Willow Glen Resident

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

Time will tell if city responds

I think most everyone is against neighborhood speeding in their own neighborhoods ("City offers few ideas to discourage speeders on Blewett," July 20).

True story: A lady yelled at me to slow down on her street one day (5 miles over the limit); a few weeks later coincidentally I saw her barreling down my street well over the speed limit. More of the "Golden Rule" is needed.

I have excessive speeders on my neighborhood street also. Regarding city response, I made an inquiry to the traffic department last year about possible solutions, and I never got a response back from them.

The city of San Jose needs to be more creative in finding actual solutions rather than just talking about the problem. The results don't seem to measure up compared to other cities I see where actual visible solutions are in place for neighborhood streets, such as roundabouts and speed humps.

My garbage bin is emblazoned with the logo "Capital of Silicon Valley," perhaps some innovative high-tech solutions?

I'm all for unmanned photo radar issuing tickets on neighborhood streets.

Blewett Avenue residents have been making noise for years. Let's all watch Blewett as an example. Let's see if there can be actual results by the end of 2007. If no results, then the San Jose traffic- calming process should be benchmarked against other cities with programs that produce results and then overhauled.

J. Clark

Willow Glen

Parents need to
be responsible

I just had to comment on the opinion piece, " A child's safety is always a parent's job," in the July 20 edition.

Thank you, Ms. Milo. That was an excellent article. I don't know when personal responsibility and accountability stopped being a social norm.

There are so many things we read about where everyone else is blamed for the "victims' " lack of judgment. It's time people started to be accountable for their actions.

When I first heard about that tragic incident at Great America, my immediate reaction was, "Where was his mother?"

As a mother, my heart goes out to the family. However, the failure of a parent to provide the basic needs of safety and security of their children astounds me.

Sadly, there will most likely be a lawsuit against the park owners, the wave-pool maker, maybe even the lifeguards. I hope the courts will take a stand and put the responsibility back where it really belongs, with the parent, the guardians, the ones who are ultimately responsible for the safety of their children, and put a stop to the waste of our tax dollars, court time and resources by trying to assign blame.

Anyway, thank you again, Ms. Milo, for the courage to write a much more politically correct opinion while still getting the same sentiment across.

Linda Mayer

San Jose