Unify, Don’t Divide Valley

Steve Owen, president of the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors, has a good idea--he thinks we should drop all the different “community” names and just call it The Valley.

To perpetuate the current trend toward elitism and separatism in the Valley is to further exacerbate racial resentments, class resentments and self-delusion among moneyed homeowners who falsely believe that as long as they live in “Valley Village” or “West Hills” or “Sherman Oaks” they are superior to other Valley residents.

All that’s really happening is more putting-up of walls and barriers--which, in fact, mean nothing except that some better-off people are scared of being identified with worse-off people a few streets away.

I would also heartily agree with Rene M. Perlich of Sylmar, who wrote to support the notion of a San Fernando Valley Unified School District. Huge, sprawling, enormous Los Angeles has enough to handle on the other side of the hill. The Valley is also a huge, sprawling, enormous place, all unto itself, with really very little to do with Los Angeles. Maybe if we had our own school district, we wouldn’t have to do so much busing of schoolchildren. I think parents on both sides of the hill would appreciate that. And, with luck, we might even get enough textbooks to go around.

I guess to make these sensible ideas actually happen we need wise, sensible leadership. Rene? Steve? Want to run for office?

KITTY WILLS, Van Nuys