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Shhh, you’re scaring the villagers

Editor:

Each week, the letters page reads like the Saturday Night Live sketch “White People Problems.” Whether it’s trees, neighbors’ barbecue smoke, or the Cineplex (remember that was a controversy?), Alamedans with too much free time always have a non-issue to obsess over.

So, I want to thank CalTrans for its proposal to improve traffi c access to the Island City. Let the hilarious loss of perspective continue!

This idea is so radical; it might even distract our frightened villagers from the ohso- scary cannabis dispensary proposal (in Oakland for Pete’s sake). I mean, for CalTrans to funnel “bad elements” straight into town without the protection of the labyrinthine surface streets.

I can hear the xenophobes already. Lower home values! Higher crime rates! Goodbye, old Alameda!

Let’s watch these people clamor to express their fears without sounding like racist tools.

— Karl Coryat

Safety works both ways

Editor:

Perhaps the caption under the photo accompanying the Jan.26 article, “Parents Fear Dangerous Crossings” could just as appropriately have said, “A driver manages to avoid hitting a pedestrian preoccupied on his cell phone” instead of “A pedestrian on his cell phone manages to cross Grand Street and San Antonio safely.”

Many times I have watched as drivers talking on their cell phones have almost splattered pedestrians, including myself.

However, there have also been many (though fewer) times when, as a driver, I have had to suddenly brake or swerve to avoid hitting a pedestrian who, occupied in their cell world, walked out into traffi c, engaged in the virtual, oblivious to reality.

It is important for parents to be concerned about the many unsafe drivers (hopefully setting a good example themselves for their children.)

However, it is also important that they teach their children that crossing a street while preoccupied is also a substantial danger.

— Steve Fankuchen

Palm tree reindeer anything but litter

Editor:

Many of us residing in the Burbank-Portola neighborhood were surprised to read that Faith MacDonald considers the holiday reindeer on the historic palm trees along Eighth and Burbank to be “litter.” (“Eighth Street trash,” Jan 26). The reindeer are a favorite tradition of our close neighborhood. We enjoy putting them up as a group and view them as a symbol of our community spirit. We routinely receive compliments from visitors, often see people photographing them, and they’ve made the papers nationwide.

These decorations have never been left to deteriorate on the trees. Our tradition is to adorn the palms sometime between Thanksgiving and early December and to remove the decorations by Valentine’s Day. Before installation, we circulate a fl yer to all residents in our neighborhood notifying them of our intent to continue this tradition and encouraging everyone to participate. This process is an opportunity to commune with neighbors and celebrate the joy of living together on this wonderful island.

We take the decorations down seasonally, but not because they are disintegrating. The bows are made of durable sailcloth, bought with neighborhood funds. We wash and store them each year, which gives us another opportunity to get together. Although we have no shortage of palm fronds, we store the reindeer heads, many of which are decorated with Christmas ornaments as noses and some with painted eyes, from one year to the next. These reindeer personify what’s best about Alameda: they’re friendly, they’re “green” and they’re unique.

We’d like to take this opportunity to invite the Alameda Sun, Ms. Mac- Donald and any other neighbors to join us as we take the decorations down in the next few weeks. (The fi nal date will be determined by weather, for safety reasons.)

We’d love to have her come out and introduce herself, get to know us, offer a hand, and enjoy some of the friendliness our community has to offer.

The reindeer might just take on a different meaning for her after that.

— Serafi na Sands and David Preston Peter and Sally Tonningsen Andy Oppel Bill Hood and Sue Johnson Dennis and Lisa Reichert Eric Anthony and Bente Petersen John and Kathryn McCarthy Maxwell Bunshaft and Anna Junglas David and Susan Franklin Kathleen Snider Kame and Sally Richards Brian and Kristi Zambrano Steven Organ and Susanne Lynch Bryan and Lillian Gorman Christopher Shearman and Pamela Galtelli Susan Holt and Deb Knowles Ben and Pearl Garduno Kim and Dale Arrivee Patty and Cillo Posadas Mark and Debbie Ames Jesse and Carrie Hahnel

Proud parent, even prouder of Wallbreakers

Editor:

You Wallbreakers are awesome! (“Breaking Down Bullying Barriers” Jan. 19) I saw your presentation last night at the PTA meeting. I grew up as the only hearing person in an alldeaf family — my parents, my sister, all my grandparents and other relatives are deaf. My fi rst language is sign language. I have a lot of exciting ideas from my experience in the deaf community and as a licensed marriage family therapist working and consulting in this diverse community.

I can’t wait to meet with your teacher who said he would be happy to meet with me. Go, Wallbreakers, go!

I am a proud parent of a seventhgrade Lincoln student and even prouder of Lincoln Middle School now. You have given me hope for the future. Thank you for sharing your stories and opening this up to all of us.

— Sheila Jacobs

Don’t be discouraged

Editor:

Alameda is relatively safer than many communities for pedestrians. Even so, walkers of all ages are frequently at risk from drivers who fail to look for, consider or stop for them as required by California law.

Additional enforcement and increasing the penalties for failing to yield to pedestrians as required are both a good idea.

Drivers (and others) would do well to stop offering raised-middlefi nger salutes to others using the road who slow them down by having the apparent temerity to use the streets and roadways in legally permitted ways.

These include: pedestrians walking in a crosswalk, cyclists riding a bicycle in a lawful manner on a street and drivers who stop for a pedestrian any time the pedestrian is between the curbs. All are legally using the streets.

Thank you to all the drivers and cyclists who do stop — as required by law — for any pedestrian whenever the walker is between the curbs.

— Jon Spangler

Pure fantasy, Gov. Brown

Editor:

Reading (“Local Traffi c Changes on Tap” Jan. 26,) the article on traffi c changes at the Park Street Bridge, 29th Street and I-880, was a surreal experience. An informative article, but no price was given for this project, which seems quite elaborate. No costs, no means to pay those costs and no costbenefi t analysis was given by the planners. I guess with such a huge part of the gasoline price going to taxes, both state and federal, no one has to worry about any costs. Gov. Jerry Brown should know about this, since he introduced the concept of “The Age of Limits” during his fi rst governorship way back in 1974. In our present era, the federal, state, county and city governments are all bankrupt. We have to cut schools, hospitals, health care, retirement and other social spending. For what? Yet people are talking about expensive highway projects, 10-year-long bridge constructions, ball parks in San Jose, Fremont, Santa Clara and Oakland, thousands of houses that nobody wants to buy to be built on military bases in Alameda and Concord and on the Chuck Corica Golf Complex, a state water project through the Delta that has been postponed twice already due to expense, a $100 billion train that will take you to L.A. (why would anyone want to go there?).

All of this is pure fantasy. There’s no way to pay for any of it. And these are important reponsible people, in politics, in universities, in the media proposing these things. It’s as if these people have been living on the moon these past three years, not on the earth. It’s time for forget about all these construction boondoggles and start to live within our means. We’ll have all we can do to keep our people alive from now on. The joy ride is over.

— Steve Tabor

Hats off to ‘Dynamic Women’

Editor:

We started Dynamic Women at Girls Incorporated of the Island City with the objective to ignite young women’s interests in college and various career fi elds by offering them an opportunity to meet women working in the fi eld. During Dynamic Women visits, we ask these Dynamic Women to share their college and career journeys with our middle and high school teens. More importantly, we ask them to share the steps they took to reach their goals, the academic decisions they made in middle school and high school, and their advice for pursuing a particular fi eld.

In turn, our young women have an opportunity to ask their own questions. Some of our Dynamic Women have brought with them some fun gifts, another played trivia games about DNA, and all of them fi nd a unique way to engage our teens, like teaching them to use science equipment, or by sharing their thesis or even blueprints for a newly built house. One Dynamic Woman even provided an exciting opportunity to view an actual human brain.

I wrote this letter as a thank you to the many women that have contributed to the lives of our young women by visiting us on any given Friday and in doing so, igniting something that will someday lead the way for another generation of strong, smart and bold women.

Thank you, Lieutenant Jill Ottaviano; photographer Sheri Giblin; president Berta Alicia Bejarano; Mayor Marie Gilmore; City Councilwoman Lena Tam; scientist Barbara Krummel; architect Joanne Bianchi; editor Connie Rux; Atziri Rodriguez from Alameda Family Services; journalist Lucinda Ryan; executive director Angie Carmignani; graphic designer Melissa Hutton; local businesswoman Monica Trejo; photographer- businesswoman Ananda Shorey; police offi cer Emilia Merak; neuroscientist Jaimie Adelson; Lincoln Middle School Principal Nicole Williams Browning; attorney Morgan West; skincare consultant Lucy Becerra; entrepreneur Jena Walker; physical therapist and professional yoga therapist candidate Tianna Meriage-Reiter.

For more information about how to get involved, contact me at Girls Inc.

— Diana Cristales Girls Incorporated of the Island City, Teen Program Coordinator