Dear Editor, Regarding the Lisa Pampuch Jan. 6 column, I feel
she missed the boat twice right off the bat (is that mixing
metaphors?), and that her first sentence should read something
like,
”
… on the same day that Californians heroically stood up for
morality and natural law by passing Proposition 8, Americans
egregiously and unconstitutionally elected Barack Obama as our
first African-American president.
”
Dear Editor,
Regarding the Lisa Pampuch Jan. 6 column, I feel she missed the boat twice right off the bat (is that mixing metaphors?), and that her first sentence should read something like, ” … on the same day that Californians heroically stood up for morality and natural law by passing Proposition 8, Americans egregiously and unconstitutionally elected Barack Obama as our first African-American president.”
I am not sure what is correct from the sporadic and inconclusive media coverage (or coverup) of the controversy surrounding Obama’s birth, but the constitutional qualifications/requirements to become president of the U.S. are quite clear, and the matter should not have been swept under a rug, but instead pursued vigorously until there was no doubt whatsoever about his legitimacy before declaring him fit to run or serve, no matter how late in the day.
As for the other point, I will happily debate (with Lisa or Jerry Brown) gay marriage at any time. But basically, I feel that just because gays want to get married, that does not give them a right to get married. (At least in the eyes of the state – I’m not concerned with what the churches say.)
As for the rest of her article, I disagreed with a few other points on some of the reasons for the economic woes, but we can save the discussion of “personal responsibility,” “not-everyone’s-a-victim,” and “equality vs. equal opportunity” for another day – in fact, while we’re at it let’s throw in abortion, euthanasia and capital punishment, too.
Keith Davis, Morgan Hill
The MH Wind Symphony is the best kept secret in town
Dear Editor:
Recently Hannah Wiedeman wrote to praise the Morgan Hill Wind Symphony and lament the small audience at their December concert. I will join her in agreeing what a great job the symphony does, but wish that they would publicize their concerts more. They seem to put all their effort into rehearsing and performing. Many local residents hope they will put a little more effort into letting us know when and where they will be presenting their enjoyable concerts. I’ve always commented to my friends that it is the best-kept secret in town.
Bobbie Flagg, Morgan HIll
Now is the time to use reserves
Dear Editor,
The city must address this financial crisis. Yes, we must collaborate with other agencies and look to new methods in providing services. Sure, we must look at where cuts could be made but we are already lean. We have the lowest number of city employees per capita when compared with other cities around us. Therefore, while cuts could be made, I believe we should use our reserve as much as possible as we work though the challenges.
It is not necessary to lay off employees and cut services immediately. We can do that at any time. We have a healthy reserve for just this type of shortfall. Let’s use it. Cutting back on youth and senior services hurts those who need it the most. Eliminating our environmental programs does not make sense because the global catastrophe that awaits us all is greater than any economic recession present or future.
My recommendation is to use the city’s reserve to meet this shortfall and adopt a policy of watchful waiting as the nation addresses this issue.
Mark Grzan, Former City Councilman
Remember, findings of Anderson Dam failure are preliminary
Dear Editor,
Yes, “Anderson Dam could fail,” as your headline said on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009. And yes, we also could be hit by lightning or by a comet.
It is unfortunate that limitations of space prevented you from describing the extremely conservative assumptions used in the study of Anderson Dam recently released by the geotechnical firm Geomatrix, and the preliminary nature of it. That, along with several technical errors in your article, combine to overstate the magnitude and probability of a dam failure, which has caused alarm among some Morgan Hill citizens.
The State’s Division of Safety of Dams and the Santa Clara Valley Water District take public safety seriously. That’s exactly why they commissioned a preliminary study that looks to see if, by making the most-conservative assumptions of their limited data, there could be some risk to public safety.
Our community should be made aware that the findings presented by Geomatrix are indeed preliminary and conservative, and, since some potentially hazardous conditions were detected at the dam site, a subsequent, more thorough investigation is now being designed to more fully analyze them.
We appreciate that the State DSOD requires these periodic investigations and that SCVWD complies with state-of-the-art geologic, geotechnical and seismic studies. And we applaud SCVWD for releasing this preliminary report so that our community leaders can decide whether or not to take interim, remedial or preventative action. Their responses so far have clearly been in the interest of public safety and should be supported.
As we await results of the follow-up investigation, we encourage the Times to take particular effort to provide a more complete perspective on such matters that influence our community at large. This is clearly more than a human interest story. Under separate title, we are providing the Times with a review of the highly technical Geomatrix document that represents our local and professional perspective.
Maybe it suffices to point out that our geotechnical office and many of our homes lie squarely in the dam failure “inundation zone,” and we have no plans to move.
Peter C. Anderson, Principal Engineering Geologist; G.Reid Fisher, PhD., Engineering Geologist; Daniel J. Peluso, Geotechnical Engineer, with Pacific Geotechnical Engineering Morgan Hill
