May 3, 2008

Letters

Candidate's remarks

Dear Editor: I find amusing all the fuss over Obama speaking to Bay Area elites about the foibles of places like "Podunk," Pa. He didn't realize that 90 percent of the people he was speaking to are actually from Podunk, Pa. There isn't a native Californian among us. We've been invaded by foreigners from Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire and yes, Pennsylvania.

Timothy M. Kral,

Los Altos



Open space petition

Dear Editor: I live in Harbor Village Mobile Home Park, and am opposed to any development of the Cargill salt flats beyond open space restoration. I have been going door to door collecting signatures to get the Open Space Vote on the ballot. Ninety-eight percent of people I have spoken with at the mobile home parks have signed the petition, yet DMB insists development in our backyards is good for us.

The plan for developing the Cargill salt ponds envisions filling in half of the 1,433 acres of open space for private development and profit.

The temptation to fill in a little bit of the Bay whenever we need land - for a new school, a community center, homes or mansions - is faced by all Bay Area cities. Unchecked, the competition to grab the most land would make our heads spin.

But while Redwood City's neighbors are energetically working with federal, state and private groups to restore their Bay wetlands, it is amazing that Redwood City would, instead, consider filling in a huge chunk of the Bay for private development.

Developers who offer to assist with Bay restoration in exchange for a slice of it engage in shady deal-making, reminiscent of the past.

Residents are given a veneer of "public participation" but officials already say they favor "accommodation" over clear-eyed stewardship of irreplaceable assets such as the Bay.

The only recourse the public probably has is to use the ballot initiative requiring two-thirds voter approval before giving away irreplaceable open spaces.

Charlene Carpentier,

Redwood City



Global warming

Dear Editor: It is often said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If this is true, it applies doubly to our environmental problems. It is not enough to hope, feel or believe that global warming is real. At this late date, only actions matter.

When your children look at you 20 years hence, their food supply may be threatened and their children may never get to see polar bears, penguins or rainbow trout. So ask yourself now whether you are taking real action today to stave off planetary environmental catastrophe tomorrow.

Ed Taub,

Mountain View