The Red Phone sounds off Saturday in The Times.
The Red Phone sounds off Saturday in The Times.
We invite you to call us 24/7 to ask questions, report a complaint, give us a tip, offer an amusing tale of the short variety or just want people to know about something to do with Morgan Hill and the surrounding territory. We’ll check it out and have the answer in an upcoming column.
Leave us a message on the Red Phone at 779-4106, x206 or check out www.morganhilltimes.com and click on the Red Phone icon.
We won’t print your name or share it with others. However, we do need your name and phone number for verification purposes.
Restriping Blues
Who in the world decided to mark certain turn lanes, especially on Vineyard Ave-nue? I drive those roads and the new lanes make no sense at all.Vineyard (the turn lane) is now one way and highly confusing, making a right turn onto Tennant nearly impossible at 5 o’clock. Who decides these things?
Caller: Unlike many other government-caused problems, this one has an answer. It’s Scott Creer, the city’s senior civil engineer and traffic expert, who made the decision to restripe Vineyard between Monterey Road and Tennant Avenue.
“The new left turn lanes will make it easier to get into the (new) Safeway parking lot,” Creer explained.
“And, the city’s general plan shows Vineyard as a two lane road, not the four lane road it has been in the past.”
New left turn lanes also ease turning into Concord Circle, the location of the school district offices, Specialized Bicycles, Anaerobe Systems and other businesses.
Creer said bicycle lanes were added during restriping, also to conform to the general plan, but no left turn lanes were removed from intersections.
Creer will be happy to discuss this and other traffic situations with residents if they will call him at his Public Works office, 776-7337.
The general plan was written and approved by Morgan Hill residents, setting down in detail their vision of what the city should look like, including zoning.
The plan can be amended by City Council action; residents with complaints or suggestions can call the council at City Hall: 779-7271.
Dare to Endorse
Now that the election is over, I want to tell you how disappointed I was the paper wasn’t neutral in presenting all the candidates and you actually endorsed some of candidates. I hope this doesn’t happen again next year.
Yes, we endorsed candidates. We actually had the audacity to suggest to readers who we thought would do best while holding public office.
We do that every election on the Opinion page. And yes, we’ll do it again in the next election and the one after that and …
We (and most other newspapers) do this because we spend far more time talking, listening and watching local candidates and talking to their friends and foes plus thinking about their potential effect on the community than most other people ever can.
As a result, while the endorsements are just opinions, they are educated, considered opinions based on a wide variety of issues.
In other words, we get to know them better than almost anyone else who doesn’t know them personally and that includes most voters. And we spend a lot of time getting to know the issues they will face.
We strive to be neutral in presenting candidates and their views on the news pages.
If you think we’re not, let us know. Again, the news pages are for news; the opinion page is for opinion – ours, yours and everybody else’s.We invite readers to respond to our editorials. We want to hear from you – whether you agree or disagree.
The editorial page is intended to be a sounding board for the community. Send us a letter to editmh@morganhilltim es.com.
Make a call to the Red Phone, 779-4106, ext 206, e-mail the Red Phone by visiting www.morganhilltimes .com, click the Red Phone icon and e-mail away.
