President Isn’t Listening to the American People
President Isn’t Listening to the American People
Dear Editor,
President Bush has announced he will escalate the war in Iraq by sending more troops into the civil war. The president’s plan ignores the American people who voted for change in November, and who continue to demand we bring our troops home.
Over the past few weeks, the military, the generals and independent panels appointed by the president have said that increasing the number of troops will not help the situation. Why then would the president go against the recommendations of his top advisors?
This clearly is a political ploy, and it must be stopped before more American lives are lost. Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid should continue to question the president over this foolish plan, and do whatever needs to be done to stop it in Congress. The people made their voice heard, and if the president isn’t going to listen, the Democratic Congress will.
Mary Jacinta Silva, Gilroy
School District Should Re-Think Safe School Grant
Dear Editor,
I hope the Gilroy Unified School District will reconsider and apply for the Safe Routes to School federal grant. If it is too late this year, they should make it a priority and start preparing the paperwork for next year.
Maybe Congressman Mike Honda, who is now on the influential Housing Appropriations Committee, can help out. I would not worry about the $5,000 per school engineering study. That is not required as pointed out by Dispatch Staff Writer Emily Alpert. Other cities have received the grant without the costly study.
This should be a priority because this is a safety concern for students at all schools. Ensuring that children have the necessary safety programs and caution signs is a big issue that is faced by everyone who is trying to get their children to and from school.
When crossing guard Arnold Cessna has to dodge cars daily in front of Glenview Elementary School and states, “They’re waiting for an accident to happen.” This should get the attention of ALL concerned citizens. And, of course, a tragic accident has already happened. Julio Gonzales lost his young life in an accident while walking to school. Bryan Trejo also lost his life this summer crossing a street in Gilroy and never got the chance to start kindergarten. Going to the Trejo Family home shortly after the accident to give my condolences and support and seeing the family mourn the loss of their young son, and then having Julio Gonzales’ family do the same a few months later should count more than a $5,000 engineering study.
If the grant money could pay for crosswalks that light up when people are crossing, that would be a big help. That is what happens in the crosswalks downtown.
A good program of picking up and dropping off students has been implemented by Rucker Principal Barbara Keesaw. There is one designated area where parents line up, drop off and pick up students. This was not popular with some parents at the beginning because the system was not efficient, but now it only takes a few minutes. This was a priority set by the new principal at Rucker because she saw the chaos without any system and had lost a student at a previous school and was not going to have it happen again.
I hope that Gilroy Unified feels the same.
Arthur C. Barron Sr., Gilroy
This letter is being republished. It ran under a wrong headline.
