Be wary of Measure A promises
The importance of protecting the beauty of Santa Clara County’s hillsides, ranchlands and ridgeways was perfectly illustrated in the Sept. 13 article “Open Space Preserves Nature Nearby.”
There is widespread public support for land purchase programs like POST and the SCC Park Charter Fund. However, Measure A, the initiative that was mentioned by Ms. Davey, while well-intentioned, would devalue half the land in Santa Clara County, encourage sprawl and premature annexation of unincorporated county lands into cities and handcuff farmers, ranchers and vintners, likely running many family-owned farms and agricultural operations out of business in Santa Clara County.
Voters should be wary of lofty and empty promises from the supporters of Measure A that run contrary to current law, culture and needs of Santa Clara County’s rural neighborhoods. A countywide debate must begin in our newspapers, streets and communities regarding Measure A, to decide if this is the direction to take our future. If voters are ignorantly led to “protect our open space” without digesting the information and issues at hand, we will be placing our county’s heritage and future at stake.
Phyllis Carmichael
Los Altos
Right-of-way not yielded
I report the following hazard: Crossing San Antonio, at Hillview, Sept. 17 around 3 p.m., (from the library to downtown), while in the crosswalks, I was deprived of my pedestrian right of way by speeding drivers who did not stop even though the visibility was excellent and I clearly had the legal right of way. This happened twice, both going to and from the library.
Stan Mazor
Los Altos
District reorganization and school choice
Some opponents of Los Altos Hills’ school district reorganization cite a reduction in “school choice” as one reason why a vote on redistricting should not proceed. In my opinion, this argument twists the truth and attempts to diminish the benefits of district reorganization.
Right now, we all have little choice in public schools. If your house happens to be within the boundaries of the Los Altos School District (LASD), you must send your children to public school within LASD, and the same holds true for homes within the boundaries of the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD).
Your only real “choice” to change public schools or districts would be to sell your house and move across town.
But of course, the choice also exists (sadly, exercised by 40 percent of Los Altos Hills families with children in school) to send your kids to neither district and instead attend private schools. No one in Los Altos Hills currently has the choice to attend any neighborhood public school because every public school in town has been closed by LASD or PAUSD. Communities of similar demographic, such as Woodside or Portola Valley, enjoy more than 90 percent neighborhood public school attendance.
School district reorganization will guarantee our children the opportunity to be educated in a neighborhood public school under local control. History suggests that our neighborhood schools will likely be the best performing in our area and among the top performing in the state. I wish all our choices were so easy.
I hope all our residents will actually have the opportunity to make a choice about what is best for our children and our town by voting on school district reorganization. Many are tired of others making our decisions for us. I think it is the proponents of reorganization who are really “pro-choice.”
Bart Carey
Los Altos Hills
Nothing to worry about?
Regarding “No reception for stealth cell-phone antenna” in the Oct. 4 issue of the Town Crier, I am so pleased to hear Mayor Ron Packard say that we don’t have to worry about electromagnetic radiation.
For a while there, I was under the naive impression that the wireless telecommunications lobby got Congress to pass a law that would make it impossible to challenge cell-phone tower installations on the basis of health concerns.
It’s so reassuring that we can trust our government health standards (where the motto is: “It’s perfectly safe to use it until it makes you sick or kills you”), which through the years have given consumers the green light to expose themselves to regular X-raying of fetuses, thalidomide, asbestos, smoking, DDT, mercury, lead, Teflon and anti-bacterial soaps with triclosan.
I’m also very relieved to stop being concerned about Robert Becker’s 1985 book “The Body Electric,” which describes experiments proving that incredibly minute amounts of radiation can affect biological organisms; the fact that the Russian and Eastern European countries’ standards for radio frequency microwave radiation exposure are far more restrictive than in the United States; or a study done by the International Association of Firefighters that recommends that no mobile phone base stations be located near fire stations because there is evidence for “increased cell growth of brain cancer cells.”
I feel so much better now. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Tom Rogers
Los Altos
Los Altos council dodging, not leading
Great. The Los Altos council resoundingly squashed the St. William cell-phone tower, and as David Casas concluded, “successfully accomplished what they set out to do.”
Perhaps now they could stop dodging, and instead lead by giving our community a clear plan for how they will deliver improved cell-phone service.
Specifically, what do they believe to be the level of cell-phone service in Los Altos and why (David Casas says his phone works great).
Perhaps the Town Crier could assist the council by polling residents.
If the evidence indicates the service is fair or worse, deliver to us a plan for how they are going to fix it. Soon.
Barry Smith
Los Altos Hills
