May 18, 2008

Letters

U.S. energy policy

Dear Editor: Nancy Pelosi, Democrat Speaker of the House, has recently called the oil company profits "obscene." It has been reported that the average oil company profits are about 12 cents on every gallon of gas we buy. The government tax on that same gallon of gas averages about 22 cents per gallon. Our government's strategic oil reserves are over 95 percent full. There have been no oil refineries built in this country for the last 30 years and we have not drilled in the Arctic or off our coasts because our environmentally conscious government feels we can just pay someone else to bring us the gasoline. China and India are using more oil and sending us the bill for all the manufactured goods we buy while we build more parks and playgrounds and commune with the environment that China or India may someday own.

Robert Parkhurst,

Redwood City



Candidate for judge

Dear Editor: I enthusiastically support Jay Boyarsky for judge. He has been active in several community issues, twice serving as a commissioner for the city of Palo Alto and demonstrating his civic pride.

He was assigned to hate crime prosecution for Santa Clara County and is currently a member of the board of directors of the Anti-Defamation League, Central Pacific Coast Region. This is reflective of his cherishing diversity and inclusiveness.

During the past five years as supervising deputy district attorney for northern Santa Clara County, he has demonstrated good judgment and heart, supervising two satellite law offices and 34 deputy district attorneys.

He is a candidate with broad experience in civil and criminal courts and public and private sectors. I know him as a highly intelligent man with a great passion to objectively serve all his consituents with dignity and respect.

Deborah Kurland,

Palo Alto



Parks measure

Dear Editor: I and 200-plus volunteers from Rebuilding Together Peninsula recently gathered for a post-community workday barbecue at Flood Park in Menlo Park. On that beautiful spring evening, the rest of the park was filled with family picnics and children joyfully running around. That brought home to me the real importance of parks in the lives of ordinary people not only in our community but throughout our county.

I am pleased that the League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County has pledged its support for Measure O, the "Parks for the Future" campaign to secure a dedicated funding source for our communities' parks. Increasing San Mateo County's sales tax by one-eighth of 1 cent will provide $16 million annually for desperately needed maintenance of and improvements for our city's parks as well as county parks and recreation districts. At a time when public funding is tight, helping keep our parks a great - and free - place for families could not be easier or more cost effective. On behalf of the all-volunteer League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County, I encourage all voters on June 3 to go for Measure O. The future of San Mateo County parks depends upon it.

Jamie Shepard, president,

League of Women Voters of

South San Mateo County



A livesaver

Dear Editor: InnVision's The Way Home Program is a social services and homeless outreach organization that took over the Urban Ministry a few years back.

The Way Home Program got me off the streets and into single room occupancy at a hotel, a major change from sleeping in the Bryant Street parking garage at night like I used to do.

There is something special happening when a group of people backed by their community care enough to have taken someone like me, a chronic alcoholic, and have given me a chance to find my way back into mainstream society again.

It hasn't been too easy and I have fallen down a few times but since I have been in The Way Home Program, my health has improved, my attitude has changed, my legal problems have all been deemed satisfied, I have finally obtained my driver's license, I have found on-and-off temporary work and have renewed a relationship with my long-forgotten family.

The Way Home and the Catholic Charities of Santa Clara, Momentum for Mental Health and the Downtown Streets Team have a great plan for dealing with homelessness in this community.

Take it from a guy who didn't have any hope. The Way Home Program is a lifesaver.

Dean Pronge, Palo Alto



Emergency plans

Dear Editor: I am a girl in seventh grade, and I strongly believe that all families should have emergency plans in case of natural disasters. My family and I were involved in the 2004 tsunami, and we all are survivors. Not everybody was as lucky. In fact, most of the people who died in our area were the ones who did not know what to do. They didn't know where it was safe, what they needed or what they should do. We were all controlled by panic and fury. I was only 8 at the time, and my siblings and I were separated from our parents. If we had known what to do, we would have been able to be together instantly, instead of worrying for hours about our mother. If all people had plans, for home and abroad, it would save a lot of lives.

Clarissa Klein,

Hillsborough



Police department

Dear Editor: Chief Ron Davis of the East Palo Alto Police Department has a lot to account for in his judgment and questionable decision making (April 20 Daily News, "Police chief appointments spark officers' dissent"). The current controversy is over the appointment of John Chalmers to captain. He was suspended from his job during a sexual harassment investigation (not proved) and then collected $200,000 for a wrongful suspension that was not lifted for three years. Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said, "Chalmers is a 'stand-up guy.'" Two lieutenants were demoted to sergeant upon Chalmers' appointment.

Davis and Wagstaffe seem to be confused about police operations based upon another recent case. Chief Davis placed two sworn and armed officers on limited duty; they cannot make arrests without other officers present or nearby. The chief's decision stems from our Wagstaffe, who stated their office will "likely not prosecute violators if these two officers" are the first responders because he believes they lied in court or in writing their reports. This restriction has potentially serious and harmful consequences for police operations, and if this restriction is required, these officers should not be on patrol. The city's ethical duty is to field fully qualified officers to enforce the law. You can't have it both ways and maintain an affirmative law enforcement program.

Finally, who commands the East Palo Alto Police Department, Chief Davis or, by proxy, "Chief" Wagstaffe? Remember, Wagstaffe told Sheriff Greg Munks, "Just hang in there [and] this too will pass," after the sheriff was led out of a Nevada brothel at gunpoint. I am not so sure it will pass: the press and the public remember and they know there are a bevy of heir apparent politicians that supported Munks, however parsed.

Jack Kirkpatrick,

Redwood City



Proposition 98

Dear Editor: I was described in the Palo Alto Daily News May 7 as a "frequent city critic" and as "being opposed to Mountain View's recommended utility rate increases." Both are true, and I have written my protest letter to the city council (8,500 letters are required to overide the recommended increases.)

As a former landlord (35-plus years in three cities and two counties), I can tell you landlords will not subsidize tenants' utility costs; they will pass them on to consumers (tenants) in all cities except rent-controlled areas. The same goes for parcel taxes and bond costs - tenants and residents and businesses use city services (including utilities), not absentee landlords. But the landlords have to collect the service fees for the city, which is costly in itself.

Please vote yes on Proposition 98.

Donald Letcher,

Mountain View