Saratoga News

Letters

PAC contributions will not be accepted

I am one of the four candidates for the Saratoga City Council this fall.

In considering the modest government requirements of Saratoga, it is difficult to understand the benefit to the city from glitzy, expensive campaigns financed in large part by entities with political and land-use agendas. I don't think Saratoga needs this type of pressure from organized groups with special objectives.

I believe Saratoga will be better served if councilmembers are free of the obligations that result from financial support of political action committees.

Therefore, I have decided not to accept any campaign contributions from political action committees, but to depend solely on campaign contributions from private citizens who believe in a straightforward, independent approach to city issues. I also will not attend forums sponsored by PAC organizations and committees.

There will be extensive coverage of candidates and their positions in the Saratoga News, the Mercury News and forums sponsored by League of Women Voters and homeowner associations, and additional information will be available on the Internet.

I call on the other candidates in the race, Ms. Burger, Mr. Bogosian, and Ms. Wyman, to make this same pledge and renounce PAC contributions and PAC-sponsored forums. I am sure that the campaign will provide ample opportunity for our individual positions to be fully expressed for the benefit of the electorate.

Jim Shaw
Kosich Drive
JIMBOSHAW@aol.com

Public Safety Commission ignored public-park problem

I am writing to express my disappointment , and that of many others, with the Saratoga Public Safety Commission and, in particular, the actions of its chairman, Kenneth Biester.

For at least the last three years, there have been safety concerns related to alcohol abuse at El Quito Park on Monday of every week. A very large group of young men start drinking around noon and continue to do so until dark, with the group often numbering approximately 50 by this time, many legally drunk.

Gambling is also taking place on the picnic tables near the volleyball court. Those who are drunk are inclined to speed on Paseo Presada when leaving, to say nothing of endangering other motorists on their way home. Other problems result at the park because of alcohol abuse by this group.

This problem was brought to the attention of the Safety Commission at its Aug. 12 meeting, but chairman Biester refused to allow the commission to discuss the problem because it had not been placed on the agenda.

At their meeting Sept. 9, the problem was on the agenda, item No. 9, but once again chairman Biester allowed no discussion by the commission members, would not allow any comments by the public in attendance, and did his very best to sidestep the issue as quickly as possible. After having sat through 90 minutes of commission discussion on other matters, it is most unpleasant to learn that you will not be heard. What ever happened to the concept of common courtesy to the public? Do not our commissions exist to hear problems from the public so that they may advise the City Council?

Yes, the El Quito problem will be heard by the council, but only because enough of the public brought pressure to bear on the Parks and Recreation Commission. This group did respond and will bring it to council.

The Public Safety Commission did not even want to hear about the problem, much less investigate it between their meetings of Aug. 12 and Sept. 9. This safety Commission is a facade and a joke. They discuss what they want, when they want to, and the public be damned. They are the height of irresponsibility.

Preston Burlingham
Squirrel Hollow Lane

Old tires are durable and noise-trapping

I was astounded and happy to read that someone besides myself, namely the Saratoga News, takes seriously my suggestion to mount old auto tires on the freeway wall to reduce noise. That idea hit me the first morning after the freeway opened.

The tire concept seems to be in the same class with other ridiculed but practical ideas that have an air of the absurd about them, such as prunes and prairie dog vacuums. I am not an engineer; just a local residential real estate broker, but I feel the idea has merit and should be tested. Old tires are nearly free, weatherproof, durable, have a soft, noise-trapping structure and a never-ending supply. It would also help ease the old tire-disposal problem. Once in place, they could be sprayed the same color as the walls, and the planting already in front of the walls would soon grow to obscure them.

I feel a series of test sections, perhaps a mile long each, should be used to test various methods to reduce noise. A year of having several methods in place should yield a practical, economical, effective solution to the noise problem. According to NASA physicist John Grebenkemper, the sound walls only need to be insulated up to 5 feet high.

Thanks for your support!

Anthony Hoffman
Saratoga

Most corporations lack a conscience

I am deeply concerned about Kaiser Cement's plan to burn tires. I attended the public hearing on May 23 to objectively view the evidence, and was appalled by the lack of scientific objectivity displayed by the Bay Area Air Quality District. The report presented was clearly predisposed in favor of burning tires. Particulate matter small enough to be inhaled was never measured, significant anomalous data counts were not pointed out and the significance of dioxin given in a recent U.S. government report was not reported. All of this was brought up by members of the audience, and then verified by the BAAQD. My conclusion is that neither the data presented nor the test limits used to compare it with are scientifically reliable.

Until this meeting, I was blissfully ignorant that a huge coal-burning plant existed anywhere in this densely populated Bay Area. Then I was shocked we might knowingly allow an increase in the pollution from this same coal-burning kiln, and knowingly allow the death toll per million to go up. The term "risk management" now sends a shiver down my spine. Like most corporations, Kaiser lacks a conscience, and it's clear that the BAAQD is on the same page as Kaiser. You and I must protect our own air. Please write the BAAQD and Kaiser and demand that Kaiser decrease, not increase, its pollution.

Timothy K. Brand
Cupertino

Thanks for the unbiased reporting

I am writing to thank you for the favorable article you ran on the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was nice to have such an unbiased approach to reporting and we, here in this home, appreciate your efforts. I have shared it with others in my family. I enjoy reading your newspaper each week for information relevant to our home city. Thank you very much.

Cary Kullick
Paseo Tierra