Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor (August 26, 2005)

Good value in medium-density housing

Editor:

Unlike writers of the recent bout of letters, I support the medium-density housing proposed for Mayfield Mall and Ferguson.

The proposed medium-density housing locations are close to transportation and shopping opportunities. Such housing makes for a healthy community. Kids can walk to school and parents can walk to the store and work. Health-promoting communities are attractive and result in increased, not decreased, property values.

I know it attracted my family eight years ago when we were house shopping. We could have chosen a house on a quarter-acre in Fremont that would require us to drive to every destination. Instead, we chose an attached house with a much smaller yard within walking distance of Caltrain and Mountain View's wonderful downtown.

Laura Kostinsky and the others in last week's paper argue that the East Bay commuters want to commute over an hour each way. I would suggest that she go down to the firehouses and ask the firefighters who make that commute if they really would if they had more housing choices in Mountain View. Today, there are only 81 houses and condos available for sale in Mountain View, all listing for over $450,000; some were over $1.5 million. The only way to keep the prices somewhat close to affordable is to increase the supply, like the City Council is trying to do.

Among the proposed houses may be the future home of that excellent second-grade teacher, the firefighter who protects our community -- or maybe even the future home of our own children. Shouldn't their needs be listened to as well? Patrick Moore Wright Avenue

Not all founding fathers acted legally

Editor:

In their guest opinion last week, Warren and Donna McCord claim "the people who came here to found this country broke no pre-existing laws."

Actually, the history books state that many of the native peoples of North America understood a divine law prohibiting ownership of the land. The European immigrants who planted a flag claiming the land for their monarch, and then accepted large land grants, were certainly breaking this common law.

The McCords also claim that "our founding fathers ... came here to make their home here" instead of sending money home. Again, the history texts describe the many and various reasons for immigration to the U.S. It seems that throughout history, some immigrants intend to stay, some immigrants intend to make their fortune and then return home, and some intend to send money back to their families, possibly so that they could purchase passage for themselves.

Even today, there are numerous European immigrants who come to California to work in the computer industry with the intention of sending money out of the country and eventually returning home.

California was settled by U.S. citizens who immigrated into what was Mexican territory and then ousted the Mexican government. I doubt that the Mexican government considered that to be a legal action.

The McCords are engaging in historical revisionism to claim that our "founding fathers" all entered the country legally and with the interests of their new country as a primary motivation. Ronnie Falcao Vincent Drive

Day workers in the news

Editor:

Your article and editorial on the Day Workers Center have opened a floodgate of correspondence from your readers, which reflect the concern of citizens about this vexing question of immigration and also of the day workers in the city.

This is not the first time the Voice has reported on the Center. And this time, as I see it, you have only reported without any fabrication, and with real-life stories as narrated by the individual workers themselves.

In your editorial on the subject, you have called a spade a spade. The legality of the Center is of course a question, but as a neighborhood paper, which serves as a window for the residents, it should be taken for the news value and not in the legal aspect involved. Joseph Bennett Gamel Way

Not packing our bags, but ready for change

Editor:

Imagine my surprise when, as owner of Mt Eden Floral Co., I read in a Voice article that "Mt. Eden is looking for a new home." Likewise, employees and customers expressed surprise -- and concern. As one of the largest floral distributors in Northern California, we have been at our current location for nearly 50 years.

Mt Eden Floral is not looking for a new home.

It is true that the city of Mountain View is considering re-zoning our location for residential use. If the re-zoning occurs and we are forced to move, we will simply continue our business nearby. But the re-zoning decision has not been made. As of today, Mt. Eden Floral has no plans to move. Rob Shibata, president Mt. Eden Floral Co. East Evelyn Avenue

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