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â– EDITORIAL â– YOUR LETTERS â– GUEST OPINIONS
N EDITORIAL THE OPINION OF THE VOICE
Making streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists
Founding Editor, Kate Wakerly
N S TA F F EDITOR & PUBLISHER Tom Gibboney (223-6507) EDITORIAL Managing Editor Andrea Gemmet (223-6537) Staff Writers Daniel DeBolt (223-6536) Nick Veronin (223-6535) Editorial Intern Samson So Photographer Michelle Le (223-6530) Contributors Dale Bentson, Angela Hey, Sheila Himmel, Ruth Schecter, Alissa Stallings DESIGN & PRODUCTION Design Director Shannon Corey (223-6560) Designers Linda Atilano, Lili Cao, Diane Haas, Rosanna Leung, Paul Llewellyn, Scott Peterson ADVERTISING Vice President Sales and Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Advertising Representatives Adam Carter (223-6573) Real Estate Account Executive Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585) Published every Friday at 450 Cambridge Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 964-6300 fax (650) 964-0294 Email news and photos to: editor@MV-Voice.com Email letters to: letters@MV-Voice.com
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iding a bike or walking in Mountain View can be dangerous, or even fatal, as becomes graphically clear when looking over a map of collisions published in last week’s Voice. Who can forget the tragic death of William Ware, who was hit by an out-of-control car while he sat on a bench waiting for a bus? Although a concerted effort by police is beginning to affect the number of collisions, it was discouraging that two pedestrians were killed by cars within the last six weeks — one at Phyllis Avenue on March 5 and the other on a Central Expressway sidewalk on April 3 causing injuries that led to the victim’s death April 6. These deaths, and William Ware’s, did not need to happen. A motorist ran onto the sidewalk in the Central Expressway death and the pedestrian was crossing Phyllis in a crosswalk when she was hit. Incidents like this can devastate families, who are left with few explanations, while perpetrators often receive a slap on the wrist. And when you look at the compilation of five years of collisions published last week and see the symbols cluttering many intersections of the map it becomes clear that much more needs to be done to make our streets safer for bikes and pedestrians. This is especially true at the most dangerous intersections, like Sylvan Avenue and El Camino Real, where 12 collisions with bikes and pedestrians occurred over five years. Castro Street between Central Expressway and El Camino had at least a dozen collisions and there were an equal number at El Monte and El Camino. Grant Road and El Camino is also extremely dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. The City Council has already sent a message to the police and public works departments to step up enforcement to combat reckless driving. The effort appears to be responsible for a substantial drop in car versus car and car versus bike and pedestrian collisions
News/Editorial Department (650) 964-6300 fax (650) 964-0294 Display Advertising Sales (650) 964-6300 Classified Advertising Sales t fax (650) 326-0155 Email Classified ads@MV-Voice.com Email Circulation circulation@MV-Voice.com The Voice is published weekly by Embarcadero Media Co. and distributed free to residences and businesses in Mountain View. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 964-6300. Subscriptions for $60 per year, $100 per 2 years are welcome. Š2013 by Embarcadero Media Company. All rights reserved. Member, Mountain View Chamber of Commerce
N WHAT’S YOUR VIEW? All views must include a home address and contact phone number. Published letters will also appear on the web site, www.MountainViewOnline.com, and occasionally on the Town Square forum. Town Square forum Post your views on Town Square at MountainViewOnline.com Email
your views to letters@MV-Voice.com. Indicate if letter is to be published.
to: Editor Mountain View Voice, P.O. Box 405 Mountain View, CA 94042-0405
Call
the Viewpoint desk at 223-6507
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in the last 12 months, from 55 last year to 26 in the last 12 months. No one can be certain, but the reduction could be the result of a major jump in the number of traffic tickets, up to 3,068 from 1,138 in the prior year. A recent police priority is nabbing motorists who ignore pedestrians in a crosswalk, an extremely dangerous oversight that can greatly increase the chances of a serious injury. While the city can’t stop every reckless driver, it can modify its streets to discourage speeding and alert drivers to the presence of pedestrians and bicyclists. The council already is getting the message and member Jac Siegel said the goal, whenever possible, is to “put in as safe a bike path as possible and as many pedestrian paths as possible.� That could be a big help in bringing down the collision rate, which from 2007 to 2012 meant that a pedestrian or cyclist was hit every five days. Cyclists were twice as likely to be hit as pedestrians. Now the council is thinking more pro-actively, especially backing better designs of California Street and Escuela Avenue, an area highly prone to pedestrian and bicycle collisions. Castro Street in front of Graham Middle School is a very good candidate for narrowing, with bike lanes. Several students were hit by cars as they were crossing the street last year. Publication of maps and statistics are just the first step in making Mountain View a community that makes sure its pedestrians and cyclists have a safe sidewalk or bike lane, and that motorists respect their space. We are happy to see the city taking the lead to make safety the highest priority on local streets by taking measures that will benefit pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as drivers, who will be involved in fewer collisions as city streets become calmer places.
N GUEST OPINION
N LETTERS
VOICE FROM THE COMMUNITY
VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY
Can’t wait for Village at San Antonio to open By Denzil Joseph
H
ere are my thoughts about the development happening in the old San Antonio Shopping Center, which I think is an overall positive for the neighborhood. I live on Showers Drive and love the community and development happening around here. With the new “Village� taking the city of Mountain View to the next level, I just cannot wait for the entire project to finish to spend time there shopping and eating and enjoying all the nice park space. I can say looking at the plan layout that it has been thought out extensively and I have already driven inside what is open to the public just to check it out and it is just awesome. With the Phase II plans out now I was talking to my wife on how we will be able to walk to the movies instead of driving down to the Shoreline Cinemas. Right now we drive all over the place just to have a relaxing outing experience — Santana Row, Stanford Mall, Castro Street, University Avenue — where all the life is. Now with the Village coming up with all the grand plans of shopping and movies and coffee houses and restaurants, we don’t have to drive so far; that means we will save gas and save the environment. Okay, Castro Street is not so far but it’s definitely not walkable from where I live. We are looking forward to all of this opening up soon and cannot wait to shop and dine and relax at the Village. Continued on next page
â– Mountain View Voice â– MountainViewOnline.com â– April 19, 2013
ASK CONGRESS, NOT IRS, ABOUT TAX POLICY I noticed that those who answered your Voices Around Town question in the April 4 edition: “What is one thing the IRS can do to make filing your taxes easier?� seemed to think the IRS could make taxes simpler and could impose a flat tax.
But only Congress can simplify our taxes. And only Congress can make them fairer. All the IRS can do is interpret and try to enforce in a fair manner these incredibly complex and unfair tax laws that our Congress has enacted. The problem is not the IRS. Continued on next page