The Willow Glen Resident

Letters

Insulting residents of billiards club serves no purpose

I am responding to the paid advertisement by Spiro Stamos, vice president of Willow Glen Billiards & Brew (The Resident, Dec. 24). What purpose does it serve Mr. Stamos to criticize Mrs. Welke and call people names ("plain, narrow-minded thinking of the Meredith Avenue neighbors") other than to make Mr. Stamos look small and to set up a "let's fight" scenario?

The residents of Meredith Avenue are concerned about the noise and lack of parking on our street that exists now and would increase with the extension of operating hours for WGBB. These are the neighbors' issues--nothing more. Mr. Stamos knew when he signed on the bottom line that he was restricted to a midnight closing. If the closing time was not acceptable, why did he agree to it? I submit that he thought once he was in business, he could have a later closing time rubber-stamped. Talk about ulterior motives and deceit!

For Mr. Stamos to accuse the residents of blindsiding him is nonsense. Besides, what difference does it make if we did blindside him? We have no obligation to him. To set the record straight: The residents of Meredith Avenue attended the only meeting we were invited to, and that was the Planning Commission meeting. At that meeting one of the commissioners asked Mr. Stamos some questions. He told Mr. Stamos that because his response lacked sensitivity and concern for the neighbors, he voted against him (as did all the commissioners but one).Regarding Frank Fiscalini's office sending the residents a permit-parking packet, I still haven't received mine and do not really know to what Mr. Stamos is referring. Perhaps he should check his facts.

What purpose does it serve to insult Mrs. Welke by calling the parking problem on our street one that she "thinks exists," insinuating that she's making the whole thing up? Of course those were our cars parked on the street when you did your video surveillance. That's the whole point. We live on Meredith and park our cars on Meredith. Meredith Avenue is a narrow street with parking allowed only on one side. Even before WGBB opened, we had a difficult time parking.

Also, for Mr. Stamos to take credit for my neighbor selling his home for "$679,000" is absolutely absurd. Willow Glen has always been a prime real estate area and a desirable place to raise a family, even when the "avenue [was] full of abandoned buildings." Mr. Stamos is just another arrogant businessman who thinks we should be eternally grateful that he's doing business in our neighborhood and then blames us when he cannot make the profits to which he thinks he is entitled.

In response to the Dec. 24 letter by Randi Fredricks, who wrote, "You don't buy a house next to a fertilizer factory and then complain about the smell of manure": Every one of the Meredith Avenue residents has lived in homes on the street longer than WGBB has been on Lincoln Avenue. Many of us have lived here for more than 20 years.

The bottom line for Mr. Stamos is money. The bottom line for Meredith residents is quality of life. We are concerned about two items only: late-night noise and parking. For Mr. Stamos to name-call, confuse the issues, get into his whiny mode and criticize gets us nowhere.

Kathy Shanley
Meredith Avenue

Conflicting decisions won't help revitalize Lincoln Avenue

Over the last few months, there have been some interesting developments in Willow Glen. Some of them seem quite contradictory to others.

For instance, with the new business area on the north end of Lincoln Avenue and what I would think is a revitalization of the area as a whole, there seems to be difference of opinion.

Examples: While there is a noted desire to bring in more business to the Avenue, and people are tired of the malls and often prefer the outdoors, younger Silicon Valley people with some money often like to unwind.

Billiards and Brew comes to mind. I have yet to visit the business, but from what I have read, the owners have done all that they can to comply with code so they might operate until the 2 a.m. hour observed by neighboring venues.

For some reason the sidewalk placards were removed from the Asian restaurants, although they were being in the way of pedestrians and only assured potential customers that these business establishments were indeed open. Since I have been told that the placards made the direct area look welcoming and not the least bit unattractive, the point of their removal is lost on me.

All of a sudden we cannot enjoy fresh outdoor barbecue from La Villa or any other place along Lincoln Avenue.

Other than the things hard to understand on that side of the fence, why is it that when you are not going to put up colored lights for the first time that I know of, you move the Christmas tree in the Garden City building?

Real cheery.

And there is no reason I can see for Founders Day being cut back to the point it has been. The car show is free. Most of the craftspeople do these things on their own. Founders Day incurs its main expenses in cleanup and toilet rentals, along with the much-appreciated band. Where is the extra there? These costs are already in place.

And are the hanging baskets coming back? Also, as I have seen elsewhere, how about considering garbage holders that could be attached to the light poles near the bus stops? There are long stretches mid-avenue that don't have trash removal.

Sodah Sparks
Lincoln Avenue

Custodians, students have cracked down on litter at high school

In response to the Dec. 31, 1997, letter to the editor titled "Why is the high school so trashy?" I offer the following comments.

During this school year, the administration at Willow Glen High School has worked on improving the condition of the campus. Changes were made in the past month that appear to have greatly decreased the amount of trash on the campus. The custodians and groundskeeper have done a wonderful job of addressing this issue as a team and the students have responded by causing less litter.

We have not achieved the level we desire, but I believe we are getting better and are on the right track.

As members of the Willow Glen community we want to be good citizens in all ways, and one way is by having a clean campus. We will continue to work on this issue. If you have suggestions or wish to discuss this further, please contact me at 535-6330.

The interest and concern regarding Willow Glen High School is greatly appreciated.

Patrick Day
Principal, Willow Glen High School

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