Dear Editor,
About a block south of the Uvas Levee trail from the
intersection of Laurel Drive and Uvas Park Drive, a young man was
growing a garden of corn, squash, sunflower and pumpkins. His
father put up a sign
–
”
Youngster’s project, do not disturb.
”
There was, in particular, a very fine pumpkin growing.
Thief dashed a young man’s heart, but his pumpkin spread much joy
Dear Editor,
About a block south of the Uvas Levee trail from the intersection of Laurel Drive and Uvas Park Drive, a young man was growing a garden of corn, squash, sunflower and pumpkins. His father put up a sign – “Youngster’s project, do not disturb.” There was, in particular, a very fine pumpkin growing.
Well, it’s gone! There’s a new sign – “Whoever took the pumpkin broke my son’s heart.”
Young man, please understand that there were maybe 100 of us walking by who really admired that wonderful pumpkin. We are very sorry some jerk stole it.
Thanks for adding enjoyment to our walks.
Roger Anderson, Gilroy
Councilman: Critique of mayor’s round table came off too harsh
Dear Editor,
In Tuesday’s print edition, an article ran concerning the recent community roundtable that was convened at Mayor Al Pinheiro’s prompting.
I would like to offer context to certain comments attributed to me: I am grateful to those members of the community who generously gave their time to participate in this five-hour discussion. The dialogue was good and informed.
Sam Bozzo did an excellent job as facilitator. Supervisor Don Gage’s insights were particularly helpful. In all, there was much about the forum that I enjoyed and found useful as an observer. I think the idea of holding community roundtables is a good one.
Having said that, I do wish the mayor would not have excluded the City Council from the planning of this event. I also wish the mayor had set the forum up in a way that allowed councilmembers to participate in the conversation (the mayor himself was able to do so and often did).
However, the harshness of my critique was magnified considerably by the tone of Tuesday’s article.
Perry Woodward, Gilroy Councilman
Highway expansion will ruin productive and beautiful ag area
Dear Editor,
No one argues that the San Juan Valley between Hollister and San Juan Bautista is one of our area’s gems both for its beauty and productive agriculture. It is representative of many of the reasons we choose to live in a place with rural character and charm. But, also, no one argues that Highway 156, which transects the valley, is in need of improvements to make it safer.
That said, the massive six-lane road between San Juan Bautista and Union Road planned by Caltrans for Highway 156 is not the answer to safety or retaining what we most cherish about San Juan Valley. For years Caltrans has been trying to move the train down the track as fast as they can on their Highway156 project. They framed the project as having only four alternatives, but never allowed the community to show an alternative that would make the road safer but not bigger.
Caltrans’ interest has been solely to move inter-regional traffic between Highway 5 and U.S.101. But Caltrans has not addressed the movement of traffic, especially truck traffic, as an inter-regional problem. Most everyone agrees with the San Benito County Board of Supervisors’ unanimous policy of routing inter-regional traffic between the coast and I-5 north of the Flint Hills to Highway 152. It seems bizarre that all of Caltrans’ alternatives for inter-regional traffic are focused on Highway 156, and consist only of massive four to six lanes of roads, which will undermine the local economy and overwhelm the local quality of life.
The good news is we have a good chance to Stop Caltrans, if we act now. You should care because this new highway means:
n an outrageous use of public funds to build a road that is not necessary and that will degrade the San Juan Valley and the entrance to San Benito County forever;
-the loss to San Benito County of $10 million dollars in future impact fees as its contribution to the total cost of the project;
-exorbitant costs to San Benito County for road maintenance because Caltrans will turn the current Highway 156 into a frontage road which will be maintained by the county.
-the loss of annual agricultural revenue of $2 million due to the taking, elevating and paving of almost 200 acres of prime farmland
-an unsafe road design causing cars to cross traffic and merge into the fast lane similar to the dangerous crossings on U.S. 101 between Highway 156 and Salinas;
-the construction of a road to nowhere that runs only 5 miles only to deliver travelers once again to 156’s two lanes just east of Union Road!
Caltrans has given short shrift to our concerns and run roughshod over their own process to produce an incomplete EIR. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, Save San Juan Valley, with support from the San Juan Bautista Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, has brought suit against Caltrans on the grounds that their EIR is woefully inadequate.
To assist the Save San Juan Valley effort, call Richard at 623-2133 or 831-524-4137.
Julie Morris, San Juan Bautista
