Fire Fears in Trails Proposal
Dear Editor,
As a resident of Jackson Oaks for more than 34 years … and a retired real estate broker who marketed homes here for 26 of those years, I have a grave concern regarding the trails. Trails are great but this area is not the place for them.
We have called the fire abatement people three times regarding the uncut grass on two adjoining lots to our home. We were assured the grass would be cut by the end of next week. I would challenge anyone to take a look and tell me trails are a good idea in this tinderbox situation. I was here in ’84 when, but for the grace of God and the wind direction, this hill would have suffered a major disaster. I remember the jokes about “Morgan Hill aka: Shake and Bake” as we also endured an earthquake that year. I have seen the fire department maps which stated our home would be a very difficult one to defend in event of fire due to its location. Yet the proposed trails are to the rear of our home. There is one road off this hill. The trail proposal is for five miles of bike trails in this area. Please, for the health and safety of the people who live here – eliminate the trail proposal in Jackson Oaks.
Where do the fire department, CDF, etc weigh in on this proposal? When Jackson Oaks was developed the homes were built on the ridgelines – the hillsides leading up to those homes is greenbelt – a natural pathway for fire. Will our insurance rates increase due to the trails? I believe so.
Ruth Berghoff, Morgan Hill
Disrespectful Trustees
Dear Editor,
I am a senior at Sobrato High School. I’m currently enrolled in Civics, a history class where we learn about how government works. All seniors are required to collect 50 civics points to graduate, whether it be community service, tutoring, or attending public city meetings. Last week I chose to go to the School Board meeting at 6pm at the school district. I was excited about seeing democracy in action, but instead, I got a lesson in disrespect.
When I got there, I was completely flabbergasted and appalled by how some of the board members acted and behaved during the meeting. In the first hour that I attended, it was public communication during which parents and teachers were given time to speak to the board members about concerns they had with the district. Never have I seen such rudeness from what was supposed to be a sophisticated group of elected individuals.
I completely understand that the public is given three minutes to shell out their complaints to the board, but when people like the School Board President Peter Mandel call out saying, “Ok, thank you, but we need you to stop talking,” I was shocked, not to mention also annoyed by a stupid alarm that was set to go off every three minutes. Some people had enough time to finish their topics and quickly received a nonchalant “Thank you” or a, “We will look into this” response by the board, or even once, Mandel responded, “Yeah, like that will happen.”
Furthermore, even though I got to the meeting promptly at 6pm, I ended up in the hallway with many others because the space allotted to visitors is so small. I’m sure that a lot of people attend these meetings so that they can learn about what is going on in their school system, so why does half the room’s space need to be taken up by the board’s semi circle? These meetings should be happening in a large room where everyone can sit down and not have to stand in the hallway.
Of course, most people will say, “He’s just a stupid juvenile delinquent, so who cares what a teenager says?” Well, I can tell you one thing right now from what I observed – the system isn’t going well when more than half the elementary students are being combined in classrooms with another grade, many special ed students are not getting sufficient services, and the Board President and district superintendent can do nothing but shake their heads at the voters who elected him (Mandel) and the taxpayers who pay his exorbitant salary (Nishino) while they try to explain their concerns and frustrations to them. But heck, who cares about the kids anyways? … at least the Board doesn’t appear to.
J. Paiva, Morgan Hill
