Thanks to Los Altos Mayor Lynette Lee Eng and Councilwoman Anita Enander for alerting us to the loss of local control and quality of life inherent in the CASA Housing Compact (“Cities brace for proposed housing legislation,” Dec. 26).

The CASA roster comprises 53 individuals appointed by the (retiring) Metropolitan Transportation Commission director. The group is dominated by housing developers, the building industry and pro-growth advocates. Google and Facebook – two companies whose unmitigated office growth created the housing problem – are also repre- sented.

City of Los Altos Community Development Director Jon Biggs, in his column “Nothing misleading about city’s revised ADU regulations” (“Other Voices,” Nov. 14), claims the recent ordinance changes proposed by city staff and approved by the city council were “in response to recently adopted state legislation” and “followed several public meetings held by the city council.” That is completely contrary to the facts and the city’s own records and transcripts.

Some might dismiss it as a Town Crier Police Blotter item, a sad but insignificant story – a young man found dead in his car Dec. 14 outside the McDonald’s restaurant on El Monte Avenue in Mountain View near the Los Altos border.

Local media covered the story and used it to highlight the systemic failure of the area’s jobs-to-housing imbalance. The high cost of living is not only making it difficult to live here, it’s also making it difficult to work here.

I don’t have any empirical evidence to bolster this observation, but it certainly feels palpable to me that there has been a subtly thunderous shift in the ethos of Silicon Valley.

Town Crier File Photo
A Starbucks patron hangs out in front of the downtown Los Altos coffee shop with three canines close by in this photo from 2015.

In today’s world, there is a growing amount of hand-wringing and worse regarding the widening divide between Americans. While reading horrendous headlines during my morning coffee at street-side java joints around town, I’ve noticed a positive sign among the negativity: Communication is increasing.

The interchange isn’t necessarily occurring between members of the blue team and the red team, Gen Z and the Greatest Generation, the hills and the flatlands, Main Street and State Street, but between pooches and their proud owners.

City streets don’t need additional night lights

In a letter to the editor, a citizen injured in a fall while walking at night blames the city’s poor street lighting (“Poor lighting poses public-safety danger,” Dec. 19).

Excuse me? Darkness at night comes with living on Earth.