Saratoga News

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

Letter an example
of 'the pot calling
the kettle black'

In her Nov. 14 letter to the Saratoga News, Ronna Devincenzi comments that "it is terrifying when people say God is telling them something, when it is really their imagination." Wow. Was there ever a better example of "the pot calling the kettle black" than this statement?

William Lorton

Los Angeles

William Lorton is a graduate of Saratoga High School.

Oak Street residents
should not be forced
out of their homes

As 38 year residents of beautiful Oak Street in Saratoga, we are shocked and saddened by recent events involving the Saratoga Cemetery District board.

Imagine yourselves receiving notice that the family home that you have lived in for decades is in danger of being taken away from you. That is what is happening to two families on Oak Street.

The cemetery has been here since 1854 and has always had a calm, lovely, historical presence. Oak Street, near the Village, is lined with heritage oak trees and charming older homes. This type of neighborhood is what makes Saratoga unlike any of the larger, impersonal, "big-box" cities. It's why we have chosen to raise our families here.

The Oak Street residents do not want to change the footprint of the cemetery, along with a new larger entrance. It has, by the cemetery board's own figures, somewhere between 40 to 75 years of space presently to accommodate in-ground burials. With the alternatives now becoming available for the interment of loved ones, they may very well never need more space.

Mainly, we must not see these families lose their homes without their consent by eminent domain. Please be aware of this situation and do not allow this to happen. The families do not want to leave their homes which they cherish and love.

Jerry and Lynne Gurley

Oak Street

North Campus the
best place for low-
income housing

I read the article where the city of Saratoga is obliged to provide housing for 235-plus low to moderate income families by a certain year.

I recognized that now there was a reason for purchasing Saratoga's North Campus on Prospect Road. By putting in subterranean parking, changing the zoning to "high-density residential," city planners could meet the obligation and have a real use for the 3-plus acre site. (An alternate site would be the Heritage Orchard adjoining the library on Saratoga Avenue.)

Eric Grube

Harleigh Drive

Ceremony was
historic and
beautiful

I am writing in response to the two negative letters concerning Juanita Cordero's ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood ("Altaring Experience," Sept. 25). I was privileged to be present at and participated in this beautiful public and historical ceremony. When Don Cordero (Juanita's husband) and their five children presented Juanita to the Bishop to be ordained, I found it to be a most moving experience.

When institutions stagnate, they die. The number of vocations to the priesthood has declined. An institution is not meant to be exactly as it was when it was founded. We are an evolving humanity. Hopefully, churches embrace both the human and the divine.

In a church that has been patriarchal since its founding, there needs to be a balance of the feminine. Women speak with a different voice; we need both voices. Churches as a microcosm of the larger world should be leading the way.

I salute these women and the male bishops who were willing to support them in their mature reflection and conscious decision to take a timely next step in this evolutionary process. I hope that others will embrace this act as a positive one. It has always been my understanding that the people are the church, not the hierarchy. I hope that the spirit speaks through us all.

Jo-Ann Seiquist

Los Gatos