Dividing and Conquering

This is in response to the June 30 letter from Mikie Maloney of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., in which she questions Sen. Alan Robbins and his “clarification” of monorail as a possible east-west transit solution for the Valley.

Maloney admits that her homeowners association initially supported Robbins and his Burbank-Chandler route, not because they wanted to hurt their neighbors to the north, but because they realized the project was coming whether they wanted it or not and because it had to be underground if anyone was to be able to co-exist near it.

We firmly believe that the majority of homeowners groups to the south were hell-bent on sending rail anywhere, as long as it wasn’t in their own back yards and, with that in mind, they were quick to jump on the bandwagon to support the Robbins-Braude line along Burbank-Chandler, whether we in Van Nuys wanted it or not.

Maloney states they supported this route “because it was the only one in contention that would allow for underground construction.” If she means what she says, we strongly urge her to contact RTD board member Nikolas Patsaouras and support his position to construct an underground line along Ventura Boulevard.

She should have no objection to this route, since it assures her the residential protection she seeks.

Our politicians have done a great job in dividing and conquering the Valley communities on this issue.

PRUDY SCHULTZ

Van Nuys

Schultz is a member of the board of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn.