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Publication Date: Friday, April 09, 2004 Letters
Letters
(April 09, 2004) Time well spent
Editor,
Regardless of one's position on the USA Patriot Act, you have to like the fact that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has taken the time to discuss and debate this federal legislation. It means the board will have less time to pass new regulations, raise taxes and spend our money. I would urge them to discuss and pass additional resolutions on topics like federal monetary policy, global warming, restructuring the Department of Defense, the AIDS problem in Africa and what we should do about North Korea. All of these issues deserve their thoughtful attention. Why didn't they think of this sooner?
Douglas W. MillerPaseo Santa Cruz
Stop changes in heart of downtown
Editor,
Downtown Pleasanton should not want to:
¥ Compete with Stoneridge Mall.
¥ Compete with Hacienda Business Park.
¥ Forget the historic part of our city.
Downtown Pleasanton should:
¥ Celebrate the multi-cultural history of the area and its farming and railroad background.
¥ Be the historic center of a vibrant, dynamic and thriving city.
¥ Continue to be the hub of Pleasanton.
None of this will happen if the people of Pleasanton allow:
¥ Any change in the appearance of the Kolln Hardware building.
¥ Any effort to move the historic ice house adjacent to Lions Wayside Park.
¥ Change the openness and charm of Lions Wayside and Delucchi Parks.
The "eviction" of Gary Ferris and Kolln Hardware has come as a great shock to most Pleasanton residents. If we do nothing, this process will continue and we will be unable to stop the changes in the heart of our wonderful city.
The best way that I know to affect a change to this nonsense is to write, call and speak to the members of the City Council. If our elected officials do anything, it is to respond to the voters.
STOP this nonsense now.
Call TODAY - 931-5600.
Enough is enough.
John R. "Jack" DovePleasanton
Waterpark disappointment
Editor,
Even with the strong outcry from the citizens of Pleasanton against the Waterpark, it was a major disappointment that the council members would vote in favor of this park. While I believe a "scaled back" version is far better than what was originally proposed, I only hope that the council members take into consideration all of our concerns when the new "scaled back" plan is presented and if there are to be any further additions in the future.
Briana SchererPleasanton
Use RO water at slides
Editor,
The California Splash expansion of the waterslides at Shadow Cliffs is wrought with many tough choices for the Pleasanton City Council. I have the solution to two of the issues.
The Pleasanton City Council approves the waterslide expansion on the condition the 2.5-4 million gallons of our precious water per season the waterslides will consume will be provided by the Reverse Osmosis-treated water, recycled toilet water, DSRSD wants to inject into our aquifer. This information will be posted at the park and included in all of the press releases at the time of approval. This will greatly improve our position with the conservationists as well as provide a use for the RO plant of DSRSD. It will also lessen the traffic issues Pleasanton experiences, particularly on Saturday morning when we want to go to the farmer's market.
Larry ValenzinBerkshire Court
Rose-colored view of expansion
Editor,
The promoters of the water park expansion are presenting a rose-colored picture of the impact to Pleasanton. The park was presented as not impacting traffic but citizen groups documented that the promoters significantly understated the number of cars arriving and departing and the severity of existing traffic. Since traffic in both directions on Valley/Bernal is congested at rush hour, the "against rush hour" argument is flawed.
The park promoters claim that noise impact is minimal. As a Vintage Hills resident I can hear Stanley Boulevard traffic when I walk through my neighborhood.
Park promoters claim crime is not an issue and that the number of police calls at Concord's water park is significantly less than at our local high schools. I believe it was a deliberate omission on their part to not state that the water park is open for far fewer days than the high school, to not provide a breakdown of the type of police calls at both the water park and the high schools, and to not compare the number of guests at the park vs. the number of students. I believe that the park does provide more crimes of a serious nature than Pleasanton should have to tolerate.
The Pleasanton Weekly cites an estimate of 200,000 to 240,000 users a year. How many guests does the promoter need to hit his profit projections? How will he entice Bay Area visitors to Pleasanton when the Tri-Valley users do not add up to his projections?
Pleasanton gets traffic, noise, potential crime and frustration. The promoter and the county get the revenue from a venue that entices visitors from San Jose to San Francisco. To whom should we return those rose-colored glasses so we can truly understand the impact of this park on Pleasanton?
Margaret GordonArbor Drive
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