GPD Chief, City Ignore Repeated Requests from Mantelli Drive
Residents
GPD Chief, City Ignore Repeated Requests from Mantelli Drive Residents
Dear Editor,
I live in the Country Estates at 2005 Mantelli Dr. My husband and I purchased our lot and built our home six years ago before Mantelli Drive became an artillery street. With the massive expansion and construction in the Country Estates, the traffic on Mantelli Drive has tremendously increased.
Mantelli Drive has also been officially recognized as a pedestrian and bike road. There are hundreds of pedestrians that walk on Mantelli Drive during the morning, day and evening.
It is only a matter of time before there is yet another tragedy on our street due to lack of traffic control and the speed of the cars as they are coming down the hill.
I live on the hill and to get out of my driveway has become increasingly dangerous. There is a blind curve right in front of my house and cars normally travel between 50 to 60 mph. There are at least seven small children residing within the immediate location.
I have contacted city traffic specialist Don Dey, Mayor Al Pinheiro, Chief of Police Gregg Giusiana , etc. and to this day there has been no measures of safety in place for the residents here in the Country Estates.
It has become a frustrating situation for those (including myself) who have even put their homes for sale to get off this street. A number of neighbors have their homes on the market and no one is willing to purchase a home on Mantelli, once they become familiar with the lack of traffic control, safety issues and concerns. I was almost physically assaulted yesterday for motioning my neighbor to slow down.
What can I do at this point to get a stop sign, speed bumps, a speed sign with an electronic radar detector, etc. to slow the cars down? How many petitions do I need to finally get resolution for my neighbors and I? There have been a number of us who have complained to all the above mentioned names and nothing has been done after six years of complaining.
Please help us with this situation.
Lucinda Bettencourt, Gilroy homeowner
Editor’s note: We invite Chief of Police Gregg Giusiana to respond to the residents on Mantelli Drive publicly in a letter to the editor.
Further Poor Planning for Traffic Increase Will Put Residents in Jeopardy
Dear Editor,
I am writing out of concern for the proposed construction of 54 housing units on Kern Avenue.
I appealed to the Planning Commission not to approve the plans unless and/or until a better northbound traffic access route was in place. The residences, to be built between Mantelli and Tatum, would be adjacent to the Gilroy Unified School District agriculture farm with the main northbound route being Tatum Road.
The daily school bus takes up the majority of Tatum Road. Imagine kids on bikes, pedestrians and vehicles traveling between Rod Kelley and Antonio Del Buono schools, in addition to vehicles from 54 more residences traveling on this road.
Tatum Road is in unincorporated Santa Clara County, and is a narrow county road. If the city wants to annex and improve the road, only after the improvements and annexations are made should the city consider additional construction.
Another option, of course, is to wait until trucks involved in the construction or other traffic cause yet another serious accident or death due to poor planning by our city. The recent incidents that caused the death of three residents (two were school children) should be evidence enough that traffic routes and access should be a very high priority in the planning and expansion of Gilroy. Putting the cart before the horse does not work.
Lastly, if the city persists in going ahead with this poorly planned project, I would suggest that Tatum and Vickery roads be closed to through traffic, forcing everyone to use Mantelli to get to northbound Wren Avenue.
Heide Unger, Gilroy
GOP Faithful Should Rejoice Over the Election Results – the RINOs are All Gone
Dear Editor,
Well, the Republicans got soundly shellacked in the recent election. Daniel Garcia, Hugo Chavez, North Korea, Al Qaeda and Iran are in complete agreement. They are glad the GOP got beaten. I am glad also, but for completely different reasons. When I was first elected to the Republican Central Committee, my mentor, Ben Gilmore, who has worked the street in politics since Barry Goldwater, asked me, “What is your job?” I replied, “To help Republicans get elected.”
Ben replied, “To what end?” Duh, I don’t know, was my confused response. He explained that if a Republican politician does not pass muster with our core beliefs, then they are no better than a Democrat. In 1994, the Republicans, under the leadership of Newt Gingrich, swept the Democrats out of Congress. The “Contract with America” was a bold move to rid the government of tax-and-spend liberal Democrats who had trashed the economy and expanded government to horrendous proportions. America spoke; both Democrats and Republicans alike trusted our conservative approach to governance.
Fast forward. The last eight years more and more RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) have taken over the party, believing that they had to be more like Democrats to get elected. Ronald Reagan proved that to be false. Had Republican House and Senate members stuck to Constitutional principles of limited government, lower taxes, free enterprise, strong national defense and secure borders, they would be celebrating right now. Unlike the Democrats and RINOs, conservatives are clear on the recent election results. Our principles don’t change on a whim like the latest fad in Hollywood. We don’t care that our party is out of step with the liberal elites and media moguls. We are steady and principled.
We believe in LIFE and that includes every man, woman or child irrespective of race or religion. That includes the unborn. We believe in LIBERTY which means your freedom. We believe in PROPERTY which means that an individual can purchase and own real property on which the government cannot infringe. The founders viewed private property as of equal importance to liberty. We believe in strong BORDERS. This means that in this nation of immigrants, all must go through proper channels, not tunnels, over fences or in container ships, no matter how much of a demand there is for workers. What part of illegal don’t you understand?
It was the conservative Republicans and Democrats (yes, they exist!) that swept out the big spending, social wishy washy RINO’s out of office. Unfortunately, some very good Republicans were washed out in the bloodletting. Now, only time will tell who will be in power. Frankly, I don’t care as long as they value the Constitution over there own egos.
I dream of a resurgence of the real Republican Party which will adhere to the principles of the Constitution and our founder, Abraham Lincoln.
Mark A. Zappa, Gilroy, Vice-President at Large, California Republican Assembly.
Bashing the ‘Community Bashing Columnist’ who Lives in a ‘Cloistered World’
Dear Editor,
I’m sorry to say that a recent purchase of the Dispatch, Saturday Nov.11 edition, and the article written by Cynthia Anne Walker, was hardly worth the quarters I dropped in the box. Please don’t tell me that Mrs. Walker is actually paid for bashing the local community as she did, yet again, with her supposed rebuttals.
This community needs leaders and real writers, who support social issues, and build individuals up; not bash them down. Real communities are about supporting people as individuals and families, not statistics.
I imagine that in her cloistered world of a homeschooling mother of three, and former engineer who has the luxury of not having to currently use her degree to financially support her family; that she is worlds removed from most day to day socio-economic issues that the large majority of our readers live in.
Cynthia, you need to take a refresher course on motivational writing; and to the Nora Hunt’s, Dennis Rathi’s, Dina Campeau’s and family of Franca Barsi’s members of our community, I would say; don’t let the Cynthia Walker’s of the world get you down.
Dale Thielges, Gilroy
‘Just Who is Chris Walling to Call a Family Greedy?’
Dear Editor,
Just who is Chris Walling to label the Filice family “greedy”? Where was Walling when the city was demanding a local, elderly man accept a paltry $97,000 for a downtown lot? Walling defines as a “good citizen” (the biggest dupe phrase around, next to “common good”) one who is dumb as a sheep to give away land.
It is not the fault of the Filice family that the Gilroy Unified School District is run by incompetent buffoons (typical public entity) who can’t differentiate a budget from a stick figure. I hope the Filices get every cent of the $14 million and that GUSD gets stuck.
Alan Viarengo, Gilroy
Grateful for the Nomination Regarding School Naming
Dear Editor,
As one of Capt. Reginald Desiderio’s grandchildren I would like to say thank you to the community of Gilroy for nominating my grandfather for such a prestigious honor as a possible person for which a new school would be named.
Jim Desiderio, Martinez, CA
Pitbulls Have Wonderful Temperments
Dear Editor,
Just about everything they say about pitbulls is myth. They are no stronger than other dogs. The record for most weight ever pulled is held by an American Bulldog, and the record for most weight pulled, pound-for-pound, is held by a Toy Poodle.
Did you know that their jaws don’t lock or that there is no scientific way to measure the bite strength of a dog? Most veterinary experts agree that a pitbull can bite no harder than any other dog.
When pitbulls were bred for fighting, they were disqualified for showing any signs of human aggression and culled from the breed. This practice resulted in a dog with an incredible tolerance for stress.
The American Temperament Test Society provides a uniform test for all purebred and mixed bred dogs. If the dog shows any signs of panic, strong avoidance of unprovoked aggression, it fails. The average passing rate is 81.2 percent. The average passing rate for pitbulls is 83.4 percent (1015 tested). Here are some other breeds tested: Golden Retriever 83.7 percent (679 tested); Welsh Corgi 78 percent (182 tested); and Cocker Spaniels 81.7 percent (218 tested).
I frequently read how pitbulls can attack without warning or provocation. All dogs show warnings, however most people don’t know how to read the signs. Growling and showing teeth are easy signs to read but these signs may be the least commonly displayed. Frequent licking, yawning, flattened ears are all signs of stress much more commonly employed than growling. Almost all canine aggression is fear based so it is important to recognize when your dog is feeling uncomfortable. As an insurance investigator I have investigated dog bites for more than 25 years. In not one single instance have I had a homeowner or victim tell me that they knew the dog was going to bite. In addition, I have never had a victim tell me that they provoked the animal.Not a single dog-bite claim I have investigated has involved a pitbull or pitbull mix.
Mike Anderson, Lebanon, IN
