As a member of the Santa Clara County Juvenile Justice Commission I have had the pleasure of witnessing our Superior Court judges providing very effective leadership and commitment to our county probation programs.

Suddenly our own county board of supervisors and county executive (without considering any collaboration with our judges) want to take control of our county probation programs; this without any expertise, leadership, experience and/or commitment to our county probation programs.

Recently, a statewide probation services task force of members of boards of supervisors, judges, chief probation officers and law enforcement staff issued a report recommending a collaborative approach to probation program governance. Our board of supervisors has been unwilling to consider a reasonable power sharing arrangement with our judges and wants to take complete control, unwilling to even consider a collaborative arrangement with our judges. Even our state Superior Court is unwilling to enter into such a power sharing agreement.

A "NO" vote is a vote for collaboration. It will tell the board of supervisors and county executive to sit down with the Santa Clara County Superior Court judges and work out a power sharing experience.

Bud Towner

Glen Brook Avenue

Beavers restaurant is turnoff for customers

I went out to dinner this weekend with some family and friends to try out the new Beavers restaurant. When we all first heard the name, we thought, oh my goodness, what a name! No big deal, it was just a name of a small little animal.

When we arrived, we noticed the staff's T-shirts said, "Best Spread in Town." And the waiter mentioned that new menus are being planned, with listings that say some of the drinks are "Beaver licking good."

Now I'm no prude, but come on, this is so tacky and demeaning. We feel like they are trying to compete with some tacky place in Las Vegas. I am saddened to see that such a family oriented little community is allowing such a bad taste restaurant to be allowed to do business here.

We asked the staff how they felt about their attire, and they looked around to make sure the owner wasn't around, then replied, "We don't like it either."

I don't know if anyone else feels the same. But the six of us will never return unless the tacky comments on the menu and attire disappear.

Kathy Case

San Jose