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~~~ <br />August 20, 2004 <br />Dennis, <br />~"~ i~ "- <br />~~ ~I j~ <br />~fi <br />E~r~ <br />A~q~~~ <br />Here is the letter Johnny sent to us. On the surface, the letter sounds great, of course... <br />which is what occurs when things are taken out of context. Elaine and I recognize that there is <br />always more than one side to any story -thanks for listening to our side on this mutter. <br />Here are some of the comments we hove regarding the letter: <br />"Outreach" is generally understood to be a systematic, proactive effort to initiate contact with <br />others - usually a specific group or population of people. To label the majority of items listed in this <br />letter as such is a gross misrepresentation of what has actually taken place. <br />For example, up until this year, City staff did not once initiate contact with us or any other Canyon <br />Drive residents. Their meetings, phone conversations, and emails were in response to our initiative. <br />Another example of misrepresentation is typified by the presentation of "trail planning progress" at <br />the Southeast Neighbors meeting last year. While we were not able to attend, we understand from <br />several people who did that the presentation was so biased and full of mis-information that those in <br />attendance asked City staff to stop the show. It was apparently a case of showing the very best of <br />what one wants and the very worst of what one doesn't want. <br />Which leads to one of our ongoing questions that is mentioned in Johnny's letter -that of a "needed <br />public access" along the Canyon Drive branch of Amazon Creek. Who, and by what means, determined <br />that it was needed? The majority of the money spent to purchase the property did not come from <br />Parks and Rec - it came from a Hynix environmental settlement (through the Audubon Society) and <br />stormwater funds. <br />Another question that we've had that was ignored in Johnny's letter and has been ignored in every <br />single conversation we've had, is "If you're going to build this trail in an environmentally sensitive <br />area, on soils that are known to be unstable and/or highly erodible, then how are you going to assure <br />that they will be properly maintained after they are built?" <br />As always, please let me know if you have questions or would like additional information. <br />Sincerely, <br />ane J Cornett <br />