Letters Letters (March 12, 2004)

Welcome to Jack-in-the-Box

Editor,

It's sad that this wonderful town we live in has not been able to rise above the fast-food nation. It was bad enough to have McDonalds at the Santa Rita and Stanley entrances to Pleasanton, but now we have multiple large Jack-in-the-Box signs to greet us in place of what used to be an open field.

The facts are: The food is unhealthy in many ways; the corn fields and animal feedlots that fuel them are destroying the environment, and rural communities are being displaced by big agribusiness all over the country. There are many resources on the Web. Search on "factory farms" or check out www.themeatrix.com.

Please support your local farmers and enjoy good health by eating grass-fed beef, antibiotic and hormone-free meat, and organic produce. Ask for it in restaurants and stores. Some of our local grocery stores have begun to carry this healthier and more ecologically compatible food. Jon HarveySmallwood Court Ignore BMX 'carrot'

Editor,

The proposed motocross (BMX) course at Shadow Cliffs is one aspect of the water slides expansion that needs more attention. Clearly it's just a "quid pro quo" to get the city to approve the project despite residents' objections to the water slides.

At a meeting I attended of the Regional Park District, there was testimony about how long our youth have wanted a motocross course. My teenage daughter and her friends have zero interest in motocross. I suspect most girls, unless influenced by boys, feel the same way. Most of the boys I've talked with are enthusiastic at first, but admit they probably wouldn't use the motocross course that often because they, as one put it, "have too many other things to do."

The land at Shadow Cliffs has been there all this time. If motocross were so popular, why didn't the city lease the land to build a course years ago? And why is motocross now linked to the water slides when they are two unrelated uses for the land?

I have always voted to support the Regional Park District because I believe in what I thought were its goals of open space preservation and natural use recreation. I'm sorry to see it's so strapped for money that it now promotes intrusive commercial uses on parkland. I hope the City Council will be environmentally sensitive enough to reject this project in spite of the motocross carrot dangled by the Park District.

Someone asked me what should be done with the land at Shadow Cliffs if this project isn't approved. My answer: Why do anything with it? That's one of the beauties of our regional parks - they can be left alone. Karen WindDolores Drive Yes vote means No vote

Editor,

This Shadow Cliff resident wishes the following admonition to be posted for City Council members: A Yes vote for the proposed water park by any council member will most assuredly translate directly into a No vote by the Pleasanton community in the next City Council election for that member. You can take that to the bank. Kay BartonPleasanton No 'pro' to expanding water park

Editor,

I am very disappointed in the city of Pleasanton that it would consider expanding the current waterslides into some huge water park. There is absolutely no logic in that decision and the city Planning Commission has already proved it by voting it down.

I have tried to weigh the pros and cons. There is absolutely no conceivable pro to go along with the expansion. I have had a one-on-one conversation with the developer and I was very surprised to find out that the BMX park could be built regardless of the outcome of the California Splash project. This whole time I thought it was a package deal. Why don't we give the youth of Pleasanton something they can do that doesn't cost a lot of money and wouldn't have such a negative impact on the community? Let's put the BMX park on the fast track and give up the whole idea of the waterslide expansion. There is nothing to convince me that bringing in all the additional traffic and using our city water supply would be worth it. K. MendoncaBadger Drive

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