Dear Editor, Supervisor Don Gage had it right in last week when
he said:
”
Palo Alto and Mountain View are different worlds from
Gilroy.
”
Water board should respect those furthest from the corridors of power
Dear Editor,
Supervisor Don Gage had it right in last week when he said: “Palo Alto and Mountain View are different worlds from Gilroy.”
Palo Alto, at the extreme northern end of Santa Clara County, is predominantly residential and commercial. It gets its water from the Hetch-Hetchy system and watersheds that feed into San Francisco Bay. Gilroy, at the county’s southernmost point, is a rural city with an agricultural economy that gets its water from a watershed that feeds to Monterey Bay.
The two cities are about as far removed from one another – both geographically and demographically – as any that share the same county. So we think is a major mistake that Santa Clara Valley Water District Board voted 5 to 1 to redraw its district boundaries in a way that gives these two cities the same board representative.
It’s enough to make us wonder why the board bothered to enlist a blue-ribbon commission chaired by former South County Supervisor Susanne Wilson to study the redistricting issue. The panel recommended three separate solutions that would keep “areas of interest” together. But the trustees went in an entirely different direction, gerrymandering district boundaries in a blatant attempt to influence the outcomes of future elections.
Originally, the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy supported the idea of two districts in South County because they wanted to retain the same number of South County board members as they historically had. However, under the proposed plan, these two cities are split between two districts, each with population centers outside of South County. This effectively minimizes the chances of a South County resident being elected to represent either district and consolidates the power of incumbent trustees looking to protect their seats.
This political decision is already having negative consequences, even before it has been officially adopted. Gage, a Gilroy resident, had planned to run for the water board later this year as his term on the Board of Supervisors comes to an end. Now, this able and willing public servant says that he’ll reconsider running if the water board’s plan takes effect because he doesn’t see a way a candidate from the South County can compete with the vote-rich northern end of the new district.
But regardless of the intent behind the new district lines, the board’s preferred redistricting plan is disconnected from the residents and geography of both North and South County. It also negates the hard work of the redistricting commission and the scores of residents who contributed to the process.
We hope Board Chairman Dick Santos puts this decision on the table for reconsideration and that the full board will change course. It’s time the Santa Clara Valley Water District – and Santa Clara County government as a whole – began to respect the needs and priorities of all county residents, particularly those furthest from the corridors of power.
Teresa Alvarado, candidate for Santa Clara County Supervisor in District 1; Larry Carr, Morgan Hill City Councilman; Perry Woodward, Gilroy City Councilman
Editor’s Note: Last Friday, the board reconvened to address the issue and selected another map that keeps Morgan Hill and Gilroy together, but lumps in parts of south and east San Jose, encompassing about 140,000 San Jose residents.
Flag flap proved racism and ignorance still exist
Dear Editor,
I am a resident of Morgan Hill and I am totally embarrassed by the sense of racial hatred that has surfaced in our community. My father is a Vietnam veteran who served bravely with the 101st Airborne. He fought for the Stars and Stripes, and as a family, we are proud to be Americans.
But the incident that occurred at the high school had an underlying message, and it was clearly a calculated attack on “race” and a blatant abuse of the freedoms afforded to us by our great Constitution. The only thing that has been proven is that racism and ignorance still exist, and that is a shame.
Monica Gomez, Morgan Hill
The first priority is safety and getting an education
Dear Editor,
There were many thoughtful and thought provoking letters and articles in the Times about the Cinco de Mayo ruckus, especially noteworthy was the letter by Tony Ruiz, who brought substance and sanity to the subject.
Here’s the conclusion I’ve come to: the school administration was in a no-win situation, let’s consider the options they had and the likely responses.
Do nothing, maybe have a riot, maybe have some or many children injured or worse. Both sides would have been upset with this decision for endangering their children.
Try to deal with the American flag wearer’s. They were upset with this, as we’ve seen.
Shut down the Cinco de Mayo celebration. The Mexican flag supporters would have been upset with this decision.
So, in the end, school officials couldn’t win. Try to deal with the situation to protect all the children from potential harm and they are vilified. Don’t deal with it and let a riot start and children are injured so everyone’s rights are preserved, and they would be vilified for not acting sooner.
Does anyone remember the school tragedies we’ve had in the past 10 years? Would any parent like the school administration to sit back and see what happens because free speech is more important than your child? I don’t think so.
Could the situation have been handled differently, with 20/20 vision? Probably. Unfortunately, when situations are escalating, a day of commiseration before acting isn’t an option, immediate response to defuse the situation is the only choice. Did the administration do the best they could for the safety of all the children in the heat of the moment? I’d say yes because no child was injured or worse! Parents – read this again, no child was injured or worse, it could have turned out much differently.
I have no doubt the school administration will establish procedures for dealing with similar situations in the future, but they won’t be perfect or without controversy either since no one has a crystal ball and the players will all be different. Teenagers don’t always have the best judgment, nor always act the same, so it is up to parents and school officials to protect them – sometimes from themselves.
The unfortunate thing is all those now second guessing the school leaders weren’t sitting in the driver’s seat to feel the pressure and concern about the situation getting out of hand and aren’t responsible for the possibility of a harmful outcome for the students. If I had a child in school, as long as the school officials prevented injury or worse which could have affected my child, I’d say the officials did a pretty good job.
Now let’s get back to our first priority which we’ve lost sight of, getting an education for everyone. Do your marches and demonstrations on your own time, not during school hours when we are paying for you to learn. Maybe school uniforms are in order whenever on school premises, no flags, no colors, no busts, butts (what an awful term) and bellies hanging out. Maybe everyone could concentrate on their education more.
Marguerite Sinnett, Morgan Hill
Let us be the generation that stands together, not divided
Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter as an employee of Live Oak High School who is grieved by what took place (two weeks ago). As I reflected over the events, it wasn’t that a group of young men wore the American flag that upset me, nor was it the march through downtown by the group of young Hispanic people. What grieved me was the media that so quickly came to prey on the division they were able to perpetuate through what took place.
Live Oak has always been a diverse school, as is America. All of us have roots that tie us to another place in time, but what made America great was that people came here to work hard and build a better life together. We created a Constitution that stated we are all equal. We set aside our differences and focused on our strengths. No one came with their hand out expecting someone else to pull their weight. Everyone came ready to unite and do their part in creating a better life.
Last weekend we held our annual Fashion Show. What makes the show so special is not that everyone made exactly the same outfit, but that everyone came to the same classroom with the same teacher and worked hard using the same machines to make incredibly diverse outfits that created an unbelievable show. It is our diversity that makes life so much fuller. Imagine what the scenery would be like if there was only one kind of tree, one kind of flower, one style of home. What brings beauty and meaning into our world is embracing our differences and encouraging each other to be exactly what we were created to be. It is in working together that we become more than we could ever be alone. A house divided will not stand. It is true in every area of life.
I wondered as I began to think back over the past year … where was the media when the awards ceremony for all the many outstanding accomplishments by so many different students took place? Where was the media when a whole group of students from the construction class went to work together at “Habitat For Humanity” a few weeks back? Where was the media when our sports team won games and our Patriot Club collected cell phones and gifts to encourage our heroes who are protecting this great land at home and abroad? Where will the media be this week when we have our blood drive and students chose to donate blood to help save lives, and in weeks to come when our young men and women celebrate four years of hard work and dedication by graduating, not just as individuals but as the class of 2010? When all the good happens … where is then media?
What I hope we learn through this is that the media preys on that which destroys us. Let us as a student body start changing our world by choosing to focus on which makes us stronger. Let’s become known as the high school that looks for the good in each other. Let us be the high school that demonstrates all being American stands for, the land of the free, home of the brave. America where there is opportunity for all to build a better life for future generations. Lets set aside our differences and embrace our strengths and amaze the world by all that can happen when people get to know people for who they are on the inside, not what they look on the outside. Let us be the generation that stands together, ready to work together for the common good. Let us be America the beautiful.
Mrs. Nancy Becknall (aka Mrs. B), Morgan Hill
Nar-anon is a valuable tool for help in dealing with addicts
Dear Editor,
I am a member of Nar-anon Family Groups – a 12-step program for family and friends of addicts, and the mother of an addict, who began her addiction with her first hit off a meth pipe at age 13 on a schoolday afternoon. The next eight years were filled with heartache, anger, fear and total frustration as I used desperate measures to keep my daughter alive. Nothing I did to help her worked including four hospitalizations in various treatment facilities, therapy, medication and many insane attempts to control and fix her.
I had grown up around recovery, attending Al-Anon meetings at 21 because my father was in recovery after 30 years of alcoholism, therefore I had been practicing the principles of recovery, although not perfectly, for many years.
When I found Nar-anon, for family of addicts, the message was clearer as I heard my story in the rooms, and was able to distinguish the differences between boundaries as a parent and those of dealing with an addict. As my boundaries took hold, I detached with love and let go of my daughter, finally refusing to let her live under my roof until she was in recovery. The point was that all my attempts to help were hurting us both, and I was caught up in the insanity until I admitted I was powerless and was able to let go.
Months later, she asked to return to treatment, and she chose to stay clean and sober from that point on, one day at a time. Today my daughter has celebrated more than six years of recovery. She is on her own path, grateful to her program and doing service to help others.
I have become very active in service in Nar-Anon. Just as NA helps those addicted to drugs, Nar-Anon helps those living in the insanity of being addicted to helping the addict. For more information, got to www.nar-anon.
Jonnie G., 24-year Morgan Hill resident who recently moved to San Jose
Easy to have an opinion hundreds of miles from the battle lines
Dear Editor,
I think Richard Santos (Santa Clara Valley Water District board member) should also ask Arizona to reconsider allocating their share of Colorado river water to Southern California so they can come back and demand more Hetch-Hetchy water be diverted south.
I also think Santos should come to Arizona for a week (preferably in July) and visit with Hispanic (and Native American, and Asian and Middle Eastern) people who are living here with standard legal status to ascertain the opinions of those people about the deluge of undocumented folks that are simply refugees of the failed (government) state of Mexico.
It’s easy to mount the “Bully Pulpit of Dissent” 715 miles from the battle lines.
Fred G. Borns, a San Martin resident from 1961 to 1974, who now lives in Chandler, Ariz.
