Dear Editor, Kudos to Bob Dillon and Cat Tucker who seem to have
the only common sense on the city council as well the ability to
add and subtract the costs.
High speed rail ‘will ruin the small-town atmosphere’
Dear Editor,
Kudos to Bob Dillon and Cat Tucker who seem to have the only common sense on the city council as well the ability to add and subtract the costs.
I have never written a letter to the editor but quite frankly I can’t stand the snow job (a nicer word for lying) that is being thrown at the residents of Gilroy. The residents have no clue that (it’s not just those of us whose land and homes will be affected by this boondoggle), but it will affect all of you. It will ruin the small-town atmosphere that a lot of us moved here for many years ago. Do you really want 6,000 cars a day on Leavesley Avenue (if they pick the east U.S. 101 corridor). You think we have traffic jams now, just wait!!
I wonder how these same politicians would like 20 trains a day running just feet from their homes at 200-plus mph every 30 seconds (their figures not mine). All the figures they have given us are skewed. Then, there’s the one that is mind boggling – “millions of jobs produced.” They failed to tell you that about 80 percent of those jobs will be so specialized that just the average day laborer would have a job.
Finally, I am disgusted with some of our local politicians (who I will not name). No. 1 – with my heart on my sleeve, I asked him “What can I do to save my house of 38 years?” Answer: “There is nothing you can do about it so just forget it!” Second example: same politician was asked eight months in a row where would the route east of U.S. 101 be. His answer: “Don’t worry it won’t be anywhere near your house; it will be closer to New Avenue.”
When HSR published their two routes – downtown or in the east U.S. 101 corridor, the value of our home dropped to rock bottom and he was kind enough to offer us a whopping $200,000 for our home that had been appraised a year before at $900,000. This was the final insult.
Mary Anne and Tony Giacalone, 38-year residents of Gilroy
