Is there a future for Sunnyvale?

It seems that the plan for the Sunnyvale Mall may go through soon.

I rode by Santana Row the other day and I was amazed at the feeling I had of being in a medieval fiefdom, a city inside the boundary of high walls.

Is this what the planners had in mind with their Back-to-the-Future sales pitch?

I was really hoping Sunnyvale would be a town that forged into the future, not one that is locked into imitating old, worn-out ideas. It's like the planners want to be New York moneymakers, European traditionalists, have a Japanese sense of order with a little south-of-the-border all thrown in' anything but a really new identity.

Even ex-defense ministers are calling the oil dependence philosophy a national security threat.

If we are going to imitate a community, why not Bed ZED in South London. Search "Bed ZED" on Google and see the pages of pictures of the Zero Energy Development. It's won awards and has become a tourist attraction.

It's the type of development we would all really like to see because it is just plain common sense.

It's not too late to become the leaders of the future.

Thomas J. Carrig

Sunnyvale

City gives more leeway
to bar than its neighbors

Our neighborhood has been besieged by a bar/nightclub for the last several years. Since its opening there have been repeated cases of public urination, public sex (yes, in the parking lot), public fighting, general trashiness in the area and loud live music up to six nights a week until 2 a.m.

Our street, which is behind the Lakewood Plaza, has had an inordinate amount of neighbors (at least eight) selling and leaving rather than facing the nightly barrage from this "live entertainment."

The city of Sunnyvale's response: "La Copa has the 'right' to conduct business, and we don't want to infringe on that right."

The Lakewood Plaza is zoned commercial 1 (residential/business) and therefore no "entertainment" type business should be allowed to exist. Entertainment businesses are not allowed in a C1 zone.

The city of Sunnyvale response: "La Copa has the 'right' to conduct business and we don't want to infringe on that right."

There are approximately 10,000 minutes in a single week. The city of Sunnyvale has spent about three minutes total time monitoring La Copa de Sunnyvale and found no infractions. Our repeated offering of space in our home for monitoring purposes has been silently declined.

Yet La Copa continues to pump their bass music into our home nightly, waking us up, preventing sleep and any hopes of a peaceful tranquil night as one would expect in a Sunnyvale neighborhood.

Why has the city placed a higher priority on entertaining drunken bar patrons over the peace, safety and quiet of a neighborhood?

Are there conflicting interests here? The mayor does not respond to emails. City council members don't respond to email or phone messages either.

The city of Sunnyvale response: "La Copa has the 'right' to conduct business and we don't want to infringe on that right."

But what about our rights?

The Heart of Silicon Valley? Sure ... and it's beating loudly--up to 6 nights a week.

Al Swenson

Sunnyvale

Course helps residents
know city structure

Good article in the May 4 Sun on City Skills. I just finished the course and have a better understanding of the structure of the city where I have lived for more than 40 years.

All of the sessions were interesting, especially the one on how to approach the city council with issues of concern to residents. Good presentations throughout.

I would recommend all residents avail themselves of the course.

Robert E. Harms

Sunnyvale

Ah, for the want of
a comma ...

A comma or lack of one can completely change the meaning of a group of words. Such was the case in our May 4 article "New program teaches city's ins and outs" which read, "Program courses were taught by members of the city government, including Campbell Communications Officer John Pilger and Councilman Fred Fowler." A comma should have followed Campbell because Campbell in this case referred to Corrine Campbell, not that John Pilger is a Campbell Communications Officer or Fred Fowler is a councilman from Campbell.

... and for the lack of a brain

The April 27 headline for our front-page news story read "Council raises rates for water, wastewater and sewage." Someone in Sunnyvale kindly and ever so gently pointed out to us that wastewater and sewage are the same thing. So the headline should have read: "Council raises rates for water, garbage and sewage."