Letters to the Editor

Dems Support Troops, Reps Support Bush

Dear Editor,

Working with President Bush means deserting our troops and the American people. Forget it! Send a new funding bill with more stringent deadlines than the reasonable ones which accompanied the vetoed bill. Let Bush know that a veto will lead to an even more stringent set of benchmarks to veto next time around. See if it takes until 2009 for Bush to be sensible. It is clear that Democrats support the troops while Republicans support Bush and his incompetence.

Frank Crosby, Morgan Hill

Trails Would be Asset to Community

Dear Editor,

I am a Jackson Oaks resident and I’m in favor the public trails. How great it would be to have these trails to enjoy. It’s a beautiful area. Why not make use of the space. I can only see the addition of trails adding values to the homes in the area. I understand the fire risk, but when I purchased a home up in the hills I was fully aware of the increased fire risk. Due to the steeper terrain, I highly doubt the novice runner or biker would be interested in using the trails. This would be a great asset to the more experienced runner, biker or hiker.

M. Bright, Morgan Hill

Trail Fire Danger Fears Are Not Irrational

Dear Editor,

I am a resident of Jackson Oaks and am a runner and walker. I am dismayed at last week’s editorial in favor of the proposed bicycling and walking trails in the Jackson Oaks area of Morgan Hill. The editorial claimed that the residents of Jackson Oaks, who are expressing concern about fire safety, are being hysterical.  

Unfortunately the residents of Jackson Oaks have a deep-seated concern about the danger of fire on the hill from experience in dealing with past fires.

The proposed trail initiative does not address the increased risk of fire caused by smoking/sparks on the trails in a windswept environment. The proposal does not consider problems with limited access into Jackson Oaks for emergency-response vehicles or the slow-response time due to its remote and winding location. Finally, the proposal has no additional fire support planned for the Jackson Oaks community. 

I find it odd that the editorial would suggest that my concern is unfounded or irrational: I’m simply concerned about the safety of my family and my neighbors.

Kerry Wallace, Morgan Hill

Against Jackson Oaks Trails Section

Dear Editor,

My opinion is that your position that public Jackson Oaks trails are of general benefit to the public for extraction from their cars, safety and healthy living demonstrates that your paper is unfamiliar with the guiding facts.

At the most recent public meeting the trails plan experts countered the objections of Jackson Oaks homeowners with generalities. These are people that have not seen or walked these trails. I suspect that this is also the case with the majority of your editorial board. Also speaking at these meetings, besides many invested homeowners, were fire and police professionals who have first-hand experience in our neighborhood and who for cause strongly objected to the Jackson Oaks segment.

Actual experience and reality must be allowed to prevail. Wedging public trails into the Jackson Oaks hillside neighborhood is a faulty piece of the overall trails plan. For the most part the public will need to use their cars to reach the trails and many of the steep paths are not all that safe.

The advertised benefits of the Jackson Oaks segment are a misrepresentation of reality, not thoroughly researched and not integrated with our city’s infrastructure.

Lynn Liebschutz, Morgan Hill

Trail Opponents’ Arguments Misleading

Dear Editor,

It’s misleading when residents of Jackson Oaks peddle their emotionally-driven arguments as fact. Their opposition to proposed trails in their area is based on perceived risks, not unavoidable consequences. I can understand their stake in land issues near their home, but the “facts” they have listed are pure speculation. Please consider:

• Fire danger – the 1985 blaze near Anderson Reservoir was caused by arson, and has nothing to do with trails. Camping isn’t a part of the proposed plan, and smoking is rarely synonymous with recreational mountain biking or trail running/walking. Is there any evidence linking nearby trail systems to fires, or is this simply a high risk area for fire?

• Trails aren’t policed. This doesn’t require the support of the Morgan Hill Police Department. Trail maintenance is handled by volunteers, requiring nothing of local residents.

• Is there any evidence of burglary resulting from having nearby trails? This is not a common complaint of Los Gatos or Mountain View.

• Attacks by rattlesnakes, mountain lions, and other wildlife are rare. If the danger was so high, it is ironic there are so many references to young children playing in unfenced back yards.

The FACT is that this is PUBLIC LAND, and its fate is not decided by Jackson Oaks residents alone. The risks outlined by residents exist independent of trail users. There is little evidence that fire danger, burglary, and wildlife attacks are increased as a result of trail usage.

Travis Widder, Morgan Hill

Trail Editorial Missed the Mark

Dear Editor,

I personally take exception to the following statements made by the Times Editorial Board in its May 18 editorial supporting the public trails around the Jackson Oaks area.

• The study not only referred to public lands but also referred to private lands. In the public meeting, not only were Jackson Oaks citizens expressing opposition only to the trails that affected their area (both private and public lands), but others provided opposition to the trails in the El Toro area that crossed private lands. You neglected to mention that to your readers.

• I doubt that any editorial board member would want people wandering near their back yards and looking into their homes. I do not find this “beside the point.” These people have a right to express their concerns and not have them reduced to ridicule. We all bought in Morgan Hill for the peace and quite and friendly neighbors. I would guess we all moved to this area to be away from the bedroom window-to-window crowded home spacing found in San Jose. This is an important feature that we have and want to maintain.

• Obviously you do not understand the Jackson Oaks area. While I do understand the risks of walking on the roads here, the risk of adding more people being in the area WILL increase the potential for adverse safety concerns. The added trails will provide reasons for more people to drive to and from the Jackson Oaks area to use the paths, they will increase the biking and hiking traffic in and out of the access points, they will create a parking problem that relates to the added persons wanting to use the trails, and thus they will create a potentially more dangerous situation than currently exists. While the Morgan Hill police, ambulance service and fire service can respond quickly to a disturbance in the main areas of Morgan Hill, they can not respond quickly in the Jackson Oaks and Holiday Lakes area and this alone will exacerbate the situation. With respect to the reduction of potential criminal acts in this area, the trails will provide alternate quick exits from this area. It is now very difficult and dangerous to quickly run through the open spaces to chase anyone. A former police officer and fireman discussed the added risks in this area and their comments should not be taken lightly.

• Lastly, the costs to add and maintain trails in this very hilly and steep sloping areas will be much higher than in the flatter areas of Morgan Hill. This needs to be thoroughly addressed in the report to the city council.

Ken McMahon, Morgan Hill

Trails Will Only Benefit Very Few

Dear Editor,

How could trails in the middle of a hillside neighborhood be beneficial to the entire city? Don’t think so. Sounds like the only ones who will benefit are maybe a few neighbors, mostly mountain bikers from outside the area who couldn’t care less about this community. It’s just another trail.

Expand the trails we already have, spend the money on cleaning them and clean the roads to make it safer for road bikes as well.

Lucy Tait, Morgan Hill

Times Editorial Board Doesn’t Understand Trails

Dear Editor,

I live in the Jackson Oaks area and I was appalled by your May 18 editorial supporting the trails around our neighborhood. More than 90 percent of the residents polled are opposed to the trails.

I do not want people walking along the backside of my property. It would eliminate my privacy.

Unlike other trails, these are designed to go directly behind several properties and most homeowners do not have solid back fences.

The Times Editorial Board doesn’t understand what this might do to us.

Don Leonard, Morgan Hill