Letters

Travis story was a great service

We, as members of the American Association of University Women and the AAUW Committee on Homeless Women and Children, wish to extend a special thank-you to editor Dale Bryant, reporter Sandy Sims and photographer George Sakkestad.

The Sept. 15 issue of the Saratoga News, depicting the life and works of Georgia Travis, founder of our homeless committee, showed how one dynamic woman made such a difference in the lives of homeless women and children in our area.

The cover story and pictures so wonderfully portrayed today's homeless and our committee's ongoing efforts in helping them to return to the work force and to make a home for their children.

Georgia felt honored and was so pleased to think her efforts were newsworthy!

We truly appreciated the paper's interest and hope this article will help the Los Gatos and Saratoga communities in general to be more aware of the problem of homelessness in Santa Clara County.

Penny T. Sink
Melva Volkerson
Co-Chairs of AAUW Committee on Homeless Women and Children

Renovations taking away city's character

I want to to express my concerns about the recent buildings and renovations that have been going up all around our once quaint little town. Having lived here all my life, I have seen Saratoga grow and change quite a bit.

Throughout all the changes, though, it has always been able to maintain the small friendly town atmosphere and image about it. Now within the past few years more than 90 homes have gone into the old Paul Masson winery lot as well as about six new homes on the corner of Cumberland and Cox.

The renovations of the old Argonaut shopping center and Redwood and Saratoga schools are creating new looks about Saratoga that are not good ones, to say the least. Saratoga has a lot of history and beauty behind it, and I think that it is a shame to wipe away all that history and beauty just to make things bigger and perhaps a little more convenient.

Scott D. Lewis
Vendura Court

Keep up pressure to fix traffic issues

I really enjoy the Saratoga News, and I want to thank you for the recent article about the traffic monitoring through Prides Crossing. In addition to the traffic load, I think it would be a good idea for the city to look also into the kind of traffic using Cox Avenue.

Since the closing of Highway 85 to trucks over 5 1/2 tons, Cox has become a pass-way between Saratoga Avenue and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road for a large number of heavy trucks and commercial vehicles. I am talking about loaded cement trucks, double semis filled with dirt, single and double semi trailers with logos identifying everything from commercial drayage companies to flatbed trucks loaded with heavy earth-moving equipment, as well as other types of heavy commercial vehicles.

Many companies allow their loaded semi trucks to use Cox for a quick pass-through, including the grocery delivery trucks.

In addition, given the long wait required to get through the traffic lights on Saratoga Avenue between Highway 85 and Prospect Avenue in the morning and evening rush hour, many drivers access the freeway at De Anza Boulevard and use Cox Avenue to get through to the area east of Saratoga Avenue.

When you add to that traffic burden the use of heavy trucks, a major road repair cannot be far off. If you observe Cox Avenue, especially the roadway east of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, it is not difficult to determine why it's in the condition it is. Safety is another factor to consider, as Cox is a feeder street for the residents living north and south of it.

Agnes Krug
Shubert Drive

Wolfe's arguments filled with holes

I am writing in response to Don Wolfe's commentary regarding contingency fees, published in the Sept. 15 issue of the Saratoga News. Mr. Wolfe is, after all, a full-time paid spokesman for the group euphemistically called "Silicon Valley Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse." Mr. Wolfe's "commentary" is merely a press piece cranked out by his organization.

As an attorney who often represents individuals on a contingency-fee basis, I believe Mr. Wolfe's claims are inaccurate and filled with holes. In the commentary, for example, we are told about a "lawsuit tax" the author and his organization believe results from lawsuit abuse.

It is contended in the commentary that this lawsuit tax amounts to $1,200 per year per person for everyone in the United States. With roughly 275,000,000 people in the United States, the so-called tax amounts to roughly $330 billion per year. To put this in perspective, if we were to believe the commentary's allegations, frivolous lawsuits, as an industry, account for more than the transportation industry, including rail, air and highway transportation (only $222.8 billion) and more than the construction industry (only $269.2 billion).

The "lawsuit tax" estimate is particularly ludicrous when you consider that the gross domestic product of the entire insurance industry was only $104.1 billion, and that includes all types of insurance.

Mr. Wolfe fails to point out in his commentary that, according to statistics from the state of California Judicial Council, the number of personal-injury lawsuits filed in 1986-87 compared to 1995-96 had dropped 43 percent despite an increase in overall filings.

To a person who is injured, disabled and out of work, a contingency fee is the only means they have to pursue claims against insurance companies who have the wherewithal to challenge them.

Fortunately for me, I've been practicing law for 24 years and I see very few questionable lawsuits as described in the commentary. I do see that consumers are now aware of the tobacco industry abuses as well as those of some auto manufacturers and drug companies. Don't blame the contingency fee for lawsuit abuse, but do question the $330 billion "lawsuit tax."

Mark H. Pierce
Sobey Road

Corrections:

In the Seniors column in the Oct. 6 issue of the Saratoga News, the title of Walter Bortz's book was incorrect. He is the author of We Live Too Short and Die Too Long. His most recent book is Dare to Be 100.

In the Oct. 6 issue of the Saratoga News, the feature article on the Hillbrook Autumn Kitchen Tour mistakenly said the tour's ticket price included a buffet lunch at La Hacienda. The lunch is actually an additional $15.

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