Letters to the Valley Edition : Deriding Monorail Is an Elitist Position

I simply couldn’t let the incredibly elitist comments on a proposed monorail by Gerald A. Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, pass by.

On May 14, Mr. Silver was quoted as saying, in part: “It would bring rail service to people with BMWs and Mercedeses. They are not the ones who would use a rail system. It’s unrealistic to expect a resident of the Encino Hills to drive his BMW to a station at, say, Hayvenhurst and take the train to work. But in areas north of here, these people don’t have 450s. They need public transit.”

Well--la dee dah! I moved away from the Sherman Oaks hills 20 years ago to escape the terrible smog and traffic that are plaguing Encino right now. I live in Westlake Village, and even our traffic is becoming too much.

I don’t have a 450--I prefer my Lexus. But if we had a monorail service, I’d be delighted to drive my Lexus down to a neighborhood station and take a clean, fast, quiet monorail to Santa Barbara, Pasadena, downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach or San Diego. What a joy it would be to watch our beautiful scenery go by and leave the driving to modern technology. I certainly wouldn’t feel the same about a subway!

BARBARA K. GIBEAUT

Westlake Village