May 15, 2008

ValleyViewpoints

Another view of tipping


Editor,
The Almaden resident who believes that a maximum of $5 for a tip is all he should give for good service needs to either re-think his parsimonious position or start dining at drive-thrus.

Furthermore, being a product of the Depression is no excuse for this kind of ill treatment of restaurant servers. He might well consider that, factoring in inflation, he is paying Depression-level tips to these people today. Unlike their European counterparts, servers in this country receive minimum wage - not a salary - and no benefits, as opposed to European practices of a month of paid vacation, holidays, health insurance and, in some cases, even pensions.

How, sir, do these people subsist on your $5? Do you not realize or care that the tip you leave to the server also has to be split with the busboy, bartender and others, so that they each end up with about $1.50? How can they afford to live in Silicon Valley, pay the highest gas prices in the country to get to work and make it on $5 tips, or worse, the $2-3 tip that you believe is fair?

When restaurants in this country factor in living wages and benefits for their servers into the cost of meals, then the proposal of getting back to 10 percent may bear some merit. Until then, this gentleman's tipping practices are nothing short of insulting and the Sahara would freeze over before he gets my endorsement of his views.

Bill Gallagher
Almaden Valley

Understanding the sports fields problems

Editor,
I read that Nancy Pyle’s opponent believes there is plenty of available land in Almaden Valley for sports fields. Having working with Nancy Pyle’s office, the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League and TJ Martin residents I can assure you the sports field shortage is primarily due to the lack of available land.

If it were as simple as buying or leasing land I believe that, former District 10 City Councilmember Pat Dando, and current Councilmember Pyle, would have found a solution. I would recommend that Ashraf, a Blossom Valley resident, attend the monthly Almaden Valley Community Association meetings to learn about the issues relating to Almaden Valley or even to visit their Web site www.avca-sj.org to see how many times the association has addressed this serious problem.

I applaud Nancy Pyle for helping the T. J. Martin Park Association to reduce the neighborhood disruption from too many soccer games at that neighborhood park. Her thinking of innovative ways, such as the working with Leland High School in creating new fields there and her Community Sports Field Feasibility Study, now in progress, goes a long way to finding permanent solutions to solve the sports field shortage in Almaden.

While I am president of the AVCA, my remarks here are my own and do not reflect any official position taken by the AVCA board concerning this lack of understanding by Mr. Ashraf.

Art Boudreault
Almaden Valley

Open space is part of Almaden’s charm

Editor,
I read in disbelief and amazement that Nancy Pyle’s proposed opponent is looking to take his real estate developing experience into District 10 to expand housing in Almaden Valley.

Part of Almaden’s charm is the bedroom community and open space. Two high-density housing projects have been proposed in our community in the last three years and in both cases Pyle worked and fought for the residents to ensure the new development conformed to the satisfaction of everyone involved.

By the end of the process the neighbors were supportive of the new developments and everyone was happy. This is the type of leadership Almaden deserves at City Hall. I plan on continuing my support for Nancy Pyle on June 3 because she always has the community’s best interest in mind and is always open to hearing our concerns for improving this district.

D. Migliore
Almaden Valley

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