Saratoga News

Letters

Moran letter was hard to swallow

In her letter to the Saratoga News Aug. 12, Gillian Moran, councilmember and candidate for re-election, warns us of hot-weather pollution and asks us to spare the air for the sake of "joggers, bicyclists, children, the elderly, people with asthma and other respiratory problems." This letter is hollow indeed.

I was poisoned on my job and was disabled by it. When exposed to toxins, perfumes and the like, I frequently experience anaphylaxis, internal bleeding (porphyria), and other medical emergency conditions. I have been trying to stay alive, and a part of the community, despite frequent anaphylaxis, severe immune system damage, severe allergies and sensitivities, hormone damage and other medical conditions for six years.

I have often been bedridden several days after attending hearings and participating as a citizen. When I learned that the reason was blanket pesticide use in and on city facilities every two months, to keep city buildings, grounds and parks so toxic that small creatures and plants could not live in the vicinity, I asked for accommodation for my disability (cease unnecessary pesticide use and clean-up).

The council majority failed to stop these toxic practices, provide notice of them, or even reduce them.

The city administration felt so secure with the council majority in their rejection of my request for accommodation that I have recently learned that at least one of my followup letters addressed to the council was not even routed to the council.

When I asked the council to modify the rules so at a minimum I can be notified and have some lead time to get away when fumigations are planned in my neighborhood, the council majority block (Moran, Wolfe, Jacobs) refused to accommodate me with any procedural changes.

While Gillian Moran claims concern about "joggers, bicyclists, children, the elderly, people with asthma and other respiratory problems," my experience tells me this is political posturing. When she was asked to act to stop the toxic pollution of our city air, neighborhoods and facilities, Ms. Moran just sat there grinning.

Cheriel Jensen
Quito Road

Eucalyptus trees should be kept

The charm of the eucalyptus trees at Saratoga School must be preserved. The two planning options [outlined in the Aug. 26 edition of the Saratoga News] that preserve these magnificent giants should be our only two options. Our society is forever touting its environmental stance and conservationist efforts, but sometimes, in our own back yard, I see flagrant disregard toward the ideals of working with nature when we have the opportunity to do so.

I also wonder if people who live in homes in an area "unsafe" due to the inevitable 7.2 earthquake that will someday strike feel that the possibility of a branch falling off a tree "one day" is a reason to destroy the tree. Decisions based upon fear are commonly changed through education by professionals.

What better arena exists to have the tree experts teach us how to live with the eucalyptus? None of these trees has a record of harming any of the many students who have passed through the hallowed halls of Saratoga School.

Farfetched but similar, it would be like bulldozing our homes before the big one hits. Instead, how about putting a little effort into preventing a tree accident from occurring, like old-fashioned pruning? And, like our rangers in the giant redwood forests, who place attractive fence barriers around the trees deserving this respect, how about hiring an arborist to determine which trees require such fencing?

My son begins kindergarten this year, and I want him to enjoy the beauty and grandeur of nature that few schoolyards in this state can boast of. I implore the trustees of these trees' fate to put continued effort into preserving these elder giants, immigrants from abroad but worthy Americans nonetheless.

Teresa M. Polcyn
Paul Avenue

Interference due to weather conditions

This letter is in response to the letter by Bet Hover ("Opera didn't need Doobie interference," Aug. 26).

Villa Montalvo monitors the sound of every outdoor performance, at the Villa and at the Mountain Winery. Santa Clara County sheriffs are on site for that express purpose. The decibel level of the Doobie Brothers concert at the winery on Aug. 7 was within the legal limits. Unfortunately, Mother Nature brought the fog level in below the winery and over downtown Saratoga for several evenings. This phenomenon evidently caused the sound to travel farther and to areas where it regularly does not, including the villa grounds. This may also explain why Saratogans were treated to the sound of the closing fireworks from the Santa Clara County Fair many miles away on the same weekend.

Montalvo is well aware of concert sound levels for each performance, not only because we have to be but because we want to be. When the call was made to the production office at the winery, the Montalvo Presents staff and Doobie Brothers crew turned the sound down immediately.

Villa Montalvo respects San Francisco Opera's Merola Program and values its long-term relationship with them. We certainly would not purposely sabotage their performance. In the past two seasons, many shows have taken place at the winery and the villa on the same evening, and this phenomenon has not posed a problem.

We sincerely regret that the Merola audience, including Ms. Hover, was disturbed by the music of the Doobie Brothers during La Traviata. Please be assured that the problem was neither caused by "negligence" or "arrogance" as the writer would have you believe.

Elisbeth Challener
Executive Director
Villa Montalvo

DeCinzo cartoons tell us something

I'm learning why cartoons exist. DeCinzo's cartoons are very interesting because they provoke self-thinking (the opposite of robotizing).

Maybe the excellent cartoons of DeCinzo are telling us that bureaucratic motivation leads to the robotization problem.

Maybe DeCinzo's works are telling us that it's necessary to pooh-pooh all economic exploitation of us by others.

Maybe the accessible cartoons of DeCinzo are telling us why it's necessary to make light of all social domination of us by others.

Maybe, being robbed of one's individuality is loss of one's feisty spirituality and one's exuberant personality.

Methinks the cartoons of DeCinzo are excellent food for thought.

Floyd Steinberg
Saratoga

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