LETTERS LETTERS (November 16, 2005)

Native Americans here long before white settlers

Editor:

As a devoted student of history, I love the commitment of the Almanac to educating its readers on local history. But I really must protest the narrow vision of history in your most recent photograph.

Charles Brown was surely not one of the earliest inhabitants of what we now call San Mateo County. He was no doubt a pioneering gentleman and one of the earliest white inhabitants, but you seem to forget the thousands of native Americans who at least 5,000 years earlier plied the waters of the Bay in their reed boats and mined the oak trees for their fruits. Careless language betrays an uneducated, or at least forgetful, mind.

Beth Bonora

Vine Street, Menlo Park

Golf course proposal serves diverse interests

Editor:

Installing a golf course and playing fields at Bayfront Park is a very interesting subject, one that I have been aware of for may years. When I was on the Parks and Recreation Commission quite some years ago, I tried to get the city interested in a program like the one presented.

As I am a golfer, I obviously have a specific interest in mind, but I understand that there are other interests that should be addressed. I tried to encourage my colleagues to support a program like this, where a facility would serve the many diverse interests, but to no avail.

My position was to look to the south. Mountain View developed Shoreline Park where it provided services to all kinds of interests where the majority of the community can participate in the beauty of the bay and enjoy all that it has to offer.

It makes sense to me that if we had a facility like the one proposed, it could be self-supporting and serve many diverse interests. Ollie Brown

Hobart Street, Menlo Park

Without golf, how can park costs be covered?

Editor:

I have neither seen nor heard anyone who opposes the golf and fields proposal at Bayfront Park offer a solution to how our city will cover the costs of this land when the sinking fund runs out.

I am told that the city has offered to give the land away to the open space people and they don't want it because they can't afford to take it. In addition, since more playing fields cost around $4 million to $5 million, what solution do the opponents of the golf/fields proposal have for providing our city more fields -- at no cost?

With the Highlands Golf proposal, the city not only solves the problem of how to pay for the maintenance of the land; it also solves the playing fields shortage -- at no cost to the city. So, please tell us, what is your solution? Mary Gilles

Menlo Park

The challenge of opening Sausal Creek

Editor:

There continues to be a strong interest in Portola Valley to open Sausal Creek, which is now piped beneath most of the 11.2-acre Town Center property, as part of the new Town Center design.

Residents who have this concer should understand that the opening of the creek could not happen at the same time that a new Town Center is built unless the time line for the buildings and sports and outdoor facilities is postponed considerably.

Over a year ago the Town Council determined that the limited environmental impact report required for the Town Center project would not include the extensive additional studies and time that would be otherwise needed if the opening of the creek were included.

Meanwhile, the design of the Town Center has proceeded, and last Monday the Architectural Site Commission recommended a scaled back version of the site plan to the council, and this plan includes a designated area that could be the reinstated creek. The architectural style of the buildings is still being discussed.

It is important to understand that expanding the EIR to include uncovering the creek would take many months and cost a substantial amount, and the council does not wish to hold up the overall project for that to happen.

The project of uncovering the creek will need to go through the normal approval process just as the overall Town Center project has been doing, and I believe at the appropriate time the council will direct that process to move forward with formal ASCC public hearings. The council does not wish, however, to hold up the rest of the Town Center project by connecting it to the opening of the creek.

Chip McIntosh, chair Planning Commission

Firefighters thank supporters

Editor:

The Menlo Park Firefighters Association would like to thank the citizens of East Palo Alto, Atherton, Menlo Park and southern San Mateo County for their support of Menlo Park Fire Protection District board candidates Rex Ianson, Ollie Brown and Scott Freiermuth.

As an association, we congratulate all three elected directors -- Peter Carpenter, Mr. Brown and Mr. Ianson -- and look forward to working with them in the near future.

Members of the Menlo Park Firefighters Association are highly trained and motivated to serve the community. As an organization we are proud to work on many community events such as the Menlo Park Easter Egg Hunt and our Toy and Food Drive, which supports the charities of St. Anthony's, the East Palo Alto Ecumenical Hunger Program, the Menlo Park and Palo Alto Veterans Hospitals, the Stanford Children's Hospital and the Menlo Park Gateway Apartments. And we are pleased to annually raise funds for the Alisia Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Tom Neylan,, president

Menlo Park Firefighters Association

Deadline extended for 'Oughta be a law' contest

Editor:

Notwithstanding the distraction of last week's special election, scores of my constituents have already submitted entries for my fifth annual "There Oughta Be A Law" contest, where I invite Californians to submit their suggestions for new laws.

But I want to give anyone preoccupied by the special election a little more time to submit a proposal, so I've extended the contest deadline to November 28. The winner or winners will have their ideas introduced as legislation, and get to testify at a hearing on their bill in the State Capitol.

The real "prize," however, is the satisfaction of knowing that your winning entry can affect the lives of 36 million Californians. Since the contest's inception, eight such ideas have become law. To get an application, readers may visit www.sen.ca.gov/simitian or call my district office at (650) 688-6384.

State Sen. Joe Simitian

Keep your eye on the SamTrans seats

Editor:

Last year at this time the San Mateo County Transit District board of directors (SamTrans) played a game of musical chairs by placing an old crony on the board who wanted some extra service time to advance his career.

Some may recall how then-Supervisor Mike Nevin retained a seat on the SamTrans board after he was forced from the seat he occupied for 12 years. When he was forced out of his supervisorial office by term limits last year he also was forced to forfeit his seat on SamTrans, which also meant he would have had to step down from several other regional transit boards on which he served as a representative of SamTrans, including the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which runs Caltrain, and the Transbay Joint Powers Authority.

Mr. Nevin retained a seat on SamTrans as a "public" member, taking the seat previously occupied by former Daly City council member Al Teglia. It was a seat reserved for a member of the "public," but Mr. Nevin was installed without any public notice of a vacancy or any fair interview for any county resident who may have had the slightest interest.

In addition, giving Mr. Nevin the "public" slot gives Daly City imbalance four of the board's nine members, which means that potential representatives from other communities continue to be denied representation.

For example, another public seat due for appointment in December is held by Shirley Harris, also of Daly City. Ms. Harris is a former Daly City planning commissioner and has held a "public" seat on the SamTrans board since 1994 and has been consistently reappointed without so much as an announcement of an opening.

Even though he was appointed to a four-year term, it is common knowledge that Mr. Nevin wanted to use the seat as a platform to help keep him in the public eye while he prepared to run for the State Senate to replace Jackie Speier, who will be running for Lt. Governor.

This month, the SamTrans board should undertake a process to fill Mr. Nevin's seat that he will most certainly vacate now that he needs more time to campaign, as well as the seat of Ms. Harris. Local residents should demand that real public members replace the departing Mr. Nevin and his long-time ally, Ms. Harris. It is time for SamTrans to advertise for replacements and interview potential public representatives.

Patricia Gray, chair San Mateo County Green Party Burlingame

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