My heart aches for the family and friends of those that were injured or killed as a result of the Metrolink crash, but a taxpayerfunded memorial is simply not appropriate. These memorials are usually funded by private donation, as this one should be.

A much more urgent need for these funds are the many streets and sidewalks in Simi Valley in desperate need of repair.

Three years ago I tripped and fell over a raised sidewalk in my neighborhood on my morning walk. That fall broke my kneecap, resulting in lost work and the inability to drive for six weeks.

When I recovered I presented the City Council with a list of sidewalks with broken and raised areas ranging from ¾ inch to 1 inch—there were more than 71 of these raised areas in three miles of sidewalks in my neighborhood which could easily cause others to fall and suffer an even more serious injury than mine.

To their credit the city saw that asphalt patches were applied within the next two days. Late last year they removed the mature parkway trees that were the cause of many of the problems.

But here it is July and nothing more has happened to further repair the damaged sidewalks, gutters and streets.

There is so much grass growing in cracks in the streets in this neighborhood that we all laugh about having to mow the street as well as our lawns.

I applaud the Feds for telling our City Council that they cannot use this money for the memorial and totally agree with Mayor Pro Tem Barbra Williamson that the funds would be better directed for street and sidewalk repair.

Hopefully my neighborhood will be one of the areas that benefit from these funds. Judy McLaughlin Simi Valley