Letters: Sign snafu leads to gridlock as patrons search for Garlic Festival

Dear Editor, In the past, Garlic Festival traffic has been
controlled, and diverted away from downtown Gilroy. Well, this year
things went awry.
Sign snafu leads to gridlock as patrons search for Garlic Festival

Dear Editor, 

In the past, Garlic Festival traffic has been controlled, and diverted away from downtown Gilroy. Well, this year things went awry. The sign usually posted at Masten Avenue, directing southbound traffic on Monterey Highway, to “Turn Right” to detour to Santa Teresa, was missing. This resulted in traffic coming right into the already congested, or should I say poorly designed, downtown corridor.

Once in downtown, it is extremely difficult for visitors to navigate back to a festival route unassisted. I made a call to the Garlic Festival Association Saturday to find out why the signs were not posted, but there was no one there.

On Monday, I spoke with someone who said the GFA office was not aware of the problem because all members were at the Festival and that they had no idea why the signs were not posted. I asked if the California Highway Patrol might know, since they were controlling the lights at the intersection in question.

The CHP informed me that there was, and I quote, “Something wrong with the signs” so they decided not to use them.  

OK, even a homeless person, working for tips with a cardboard sign with “Garlic Festival” on it would have been better than nothing.

The only way I can describe the gridlock and confusion downtown is to say “YOU HAD TO BE THERE”, hopefully on the sidewalk, or a fly on a wall. WHEW!

Gwen Banks, Gilroy

Wall Street is looking for real solutions to real problems

Dear Editor,

The recent drop in the stack market is a good thing. The business community has realized that when Congress makes decisions by hostage taking and creating an artificial crisis that we are a country gone mad. Madness does not lead to the kind of stability America needs to get the economy back on track.

What Wall Street is looking for is real solutions to real problems, not a balanced budget amendment or threats of default or government shutdowns. Action have consequences.

Bush and the Republicans tanked the economy leaving America in a state of collapse when Bush left in 2009. Then in 2010 the voters elected the same party that caused the problem in the first place. So what do you expect to happen? When you elect Republicans you get chaos.

Marc Perkel, Gilroy