Yummy organic goodness WEEKEND | 13 JULY 27, 2012 VOLUME 20, NO. 27
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Hospital district gets high marks, survey says
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Gay marriage supporters file Chick-Fil-A appeal By Daniel DeBolt
By Nick Veronin
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majority of people living within the El Camino Hospital District are “highly satisfied” with the job the hospital is doing and a majority of recent patients rated the overall quality of care they received from local health care organization as “excellent or very good,” a recent hospital-commissioned survey found. The survey found that 86 percent of district residents believe the hospital “contributes directly to the quality of health care delivered to the community,” and that a majority feel the hospital is an important local institution, according to a July 23 press release. “These survey results affirm that district residents believe we continue to deliver on our original mission — as envisioned by the voters more than 50 years ago — to provide quality health care services to the community,” John Zoglin, chairman of the district’s board of directors, said in the release. The survey was conducted the week of June 25, about one month after the Local Agency Formation Commission of Santa Clara County announced that an audit of El Camino had found the hospital and hospital district lacking in transparency, unaccountable to its constituents and in need of serious reform. In the wake of that audit, LAFCO Executive Director Neelima Palacherla said her agency would move to dissolve the district if its leadership did not make significant strides toward improving transparency and accountability. See HOSPITAL SURVEY, page 11
INSIDE
MICHELLE LE
LANDMARK LAID BARE The long task of stripping Moffett Field’s massive Hangar One, a local landmark since the 1930s, came to an end last week. Workers hired by the U.S. Navy took the last pieces of siding from the structure, wrapping up a year-long effort to abate the environmental pollution caused by the toxin-laced shell. Now stripped to its frame, an uncertain future awaits. A look back at the dismantling of Hangar One starts on page 8.
Tennis legend Alex Swetka dies at 94 By Andrea Gemmet
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ocal tennis legend Alex Swetka, who owned Swetka’s Tennis Shop in Mountain View with his wife, died July 17, a few months after being diagnosed with cancer. He was 94. Swetka pursued competitive tennis for over 60 years, and continued playing up until his cancer diagnosis in May, his family said. He won local, national and international tournaments — more than 70 USTA National Championships, his family said — and was a representative of the United States for International Senior Tennis for over 20 years. Beginning in 1994, Swetka competed in the International
Tennis Federation’s senior circuit, and he won the Grand Slam — winning the hard, grass, clay and indoors national titles in singles — in 2007 and 2008, according to the federation. He was inducted into the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995 and the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. “He will always be remembered for his topspin and lefty action, which were a real rarity when playing in the over-90 division,” said the federation’s website. During his tennis career, he enjoyed victories over tennis greats like Bobby Riggs, Wimbeldon champion Gardener Molloy, and Swedish Davis Cup player Torsten Johanson, said his
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daughter Nancy Garcia. “He put Mountain View on the world tennis map,” said Jere Schaefer, a friend of the Swetka family and longtime member of the Mountain View Tennis Club. She called Swetka a role model and true champion who served as an ambassador for tennis. “He will be dearly missed by all tennis players around the world,” she said. Born in Clairton, Penn. in 1917, he settled in California after joining the United States Navy in 1941 and serving for six years. Swetka earned a degree in education from San Francisco State University, where he discovered See TENNIS LEGEND, page 7
t appears that Chick-Fil-A’s chickens have come home to roost. The company’s funding of anti-gay rights groups and president Dan Cathy’s recent remarks that the company is “guilty as charged” in opposing gay marriage has caused a major backlash against its efforts expand into Mountain View. Thanks to a fundraising web page citing the company’s antigay stance, it took less than 14 hours last week to raise the $1,000 fee needed to have the City Council hear an appeal on the proposed Chick-Fil-A location at 1962 West El Camino Real. Zoning Administrator Peter Gilli had approved the restaurant and drive-through on July 10. The City Council could reverse or uphold that decision as soon as September 11. Appellant David Speakman and his husband Richard were the first gay couple to marry in Santa Clara County in 2008. He says the company’s “bigoted” stance prompted him to take action. “It’s not just a bigoted, evil company,” Speakman said. “It’s a company that wants a bad restaurant in a bad spot.” Speakman and a group of employees of the Mountain View startup HighlightCam came up with the idea of using wepay. com to raise the appeal money, a site he calls a cross between Paypal and Kickstarter. Money continues to be donated by people who want their names on the list of 40-plus donors, which includes state Senate candidate Sally Lieber and HighlightCam’s See CHICK-FIL-A, page 7