Current and former city council members, along with their usual cohorts are again resorting to insults and insensitive comments regarding Cupertino citizens. The 5,000 who exercised their democratic right to referendum are labeled as a minority of fearful, unreasoned, strident, aggressive, misinformed and misguided citizens--even though their number represents nearly 50 percent of the number of votes cast in our local elections.

This is a blatant insult to our citizenry.

We are told Vallco needs renovation, which all of us support. But developers can renovate Vallco without building more high-density housing and achieve the same result of a revitalized center. Teachers, policeman and firemen, who are among the highest percentage of homeowners in the area, are used as the pawns to justify "affordable housing," which is actually subsidized housing with many strings attached.

Now we are told we need senior housing, but who are these seniors? Seniors in Cupertino are already living in million dollar homes with large equity.

So-called "affordable housing" is nothing more than a subterfuge used by developers, political officials and their paid consultants to justify building our city higher and denser with all the associated negative consequences.

In the past, citizens who have opposed more high-density, high-rise development have been subjected to all manner of abuse by city officials and developers including lawsuits or threats of lawsuits. In a recent lawsuit to keep Measures D and E off the ballot, the court recognized the rights of our citizens to have a voice in housing decisions that impact the character of the city.

As we move toward the election we can expect more of the same from those who consider us unreasoned, misinformed, etc.

Robert L. Garten
Cupertino Courier Letters
Wednesday, August 30, 2006