Protect Our Open Space

Growing up, my Nana and I would quietly watch from our kitchen window generation after generation of wild deer. Mama and fawns and the occasional buck would happily find respite in our yard, munching on ivy and, to my Nana’s dismay, a buffet of our potted flowers. Nevertheless, we always welcomed these gentle creatures into our life. Time passed and the ivy died from drought, but the deer still came to shelter under our trees. All of this bittersweet beauty only occured because of a large open space behind our home. I found out yesterday that a person wants to develop the area and slam houses on the lot where the deer cling to one of their last hideouts along Crest. My Nana joined a group of neighbors in 2008 to stop this same thing from happening. They were successful, albeit temporarily. It's been 15 years of deer and peace that I hope doesn't disappear. What can we do as neighbors to stop this construction– or should I say destruction of precious open space?  

–Momo Yoo Gomes, Castro Valley