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Published on 11/17/1999 All articles from this issue

Letters to the Editor

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Thanks to polite trick-or-treaters

I want to praise the children and teens of Los Altos and Mountain View. At our house on Halloween night, they were the souls of politeness and good manners.

We play a fishing game where they often have to stand in line, and they were all so patient, non-pushy, and nice and helpful to each other. And they all said "Thank you." We love you all!

Unfortunately, "youth-bashing" has become more and more common lately. We don't let them skate or skateboard. We're uncomfortable if more than two of them are gathered together in the mall, or on the street - or anywhere.

We don't want them out at night. We don't want them to make any noise. Do we want them to have any fun? We're upset if they wear red, or blue, or wear their hats backwards, or wear a T-shirt we don't like.

I hope we can get over this and be proud of them instead. They all deserve it.

Rene LynchLos Altos

Majority has spoken on Measure I

Hurrah for the citizens of Los Altos! The politicians and the do-gooders tried to pull a fast one.

They tried to deceive us and circumvent the law by crafting a measure that did not need the normal two-thirds majority. They tried to deceive us by disguising Measures H and I as tax for maintenance and recreation when they were really nothing more than a tax to get four motorcycle police on the streets of Los Altos.

Two-thirds of the money was to be earmarked for the police to keep the extra traffic enforcement - the cops who hide in the bushes with radar guns.

The chairpersons of the Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Task Force and Blue Ribbon Committee and their handful of friends lost this round in the battle to make Los Altos a giant speed trap. But you can be sure they'll be back with another attempt to raise our taxes to pay for their own self-righteous view of what life in Los Altos should be like.

They'll get the Town Crier back in their pockets to promote their measures as it did this time. They'll come up with some new ruse to keep the motorcycle cops on duty.

But it's OK. Because the vote on this tax measure proves that the citizens of Los Altos know when they are being hoodwinked and led down a path too narrow. We won't put up with city officials using chicanery to force the will of a "very few" on the majority.

When the special grant funds are gone, the motorcycle cops and their radar guns should be, too. Los Altos is a safe and wonderful place because of the people who live here, not because of the police. The system works and the majority has spoken.

John Toppel

Los Altos