The DeCinzo cartoon is a wonderful treasure. It teaches us to laugh at ourselves. I look forward to the DeCinzo feature every Wednesday and share it with my family.

It always sparks a discussion about the events in Sunnyvale which prompted the cartoon. Often the ensuing debate leads someone to research an issue deeply.

We love DeCinzo!

Frank Smoot

Sunnyvale

City should hire locals to remove, plant trees

I think it is wrong for the city council to pay outsiders to remove our tree stumps and plant new trees. Even if it costs twice as much, I feel that they should hire Sunnyvale citizens, as this would help Sunnyvale's economy. The city workers could also consider lowering their prices so they could get a job and earn money.

The city council should definitely reconsider what they have done.

Brian Crane, age 12

West Valley Elementary School

City should own the town
square and use city hall

It is my understanding that all of the open areas in the Forum Group's downtown project, including the area surrounding the redwood trees, will be owned by the developer.

Similarly, the sidewalks will be owned by the developer, even though the streets will be owned by the city. My concern about developer ownership is that as citizens, we will not be entitled to exercise our constitutional rights of free assembly and free speech in areas that are being promoted as the city center. They will have the appearance of being public, but will in fact be private property.

The developer would have the right to allow or prohibit any political, social, labor, or other activities, and would likely make such decisions based on what is in the commercial interest of itself and its tenants, rather than what is in the broader public interest of the citizens of Sunnyvale.

At the hearing, I learned that there are plans to build a replica of the old city hall in its original location near the redwoods, and I assume it would be populated by shops and restaurants and the like. This is a cute idea, but I think it makes a further mockery of the traditional civic function of a city hall and town square as public spaces.

Here are my suggestions for how to fix all of that:

1. The city of Sunnyvale should be the owner of its town square. The developer could be contracted to maintain the landscaping and general upkeep, and perhaps also be given some usage rights, but the city should hold it as public property (much like a public park) to preserve citizen's rights. This project already involves some land swapping between the city and the developer, and this arrangement could be done in the same way. I think the same argument could be made for city ownership of the sidewalks.

2. Some of the proposed city hall replica should dedicated to community use. I understand that these structures need to be commercially viable, so perhaps the first floor needs to be commercial space, but upstairs could be put to any of several community-oriented uses: meeting space for local neighborhood or merchant groups, activity areas for local seniors, and a place for teens to hang out are a few uses that come to mind.

If we are going to call this area downtown Sunnyvale and Sunnyvale's town square, let's make sure it's really Sunnyvale's and not some kind of privatized mirage. Commercial and public interests have coexisted since the beginning of civilization, and there's no reason for them not to coexist in our city on this project.

Brian Smithson

Sunnyvale

4-H program teaches
children valuable lessons

Why is it that not one person has spoken up to defend the county 4-H program? I thought that if a program was for children it was off limits for criticism or cuts. Could it be that "It's for the children" has lost it political charm? Evidently children are not in and saving animals is.

4-H is a program that is invaluable to children; they learn leadership as club officers, they volunteer for community service and help others not as fortunate as themselves. As adults they become good citizens, able to make mature decisions based in reality. And yes, for the most part, love God and country. As 4-H children, they learn business skills and what it takes to successfully make your way in the world.

Raising a livestock animal is taught as a business with all the costs taken from the profit and the money declared for taxes.

It is not all about "betraying your animal friends and sending them to slaughter." Hello, where do you get your supper? If you're like most people you haven't a clue where your food comes from other than the super market. These animals are given excellent care throughout their lives; they have a purpose in life and reality is that they become food. 4H animals are giving no steroids or hormones to make weight; this is the best meat you can possibly have.

My daughters have both raised hogs for market, from purchase as a piglet to training, cleaning, grooming and finally showing competitively at the county fair.

Besides raising animals, 4-H has projects that teach jam and jelly making, clothes making, equestrian, art, photography and many other subjects that children need to make their way in the world. They even have a group that teach marksmanship, heaven forbid. So they next time you take a myopic look at a subject such as 4-H get the facts, not the perceptions.

Craig A. Crawford

Sunnyvale

People who show up at
meeting care about issue

I was disgusted to read an opinion by Victor Ng-Thow-Hing concerning the downtown redevelopment plan in the April 21 issue of The Sun and surprised the paper printed it. In Mr Ng's letter, he states "...the demographics of the meeting consisted mainly of the elderly and whites." What does race or age have to do with the downtown plan? If a white male had written that the "demographics of the meeting consisted mainly of women and Chinese" the remark could have been perceived as being racist and sexist, but because Mr. Ng wrote about the elderly and whites, it's OK? This comment could be perceived as a subtle form of reverse discrimination that's politically OK (with the racists) in the Bay Area. The bottom line is the people who showed up at the city council meeting are the people who were concerned about the issue. Their race and age should not be an issue.

Perhaps Mr. Ng doesn't realize there are two Asians on the city council. I am one white man and I voted for Otto Lee.

Mr. Ng also expresses the opinion that "a disproportionate number of those who are against the plan will attend these meetings." I disagree and again say the people who are concerned are the people who show up. Then Mr. Ng states. "Those who approve tend not to be as proactive in their meeting attendance because of a more laissez-faire attitude of silent approval." What?

The groups interested in pushing the downtown plan have been far from silent, and include certain past and present city council members, the planning commission, developers and contractors who will make money on the downtown construction and rents. In fact, there were complaints about the time for citizens to be heard being cut short because of the lengthy introduction of the developers. At a public meeting several years ago a former city council member commented that the downtown mall has always been a white elephant. Now our city government and elected officials seem prepared to create another white elephant, again at the taxpayers' expense.

In conclusion, I find Mr. Ng's statement "I have no commercial interest or relationship to the Forum group" hard to believe. Everyone has a right to their opinion, it's every American's right. My opinion is The Sun wasted ink printing Mr. Ng's comments.

Jack Spratt

Sunnyvale

Reduction in public safety can
be a factor in crime rate

This letter is in response to the May 19 letter to the editor by Donald L. Stuedeman. I, too, have a profound dislike for specious arguments. Unfortunately, the May 12 article in The Sun did not accurately report what I said.

I actually said "Sunnyvale recently reported crime statistics that showed an almost 18 percent rise in overall crime in 2003, led by significantly higher percentage increases in auto and home burglary. There are many factors to a rise in crime and many would say this 2003 increase was due primarily to the local economic downturn. However, the city of Santa Clara, which many would say has similar demographics to Sunnyvale and is certainly in the same economic downturn, experienced only a 3.4 percent increase in crime in 2003. What was the difference? Santa Clara had no major reductions in their 2003 police budget."

I want to reiterate that in spite of the increase in crime in Sunnyvale, the city remains one of the 10 safest cities in the U.S. The city council and staff are always concerned about increases in crime rates, and staff is focusing on strategies to more effectively lower these crime statistics.

Mr. Stuedeman's letter also referred to an unrelated May 12 Sun headline which read, "Program to help young offenders is losing funds," and somehow tries to link the two articles. This article outlines a countywide program with Cupertino and San Jose offices. The impacts of this program's funding losses would have been felt countywide, not just in one city.

If you review the city council videotape of May 4, you will note there are several inconsistencies between what was reported in The Sun and what I actually said at the city council meeting. I would be happy to answer questions, and look forward to clearing up any further issues.

Dean Chu

Vice Mayor of Sunnyvale

Air show is very stressful for
both people and the animals

The absence of the air show for the past few years has been most welcome. The noise generated by the bloody jets flying over residential areas is extremely stressful for both people and animals.

The fact that this goes on for days with practice and the actual show is simply unacceptable. Additional issues raised by this event are in the areas of safety and ecology.

Should one of these monster aircraft have an accident, the toll on person and property would be extreme.

And, here we are with astronomical fuel prices, supposedly due to oil shortages, and what do we get but fuel wasted by the thousands of gallons as these aircraft invade the quiet of our homes?

Ellen McHenry

Sunnyvale

In The Sun's May 26 article "Summer series will survive the budget cuts," $4,500 should have been identified as half of what the city charges for public works and public safety assistance.