The Sunnyvale Sun

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

No public monies for
financing campaigns

I can tell you why voters don't want taxes to pay for campaign financing. Who wants to pay for junk mail and lawn signs? If most campaign money is spent on mailers, then stop spending it and stop sending them. I doubt that very many people will mourn their disappearance.

The majority of campaigning is such a waste: a waste of the candidate's time to raise funds, a waste of resources to print mailers and pay the postage, a waste of the voter's time to see this stuff (usually multiple times) that we can't trust anyway.

The article says people vote for the person that spends the most money. Does that mean they're the best qualified? Of course not; that has nothing to do with it. Most of what we hear and see in campaigns is mud-slinging, anyway.

I'd like to see campaigns in a public forum; Candidates' résumés, voting records (for incumbents), and their positions on issues printed in the newspaper; and public debates for those voters that care enough to make a really informed choice. If that means that fewer people vote, then we're probably better off without their "participation."

To the candidates: Quit insulting us by making us vote based on who spends the most and gets their picture in our faces the most times. Treat us with some respect ,and let us vote on the issues and what you'll actually do in office. And quit wasting your time and money.

Karen Wales

Caribou Court

City should prohibit
smoking outdoors

I never thought I was one of "those'' people, but there we were sitting at a sidewalk dining table in front of the Palace Café (on Murphy Street) and were completely overwhelmed with the abundance of second-hand smoke. There were seven active smokers (three of which were cigars) across four of the available six tables. If that wasn't bad enough, there was a constant stream of smokers rotating out of Murphy's Law next door, sending plumes of smoke in our direction. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incidence and is actually rather common. Further observations included the flagrant use of public planters, sidewalks and gutters as dumping grounds for their nasty butts.

Curious, I searched the city of Sunnyvale archives and found an ordinance that 60 percent of outdoor eating areas shall be reserved for nonsmokers. Clearly this was not the case at the Palace or any other eating establishment on Murphy Street. I also found that, based on citizen comment, the city council commissioned a study (2002) and approached the Downtown Business Association regarding a proposed outdoor public smoking restriction. It is not surprising that the Downtown Business Association was quick to reject any outdoor smoking restrictions and managed to spin this into a landscape maintenance issue. As a result, the city provided as much as $90,000 in increased landscape and cleanup activities and added "No littering" signs to the area. It is obvious that this tactic to solve the effect and not the problem didn't work. Here we are five years later, and the problem remains unresolved. I think it's time that the city council take a leadership role to ensure that its citizens have the opportunity to enjoy an attractive and healthy downtown environment. Smoking in crowded public areas is just not acceptable anymore.

Floyd Frederickson

Carroll Street