 |
|
|
|
|
Speak Out
County supervisor weighs in on Measure A
Measure A is a 30-year, $6 billion transit tax on the November 2000 ballot. Measure A is so harmful to our community that the County Board of Supervisors took an unprecedented action on Oct. 17, to place an alternative measure on the November 2001 ballot. This new measure will be a comprehensive transportation and housing program. Vote no on Measure A knowing that a real solution to traffic congestion is forthcoming.
In the meantime, you will get congestion relief soon as we complete our 1996 transportation program. We will, increase Caltrain service on the peninsula, fund interchange improvements at 85/101 in Mountain View, and synchronize traffic signals on eight county expressways, including Lawrence Expressway. To see the projects in the 1996 Measure B Program, go to www.SantaClaraCounty.org.
Measure A is a financial fiasco. BART cost overruns, BART buy-in costs, and interest costs from bonding aren't factored into the total project cost and, as a result, will consume the funds for all of the other projects in this Measure. For 30 years, Cupertino receives nothing from Measure A.
Blanca Alvarado
Santa Clara County Supervisor/ VTA Chairperson
What's the big deal about fluoridation?
I have been reading the articles on fluoridation with great interest. I see many people getting upset over nothing. In any of the major cites that have fluoridation has anyone died of fluoridation poisoning. Can any doctor or dentist say it is bad for you?
I did have one dentist tell me he would like to know how much fluoride they will be putting into the water. He also wanted to know if the rates did go up, just how much would they increase? In addition, where the water would come from? Well, guess what? If Measure S passes, two things will happen: 1) the rates will go up and 2) the quality will go down if Measure S is not passed.
Make sure that all the seniors, businesses and children that need both the QUALITY of the water they now have and not increase their cost, then I'll listen. However, to just make a statement that your way is the right way doesn't make any sense at all.
So my challenge to all those that oppose adding flouride to the current water supply is find another sources that meets the same standards as our current supplier and at the same cost, and I will change my mind. If you live in the area that's effected, then you might have a voice. I live in the area that will be effected and find no problem with fluoridation. I find a problem with people standing in the way of keeping my water quality the same with no cost increase.
Ron Swegles
Sunnyvale
No on Measure S
Our most precious resources are the air we breathe and the water we drink. Now Sunnyvale City Council members are proposing that we accept water from the San Francisco PUC that has been "fluoridated."
If Measure S passes, the city could accept water, which has more than seven times as much fluoride than is currently present, and the fluoride added would be a different chemical compound-- a by product of fertilizer and aluminum manufacturing.
At the most recent fluoridation debate at city hall on Oct. l9, one of the many paid government bureaucrats pushing for fluoridation admitted filtering out fluoride at home would require a $2,000 machine and $200 filters that would last about four months. The bureaucrats claimed to know nothing of the cost of filtering for chip manufacturers in North Sunnyvale. And while we might avoid some fluoride by buying bottled water, we don't shower or bathe in bottled water.
Studies show that fluoride, insofar as it works at all, helps prevent cavities in some young people when applied topically--not when taken internally. Fluoride is harmful for some; too much fluoride is bad for everyone. See studies at www.no.fluoride.com.
The Sunnyvale politicians pushing Measure S have not told the truth about water alternatives and costs and they don't know or care about the harmful effects of fluoridation. In the November election, let's tell the local politicians and San Francisco PUC that we do not want fluoridated water--by voting No on S.
Shirley Gold
Sunnyvale
Support Sandoval
The race for Santa Clara County supervisor might, on the surface, appear to be a choice between similar candidates. However, I have had personal experience with one of these two individuals and I would like to tell you about it.
The city of Sunnyvale and the Fremont Union High School District will soon be building a new, Olympic swimming pool that both parties will share. This marvelous achievement will happen largely due to community support and private/state funding efforts. As president of the Foothill De Anza Community College board, Dolly Sandoval saw to it early on that we had the college board's endorsement (Today our efforts have culminated to include the support of 35 individuals and groups.).
I also look at the candidates and find myself desiring a representative that will have a positive and tangible affect on my family's future. We have two prehigh-school children in our family and look upon the possibility of their attending either Foothill or De Anza College. Thanks to Dolly Sandoval, who spearheaded the facilities modernization bond passed by voters last year, our children will be able to attend a community college that has been renovated.
I am just a citizen who holds no public office or positions of power. Yet, someone who did extend herself to grass roots causes to get something tangible accomplished. Dolly Sandoval has already accomplished two very important goals for our family! I'll be voting Sandoval for Supervisor!
Sally Lofgren
Sunnyvale
|
|
|
|
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
