By Send letters to editor Bruce Barton at the Town Crier, 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022, or e-mail: bruceb@latc.com.

Candidate has

not ‘disappeared’

My name is Christopher Nicholson and I am writing to address rumors of my disappearance. Any information this paper may have gathered regarding my disinterest in the upcoming City Council election, for which I am a completely legitimate candidate, is utterly false.

The fact that I was not a participant in the candidate forum on September 30, for which the Town Crier was a co-sponsor, has nothing to do with my disinterest in participation. I had been speaking at length with the organizers of the forum in an effort to participate by phone, which while I was finally told was possible, was ruled out due to concerns for keeping the program “tight.”

But that a supposedly unbiased local news source would make such a broad characterization of a Los Altos City Council candidateís campaign in what was clearly not an editorial, is in my belief a stunning example of bad journalism.

Christopher Nicholson

Los Altos

Measure D amounts

to extortion

Regarding Proposition D, currently my wife and I are paying $800 per month to Kaiser Foundation for our medical coverage. This includes paying for a vast new facility on Lawrence at Homestead.

After living in Los Altos for 35 years we have never used El Camino Hospital and nor have most of our friends.

Now we are asked to DOUBLE PAY for someone else’s facility. It is tantamount to the neighbors asking us to pay their mortgage.

This is not fairness, it is extortion. Vote no on D.

Peter Grutchfield

Los Altos

Camino Medical Group

endorses Measure D

The physicians of Camino Medical Group (CMG) are supportive of Measure D, a $148 million bond measure to help rebuild El Camino Hospital.

CMG comprises 200 physicians and 800 nurses and staff committed to delivering the highest quality health care to the residents of our community. Although CMG and El Camino Hospital share a name, we are completely separate organizations. CMG is a division of the not-for-profit Palo Alto Medical Foundation. We plan to build a new main campus at the old Emporium site on El Camino Real near Highway 85 in Mountain View. As we embark on our own fund-raising efforts, we recognize the critical need for public support to assure the provision of essential health-care services in our community.

The physicians of CMG have used El Camino Hospital for inpatient care since the hospital was built in 1960. More than half of the admissions to the hospital are from our physicians; we are very proud of the quality of service provided at the hospital.

Health care is increasingly being delivered in an outpatient setting, e.g., radiology services, surgi-center, cancer therapy. Modern health-care facilities are essential to attract and retain the best and brightest physicians and to provide them with state-of-the-art equipment with the ultimate goal of delivering the best possible care to our patients.

Your support will help ensure quality health-care services remain in your local community.

Richard Slavin

CEO, Camino Medical Group

League of Women Voters urges yes on Measure D

The League of Women Voters of Los Altos-Mountain View Area recognizes the exceptional value of El Camino Hospital to the residents of its district and urges them to vote yes on Measure D on Nov. 4.

Senate Bill 1953 requires all California hospitals to meet rigorous seismic standards. El Camino Hospital must be rebuilt, sold to a private corporation that would take it over, or limited in terms of the levels of care it could offer by 2008.

The league believes that rebuilding is the best option.

Rebuilding will cost nearly $300 million. Half of this ($150 million) will come from fund-raising and incurred debt - El Camino is debt-free and can sell tax-free bonds at a very attractive interest rate. The balance ($148 million) will come from general obligation bonds funded by the communities in the district. El Camino is fortunate in having room to rebuild on its present site while keeping the existing facilities operating. Besides greater safety, rebuilding will mean significant improvements in emergency services, as well as the latest in cardiac and cancer diagnostic and treatment options.

The League of Women Voters urges voters to support Measure D on Nov. 4.

Mary Nichols

Jane Turnbull

co-presidents, League of Women Voters of Los Altos-Mountain View

Charter group is not

‘entitled’ to a school

I believe that Bullis Charter School should not be given the Bullis campus, because it would set the precedent that a small group of people can run a propaganda campaign to get their way.

In particular, I would like to respond to the charter group’s claim that they are paying more than their fair share in taxes to the district, which they use as a reason to get their own school.

I believe the opposite to be true: The rest of the Los Altos School District has been subsidizing Los Altos Hills all of these years. I have done calculations, and it appears that the Los Altos Hills portion of the school district pays considerably less in taxes per acre than the rest of the school district.

While the Los Altos Hills portion of the school district that goes to Covington makes up one-fifth of the land mass of the school district, I believe that they pay only one-eleventh of the property taxes and one-fifteenth of the parcel taxes. Yet one-eleventh of the property tax base believes that they deserve one-sixth or one-seventh of the elementary schools.

I’m starting to wonder whether maybe the rest of the school district should feel “entitled” and give Los Altos Hills half an acre (one-twentieth) for a park and sell the rest to pay for the phase two construction - especially if the charter folks keep playing their own “entitlement” card. Obviously they don’t value what the rest of the school district has done for them over the years!

Anne Westbrook

Los Altos

Simitian behaved

unethically

It’s a shame your reporter did not review the suggestions that Joe Simitian decided not to use when proposing new laws for California. She might have arrived at a different conclusion, and the article (Oct. would not have been so upbeat.

One of those unused suggestions was written by me in a letter: “There Oughta Be a Law prohibiting Joe Simitian and other state legislators from stealing taxpayers’ money.”

In 2002 Simitian authored AB 2580, which was enacted into law and signed by Gov. Davis. This law raids the DROS fund, a fund established by law to perform background checks on persons desiring to purchase a gun, in order to pay for state inspections of commercial weapons permit holders such as businesses that provide firearms as props to the entertainment industry.

If such a law was required, it should have been funded by assessing the entertainment industry and not by grabbing law-abiding citizens’ hard-earned money.

Initially, Simitian authored the law without the provision to steal DROS funds, but when it became clear that no funding was available, he quickly revised the bill to make a claim on these funds. Unfortunately, there are other bills moving through the Legislature that want to steal more of these moneys for purposes totally unrelated to the fund.

All citizens of California should be outraged by this unethical conduct, which is all too prevalent in our Legislature.

Edward Kelley

Los Altos

Canine control

needed in Los Altos

Los Altans take pride in the several well-attended annual community events. However, I think we are confusing the Pet Parade with the Arts & Wine, Rotary Art, and fall festivals.

The Pet Parade is appropriate for all sorts of domestic animals. The other events are for people, not pets. I have attended these events for many years and witnessed dogs growling at other dogs and at curious children playfully pulling their tails or trying to pet them.

Every dog owner thinks his pet is well behaved, but so did the owners of the killer dogs in San Francisco and numerous people who have been seriously injured by uncontrollable dogs.

Los Altos is vulnerable for an expensive lawsuit should an incident occur. I presented this issue to the current City Council but no discussion or action was attempted.

This is an accident waiting to happen.

In many cities including San Luis Obispo where there is a farmers market and crafts faire every Thursday night, there is a local ordinance and signs posted “No Dogs At Festival.” We should do the same in Los Altos for the safety and cleanliness of our city.

Myra Orta

Los Altos