Redwood City doesn't have to look very far to adopt a Mexican sister-city: try the unicorporated Fair Oaks District just next door for starters.

The Peninsula Bureau Editor

San Francisco Chronicle

2425 Leghorn Street

Mountain View, CA 94043

To the Editor:

The article in the Peninsula Friday section of the Chronicle on March 24th entitled "Searching for a Sister City in Mexico" spoke of Redwood City's looking south of the USA/Mexico border for a suitable "sister city." Actually, they don't have to go thousands of miles to find a suitable area for "sister city" status. The North Fair Oaks area is a perfect choice for a "sister city." North Fairs Oaks is an unincorporated area bounded by Redwood City and Atherton located between Bay Road and El Camino Real. It has a large Mexican immigrant population, with all the attendant problems that seem to accompany poor immigrants these days: gang violence, unemployment and open-air drug dealing. The powers that be in Redwood City, freshly empowered from chopping down redwood trees, Sequoia sempervirens, within their city borders to provide a better view from the new Sequoia Station shopping center, should not search for new links to cities within Mexico. Their "sister city," North Fair Oaks awaits just next door. Perhaps a little annexation might be in order.

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

Foster City, CA 94404

28 February 1995