The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Letters

City deserves praise for tornado response

Kudos to the city of Sunnyvale for its prompt attention to the twister that hit on Monday. Almost immediately the Public Safety people were efficiently detouring traffic around the area and keeping everyone but residents and emergency crews away. The department of public works mobilized at once to begin the cleanup process at no cost to the victims.

Our fair city sponsors a program called SNAP, Sunnyvale Neighborhoods Actively Prepared.

The theory is that each neighborhood, with its residents trained by the city, can cope effectively with disaster. The events of the past few days prove that our SNAP teachers are more than well-trained themselves, and I am thankful for them all.

Incidentally, PG&E, which comes under fire with some regularity, restored our power within two hours. We're grateful for them as well.

Richey Grude
Sunnyvale

Prop. 226 backers aim to silence labor

Proposition 226 is an initiative written by big business and out-of-state lobbyists which would silence the voice of working families. Prop. 226 would make it illegal for unions to fight for their members and all working families without a complicated authorization procedure that includes a form designed by bureaucrats to be filled out by each member, every 12 months.

These bureaucratic regulations will tie up unions in red tape and silence our voices. Prop. 226 forces individual workers to report their political activities to their boss, violating workers' privacy.

This initiative restricts unions, but allows big business to spend corporate dollars without limit. Big business already spends more than 11 times on politics than unions do.

Prop. 226 is sponsored by the same people who want to cut wages, cut benefits and curtail our rights as workers and as seniors. The supporters of 226 are not friends of working families or unions. In fact, most of the initiative's backers are out-of-state lobbyists and corporations.

Dominic Catalano
San Jose

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 13, 1998.
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