ReaderWire ReaderWire (April 09, 2004)

Democratic process

Jocelyn Dong of the Palo Alto Weekly seems to revel in referring to the opponents of street barriers as "rabble-rousing underdogs" and "the motley crew hoisting mugs of Heffeweiss beer" at a victory party (Weekly, March 31).

This was a democratic process and her inference implies "mob rule."

The opponents were force-fed a plan that was offensive and unreasonable and appropriately challenged it. Shirley Nathan Roosevelt Circle, Palo Alto
Hooray for council

It was refreshing to see our City Council set aside the thunder of special interests in favor of the larger public good. Hooray for saying "NO" to road barricades in Palo Alto's North Neighborhood.

And thanks for recognizing that Palo Alto will be a lesser city if we become little more than a cluster of gated neighborhoods. James W. Lyons Webster Street, Palo Alto
'The neighbors'

As council member Cordell pointed out, there should never have been a debate about a survey. The measure passed by council included as one of its performance measures a description of who was to be surveyed: "In the post-trial survey of the Downtown North neighborhood (including business owners within the neighborhood) at least 50+ percent of households, business owners and non-resident property owners (i.e., not just of survey responses) will support implementing the plan on a permanent basis."

Until the council approved the six-month trial, the Downtown North Neighborhood Association (DTNNA) was considered to be the voice of the neighborhood and in all of the documents, DTNNA (or its representatives on the PAC) was called "the neighbors" or "the residents."

The assertion by DTNNA that "a majority of the neighborhood" favors the street closures does not make it a fact. The membership of DTNNA is only a small percentage of the residents of Downtown North.

City staff acknowledged that the "No Closures" plan, proposed by council member Morton and ultimately approved by the council, was one of several plans developed by the Transportation Division itself, not by council. Staff agreed that this plan, while not their first choice, would work.

City staff confirmed that by the time the six-month trial was installed, the level of cut-through traffic had already fallen at least 15 percent below the threshold that they themselves had established as meeting the Comprehensive Plan's requirement for overwhelming cut-through traffic. Ed Glazier Everett Avenue, Palo Alto
Religion means...

Religion means that which is practiced by people affiliated with one of the many religions ranging from Catholicism, through Islam, to Hinduism, to Buddhism and beyond.

Spirituality means, to quote Nancy McGaraghan (Weekly, April 7), "that which infuses my life" or, to quote Abraham Heschel, "the ecstatic force that stirs all our goals. When we perceive it, it is as if our mind were gliding for a while with an eternal current."

Was he on LSD? No mention of ethics. Ron Bracewell Santa Fe Avenue, Stanford

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