I have been a bit dismayed by the slander-type letters in The Sun in this year's elections and in previous elections. It seems to be the way of all elections.

Too avoid this, I would prefer a change in the way our city council members are elected.

The way we have it now, each candidate signs up for a seat for which to run. We have three seats available and seven candidates--two for Seat 1, three for Seat 2, and two for Seat 3.

I would like to see the council elected the same way as the school board. We would vote in three out of the seven and assign the seats after the election.

I think this would direct the candidates' energy towards the issues and how each candidate will work to make Sunnyvale a better place instead of wasting our time on printed pages with character assassinations. Each candidate would have to stand out from the pack by his or her achievements, forward thinking, and good sense instead of doing a head to head with one individual they could vilify.

The whole process would just be more dignified. If the elected person is going to be our council member and take the title of Honorable Mayor of Sunnyvale, why not have an honorable process in doing so.

You may say they will just screw with each other anyway because that's the nature of the process. Well, we can always go back to the old way if it doesn't work, and we might see some new types of ingenuity.

Or we can try something forward. After all, don't we want the three best people?

Tommy Carrig

Sunnyvale

Miller lacks capacity to fulfill the board's duties

Four individuals are candidates for the open seats on the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board. Three are well qualified; one, Julia Miller, is not.

Unlike the other candidates, Miller's résumé reflects limited post-secondary education and is largely devoid of significant professional endeavors.

Anyone who had the opportunity to observe her in a public meeting over the past several years undoubtedly noticed she is frequently unprepared (doesn't do her homework), not even close to a "quick study" and is prone to mispronunciation and malapropisms, despite the fact that English is her native tongue.

The philosophy and mission of the board of trustees, as well as its code of ethics and its roles and responsibilities, can be found at www.fhda.edu/about us/board/mission. Miller lacks the capacity to fulfill these duties and meet the standards.

When you cast your votes for community college district trustees, keep in mind that the administrators, educators and students of the college district deserve someone who has more to offer than Julia Miller.

Valerie Armento

Sunnyvale

Campaign style foreshadows candidate's style on council

The political campaigns for the various seats on the Sunnyvale City Council are developing along the lines I feared in my letter of Aug. 31.

Three candidates are running clean, issue-based races whereas their opponents are sending out misleading and negative attack pieces.

One of the opponents has even published a very deceptive brochure implying that people could join the city's emergency preparedness program by volunteering for his campaign!

I'm amazed at how naive these people think the voters of Sunnyvale are.

I have always been impressed by the wisdom of the residents of our city. This community is made up of the brightest and most talented people in the world, attracted here by Silicon Valley's culture of opportunity. Our citizens are certainly bright enough to see through these kinds of campaign tactics. I'm saddened to see that some of the candidates are failing to realize this.

I would like to repeat my advice from Aug. 31. The way a candidate runs his or her campaign foreshadows the way they will conduct the public's business once elected. Would you rather have council members who try to address issues fairly and honestly, or ones that resort to mudslinging, innuendo and deception in order to win their points?

All of you have the chance to express your feelings in a very practical way, on Election Day. Please join me in rejecting this brand of politics. Sunnyvale deserves better than this.

Fred Fowler, city councilman

Sunnyvale

Council didn't consider
residents in its decision

I generally agree with the views Brian Taffe expressed in his letter (Letters & Opinion, Oct. 19). However, the Best Buy and PetsMart development on El Camino has ruined my quality of life in my home.

If the Sunnyvale building code had been enforced and the city council had listened to the planning commission's recommendations, the neighbors would not be outraged. I would have welcomed retail businesses that did not force me to view their obnoxious signage every hour of every day and that were a reasonable distance from my home.

Unfortunately, the city council approved significant exceptions to the building code. They were more worried about the 70-foot setback from El Camino than the 70-foot setback required from the residences. They allowed these monstrosities to be built only 20 feet from neighbors' property lines.

They also waived the 20-foot height restriction. These buildings are 28-feet tall.

The planning commission strongly recommended, with a unanimous vote, that the entrances of both buildings face El Camino. We were shocked when the city council voted unanimously to allow this development with no changes. The buildings are so huge that the developer said it was impossible for them to face El Camino.

A reasonable solution to the residential setback and store entrance issues would have been to reduce the size of the buildings.

Whoa, that sounds crazy, doesn't it?

This alternative wasn't even explored. The city council chose to sacrifice the interests of my neighborhood in favor of the interests of a developer and two retailers.

I invite Brian to come to my home to see the impact of these buildings on my home and neighborhood. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Karyn MacKie

Sunnyvale

Smith's open, ethical way is cure for current council

After reading the Sun's candidate profiles for Seat 3, I'm convinced that Nancy Smith is the best choice.

Smith's experience as a small business owner and Sunnyvale housing commissioner give her the right experience for the city council.

Furthermore, Smith's open and ethical approach is a welcome antidote to a council that has been blighted by secrecy and fear. I was appalled to read that her opponent, John Howe, inappropriately tried to intervene in the choice of parks and recreation commission chair without explanation.

This fits a pattern of intimidation and retaliation practiced by Howe against other commissioners, such as planning commissioner Brandon Sulser as reported in the San Jose Mercury News. Why did John Howe lead the effort to fire the city manager in secret? It makes me wonder whether some sort of personal vendetta was involved.

On Nov. 8, I'm voting for Nancy Smith for Seat 3.

Margaret Okuzumi

Sunnyvale

We need city council members
who are not puppets of unions

My husband and I have lived in Sunnyvale for 30 years. During that time we raised our four children and enjoyed the family friendly aspects offered by Sunnyvale--a well run, award-winning city and a great place to live.

However, in recent years some disturbing changes have occurred within the Sunnyvale city government that have put the city employees first above fiscal responsibility. Pay and retirement packages for city employees, including the public safety officers and city council members, have become very lucrative and include fully-paid healthcare (some get it for life), significant salary increases and unrealistic retirement guarantees tied to market shortfalls that must now be paid for by budget cuts and the tax payers. As a recent retiree from the general workplace I would love to have fully-paid healthcare and benefit guarantees if my retirement investments decline.

With city council elections, I am angered by what I see in The Sun and by other public officials to endorse people who will continue to ensure that the city employees/retirees and not Sunnyvale residents and tax payers are put first in the budgeting process and in the PSOAs upcoming contract renewal next year.

We need to elect city council members who are not puppets for the unions and who will return Sunnyvale to a fiscally responsible budgeting process that can ask tough questions and say no to unrealistic requests and guarantees that put our city welfare at risk.

That is why I am voting for Tim Risch, Chris Moylan and Nancy Smith.

Ruth Becker

Sunnyvale Resident for 30 years

Plaza del Sol is perfect place to take children

I am responding to Oct 26 letter by Victor Ng-Thow-Hing about the Plaza del Sol.

I am also a resident of Sunnyvale, and enjoy spending time downtown with my children. But Ng-Thow-Hing is missing out on what I feel is one of the nicest areas downtown.

The Plaza del Sol is a fantastic place to bring my kids, and one of the reasons for that is there is no one else around. We can take the bus or ride our bike into downtown, go to Murphy Street for coffee or lunch at one of several fine locations, grab a book to read at one of the best independent bookstores around, and then go to the plaza to scooter around.

It is a nice safe urban area where the kids can explore away from me, and I don't have to worry about traffic. The landscaping is very nice and well kept. There is an intricate clock, a nice fountain, and did I mention trains go by at least every 20 minutes? What little kid doesn't like to watch trains?

We were also lucky enough to visit the Earth Day fair last April, and the plaza showed its true potential by being extremely well set up to host such events.

I'm so tired of visiting local parks where all the interesting play structures have been torn down and replaced with cookie cutter versions of the same thing.

So I'm sorry, Victor, that you haven't been able to enjoy the Plaza del Sol to it's fullest potential. I hope you can give it another try. Maybe we'll see you there some morning, but it's just fine with us if we have the whole place to ourselves.

Alison Hlady

Sunnyvale