Readers question the mall proposal, speak out for the Muslim
community and the Islamic center, lash out at a column on illegal
immigration, take the City Council to task for the new sidewalk
ordinance, emphasize the motives behind the car wash regulations
and promise diligence regarding Coyote Valley development
‘Main Street-like’ Mega Mall? Don’t We Have a Downtown Gilroy?‘
Dear Editor,
What is this mega mall business? This mall, planned for east of the outlets, is designed to look like a 19th century main street. We already have a main street that we taxpayers have subsidized to rejuvenate!
Our city fathers want to con us into supporting a new main street to compete with the old main street. (There’s already a part-time planner working only on this project.) This is crazy stuff.
Where’s the independent economic report that states we won’t have a bunch more empty buildings? Sure, we’d all love to have a Macys and Sears, but what prevents them from building in present malls?
Look at the past record of these council and mayor candidates and listen to what they say about this important issue.
Conrad Lather, Gilroy
Former Gilroyan Asks Community to Support the Islamic Center
Dear Editor,
As an ex-resident of Gilroy and one of the ex-member of SVIC Board of Directors, I would like to share my experience with the Muslim community in that area.
When I moved to Gilroy from San Jose to work for Gilroy Foods, I was provided with so much of love and affection by the community that for the next three years – I never thought for a day that my family is not with me. Though I moved out of that locality few years ago, I still consider myself as part of the Gilroy-Morgan Hill community.
The Cardoba Center Project is going to open new avenues of learning in that area in general and for the local community in particular. It will not only serve the Muslim community, but will provide huge learning experience for the people belonging to any religion. As Islam gives huge emphasis on learning, I strongly believe that all of us should support this Cardoba Project initiative by the Muslim community.
Arshad Abbasi, former Gilroyan now living in Ontario, Canada
Sidewalk Decision Shows Council Out of Touch with Residents
Dear Editor,
It is astonishing the city of Gilroy is so oblivious to what the citizens want. If we (the homeowners of Gilroy) have to maintain our sidewalks then we should have the right to remove the trees that THEY (the city of Gilroy) have planted producing the problems.
As a matter of fact, since the city will no longer have to pay to fix the sidewalks, then they should use those funds allocated towards removing the trees they added. Soon people will try to remove sidewalks altogether to save the chance of lawsuits and loosing the homes they bought to raise their families in.
How are we improving our community by making residents discontent with living here?
Kristen Alciati, Gilroy
Morgan Hill Muslim: We Are Here Cheering for
the 49ers Just Like You
Dear Editor,
I am a Muslim and proud resident of Morgan Hill since 2003. I am writing this letter in response to the letter published recently in your newspaper regarding the mosque in San Martin.
Currently, there is no permanent mosque for worship for the Muslim community in the South Valley. The local Muslim community trying to buy a piece of land where we plan to build a mosque and a cultural and community center.
I see myself going to the mosque for worship holding my little boy’s hand. I see myself mingling with the community in the center. But my dreams will be gone if we fail to purchase the land or build the mosque. What will I say to my son when he grows up about why there is no place for him to worship. Will it be a lame as “because our neighbors did not want us”?
I humbly request the local residents to get to know the local Muslims. You will find that we are living next to you, we are behind you in the line at the bank, we are shopping at the same Safeway, cheering for the 49ers. We are your neighbors.
Farhana Afroz, Morgan Hill
‘Save Coyote Valley’ Group Will Remain Diligent on Development
Dear Editor,
A group of environmentalists met in front of City Hall to display a large banner which read, “SAVE COYOTE VALLEY,” for traffic and pedestrians to see as they went by. They were preparing to attend the first Coyote Valley Task Force meeting since the Draft Environmental Impact Report on the Coyote Valley Specific Plan which was circulated and comments had been received and reviewed.
The Coyote Valley Task Force is a 19-member committee, made up of stakeholders from public agencies, developers, business groups, environmental groups, and residents, which directs and provides information on the CVSP. The TF, co-chaired by San Jose City Council members Forrest Williams and Nancy Pyle, has held numerous public meetings since 2002.
The atmosphere at this meeting had a different tone, however, as a group of activists, identified as the Save Coyote Valley Coalition, walked around the meeting room holding their banner and displaying their banner in the back for a good portion of the meeting – offering a constant reminder to the TF members that a good number of San Jose residents oppose the current development plan for Coyote Valley.
Council member Williams made it clear at the beginning of the meeting that the delay in approving the DEIR will not affect the status of development in Coyote Valley, while Council member Pyle addressed the public present who were critical of the plan as being “disrespectful” for not appreciating the five years of work that went into creating the CVSP.
The TF heard presentations from the Morgan Hill Unified School District on their desire to partner with Gavilan College to establish two high schools in Coyote Valley; an overview of the public comments on the DEIR and their implication; and the current 2020 General Plan triggers for development were discussed, along with a proposal to possibly change those triggers through the GP update process (this issue will be addressed at the September TF meeting).
One TF member indicated that the current triggers were put in place to ensure development could not happen in Coyote Valley, because the triggers are difficult to meet, and he supports updating the triggers to be more partial to development.
Many concerns were raised by the public during the public comment periods. One current resident of Coyote Valley complained that the value of his property had decreased by 90 percent because it falls within the CVSP’s greenbelt, and the TF has yet to outline how property transfer in the greenbelt will be dealt with.
Other citizens warned of the unavoidable environmental damage this project would cause. The Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Committee for Green Foothills made statements concerning the importance of continued farming in Coyote Valley.
The main reason for the Save Coyote Valley Coalition’s presence at this meeting was their concern that development has already begun in the northern section of Coyote Valley , paving the way for future development of the area. The Coalition was alerted by biologists who observed dead coyotes and badgers, a species of special concern, on U.S. 101 at the Bailey overpass and on Monterey Highway.
The Coalition will continue its work educating the public on the issues threatening the protection of Coyote Valley. Through all of this conflict, compromise still may be made. San Jose should seriously consider sustainable development in the form of organic agriculture, parks, and water conservation, striving the meet the needs of all stakeholders involved. For more information on Save Coyote Valley Coalition, please email co**********@in***.com.
Marc Anthony Medeiros on behalf of Save Coyote Valley Coalition, San Jose
Compassion Needed in Stance on Those Who Come Here to Work
Dear Editor,
In response to Cynthia Walker’s column “Unchecked Illegal Immigration’s Pervasive Consequences”, Mrs. Walker your naive reminiscing about your friend’s summer experience astounds me. To state, “Her description sounded very pleasant. She would hang out with a gaggle of other teenagers for eight hours a day, five days a week, and cut apricots in half, pit them, and spread the fruit on trays for the dehydrator”, is a slap in the face to every person who had to work doing hard labor to help support their families, to buy school clothes or simply to survive.
This work is not hanging out with a gaggle of your friends chatting and having a fun time but hard fiscal work for then a $1.50 an hour. Now 30 plus years later we have fewer farms, and fewer people willing to do this hard manual labor for even $10.50 an hour. Whether or not a person is legal does not make a difference to the fruits and vegetables they harvest, or to you when you buy food from the store. We need and depend on this labor to fill jobs in our communities that no one wants to do.
To state that “American kids” are not interested in these summer jobs implies that all farmworkers are not Americans? Where do you get that idea? And why not have your children have a summer experience learning a new language and culture, unless they are above this? It becomes apparent Mrs. Walker that there is no room in your world for difference. Throughout the years in reading your rantings, I have come to see that unless we all fit into your cookie cutter mold of “Pleasantville” we do not and should not exist in your world.
If you as a parent are not keen on your kids entering an arena whereby your count “50 percent of their co-workers are, by definition, criminals” because of their legal status then be prepared for a rude awakening. There are far too many folks from all over the world who have come to the U.S. to chase that American Dream and simply assimilated into the culture by virtue of their “whiteness” and not bothered to go through proper channels. All these individuals have come seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
In 1902 when my grandmother and her family came to the US seeking that better life, the laws were different and there were not as many people living in the U.S. Now we have millions of people and more coming everyday. We do need to answer the question about immigration and how this is going to work for all of us. But let’s stop the blame game and start working together to find those answers. I can’t imagine any greater sacrifice then to get on a boat or truck and trust that the true criminals you have paid thousands of dollars to, are going to get you to this country safely while you leave everything you know and love behind (including children/family) to try and make a better life.
I was raised with the adage “to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes”. Empathy, understanding and compassion have served me well and were some of the first ideals I taught my daughter when she went to pre-school. Knowing and having the history of an other’s struggles (whether right by law or not) does not excuse but does explain behavior. I can’t help but believe that if I had the chance to get my family to another country were there were opportunities to survive and thrive or stay in my village and watch my children starve to death I would do whatever I needed to get them there.
And, yes, ask any teacher how easy it is to educate a child who migrates with the harvest season and then ask that child how it easy it is to move from school to school. Please stop equating farm work with illegal status. They are not mutually exclusive. And stop implying that illegal immigrants do not pay taxes because every time a person buys food, clothes, gas, a car, or goes to a movie they are paying taxes. Enough preaching about the “worst effect on our society of unchecked illegal immigration is the pervasive, profound, and contagious disrespect for law and rule of law” when unchecked intolerance, separatism and hate mongering have a far worse effect on our society today and far more reaching consequences for our society tomorrow.
Shawn M. Weymouth, Gilroy
Car Wash Rules in Place for a Healthy Environment
Dear Editor,
With regards to an editorial published on Aug. 11 regarding groups that conduct fund raising car washes. The discharge of soapy water to the storm drain is pollution and that pollution is a violation of the Federal Clean Water Act established in the late 1980s.
Under the Federal Clean Water Act cities and counties in California are mandated to clean up or prevent pollution that
is carried by storm system to rivers, lakes, reservoirs and coastal waters, in
the case of Gilroy our storm water runs to
Monterey Bay. Everything from chemicals, dirt, and bacteria are considered pollutants.
In Gilroy, over the last decade, car washing by fundraising groups has been prohibited unless it was from a location that was set up to receive wastewater. This essentially led to a total prohibition on fund raising car washing since most locations that have this set up are either in the business of car washing or not in a location desirable for such fund raisers.
“Bio-degradable” soap is not a viable solution for the storm drain as the process of biodegradation would use the creek and river as a treatment plant resulting in harm to the water environment. At our sewer treatment plant the process of biodegradation is done in large tanks and the bacteria and byproducts removed, with the result of clean water. Even then the resulting water does not go out to Monterey Bay, but is discharged to ponds that are managed and monitored by the city.
The Clean Water Act does not require cities and counties to prohibit residents from washing their own cars.
However, the State and Federal Environment Protection Agencies encourage educational programs to discourage this car washing.
The state now allows local agencies to have some say in how they would implement the Clean Water Act programs.
As a result fund raising groups have been allowed a very limited number of events by conditioning them to manage the water discharge to landscaping. However, there is no environmentally friendly way to discharge soapy water to the storm drain.
Jackie Bretschneider,
Wastewater Pretreatment Program Manager
