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Editor,

Once upon a time a city had a vast scrap yard in the middle of town. The council said, "someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then the city said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions and one person to do time studies.

Then the city said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a quality control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then the city said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a time keeper and a payroll officer, then hired two people.

Then the city said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an administrative officer, assistant administrative officer and a legal secretary.

Then the city said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $1.5 million over budget, we must cutback overall cost." So they laid off the night watchman. Mary Carlstead Walter Hays Drive Palo Alto
Homeless 'burden'

Editor,

I am annoyed that everyone is so eager to vote in funds for the new homeless center. As a longtime resident, homeowner and taxpayer, I am dismayed that Palo Alto would spend another dime on the homeless.

I feel no responsibility to support the homeless, who in my experience are mainly belligerent, aggressive, disrespectful of the cleanliness and beauty of our neighborhoods and in many ways responsible for their own situations through drug abuse.

Because of the homeless who populate the areas on University Avenue by Starbucks and Walgreens, I cannot sit on the benches there. The area is full of trash, cigarette butts and men and women who aggressively panhandle or make sexual comments to me as I walk by.

There are already at least two homeless services downtown to "serve" the homeless and the Alma Street housing project provides nice, low-income housing that, as a poor graduate student, I make just enough to be disqualified for. I have held a lot of "crappy" jobs -- such as cleaning houses and toilets -- which I don't see these pampered folks even trying.

And I am deeply strapped trying to pay the high property tax here, some of which is now going to support those who are a burden on our city.

No, I don't feel sorry for these people who aggressively block my enjoyment of downtown, who litter and disrespect the nice benches that the city has spent money (my money as a taxpayer) to put in, who prevent me from walking down the street without having sexual comments made and who are not even trying to work (no matter how "beneath them" the job might be).

I've had those jobs. I have worked myself up. And giving these people things for free with my hard-earned money really irks me. Spend the money on schools. But don't have your heart bleed for people who do not pull their fair share.

Give me a break. Gina Fiorina, M.D. College Terrace Palo Alto
Nuclear reality

Editor,

A recent letter entitled "Bush's big hat" (ReaderWire, Feb. 28) obliquely challenged the "Bush Doctrine" -- the basis for America's "War on Terrorism." The letter's author questions Bush's stance that countries with "weapons of mass destruction," demonstrating itself as an "aggressor nation" -- gives the United States the right to preemptively attack it.

The author did not mention the 34 Public Laws and Resolutions of the U.S. Congress that authorize the U.S. President to remove the government of Iraq, or U.N. Resolution 1441 -- authorizing the disarmament of Iraq.

But more importantly, this Palo Altan may not fully understand what "weapons of mass destruction" are. The following is a brief description of the damage a 1-Megaton (1MT) device will do to a 1.7 mile radius around its point of detonation:

At the center lies a crater 200 feet deep and 1,000 feet in diameter. The rim of this crater is 1,000 feet wide and is composed of highly radioactive soil and debris. Nothing recognizable remains within about 3,200 feet (.6 miles) from the center, except, perhaps, the remains of some buildings' foundations. At 1.7 miles, only some of the strongest buildings -- those made of reinforced, poured concrete -- are still standing. Ninety-eight percent of the population in this area are dead.

The radius of blast damage of a 1MT device extends for at least 7.4 miles. Larger-yield weapons will make much bigger holes and have much larger radii of destruction.

Why would any American not be very afraid of these weapons and want his government to do whatever it takes so that terrorists not get their hands on these weapons? Wayne Martin Bryant Street Palo Alto
Civic responsibility

Editor,

Referendum can be an important part of the democratic process when it is used effectively and with just cause. Unfortunately, there are no tools in place to insure that the information presented to the electorate, whose signatures are being sought, is accurate.

A friend of mine and I were approached on March 11 to sign the referendum petition for the 800 High Street project, a project I have monitored over the last few months. As I listened and my friend ask questions about the public benefits of the project, I was disturbed by the inaccuracy of the answers to the questions.

When my friend asked if there were below-market-rate housing units included in the project she was told, "Yes, I think there are a couple." In fact, there are 10 below-market-rate housing units included. My friend asked if there was public parking included and was told, "No, and it's (the project) going to increase traffic in the area." In fact, there are two levels of underground parking, with a total of 201 parking spaces and 63 of those spaces will be dedicated to the city for public purposes.

The individual collecting the signatures also indicated that the Architectural Review Board (ARB) had not approved the project. In fact, it was approved by the ARB on March 6, 2003.

Whether you agree with this project or not, the individuals circulating the referendum petition have a civic responsibility to provide accurate information to questions relating to the project. To do otherwise is disingenuous and contrary to our democratic process. Susie Thom Maplewood Place Palo Alto
E-mails a waste

Editor,

Now that the Palo Alto Weekly has settled its brave lawsuit with the City of Palo Alto (Weekly, Feb. 5), what have we learned? Getting out my magnifying glass and reading the e-mails the Weekly was able to obtain, I found that the e-mails were procedural, among people who don't like each other.

This is what the Weekly filed a lawsuit for? What a waste of money and court time.

I'm being threatened by the Hispanic Norteno "red gang" members at my building (they've slashed all four of my tires twice, possibly tampered with my Audi's battery so my car caught on fire, and as of Feb. 20, they tried to knock my door in), so I don't have the amusement factor for this stuff that I once did.

People in Palo Alto are facing real issues too. On Dec. 15, 2002, many Palo alto residents who live near San Francisquito Creek were almost flooded out of their homes. Noted environmentalist Jay Thorwaldson could get some healthy exercise by filling sandbags and giving them to elderly people who live along San Francisquito Creek.

That would be a better use of the money than filing the lawsuit against the City of Palo Alto. The Weekly itself seems to have expressed disappointment in the e-mails it obtained, and not surprisingly so.

The candy is always sweeter when the candy shop is closed and you're just looking through the window. Other people have said this, too, but what you got was less interesting than what you thought you'd obtain. Paul Mendelowitz Chestnut Street Redwood City
Arrogant war

Editor,

What gives Bush the idea he has the God-given right to impose values on other sovereign nations and civilizations? The United States has the right to unilaterally ensure the safety of its citizens, and the sovereignty of its territory -- no less, but no more.

I was shocked and horrified as anyone by the events unfolding on Sept. 11, and thrilled at the heroic response by rescue personnel and the people of New York and elsewhere. I was heartened and truly gratified by the incredible support from the rest of the world in the initial offensive taken against terrorism and with the invasion of Afghanistan.

But that has been completely dissipated by the incredibly arrogant, self-righteous, obdurate (and just plain stupid) actions taken to implement a poorly articulated, shifting, tenuously justified policy for Iraq that flies in the face of everything the United Nations (and America) stands for.

And Bush's shoot-from-the-hip tendencies have prompted a completely unnecessary and ill-afforded crisis in Korea far scarier in potential than Iraq. The "War on Terrorism" could have proceeded quite successfully without jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of lives and imposing such a burden on a foundering domestic economy. Alan Mela Blue Oak Lane Los Altos