Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

Actually, wise men do aspire to hold public office

My good friend Vern Hansen, in his letter published Jan. 3 in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, says that "wise men do not aspire to hold public office." But wise men do aspire to hold public office.

We have many fine, durable institutions today because wise men did achieve office. We have free speech and freedom of religion; we elect our own leadership; we have public parks and public education, and we have neighborhoods protected from pollution. Those privileges are not automatic. They were earned or seized from kings and chieftains by people in lesser offices. Many brave and thoughtful people worked long and hard for many years to get these advantages.

One of the very best ways to be an effective citizen is to hold public office. I say thanks much to all those who preceded us and gave us so much, either through official position or working for good policies. It is important for us to continue to build our society. Public service is not easy. The problems are complex. An elected public official takes a lot of abuse and gives away a great deal of time and money. We should all try public office, or at least support the good ones in office. We are fortunate that there are excellent people in office.

Charles Walton

Los Gatos

Don't revert to Monte Sereno's bigoted past

I was quite distressed to receive a petition today from a group calling itself "Citizens for Monte Sereno." In the past, my neighbors and my family have been advocates for change in Monte Sereno that we thought would improve the community. Those initiatives have received community and City Council support, but they have not pleased everyone.

We circulated many petitions, and every one had the names of the sponsors clearly visible. The fact that this committee remains hidden is a vestige of the culture that remains from Adm. Tom Inglis's secretive formation and operation of the city that dominated his era. That's a past most of my peers want to see forgotten.

Monte Sereno is a vibrant community that is an integral part of the greater South Bay megalopolis. Its operations and services must be structured within the financial and environmental needs of the community at large. Change is bound to take place as the community-at-large is a constantly changing environment.

To constantly revert back to the principles of the Founding Fathers is to deny that the U.S. Constitution now has more than 25 amendments. Reverting back to the founding principals of Monte Sereno is to ignore that most of the founders were bigots and racists. The original charter unequivocally stated that the city was reserved for whites only.

This anonymous committee touches a very sensitive nerve with me and my family when it focuses only on the principals of the original charter that serve the committee's purpose and not the entire charter, as it was a separatist document that reflected many of the prejudices of the time.

Times change and the needs of the community change. The community is strapped with many requirements that are derived at the state level by the lawyers-serving-lawyers (Assembly and Senate), not their constituency. The county places requirements on the city to satisfy the otherwise-useless county supervisors and administration which force participation in many community-at-large initiatives. If the citizens committee is concerned about individual issues, it should present them to the City Council in an open, public forum, not in a blind letter.

The city is lucky to have a professional public administrator guiding its activities and functions, rather than the prejudicial and untrained leadership that preceded the current administration.

This citizens committee won't get our support. This committee should state its case to the community in an open, public forum, or its members should hold their opinions to themselves.

Bill Ferguson

Monte Sereno

Abandoned shopping cart leaves legacy

What a strange feeling when you drive into your driveway and find a "homeless" cart in your way!

What happened? Where's the person living out of the Safeway shopping cart? Why was the "vehicle home" abandoned? It contained plastic bags of aluminum cans and plastic bottles, an old calendar, a T-shirt, five gallon containers with more cans, a rolled-up flag and some other items.

Did someone abandon his or her way of life? Was a body lying in my back yard? Were they kidnapped?

What a strange feeling overcame me. I searched my yard and the yard next door. I looked in my other auto to see if someone was sleeping in the seat.

No one around! Check with a neighbor to see if they knew more.

Nothing! Nobody! No clues! What happened?

Five days later, the cart still sits! Some of us called the police, and they may have come by! They stated they called the cart patrol and the cart would be picked up.

Strange-strange-strange!

I hope the "owner" of that cart is OK and has had a nice holiday, rather than living out of the cart. I'll probably never know. But I can tell you this, if you find a cart in your drive, check for the person, call the police, wonder what happened, and you'll never know.

Harry Fromm

Monte Sereno

Someone should make the effort to keep streets clean

There have been several articles concerning street cleanup with suggestions about organizing cleanup programs. After walking along the west side of Winchester Boulevard from Daves Avenue to La Rinconada Drive on Jan. 2 and observing the trash mess on the property facing the street, including a dead cat, I think there could be a simple solution.

If the property owners would get out about once or twice a month for a few minutes and pick up the trash on their own property and possibly the adjacent property and the street near their property, it would make a big difference.

Of course, they probably didn't throw the trash there, but there is not much use in appealing to the trash-throwing slobs who drive and walk by, so all we can do is clean it up so the whole place will look better.

John MacRostie

Los Gatos

St. Luke's is what keeps us in Los Gatos

As 11-year residents of the town we are most concerned with how the move of Steamer's will impinge on our church and impact on the town at large, particularly the landmark Old Town. I currently live in the Charter Oaks project near Lark Avenue. My wife and I have owned our townhome there for two and a half years. I am currently the senior warden of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

Our church and its grounds are a significant contributor to the greater community of Los Gatos, Old Town and the southern portion of our town. At the same time, we can assure you that we wish to abide with the growth requirements for our town. There will be change in Old Town, and it will change St. Luke's.

Viewing the southern portion of the town and Old Town is to view St. Luke's as well. Here are our concerns:

* The church building's style and scale complement the Old Town community. An effort must be made to maintain this appearance.

* The church grounds attract not only Episcopal worshipers, but also newlyweds who choose the church and its pretty patio as a setting for wedding ceremonies.

* The church grounds also serve as the final resting place for the faithful who have spent years in the parish and in the town. A columbarium exists along the north wall of the church.

* The church grounds contain a number of mature oaks, particularly two on the north wall of the church. No current project specification by project developer Ed Storm addresses the health requirements of these trees. Indeed, the trees' drip lines extend into the Steamer's projected rooftop.

* The church light and shadow requirements have not been studied. Consider the restaurant's projected 18-foot walls and a peaked 35-foot tile roof that will be five feet from the church's stucco fence.

Stephen Conway

Los Gatos

Old Town plans amount to over-development

It has come to my attention that the Old Town center is looking to possibly relocate a restaurant directly adjacent to St. Luke's Episcopal Church. I have some valid concerns regarding the relocation and re-design of the existing Old Town site.

My concerns at this moment are not for architectural design and aesthetics but from a planning standpoint and land-use application. If a restaurant were to be relocated right next to a church, the following issues would be of concern:

* Odor from the kitchen and garbage areas.

* Noise from the restaurant interrupting services, worship and functioning of a church because of its close proximity location.

* Proposed site/building overdevelopment and the effects it would have on the existing trees, plants and garden and existing exposure of the church building.

These issues are basic but important enough, in my opinion, that the town should not approve the relocation and re-design of the site, which would place a restaurant adjacent to a church in the historically sensitive downtown
Los Gatos.

Wendy Teague,

Garcia Teague Architecture and Interiors, San Jose

Peaceful church grounds worth preserving

I am a longtime parishioner of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Los Gatos. I also frequently do my shopping in Los Gatos stores and dine at the many restaurants.

In both regards, I seriously object to the proposal to build a large, new Steamer's restaurant directly adjacent to the St. Luke's property.

Our church is one of the treasured historical aspects of Los Gatos. Its setting has a lovely small garden and a peaceful parish burial ground (columbarium) next to the area on which a busy, noisy, sizable commercial building is proposed.

The restaurant building would cause noisy disruption in our many services and endanger our historic oak trees.

Our present wall is high enough to obscure the eye-level view of the parking lot next door (towards Old Town), but raising it to any higher level would be isolating and forbidding to view.

There is the added possibility of food and garbage odors interfering with the quiet contemplative atmosphere so needed today and available through our church and gardens.

Our church is proud to be very active in the Los Gatos community. We offer free concerts and events and meeting places for community classes and groups, as well as outreach help to the homeless.

To make Los Gatos another "mall" atmosphere with wall-to-wall businesses would destroy the very nature of the historic community that
so many find inviting.

Colette Brinkman

San Jose