Reforms offered to increase vibrancy

Thank you for the great Aug. 7 editorial, “Downtown needs to get over parking fixation.” As members of the Los Altos Citywide Parking Committee, we published an executive summary that found that:

• “Since 2006, the city of Los Altos has approved eight development projects that granted variances or exceptions for 292 stalls required by code.”

For more than a few years now, we’ve enjoyed the perspectives offered by the citizen’s group Friends of Los Altos.

Although we sometimes don’t agree with its views, we respect what the group has to say. That’s because its board comprises three former Los Altos council members – Ron Packard, David Casas and Lou Becker – and a former planning commissioner, Jon Baer, all of whom comported themselves well while serving the city.

For many residents, traffic starts before 3 p.m., while our teachers and service workers struggle with prolonged and extensive commutes. People can’t get around anymore –forget about public transit. The cost of living is through the roof, state/regional legislatures favor the interests of developers as well as tech companies and income inequality has never been worse. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.

Plan Bay Area is continuing to make the same mistakes by relying on flawed projections instead of planning based on what’s better for the future. Trapped in a negative feedback loop of enacting bad policy, Plan Bay Area is in need of bold, structural change; it’s time for residents to be truly involved in the process.

Small and regional newspapers are being shuttered, merged with larger papers or acquired by non-news entities seemingly interested in eking out a last bit of profit. Journalism across the country, especially local journalism, is struggling in its role: to provide citizens actionable information so they can make the best possible choices in their lives and in their local government.

Many of the problems faced by journalism are related to the shift to an online world. While many of us (myself included) prefer reading a physical paper, we must recognize that it is not the future. There are benefits to online news: It is much more accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities; distribution is cheap and instantaneous; and for the reporter, instead of a daily deadline, a story develops at its natural pace and is published when it’s ready.

Dog photo sends mixed message

The Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival lived up to its usual enjoyment again this year.

I noted that the website for the festival stated, “Due to large crowds and often hot weather, we encourage visitors to leave their pets at home. Please do not bring them to the Arts & Wine Festival.” Yet the Town Crier featured a photo of a black dog on the front page with the article about the festival as if to suggest that dog attendance is acceptable.

Why make it so hard to get a library card?

I went to the Los Altos Library to drop off donations recently and to secure a library card for my 96-year-old mother, who is a voracious reader but chooses not to leave her home very often.

I went armed with her California State Identification Card, only to be told that I would need two (essentially) “proof-of-life” pictures of her holding two consecutive days of dated newspapers – like in some bad ’70s kidnap/heist movie.