By Send letters to editor Bruce Barton at the Town Crier, 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022, or e-mail: bruceb@latc.com.
Please remember the Discovery Shop
GW of Los Altos and GoodEx have been getting a lot of press lately.
Goodwill is spending a lot of money advertising. Their cause of rehabilitating people is a worthy one, but right next door is The American Cancer Society Discovery Shop, which is another worthy cause.
It has been in our community for almost 15 years.
I have been a volunteer since the beginning. The shop is run by an enthusiastic group of 75 volunteers from the community and our fantastic manager, Ardy Bazarian. We work tirelessly to raise money to fight cancer.
I think most people in our community have been touched in some way by this disease. We all know how important it is to provide support and education for cancer survivors and to fund scientific research.
The proceeds from our shop do just that. We rely on donations of “gently used” clothing, household goods and furniture.
We don’t have a budget for advertising or a pickup truck. We accept donations Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at our Main Street location.
We will pay for a mover to pick up nice furniture.
Please remember the Discovery Shop when cleaning out your closets.
Anne Hambly
Los Altos
Bulbout curbs a hazard
The Berry street bulbout curb modifications are dangerous and should be removed.
While driving down the road at night a car almost hit me as it seemed to veer into my lane as it went around a sidewalk.
I would also imagine that people not used to the road would run right into the sidewalk at night.
If there were pedestrians, they could be killed.
This is a serious problem that needs to be fixed as soon as possible.
I realize that people were trying to improve safety and spent a significant amount of money to do the modifications, but this is clearly a mistake which needs to be rectified soon.
For the safety of the community, we need to recognize the mistake and spend more money to remove the hazardous bulbout curbs as soon as possible.
Karen Parker
Los Altos
Thanks from Los Altos Art Club
A thank you to the Town Crier from the Los Altos Art Club. Our club was established in 1945. The Town Crier was founded in 1947 and has been there for us since then, announcing art shows, craft shows, meetings and where and when individual artists do their work.
At our last art and craft fair, when members of the public were asked how they had learned about our fair, the answer was usually, “I read about it in the Town Crier.”
Millie Gallo
Los Altos Hills
Charter school at Egan doesn’t make sense
The cynical offer of classroom space at Egan Junior High School made by the Los Altos School District board to Bullis Charter School reveals the extent to which the district will go to frustrate the establishment of the charter school at the Bullis campus.
The board has become masterful at making excuses such as “flexibility” in use of the Bullis site and has become a past master at creating divisiveness in the community. What sense does it make to continue renting portable classrooms and sending primary grade children across Foothill Expressway when functional classrooms are available at Bullis at no cost?
The Bullis Charter backers are a determined group of people, but why does the board want to consider expensive litigation when a simple “yes” to the Bullis site is the only sensible answer?
The board should be better stewards of our children and district funds.
William C. Downey
Los Altos Hills
Residents need to speak out against LASD board
As a historian, I tend to view current events in the context of a broader social and cultural milieu, examining the confluence of disparate factors - constituencies, ideas and events over time.
England, facing massive debts, passed the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765) and the Townsend Acts, ushering in the Revolutionary War, which created a mighty nation.
Recent scandals in history (Watergate, Contragate, etc.) have brought needed reforms to government. The point of these historical examples is that religious, political and corporate reforms ultimately lead to the end of abuses of power and representation, and cultivate accountability, checks and balances, full disclosure - all resulting in a better society.
Since February 2003, I have been following the events and gauging the zeitgeist of a confluence of factors that are the antecedents for a revolution in our very own back yard. The closure of a public school in Los Altos Hills would seem insignificant. However, it has created acrimonious divisions, pitting towns, neighbors, parents, children and elected representatives against each other.
There are enough allegations that suggest the Los Altos School District board has engaged in abuses of power, representation and fiscal responsibility, suppression of facts, and flagrant violations of First Amendment rights. The preponderance of news stories relating to the charter school seems to suggest that the charter school is riding the crest of a powerful, deep wave of discontent in the waters of a highly educated and prosperous community.
That a school district - in particular, a strong-willed superintendent who leads a weak board - takes up arms against the citizens it serves underscores contempt for the town of Los Altos Hills and the right of its citizens to have their own public neighborhood school.
I urge the school district board to demand that the current superintendent step down, and hire a community-minded superintendent. I urge them to fire their legal counsel and find counsel that is more interested in fair settlement and due diligence rather than trying to suppress a charter school.
I urge the media to investigate the actions and decisions of the current superintendent, and finally, I urge citizens to post their comments on a Web page and storefronts and begin the revolution that is needed in our community - for the benefit of all generations of our children.
Theodore H. Rasmussan
Los Altos Hills
