Holly Lofgren urging a YES vote on Measure M Sunnyvale

Open Letter to Sunnyvale residents from Holly Lofgren urging a YES vote on Measure M

I am a 32-year resident of Sunnyvale and supporter of Measure M.  In that time, I have helped out my community in many ways. In 2002 I chaired the committee to build our 50-meter swimming pool at Fremont High School.

Holly Lofgren City of Sunnyvale_Vote YES on Measure M

I also chaired committees to raise funds for our wonderful local high school district and raised funds for many local charities. I did all these things because I believed in them.

More recently, I got involved in questioning some out-sized development proposals including the one at Butcher’s Corner because I felt the plans were unreasonable. We all have an obligation to assist in our community and if you have specific knowledge, we each have an obligation to share what we know. Here is mine.

I personally witnessed 3 sales/leases or attempted sales/leases of public property that were not conducted in full public view.

Neighbors raise funds for Save Raynor Park lawsuit legal fees

By Alia Wilson Sunnyvale Sun

A group of Sunnyvale residents fighting to restore public access to Raynor Park has raised almost enough money to cover all of its legal fees, but the battle is not yet over. Save Sunnyvale Parks & Schools, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the city in January over the sale of the Raynor Activity Center, alleging the sale agreement violates both California’s Public Parks Preservation Act and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

According to the lawsuit–filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court–the city approved the sale without having determined whether an environmental impact report is required by CEQA, and violated the Public Park Preservation Act by selling available parkland without the intent to replace it.

CLICK HERE for the full San Jose Mercury News article.

Save Raynor – Heading into court on April 25th, 9am

Courtesy Tappan Merrick

Thank you for signing our Save Raynor Petition. CLICK HERE for the petition.

It’s really happening: We are heading into California Superior court in San Jose on April 25th, 9am to stop our public land at Raynor Park from being sold to a private entity.

Our legal team is doing final preparations — preparing to go before California state judge, Hon. Joseph Huber to argue that the City of Sunnyvale is subject to California law of Park Preservation Act of 1971. See more details here: http://www.savesunnyvaleparks.com/causes/save-raynor-park/

We still find it baffling and outrageous that we’re arguing this demurrer. As you are aware that we had filed a lawsuit against the City of Sunnyvale, under the California laws of Park Preservation Act and Environmental Protection Act to stop selling our precious park land in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Commentary: Questions loom over sale of Raynor Activity Center

By Preeti Sharma for Silicon Valley Community Newspapers

In the past year the Raynor Activity Center has moved from being “a liability to own” to “futile to lease,” and now swiftly to “profitable to sell.” As it stands now, the sale of the Raynor Activity Center seems to be motivated by the zeal to fund a branch library in the Lakewood Village neighborhood.

Raynor has been sold (as opposed to the originally council-approved lease) to the bidder that best meets these goals, with no regard to its impact on the neighborhood. The city has made the conscious choice to rob Peter to pay Paul.

CLICK HERE for the full Mercury News Sunnyvale Sun Article

Sunnyvale Resident voices concern over Raynor Park Council Decision

Courtesy Karen Reilly

The December 3rd city council meeting revealed the  split of the council members on quality of life issues for Sunyvale residents.  The majority voting block consistently votes for concessions to outside developers and against quality of life issues which will detrimentally impact our city in the  future.

Councilman Whitttum proposed a creative amendment which would decrease the  sale price of the Raynor Park building in order to remove the priority use of our taxpayer parkland. Another pro-growth council member said he was out of order.

I feel the opposite is true: the majority aggressive pro-growth council is out of order.  No amount of LEED Certified building materials, used in the construction of the 1.8 million square ft. Moffet towers, in the pacific flyway, will offset the pollution and congestion caused by an additional 4,000 cars/day on Mathilda Ave.

When I asked another pro-growth council member where all of the new residents of the multi-story downtown apt dwellers would attend school, he answered that the occupants are not projected to have school aged children.  Since the new developments are not seniors-only units, I do not understand how he can make this assumption.  

The local elementary, Ellis, is at maximum enrollment, having grown from 500 to 860 students.  There is a complete disconnect between the majority rampant pro-growth city council members and the negative impact their decisions are creating.  

Please contact the Council and voice your concerns to raise their consciousness regarding the short sightedness of their decisions.

Sunnyvale Resident Karen Reilly

Sunnyvale Council_Don’t Sell Raynor Activity Center

Letter to the Sunnyvale Council members_Courtesy Tap Merrick

Dear Sunnyvale Council members,

The City’s planned sale of the Raynor Activity Center (RAC) on Tuesday, November 19th, 2013, is wrong and I urge the Council to reconsider.

First, It is my understanding that this property was originally purchased through a bond offering that came before the voters around 1979.  I believe that this bond offering limited the sale and use of proceeds from any sale to a few specific and limited choices, but did not allow for funding a branch library.  Please identify what those choices are as part of the City’s presentation.