February 1, 2007

ValleyViewpoints

‘Spoiled brat’ responds to letter to editor

Editor,
In a Jan. 25 letter to the editor, Mr. Mortensen states that those who opposed lights at Leland High School are “whining, me-first spoiled brats, determined to place their personal agendas ahead of the school/community.” What this says, and I'm shocked, is that my mother did a very a poor job in raising me. This is the first time that I've gotten this kind of honest feedback and I want to thank Mr. Mortensen.

I obviously missed that fact that playing football on Friday nights is the key factor in the improvement our children's SAT scores. Just think of how many children would have gotten into those Ivy League schools if we had lights at Leland! Poor deprived alumni...

Sign me: One of the spoiled brats.

Joaquim Tavares
Almaden Valley

Give every side a voice on lights issue

Editor,
I think that we have to come to an agreement amongst ourselves regarding the pending installation of athletic field lights at Leland High, that it is going to happen. No doubt in my mind. The lights are going to be erected at the football field at Leland High. If you missed the meeting held at Leland, you missed out on some good information, from all sides: those for, those against, and the school district. The Almaden Times did a credible job of reporting what had happened, and included all the high points of the discussion. It was all good, as they say.

I have a suggestion: Consider [bringing together] a balanced manageable group of people from both sides of the fence, who are willing to meet and constructively communicate with each other and the school administrators, to address the problems and get them resolved. Then, when all is said and done, everyone has had a representative voice in resolving any disputes regarding the lights at Leland.

In the end, the matter of lights and night games at Leland High will be resolved, and we can all move on.

David Byers
Almaden Valley

Kudos to Mayor Reed and San Jose for budget priority meeting

Editor,
On Saturday, Jan. 20, I attended a meeting at City Hall about neighborhood budget priorities representing the Almaden Valley Community Association. In attendance were Mayor Reed and about 100 leaders of city community associations from across the city. We were subjected to about four hours of intense brain storming by a high-energy woman facilitator accompanied by two scribes, who recorded on flip charts everything that was said.

The subjects were, “ what was right about San Jose,” “ what was wrong with San Jose,” “identify the three-year goals for the city” and by vote, “select the five most important goals and then state the actions to reach these goals.”

I thought that getting about a 100 community leaders from across the city was brilliant. What better group to hear from than the people who are aware and concerned about their local community problems. I heard things that we usually are not concerned with in Almaden, such as rats and roaches, abandoned cars, gangs, violence, lack of police protection, lack of jobs and lack of neighborhood retail stores. In Almaden we are concerned about night game lighting at Leland and the effect the Coyote Development Plan will have on local traffic.

It was interesting that the number-one complaint was lack of code enforcement, which was a problem for about one-third of the participants and for us. The other four most important goals were: increase the number of jobs in the city, provide full funding for parks, community centers, libraries, etc., improve community policing and improve General Fund revenue.

This meeting was superb and the minutes, 12 pages of a PDF file, arrived on Monday the 22nd as promised. On Feb. 13, a hearing on this subject will be held by the City Council. On Feb. 20, the mayor, City council and key staff members will retreat to consider a course of action toward meeting these goals. To get the full report contact: ndc@sanjoseca.gov Ask for the 1/20/07 notes.

Bob Boydston
Past president, AVCA

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