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Letters
Radio frequency emissions not radioactive emissions
The article "Planners Approve Use Permits Over Objections of Local Residents" in the Oct. 20 issue of the Saratoga News is an interesting and appreciated update.
However, I hope that neither the article's author nor any resident of Saratoga really believes that there is any danger of "radioactive emission" as stated in the first sentence of the article. (Perhaps concern over radio frequency emissions?) I'll assume it was an editor's gaffe which changed something that was more factual. In this high-technology hub of the world one would hope that the level of understanding of science isn't really that poor!
Ian Webb
Canyon View Drive
Contingency fee system offers public no benefit
Having lived in California now for more years than I did in my native England, I am still appalled whenever I read or hear a statement by a lawyer (particularly a former city attorney) praising the benefits to the public of the contingency fee system as is practiced in this state and I presume everywhere else in the United States. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We live in the most litigious country in the world as a result of the contingency fee system of payment to lawyers who face little or no financial expense to them when they file a frivolous lawsuit on a contingency fee basis. Defendents in such cases are compelled to employ lawyers at their own expense in order to respond to the suit. In many instances, settlements are reached out of court because defendents realize that it would be less expensive to settle rather than go to trial. Even when cases can be successfully defended, the cost of victory is simply beyond the pale.
How different it would be if every court had the right to decide at the end of a trial, which of the two parties involved in a case would be required to pay the legal costs. Wouldn't there be a dramatic reduction in the number of contingency-fee-based suits if the lawyer filing a suit were faced with the prospect of not only paying for his or her own time and expense, but also the defendent's costs and those of his or her lawyers?
There are many other issues involving lawyers that concern me relative to the cost to society by their practices. One particular issue that seems to be a conflict of interest is the number of lawyers in Congress helping to write laws that benefit themselves financially when they step down (or are voted out) from the House or Senate.
Another matter of concern to me relates to insurance companies and the law. In that regard it would appear that lawyers sit on either side of the fence, depending on which will provide them with the most lucre.
Was it Shakespeare that once wrote or commented that the world would be a better place if there were 90 percent less attorneys around? Certainly, I believe that lawyers do cost taxpayers a great deal of expense one way or another and in particular because of the contingency fee payment system. I feel that way because the organization of which I was an officer at one time had to cough up $1,500 to settle a frivolous case that would have cost a great deal more had it been allowed to go to trial.
I bet I am not the only Saratoga citizen who disapproves of the contingency fee system that forces innocent persons and companies to cough up money to settle or perhaps go to the wall as a matter of principle.
Patrick Shasby
Howen Drive
DeCinzo not critical enough of council
I had wondered if I was the only one that had noticed the lack of cartoons by Mr. DeCinzo this year about the City Council. Karen Dowdy's letter in the Oct. 6 issue indicated that others have noticed as well.
Has this council been so lily white that there has been nothing for him to make cartoons about? Based on his cartoons in the past, I think he has had lots of material this last year. For example, the council said they were going to get a new city attorney from within the county, then hired one that is tied in with a firm in San Francisco. Can't you just see his cartoon with lawyers flying in, like angels, from all over California?
Also, during the council meeting at which Mayor Jim Shaw gave attorney Riback the boot, he gave such high praise for the work Mr. Riback had done for the city that DeCinzo with previous councils would have had the new attorney walking on water.
Then, concerning the Saratoga Creek lawsuit, when the plaintiffs got together with the defendants and settled the suit without their attorneys, DeCinzo could have had a picture of Saratoga, with a big sign that read "Attorneys Not Required."
When a vacancy arose on the council because of Mayor Shaw's death, the council appointed someone that had not run for the office. If an election is not held, most vacancies are filled with the person that got the most votes of the losers in the last election. Sure, they gave the residents a chance to voice their opinions, but it was obvious that they already had their minds made up. This would have been a good time for DeCinzo to draw a surprise jumping out of a cake.
Is this an indication that the Saratoga News is biased in their presentation of happenings in Saratoga?
Marvin Becker
Mellowood Drive
Closing Congress Springs six days a week is wrong
I read with interest your article in the Oct. 13 issue of the Saratoga News about the state of the parks in Saratoga. I am in agreement with Councilman Nick Streit that making park facilities clean and safe should be a priority. However, there seems to be a gap in the logic when going from proposing closing any of the parks for a yearlong renovation, to proposing closing an entire park six days a week.
If the bathrooms are unsanitary, it would seem more responsive to immediately put in temporary ones, such those set up near the construction areas so prevalent in Saratoga these days, for use while renovating the permanent ones. If the playing fields are unsafe, it's hard to imagine how the construction technology that creates million-dollar homes in a few weeks would take a year to make a firm, flat field. Fresh from a battle whereby an expansion of Congress Springs was derailed mainly for NIMBY concerns, perhaps any excuse for shutting it down, even temporarily, seems like good policy to some. However, there is a wider constituency for the use of the park infrastructure, as well as a wider set of alternatives, to consider.
If Wildwood were to be monitored for some time in the late afternoon and evenings, it might become apparent why the bathrooms there are more in need of renovation. Do other parents avoid taking their kids to Wildwood in the evenings due to the shady characters apparently residing there?
It is inconceivable to me, in a city that is so rapidly building out its remaining open space, to propose even in jest the closing of a major park for 85 percent of the week.
Joel Mattox
Chalet Lane
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
