Opinion

EDITOR, Last evening, I participated in the open meeting for the new library in Scotts Valley. It was clear that the financials were already determined, including the cost of the building and the basic elements inside. The ideas of things wished for are simply empty wishes in the acknowledged lack of funding.

Because of a bad economy and the rise of the Internet, local leaders will almost surely decide Monday, Feb. 14, that the Felton Branch Library is no longer used enough to warrant upkeep and staff from the Santa Cruz County Public Library System. That would mean Felton’s branch would no longer be a part of the Santa Cruz County Public Library System and likely would close, unless a volunteer group stepped up to run the library, a la Ben Lomond’s downtown library.

In recent opinion (“Trim pensions before raising taxes,” Letters, Feb. 18), it was suggested that the fire and police department take a cut in their pensions. I cannot fault the writer for his misinformation regarding the pension system, which he knows nothing about. I am a retired San Jose firefighter. The Mercury News has reported our retirement questions incorrectly. It sells papers. Because it is in print doesn't make it the truth, including my opinion. The San Jose police and fire retirement system is a private system, negotiated by the members. Firefighters and police put money into the system instead of taking salary increases — an option that was not always granted to us. Check with the San Jose Police Association and Firefighters Union for the correct facts on this subject. The Mercury is politically biased.

EDITOR,

EDITOR,

‘I Remember Redwoods’

Everyone appreciated the rescue tips about baby birds from Carol Carson's column, “Domestic cats pose serious threat to native wildlife,” (March 15, Page 9) published last week. However, she had one alarming suggestion to “rent cages from the County Animal Shelter for capturing cats and transferring them to the shelter.” But once there, a friendly cat is capable of adoption and an “unfriendly” feral cat meets a deadly double standard: By contrast, it is deemed unadoptable and will be killed.

EDITOR,

It’s not often I write about someone in my own family. As the editor of a newspaper, I have to be judicious about how I use space in the paper — and about 98 percent of the time, I leave my family out of it.