My Letter to the Editor

Sent to the editor of my community’s Sunnyvale Sun newspaper (which happens to also be where I cut my teeth as a reporter).

Editor –

We just read the latest about the ongoing saga that is the Sunnyvale Town Center development, and the foreclosure the center is currently going through. The town center project is an utter embarrassment to the city, and the Sunnyvale Sun should be holding the city council and the city manager’s feet to the fire.

Our family decided to buy a home near Washington Park in 2006 for many reasons, but the then-pending development of the town center was at the top of our list of reasons to move into the neighborhood. After seeing the plans for the center, we thought it’d be wonderful to someday be able to walk to downtown and enjoy the new shops and restaurants that were due to open. Since the place is half-built now, I’m confident it will be completed someday. The question is: when?

One idea that could help push for a solution: Perhaps the Sun can host a community forum, where city leaders and developers will show up and answer tough questions about how the center ended up in this mess, and what they’re going to do to make it right. I understand the current macro-economic climate had a devastating effect on the builders’ ability to complete the project, but I feel like our city has completely failed its residents, and the Sun should be pressing hard for answers. The city’s residents deserve them.

Steve and Jo Enders
Sunnyvale