Keep tires out of Kaiser's kilns
Kaiser Cement in Cupertino wants to annually burn more than 2 million tires to fuel its plant. I agree tires are a problem. However, burning tires for fuel and releasing even more known cancer-causing toxins, as well as introducing new ones into the air in our densely populated Bay Area, is not the answer. Common sense tells us that the technology for tire-derived fuel needs to be improved so that, at a minimum, it does not increase air pollution. I call upon Kaiser, a British-owned company, to act responsibly. All interested Bay Area residents should let Kaiser Cement and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District know your views on this.
Lisa Robertson
Cupertino
Savadelis photos leave you hanging
First of all, I would like to compliment you on the new look and content of The Sun. It has improved since you took over, and I look forward to its continuing growth to reflect our fine city of Sunnyvale. I especially like the more in-depth articles. I am sure you are becoming aware that Sunnyvale has a great deal of history and many interesting people who have stories worth telling.
There is, however, one continuing part of The Sun that, personally, I have never understood, and that is Savadelis' Sunnyvale. I have no qualms about his photographs, which are usually of excellent quality and content. However, they don't tell the reader anything. They pique your interest and then leave you hanging with no further information or way of finding out more on the content of the photograph. Practically every week, there is a photo that I would like to know much more about but nowhere in The Sun is there further information. This seems to me a shame when so much more could be added to inform your readership. And, after all, that's what a newspaper is for--to inform its readership--not showcase someone's photography.
I appreciate your consideration of my observation.
Leslie B. Lawton
Owner, We Produce
White churches were also burned
I was intrigued by the picture in the Aug. 28 issue of The Sun, on page 5. The picture shows Mayor Robin Parker placing a red ribbon on a burned piece of wood to remember the "75 black and multicultural churches, synagogues and mosques" that have tragically been burned and torched. However, missing from that list was "white" churches. I find it ironic that "white" was missing, as according to the FBI statistics, more "white" churches have been burned than the others listed.
Cindy Barr
Sunnyvale
A 12 percent raise? Am I missing something?
Just got through reading the lead article about the teachers at Monta Vista High School. Their union wants a 12 percent increase this year. Am I missing something? A 12 percent increase seems mighty generous unless the teachers have not had a recent wage increase. Along with a healthy pay hike and a benefits package of $6,600 a year. I don't think too many workers in the private sector enjoy such employer largess. Am I missing something?
Dale Straw
Cupertino
Teachers didn't have the right
The article in the Aug. 28 issue of The Sun, "Teachers, board at impasse on Salary," misquoted me as saying, "I believe they have the right to do what they did." I should have been quoted as saying, "'They believe they have a right to do what they did." As president of the Fremont Union High School District Board of Trustees, I certainly do not believe the Fremont Education Association has a right to engage in unprotected concerted activities.
G. Franklin Pelkey,
FUHSD board president
Council did right by delaying Moffett vote
The Sunnyvale Sun has been a rather active "sounding board" for citizens wanting to express their views on the Moffett Field situation. If a vote on "air cargo" had been held in November, it probably would favor the "anti-noise" side simply because they would be the most energized to vote because they are organized.
I think the Sunnyvale City Council was wise in holding off on any "voting" until:
* the situation is better understood by all citizens, by local businesses, by NASA and the government, and by Santa Clara County and San Jose governments;
* the long-range (20-50 years) impact is clearer;
* the League of Women Voters and other motived organizations evaluate the situation enough to make their recommendations.
The future use of Moffett Field is a politically difficult decision. "Air cargo" will disrupt the status quo of surrounding neighborhoods, but the extent of such disruption is an unknown. People's lives will be changed whether Moffett "goes to seed" or remains as an airport. Change is inevitable. Change needs to be positive, or surrounding neighborhoods will decline in their so-called "quality of life."
Maybe increased air traffic into Moffett will be, overall, a positive thing for the surrounding neighborhood. Certainly it will be noisier than it is now, but more noise could indicate more prosperity, more money being generated, property values increasing because of a better tax base and more industry. To be an "anti-noise" faction person at this point is OK, and these voices need to be heard, but they must not be the only voices. All factions need to be involved, studies made, discussions held, compromises made for the good of Sunnyvale.
To give the Sunnyvale City Council some knowledgeable, positive ideas to weigh against the negative, "anti-noise" factions takes time. Furthermore, what's the value of rushing for a vote on air cargo at Moffett Field except to give the "anti-noise" proponents more "near-term clout." What is really needed is some "long-term smarts." Let's take a year or two to give NASA a chance to prove that it is able to conduct a sensible reduced-noise operation, to see what the long-term NASA needs will be for Moffett, to see what the long-term military needs will be for Moffett, to see what positive money-making ideas Sunnyvale might employ in and around Moffett Airport, to give the League of Women Voters an opportunity to make some thoughtful recommendations, and to do some more Sunnyvale planning.
Think now. Plan now. Get smart. Vote later.
James D. Long
Sunnyvale
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 11, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.