The Sunnyvale Sun

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

Performance of city government is huge disappointment

A few years ago Sunnyvale city government was a model of efficiencyand competence, and was evaluated based upon quality and performance standards. Our city government was nationally recognized and I was proud of our employees' performance. I had direct experience and assessed the positive performance of the police department, the city manager's office and others.

Now the performance and competence of our city government has declined substantially, and that is a huge disappointment. In 2007 I have had interactions with five city employees; One was rude and arrogant and three were unresponsive. This is a huge disappointment to me as a resident and taxpayer. How did we decline so dramatically so fast?

So Tim Risch's (former vice mayor) and Yolanda Risch's (former planning commission chair) opinions, as expressed in their Sun letter to the editor [Oct. 17], struck me as a breath of fresh air and honesty that are much needed in our beloved city. The Risches described their disappointment in the current Sunnyvale council and the city government's poor performance. They spoke of failures in downtown redevelopment, increased crime rate and less than ideal fiscal responsibility.

I have not met the Risches but I wish to thank them for their insights and honesty. Somehow Sunnyvale has to find the talent and desire to correct this downward government spiral before it goes further.

Robert Hoop

Sunnyvale