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Sunnyvale's Newspaper

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Alliance backs Miller, Fowler in council race

The future of Moffett Field is critically important to Sunnyvale and can be influenced greatly by local leaders and voters. The Alliance for a New Moffett Field invited candidates for Sunnyvale City Council to attend a meeting and to submit responses to a questionnaire. Based on the information assembled, the Alliance recommends Julia Miller for Seat No. 2 and Fred Fowler for Seat No.1.

The Alliance recognizes that Mr. Fowler previously advocated commercial air cargo at Moffett Field and as a member of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) voted air cargo "conditionally acceptable." However, NASA has shelved its air-cargo plans, and the key issue today is where the candidates stand on planning for a better future for Moffett Field.

Both Miller and Fowler support Sunnyvale's active participation in development of the California Air and Space Center and advisory votes on major use options. Ms. Miller advocates: (a) no air cargo; b) retaining federal jurisdiction with NASA stewardship for as long as possible to keep San Jose from taking over; and c) preparing plans for nonairport use if the field becomes available.

It should also be remembered that Vice Mayor Jim Roberts, who is unopposed for Seat No. 3, was among the brave minority on the council in 1996 who supported putting air cargo on the ballot.

The Alliance for a New Moffett Field is a grassroots organization of members primarily from Sunnyvale and Mountain View, dedicated to an open public process to secure a future for Moffett Field acceptable to residents of the neighboring cities. For more information on the Alliance and on council candidates, see http://www.best.com/~walterb/moffett.

Dave King, Grazyna Krajewska and Walter Bays

Gas-powered garden tools way overblown

Fed up with traffic, I recently took a job which allows me to work from home. This also means one less car on our already air-polluted freeways. However, what I have come to realize is that this is a far from ideal situation, in regards to the aural pollution that I have to put up with every day. I am referring, of course, to the proliferation of gas-powered tools used by landscape gardeners.

Only today, starting at 7:15 a.m., I have had to put up with lawn trimmers, followed by lawn mowers, followed by leaf-blowers. Then they started trimming the trees with chainsaws, again followed by leaf-blowers. Finally, they finished by trimming the hedges and ground covering, again followed by leaf-blowers. Of all these tools, the leaf-blowers emit the loudest, most nerve-wrenching sounds. I eventually left my house and took my work to a coffeeshop, where I could sit outside with my dog--only to be subjected to another leaf-blower in the supermarket parking lot.

Because of the ease of the blowers, workmen tend to overuse them, most of the time just moving around clouds of dust. I even witnessed one workman use a blower to blow a single leaf from one side of the road to the other. If they had to use brooms, perhaps they might not be so liberal in their use and could therefore save money!

I read recently that Menlo Park is considering banning leaf-blowers, thereby joining Los Altos, Palo Alto, and Portola Valley, where I understand they are already banned. I therefore have to ask if Sunnyvale is contemplating this step. If not, why not? I have heard all the arguments for leaf-blowers, but they don't outweigh the benefits regarding the public health (or my mental health ), so don't bother to try and convince me otherwise.

Steve Trigwell
Sunnyvale

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 22, 1997.
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