LETTERS LETTERS (January 07, 2004)

Please, use respect, civility in critiques of council

Editor:

The Menlo Park City Council spends untold hours in our behalf trying to solve city problems in a fair and conscientious fashion. They have no axe to grind, are not "self-serving," and do what they think is right. Naturally, some people may disagree with their decisions, but can't we voice our opinions with respect and civility?

Listen to the language published in the December 10 issue of the Almanac from a Guest Opinion article written by the chair of the Planning Commission, Patti Fry, regarding the proposed residential development rules: "shameful, radical, massive houses, cruel, uncaring, speculative, concoct rules, untested, scheme, hollow promises."

The same issue of the Almanac also enclosed a flyer on the same subject using rhetoric such as: "bulldozers, anything goes, and unscrupulous.

This (the new zoning ordinance) is a complicated topic that is best addressed civilly and with clear minds. I would hope that the public will give our council a chance to try their rules-based system for a period of time to see if it works, without trying to undermine the new system.

Reginald W. Rice

Tioga Drive, Menlo Park

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