the modernization and renovation projects at that campus.

The overriding cause of the construction budget shortfall was the unprecedented, severe construction cost escalation in the Bay Area during the past three years due to high construction demand. Recent school bond issues have factored in these high construction costs.

For example, the Los Gatos Union School District has five schools and 2,800 students (compared to SUSD's four schools and 2,400 students). In June 2001, Los Gatos voters approved a $91 million school bond to complete a facilities expansion and improvement program of similar scope to SUSD's projects. This compares to Measure D's $40 million, and to Measure L's $19.9 million if approved.

A few comments about the new multipurpose and student support buildings currently under construction at Foothill and Argonaut schools seem appropriate. The new multipurpose rooms at Argonaut and Foothill replace the previously undersized rooms that were limited by fire code to 350 occupants (both schools have had student populations in excess of 500 in recent years). The old Foothill multipurpose room has been renovated to house an expanded library and computer lab. The original plan for the old Argonaut multipurpose room was to renovate it into an expanded library, with a new multipurpose room to be constructed on the north side of the school site.

As there were neighborhood objections to this location, it was decided to leave the multipurpose room at its current location. The original building could not be cost-effectively expanded because of restrictive structural requirements enforced by the state Architect's Office.

The new student support buildings at Argonaut and Foothill include:

* an administration reception area and office;
* a conference room;
* a health office;
* a counseling office;
* a staff work room; and
* computer network infrastructure.

The previous student support rooms were undersized and marginally functional since they were housed in structures initially intended for use as classrooms. These vacated structures will once again house classrooms, resulting in a net gain of six permanent classrooms and the removal of one temporary classroom. The cost of building seven new classrooms is saved as a result of having the new Foothill multipurpose room and the two new student support buildings at Argonaut and Foothill.

The district's renovation, modernization and expansion projects, the first in 40-70 years, were undertaken with the objective of improving entire school facilities in order to provide the best, most effective, and most efficient learning and working conditions for our students and school staff. The Measure D Bond Oversight Committee believes that SUSD has utilized Measure D funds appropriately and effectively.

Joyce Avery Berg George Bunyard and four others
Measure D Bond Oversight Committee

SUSD deceived taxpayers on Measure D

The Saratoga Union School District has deceived the taxpayers and betrayed their trust.

It failed to disclose before the Measure D election its hidden agenda to construct new administration buildings and new cafeteria/assembly buildings and to relocate daycare facilities, apparently for fear of jeopardizing passage of the bond measure. It spent Measure D funds on its hidden agenda that had not been disclosed to the voters and, therefore, had not been authorized.

It reacted irresponsibly to its shortfall of funds by giving priority to its unauthorized agenda, which provides no educational value to students, at the expense of what the voters had authorized. It completely demolished an entirely serviceable cafeteria/assembly building at Argonaut knowing that replacing it meant sacrificing even more authorized items.

It is including a new administration building at Redwood on Measure L by disguising it with the innocuous title "Student support service areas." It is giving this new administration building priority over the new classrooms for Argonaut and Foothill that were authorized by Measure D to replace nonconforming classrooms and to alleviate overcrowding.

It will leave Argonaut and Foothill with fewer classrooms than those schools had before the Modernization Project, requiring that they use portable classrooms.

Until changes are made to prevent further betrayals and misuses of funds and until the Saratoga Union School District gets its priorities straight, voters should not entrust this school district with any additional funds.

Visit www.VoteNoOnL.org for more information.

Wesley Ferguson
Chateau Drive

Organized sports funding is needed for this park

In his Feb. 5 letter to the Saratoga News, Dennis Farmer protests the fees charged to sports leagues at Congress Springs Park. This reaction is simply promoting a special interest at the expense of all citizens of our city. The council recognizes and appreciates the benefits of organized sports for our youth and our community.

However, to exempt the organized sports leagues from maintenance and user fees would place an undue financial burden on the community in general, and the other non-organized users of our parks and recreational facilities.

This one park, Congress Springs, now dedicated to the sport specialty groups of soccer and baseball, has a price tag of $1.7 million, more than double the amount originally budgeted in the parks and recreation budget ($600,000) two years ago. At the insistence of the sport users groups for this specialty park, the city designed a showcase park with top grade built-in equipment and professional-grade grass, along with the purchase of a special mower just for that grass.

How are we going to pay for this park when it wears out again and needs replacement in a few years? If we don't charge fees, we will have to take the money away from the other 13 parks and also our city trails.

It would be an insult to the residents of our city to first spend the bulk of the park development fund on renovation of Congress Springs Park, then come back in a few years to do it all over again. This replacement expense would again short all the other worthy park and trail needs in the city. Incidentally, the parks and recreation development fund comes from a fee paid by housing developments that either design a park as part of the development or pay a "fee."

Mr. Farmer further states that the city arbitrarily set the user fees prior to public meetings, without any idea of what to charge. This is simply not the case. After researching how other cities defray costs and after much public debate, the parks and recreation commission recommended a user fee of $15/per person/per sport/per season. This is on the low end of the fees charged by other cities. Again, after public debate, the city council decided to accept the researched user fee amount and to add the proviso that the parks and recreation commission continue examining the real costs of running not only Congress Springs over the next year but also the increased costs of running the other parks in the system. This was to ensure that the user fee was reasonable for Saratoga.

Regarding the maintenance fee, all parties, including the user groups, the commission, and the city staff, agreed upon the maintenance fees. No one disputes the fact that since Saratoga committed to a first-class sports field, there is an ongoing need to provide the best maintenance possible to protect the investment of the city. Finally, in recognition of the fact that the Little League and PONY League are currently paying the maintenance fees, the council waived the user fees for those particular user groups for the next three years. It is reasonable that different uses require different levels of maintenance of the park. With that in mind, the city is currently negotiating fees with AYSO.

AYSO, Little League, PONY League, Saratoga Rotary Club, and individual Saratogans have contributed $282,000, including a loan by the city of $90,000 that Little League is paying off over a three-year period. The city greatly appreciates those terrific ongoing efforts. However, the city cannot just backfill the extra costs with General Fund money, without formally defining our expectations for ongoing help by the specialty groups. The city will not cut funding for other citizens' needs.

Finally, Mr. Farmer ignores a basic reality. The city of Saratoga is not wealthy, with money to burn. People have chosen to live here for the quality of life our city affords. The consequence is a minimum-services city without industry or big-box retail establishments that would provide a revenue stream to the city.

If residents want these revenue producers in our city, please come forward and let the council know. However, for now, bills for big projects have to either be augmented by money from specific users or voted on as a bond.

It is important to keep the facts straight in this situation, since so many people have been involved in this Congress Springs Park project. We all want to see Saratoga's parks used by and maintained for the citizens (adults and children) of Saratoga.

Ann Waltonsmith
City Council Member

Swallow the pill and vote for Measure L

Even though it's a little tough to swallow the pill, we hope you will vote yes for Measure L. We are and we believe it is the right thing to do.

Honestly, who wants to vote any tax increase when we feel that we should be getting certain goods and services from the taxes we pay already? But even with existing tax burdens, we didn't get an adequate library, an adequate firehouse or adequate, safe public schools to serve our community. We had to retax ourselves to provide what we assumed to be the basics.

Did SUSD get their money's worth out of the $40 million voters overwhelming approved in 1997? Yes. But did construction cost more than any expert anticipated? Yes. Ask anyone involved in construction or remodeling in the last three years. Did they address pent-up demand for needed teaching space and adequate teacher and student services? Yes. Visit the 30 new classrooms and support facilities, including multipurpose rooms used by many members of our community. Did other local districts and bond measures ask for more money? Yes. Consider $40 million for our four schools compared to our library bond ($15 million for one library renovation), Los Gatos Union School district ($92 million for renovating five schools), and Los Gatos-Saratoga High School district ($79 million for renovating two schools).

And what is the deal with this outcry over "administration buildings"? Do you remodel an entire school and leave the principal's office untouched? Where is common sense? Anyone who has been in one of our school offices knows that a principal interacts with and serves hundreds of students and their families every day, as well as supervising teachers, teacher's aides, secretaries, counselors and maintenance staff, all from a space not much larger than a laundry room. We don't feel that it is a misuse of funds to upgrade their electrical and heating systems and provide new drywall. It would be a misuse of funds not to.

Reaffirming the tax rate of $39 per $100,000, which our community approved in 1997, is what Measure L is all about. Putting that money immediately into our schools and classrooms to finish a job that is almost complete is an opportunity we won't get again. Let's not cheat ourselves as taxpayers. Voting yes on Measure L is the right thing to do for our community and for our children.

Phil and Peggy Koen
Dorsey Way

Voters urged to review No on Measure L website

Measure L on the ballot for the March 5 primary election is a bond measure that would provide $19.9 million for the Saratoga Union School District to use on its modernization project, supplementing the $40 million provided by the passage of Measure D in a special election in June 1997.

[I believe] the additional funds are needed to make up for the shortages that have resulted from the expenditure of large amounts of Measure D funds on major items that SUSD had purposely not disclosed before that election and, therefore, can in no way be considered to have been authorized by voter approval of Measure D.

What Measure L boils down to is taxpayers are being asked to pay for these unauthorized expenditures plus a new administration building at Redwood Middle School, none of which provide increased educational value for the students.

The full text of Measure L, the arguments for and against, and the corresponding rebuttals are posted on the web at www.VoteNoOnL.org (note: org not com). A response to the embarrassingly fallacious and misleading "facts" in SUSD's "Rebuttal to the Argument Against Measure L" is also posted along with an open letter to the voters reviewing how SUSD has mishandled its modernization project.

Photographs of the unauthorized expenditures are also posted. I urge voters to review these materials before the March 5 election and to revisit the site to check for new information as the election approaches.

Wesley I. Ferguson
Chateau Drive

WVC priority on building, not student performance

We are opposed to Measure E, the West Valley-Mission Community College $268 million bond issue. Our reason is that the district has for some time demonstrated that it has the wrong priorities. The college's objective is to educate students in a superior way.

Their performance is measured by increasing the number of students who become capable of transfer to schools of higher learning (down 19 percent) and who earn degrees and certificates (down 24 percent). The college has failed these performance measures and continues to do so. This bond issue clearly demonstrates that the college priority is the construction of buildings as evidenced by its sheer size.

No specific program aimed at meeting its education objectives is identified in the bond issue. In fact, the trustees have made it clear to all of us that the construction of a stadium is their prime objective. Please join with us to defeat Measure E.

Patrick and Lois O'Haren
Okanogan Drive

Measure E--is really Measure Excessive!

The "Speak Out" editorial of Feb 6 indicts Chancellor Salter for bailing out at a critical time, and implies that a "coordinated campaign, waged primarily by WVC neighbors, to discredit the district and derail the bond" was responsible.

Chancellor Salter needed no help from anyone to discredit the district. Her words and actions have done that all by themselves.

The campaign against Measure E is much more than a few WVC neighbors. More than 1,000 families all over the district have contributed funds to oppose Measure E. That number rises every time someone reads the ballot material and realize how it wastes their tax dollars.

This is a small college district. Being saddled with a debt of $715 million in principal and interest [over the life of the bond] is the primary reason to oppose Measure E.

The editorial restates the WVC refrain that WVC "doesn't want to build a stadium, just upgrade its inadequate facility with bleachers--so spectators don't have to bring their own folding chairs to games--and add the basic amenities common to most high school fields".

WVC itself called it a stadium until Chancellor Salter began using language to mask the truth. The board's 1998 resolution begins "the district desires to construct ... an outdoor stadium facility".

Chancellor Salter's first attempt at subterfuge was last year. She wrote the proposal is "not a stadium but simply installing seating and facilities" with "a scoreboard, restrooms, a press box and a snack bar" and "a state-of-the-art, reduced sound, public address system."

There is a $5.5 million line item in Measure E for construction costs. Calling this 'bleachers' is nothing more than an attempt to deceive because it implies inexpensive. The reality is that a budget of $5.5 million implies stadium. Chancellor Salter and supporters are trying to portray this bond as being derailed by the single issue of the stadium, but the truth is much simpler.

Ignore the stadium issue, take a high level view of the facts:

* Measure E asks for 2 1/2 times more funds per student than De Anza/Foothill asked of its community. This ratio is based on a bond total in Measure E which is one third higher and a West Valley-Mission student population which is only half the size.

* Measure E provides no justification for the numbers involved. The line items were selected by taking a poll, not by analyzing the real needs.

Measure E should more aptly be named Measure Excessive. Times are tough, and every expenditure has to be justified. The community opposed to Measure E is opposed to waste.

A vote of No on Measure E will force the district to come forward next year with a plan which is realistic and affordable.

Dal Allan
Saratoga

Editorial was slanted in favor of Measure E

Please stop slanting your editorial material toward West Valley College and away from a majority of Saratoga residents regarding Measure E. If you had attended the last Saratoga board meeting, you would have heard the false and misleading statements of West Valley College regarding this issue. Coverage of this issue should certainly be a priority of your newspaper.

Get the true facts and you'll be sure to come out against Measure E.

Lloyd Marvin
20 year resident of Saratoga
Okanogan Drive

Saratoga City Council was study in contrasts

I have been a public school teacher for 33 years. It would be hard to find a better example of good government than the one provided by Saratoga's City Council on the night of Feb. 6, when council members considered taking a stand on Measure E (the West Valley-Mission Community College District bond).

Contrasts between the city council and the college district's own governing board were on display in a dramatic fashion. All five city council members, as usual, had read their background material carefully and were extremely well prepared. They listened courteously and attentively for more than an hour to everyone who wanted to speak to them.

They asked thoughtful, probing questions. In the end, they expressed unanimous agreement on a resolution opposing Measure E as harmful to the city of Saratoga and its residents. However, this letter is a comment on the process rather than the outcome, and important to all residents of the West Valley-Mission College District.

Contrast the Saratoga City Council's respectful town hall atmosphere with that of WV-MCC district's governing board meetings. Some college board trustees come to meetings without having read one word of their agenda material, and are obviously unprepared.

Members of the public attempting to speak to the governing board are laughed at, insulted or gaveled down. Several members of the governing board make obvious shows of paying no attention to what those residents have to say, as if hearing from members of the public constitutes an interference with their real business. Of course, residents would be able to observe that kind of behavior if it occurred at city council because council meetings are video taped and played on television.

The WV-MCC district trustees have on two different occasions gone on record 6-1 against videotaping and broadcasting their meetings, even though the cost would have been little or nothing.

At the Saratoga council meeting on Feb 6, one opponent of Measure E began to exceed the three minute time limit set for speakers. Before Mayor Nick Streit was able to ask that person to wrap up his comments, three Measure E proponents shouted out "Time" from the audience. One of those shouting was West Valley College President Marchelle Fox, who also laughed out loud and made clearly audible, nasty comments to those around her as opponents of Measure E were at the podium speaking to the council.

What an unfortunate role model for students in the college district. Thank you to the city council for demonstrating how a public meeting ought to be conducted.

Rachel Zierdt
Maclay Court

WVC should be funded like other state schools

The tax assessment base of the Santa Clara Unified School District is 50 percent of the base for the West Valley-Mission Community College district. Therefore, under current law, Santa Clara Unified is responsible for 50 percent of bonds issued by the West Valley-Mission Community College district. If Measure E were to pass, Santa Clara Unified would be responsible for $134 million in bonds, but only $82 million is planned to be spent in the Santa Clara Unified District (on Mission College). If Santa Clara Unified approved $134 million in bonds on its own, it could invest in Mission College and have $52 million left over to invest in its elementary and high schools.

Mission and West Valley are no longer community colleges; they are state colleges with no limits on who can attend them or on courses given. Clearly, funding Mission and West Valley with bonds involving multiple local school districts is not the right thing to do.

These colleges should be funded the same way other state schools are funded. Vote no on Measure E.

James E. Burke, Ph.D.
Angus Court

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