The Sunnyvale Sun

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

Incumbents'
campaign tactic
lacks honesty

I am not for McCain-Feingold type limitations on local political campaigns. But the use of a "Voter Information Guide" mailer by sitting council members Dean Chu, Otto Lee, Ron Swegles and Melinda Hamilton is improper, for two reasons.

First, incumbents already hold a major advantage over their challengers. For them to band together, pooling their considerable resources in an effort to jointly fend off challengers, is inappropriate and unseemly. If such behavior is not illegal, it should be.

Second, distributing a very official looking "Voter Information Guide," complete with a slate of candidates (less challengers of course) is an attempt to deceive voters into believing the candidates have received some sort of official sanction or major endorsement, which they haven't.

Using this type of campaign tactic does not demonstrate the honesty and integrity I expect from my city council members. Thank you for letting me know who not to vote for.

Rick Romanko

Pala Avenue

New library
will enhance
services, learning

Public libraries are a vital community resource. They are places children come when they learn to read. They are places students come for study and research. They are places where anyone can access the Internet. They provide seniors with large print books. They provide all of us an opportunity for free education, entertainment and lifelong learning.

Sunnyvale's library is nearly 50 years old. It was built when Sunnyvale's population was half what it is today and when the types of services citizens required were simpler. Our current library is too small. We don't have space for new materials. The children's area does not have room for families to comfortably spend time together. There are too many people, so it is hard to find a place for quiet study.

Voting Yes on Measure B will fix this, and provide Sunnyvale with the library we need for the 21st century.

Pam Anderson

Sunnyvale parent

Residents don't
need 30-year
tax for library

Every homeowner in Sunnyvale will be taxed for 30 years to pay for the new library. That fact is not mentioned in the editorials, glossy fliers or the ballot.

If we borrow $108 million and pay it back over the term of the bond, it could be two to three times that amount with interest.

The tax would be approximately $20 to $180 per home, per year. It is only tax deductible if you itemize deductions, not if you take the standard deduction as many lower-income people do.

The $108 million divided by 130,000 residents equals $830 per person (man, woman and child). With interest, that amount doubles or triples.

The underground parking planned is not mentioned anywhere. We have a huge underground parking structure in downtown Sunnyvale that is usually empty. This is earthquake country. I always find parking on the street at the current library location.

Do we need room for a coffee shop inside the library? No.

Do we need a 30-year tax? No.

Sue Brendlen

Flicker Way

Article didn't
fairly report
on challengers

The Sun's front-page article [Oct. 10] regarding the upcoming election in Sunnyvale failed to present an objective view of the (challenging) candidates for city council. The article lacked balance and failed to meet the basic standards of journalistic reporting, to wit: who, what, where, why and how. This was an opinion piece and should have been in that section, where opinions are written.

I can honestly say that, after attending numerous candidate forums, that the three challengers (Patrick Meyering, David Whittum and Dixie Carney) are sincere and passionate in their desire to serve our community. Further, personally knowing two of the candidates (Meyering and Whittum), I can attest to the knowledge that they have done their homework! They know the issues, they have met with individual citizens, and regularly attending neighborhood association meetings. I have yet to see any of the incumbents attend a meeting in our neighborhood.

For the Sun to choose only quotes from supporters of the incumbents for seats 4 and 7 manifests a bias toward those candidates. There are hundreds of signatures on file at city hall to get the challengers on the ballot. Give that easy access to this information I am shocked that your reporter did not contact any of the challengers' supporters.

I have not heard any of the challengers engage ins smears of their opponents. In fact, Melinda Hamilton (incumbent seat 7) stated (Sunnyvale West Candidate Forum, Oct. 15) that Mr. Meyering was a gracious opponent who has never engaged in any smearing of her.

I can truthfully say that both Meyering and Whittum always talk about the issues and do not engage in smears. They both have the energy and commitment to help Sunnyvale move forward. Meyering's legal background and civic experience, and Whittum's scientific analytical background will serve the council well.

Michael Anthony Rose

Morse Avenue

Needs can't be
met without
a new library

I am a library junkie, all the way back to the second grade. Now I have cards to six local libraries. And as a resident of Sunnyvale, I am a very active user of the Sunnyvale library.

However, neighboring communities including Mountain View, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Saratoga and San Jose replaced their decades-old libraries during the Internet boom. We did not. And we have already outgrown our current 50-year-old library building.

Simply put, a larger population means more patrons, which means more space needed. It may not be obvious to the casual patron. But digging even a little bit starts showing it. The collection is limited because of a lack of shelf space. New additions must mean elimination of other materials. Programs are limited by available space. There is no teen space where teens can be teens and work together. Computer terminals are in constant use. The behind-the-scenes spaces are even more cramped and overwhelmed.

With changing demographics and population in Sunnyvale, the needs and expectations of the library patrons also change --quilting to parenting, starting a business to retirement planning. And the materials that we expect and need to serve the entire Sunnyvale community have also expanded--multiple languages, large print, audio books, video, DVDs.

For more than 30 years the Friends of the Sunnyvale Library has helped the Sunnyvale Library. Through our book sales we are able to donate more than $50,000 each year for programs from children's summer reading to adult literacy, for workshops on writing graphic novels to starting a business, from kids' story time to the annual preview of Opera San Jose. There is so much more we could do with a space adequate to our needs.

People value libraries for many reasons-- information, education, entertainment, learning, sharing, community, economic growth.

We have outgrown our current library building. Measure B will provide the funds for the new library building we need.

Alex McKale

President, Friends of the Library