I am a resident of Pleasanton and attended the City Council meeting regarding Lions Wayside Park that Gina Channell Wilcox refers to in her column, "Growing list of illogical decisions".

It seems Ms. Wilcox feels that the current iteration of the Lions Wayside Park Plan, which involves moving the existing creek and removing all trees in or near the existing creek, should have been accepted by the City Council on the basis of it having been in the master plan for 30 years. I realize that many people have worked for a long time on this plan, but that does not make it good.

While Ms. Wilcox states that many people were "mystified and miffed" by the council's decision to sideline the park redevelopment, I was cheering.

The City Council put the brakes on an over-designed park concept which would cost an "estimated" $14 million. The design firm informed council that they could not come up with an actual cost estimate until after the City approved the plan. No rational person, agrees to purchase something without first knowing the cost, and one can only assume that the actual cost will be higher.

Also, one of the top concerns of people surveyed regarding the park plan, was preservation of trees. For those in favor of filling in the existing creek, take a walk through the park and notice how many trees are located in or very near the creek bank. All of those trees will be removed, as well as others in the park proper, which do not fit within the vision of the planned park design.

Let me state that I am not one of the "FOMs (Friends of the Majority)" that Ms. Wilcox claims are wielding too much power in this decision. I am simply a resident of Pleasanton whose children grew up playing in the creek during Concerts in the Park.

I am not interested in an over-designed, very expensive park plan which would change the feel of Lions Wayside Park as well as the Pleasanton downtown. I would love to see the park left in its natural state, with just new gazebo to house the Concerts in the Parks bands.

-- Susan Dickinson