Saratoga News

Letters

City is at risk of losing post office

Within a month (March 15), our community will lose the services of the postal substation at Fernwood Florist in El Quito Park shopping center unless the Saratoga post office acts quickly.

For six years, we have enjoyed its convenient location and affable mail clerks. But no more, if the postmaster does not approve a fee increase for use of the facility. For four years, there has been no fee increase even though operating expenses and patronage continue to grow. Last year, more than $300,000 worth of transactions took place at this site.

Initially, the post office was given a Nov. 15, 1997, deadline. The florist extended it until March 15 so that another request could be processed and there would be no closure before the busy holidays.

We urge the postmaster to approve a fee increase. To do otherwise is a calamitous disservice to loyal customers and will result in even longer lines at the main post office.

Vic Ulmer
Paseo Presada

Phonathon was a ringing success

The Saratoga Education Foundation would like to enthusiastically thank the 135 parents, Saratoga Union School District personnel and community members who so generously volunteered their time for the foundation's largest fundraiser, the annual Phonathon. Essential to the Phonathon's success, which was held Feb. 1, was the support SEF received from the business community. Specifically, Alain Pinel Realtors, First American Title and Contempo Realty, who opened their spacious offices and donated their phone lines for the event. Thanks and appreciation also go to the foundation's partner in education, the Saratoga News, for publicizing the event, and to Gene's Community Basket.

Phonathon '98 brought in a record $149,786 in pledges, 28 percent more than the $108,000 raised by the event in 1997.

Brigitte Ballingall and Shelley Newberry
Co-chairs Phonathon/Saratoga Education Foundation

Kudos for a good story

The "Circle of Friends" article in the Feb. 25 edition of the Saratoga News was a well-written article. Whenever I'm with someone at the Saratoga Foothill Club who has never been there before, I try to tell them a little about Julia Morgan and her architectural impact on California. I do the same with new attendees at an annual computer conference I co-chair at the Asilomar Conference Center as well.

I was pleased to see the article included details of a telephone interview with Sara Boutelle, author of Julia Morgan Architect. I had the pleasure of hearing her speak at the Foothill Club in 1996.

In attendance at that Foothill Club talk were Betty and Willys Peck, two icons of our community. Reading Willys' bimonthly column is always a pleasure. His dry sense of humor mixed with recollections of bygone days in Saratoga is a very rich part of your publication.

I hope some other local bookstore will carry his recently published collection of articles after the Saratoga Book Market closes.

Thank you for the quality of these articles; it is appreciated.

Brian A. Berg
Lexington Court

Oregano cartoon didn't do its job

The cartoon has a long and respectable tradition as a form of journalism. The best cartoonists typically take subjects of general interest, select their targets carefully and, through their humor, enlarge our understanding of society and ourselves.

I do not believe that the lampooning of Redwood Middle School and its students in the Feb. 18 edition of the Saratoga News met these criteria.

Christopher Farmer
Principal Redwood Middle School

Council should work to get on TV soon

I have long observed the workings of Saratoga's local government and often attend regular and adjourned meetings of the City Council, as well as Planning Commission meetings.

The benefit to the public of live television coverage of these meetings is apparent, and I welcomed the City Council's action in early 1997 to pursue live television coverage not only for Planning Commission meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, but also for adjourned City Council meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. This is an excellent use of our community cable station (KSAR-TV, Channel 6).

I understand live coverage of Planning Commission meetings was to start with the meeting of Feb. 25, but that live coverage of adjourned City Council meetings may not occur until June or later.

The delay in live television coverage of adjourned meetings is unfortunate. A recent letter to the Saratoga News noted that televised meetings are "an easy way to understand and be informed about how our local government operates" This is particularly apt for adjourned council meetings where dialogue with city commissions, neighborhood groups and staff yield information and understanding concerning items to be acted upon in subsequent regular council meetings.

If the City Council is serious about better communication with the public, it must be sensitive to the importance of live coverage of its adjourned meetings.

Betty Jo Stewart
Palmtag Drive

Story shed new light on subject

Thank you very much for Sandy Sims' cover story, "Applied Learning: Participants swear by the cozy new relationship between schools and industry." Sandy's story opened my way of thinking about Santa Clara Valley people earning a living here in the 21st century.

I have been interested and hopeful about the 115 large Silicon Valley employers who created a commendable alliance with education and other organizations through the nonprofit Workforce Silicon Valley (WSV) in 1992. My idea of a special community event would be a cozy reception for the people mentioned on Sandy's two-page report and--especially--130 teachers from 20 high schools and seven community colleges who participated as interns in WSV's teacher-interns program.

Maxine Sanders
Lomond Court

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