The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Letters

It was nice to hear from you, Ms. Rowe

It was interesting, and perhaps delightful, to hear again from onetime mayor Frances Rowe in her letter to The Sun on Jan. 28. She may be even more sticky than we can imagine in her new role as chief watchdog on the fringes of local politics. Although she was beaten for her City Council seat by a 3-to-1 margin, she remains embedded in the civic memory.

Robert Thoen
Sunnyvale

City council made the right decision against air cargo

In reference to a story The Sun reported on Jan. 14 ("Cupertino City Council rejects air cargo at Moffett"): The Cupertino City Council should be congratulated for taking a stand against future air cargo at Moffett Airfield. Communities under the mid-peninsula air space--Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, Saratoga, Palo Alto and Mountain View--will not tolerate the noise and congestion of air cargo jumbo jets.

The comments of councilmembers Dean and Burnett, however, do represent soft spots in the resolve of the council to oppose air cargo traffic. Mr. Dean continues to state that he is "dubious ... that any decision by the surrounding councils would have a serious impact on NASA's future plans." That is, he implies that NASA may be less than sincere when representatives, in the press and at CAC meetings, declare that they would not do anything the local communities oppose. This give-up attitude is uninspiring, and all of the many people who have worked to oppose air cargo at Moffett would have preferred do-or-die saber rattling.

Mr. Burnett continues to beat the drum for the false hope that air operations could use a "route over San Francisco Bay instead." Don't you believe it. Descending flights into Moffett must land--just like the Navy P-3s have always done--into the wind, which, in this area, blows predominately from south to north.

In any case, the Cupertino Council is to be applauded for its enlightened gesture.

Carl Orta
Alliance for a New Moffett Field

Correction

The first-place winner in the Visual Arts portion of the Reflections art competition was incorrectly named in a Feb. 4 story. The winner was Mona Shen.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 11, 1998.
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