I always enjoyed receiving our Willow Glen Resident until today.

The June 9 cartoon by DeCinzo in my opinion was in extremely bad taste. Ronald Reagan does not need my defending, since he will probably go down in history as one of our greatest presidents, but I was very disgusted by the small-minded attempt at humor by DeCinzo. He used every overused cliche ever printed to bring down former President Reagan's reputation. His whole premise ignores the fact that for all purposes President Reagan has been lost to us—because of Alzheimer's disease—for most of the last 10 years.

Sandy Tate

Willow Glen

Citizens should be able
to enjoy the facilities

Several years ago the Willow Glen High School Booster Club paid to have a metal barbed-wire fence placed around the high school track. Their intention was to keep the public out. I and several other walkers and runners who use the track daily in the morning had to fight to keep the booster club from fencing us out.

The San Jose Unified School District paid the booster club $20,000 for the fence and allowed us to continue using the track without restrictions. Now the district has torn it down. With the new all-weather track being constructed, I again am worried about being locked out if a new fence is constructed. If locked out, we, the public, who supported the funding of these projects will have no place to go to work out.

I contacted the office of Ty Williams at San Jose Unified School District. John Simino called me and assured me with no guarantees that we would not be locked out. He then referred me to the principal—Elaine Farace—at Willow Glen High School. I asked Simino if she had the final word. He said to call her and that we should all keep our lines of communication open. That is what I'm doing with this letter.

Thomas Sutton

Westgate Avenue

Residents should rally
for health-care reform

As chairwoman of the State Assembly Health Committee, Willow Glen Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn is in a unique position to dramatically advance health-care reform in California.

On June 22, the Health Committee will be hearing Senate Bill 921, the Sheila Keuhl universal single-payer health-care bill. However, Cohn has so far refused to support SB 921, concerned that it will hurt her campaign for reelection.

Willow Glen residents can play their part by contacting Assemblywoman Cohn and urging her to change her mind. There is a growing outrage in Silicon Valley at the breakdown of our health-care system and growing support for bold solutions such as SB 921. We have an estimated 200,000 people in our county alone who are or have been without health insurance in the past year. Hundreds of thousands of others are facing astronomical premium increases. In addition, the crisis is fueling labor unrest, including the massive Southern California grocery workers strike and the threat of another one here this fall.

Business leaders are beginning to join workers and the poor in recognizing that the system is broken and in need of overhaul. SB 921 would provide health insurance for every Californian at less cost to taxpayers than what they now pay for insurance, co-pays, deductibles, and prescription drugs. It would help alleviate the crisis of the uninsured and the overburdening of hospital emergency rooms. Health care would finally be recognized here as an economic human right, just as it is in every other advanced country and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Sandy Perry

Hull Avenue

Odds are against those
who jaywalk frequently

I think it is wonderful that we have numerous crosswalks in Willow Glen, but I see so many people jaywalking. I just don't understand what they are thinking.

Barbara Martin

Malone Road

DeCinzo's cartoon was
insensitive, insulting

Once again, DeCinzo's cartoon drools with left-wing propaganda. Except this time, the cartoon insults former President Ronald Reagan, who is not even buried yet.

Show some respect. I thought liberals were supposed to be so "sensitive" and "tolerant." Oh, I forgot, that is only reserved for other liberals. Why don't you hire at least one conservative? Don't you liberals believe in "diversity"?

John DiGirolamo

Whispering Willow Place