By Dale Bryant
The Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District finds itself in the enviable position of having something the Oakland Raiders want. The question is, how badly does the football team want it?
For some three weeks, representatives from the Raiders have met with town and school officials about the possibility of using the high school football field and adjacent fields from approximately mid-July to Aug. 20 for the Raiders summer camp.
The parties were brought together by Bob Rauh and Darrell Monda, advertising/marketing professionals who both live in Los Gatos. "I know people in town, and Darrell has connections with the Raiders," Rauh told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. He said the team is attracted to the town because it's family-oriented, quaint, secure, quiet and safe, as well as accessible to the airports in San Jose and San Francisco.
Rauh said the final written proposal is due to the team by Jan. 22. "Part of the proposal," he said, "will be a request for some tradeoffs that would benefit the school." Other cities on the Raiders' short list are Santa Rosa, Davis, Sacramento, Stockton and Fairfield.
"When I first heard about it," LGHS Principal Ted Simonson said, "my first reaction was that this could be profitable for the town, so I wanted to be cooperative." It turned out, however, that benefits to town coffers would be negligible.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 17, 1996.
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