The Willow Glen Resident

Letters

Not enough student coverage in paper

I read The Resident every week, and in fact, I look forward to receiving it and reading it. I am disturbed to find, though, that there is never anything in it about the local high schools or students (or even the young people) around Willow Glen.

All I ever really see are things about Lincoln Avenue and the residents around it. I would really like to see, sometime in the near future, things about Willow Glen and Presentation high schools and the local elementary schools.

I feel that not enough is said about these. The Resident talks about sports, and that is it. I am sure there are other things that happen that people need or will want to know about.

Jennifer Rohwer
Willow Glen High School student
Darlene Avenue

Role-reversal of pub and neighbors

I have been reading the articles and the letters of opinion regarding Willow Glen Billiards and Brew over the past few years. However, the recent letter of opinion referencing B&B as Goliath and the neighbors as David is very misleading.

I for one am glad B&B took out a full-page ad in The Resident. If I owned B&B, I would have taken several ads. B&B needed a full page to respond to all of the propaganda written by the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association and the Meredith Avenue neighbors.

Mr. and Mrs. Neher have it backwards; B&B is "David," and a few radical WGNA members and local neighbors who dictate policy to the city of San Jose are "Goliath."

The WGNA, San Jose planning staff and police department recommended that B&B stay open until 2 a.m. on the weekends and holidays. If B&B is such a Goliath, how did a handful of neighbors and certain WGNA board members manage to keep B&B from getting their 2 a.m. license on a trial basis and causing them to close on New Year's Eve?

Now, I understand, there is no more barbecuing on the Avenue, due to the same "David" the Nehers refer to. The Nehers state that they like going to the neighborhood association meetings. Why? The people on the board dictate policy and action. Certain board members use the board for their own ulterior motives.

If a neighbor wants to be heard, go to the Planning Commission meeting or the City Council meeting and voice your opinion. It worked for the Meredith neighbors.

I feel as if the owners of B&B went out of their way to involve the community in their project. They have been open and honest. They have done more of what was asked of them by businesses, neighbors and the city. It seems the more they do, the more certain people want from them.

When Aqui was building its tequila bar, the owners stated they were expanding the restaurant and no bar was going in. Obviously, a tequila bar is there today, as the neon sign states. Quite honestly, I do not blame Aqui after what B&B is going through. But before you know it, the Avenue will be completely different, and without our input!

There is no stopping the transformation on the Avenue; it is going to happen. I, for one, prefer that upscale establishments such as B&B move to Lincoln Avenue. But if the city keeps listening to a few misguided neighbors, no business of any magnitude shall make the investment in downtown Willow Glen.

In closing, I went to B&B recently and was amazed to see them offering valet parking. If I were them, I would be careful; the neighbors could make them build a parking garage. All those cars driven down Lincoln Avenue might disturb the Nehers' night of watching the grass grow.

Rob Flood
Merle Avenue

Letter was not an anti-meat diatribe

I take umbrage to Deborah Taylor-Hollis' opinion about my letter to the editor concerning barbecue smoke on Lincoln Avenue.

My letter was not a diatribe about not eating meat. I responded to the self-righteous statement by La Villa Delicatessen that we shouldn't complain about the smoke because their barbecue is "healthy food." My opinion, based on fact, is that in addition to the smoke being very offensive, the barbecued meat is not healthy.

Taylor-Hollis thinks it's OK for La Villa to talk about smoke and barbecued meat at the same time, but it's not OK for the opposing view to do so.

And how dare she call me a whiner when she took half a page going on and on about natural and unnatural smells and particles in the air that may cause discomfort to people?

How dare she say that I shouldn't deliberately walk past the La Villa Delicatessen? I've lived in the same house in Willow Glen for 30 years. I shop on Lincoln Avenue, actually on the opposite side of the street from La Villa. Thick smoke from the barbecue wafts across the street; there's no escaping.

It's true we "don't have that much ground to go around," which means we have to be even more sensitive to infringing on the rights of others whether they are the majority or minority.

Taylor-Hollis is typical of most meat-eaters; she's extremely defensive about her right to eat meat, regardless of the fact that meat consumption results in the following:

* 230,000 pounds of livestock excrement produced per second;

* contamination by agricultural pollutants of half the wells and surface streams in the United States.

Health wise, reducing meat consumption by 50 percent reduces the risk of heart attack by 45 percent. Giving up meat completely reduces the risk by 90 percent.

I could fill half a page extolling the virtues of veganism (eating no animal products), but I don't work for a newspaper.

Judy Jones
Minnesota Avenue

Kudos to supporter of leaf blowers

I was so glad to hear someone stand up for the leaf blowers (The Resident, Jan. 14).

I have lots of leaves because of our beautiful trees in Willow Glen. I don't know how long it would take my gardener to rake them all.

I am also tired of people against some of the businesses in Willow Glen and against the smoke from La Villa Delicatessen. All of these things have brought Willow Glen back.

Barbara Martin
Malone Road

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