Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Community involvement begins with Measure C

The Los Gatos Weekly-Times invited Joe Pirzynski, who chairs the Yes on Measure C committee, and Egon Jensen, who heads the opposition to Measure C, the utility-users tax, to state their cases for our opinion pages. Last week, Jensen argued against the measure which is on the March 26 ballot; in this issue, Pirzynski presents his case in favor of the tax. --Editor

By Joe Pirzynski

Measure C must pass: The quality of our Los Gatos life is at real risk if it does not. On a warm Tuesday evening in October 1989, a fracture in the earth just over the mountains to the southeast changed our lives in a most significant way. The Loma Prieta earthquake brought down our buildings, severed water mains, blackened our lights and caused us all to realize that nothing is solid, not even the earth.

But the spirit of Los Gatos was intact. We pulled together as a community--neighbor with neighbor, merchant with merchant, town staff and elected officials with citizens and business persons--to begin the recovery. That seismic event took a tremendous toll on our town's financial base. During the nine months it took us to recover after the earth stopped shaking, the town lost $1 million in sales tax and over a third of a million dollars in unreimbursed expenses. But recover we did. That very tragic and trying time actually left our town stronger, both in our buildings and in our community spirit. Los Gatans are obviously not merely survivors: We rise to the challenge when facing times of stress and adversity.

Now, six and a half years after that traumatic October night, a different kind of challenge is facing every one of us who resides or conducts business in Los Gatos. That challenge has been thrown at us not by geological forces beyond our control, but by political and social forces that call out for our involvement. If Loma Prieta threw our town's finances off balance, these new forces threaten to bring us to our knees. We face a very real financial crisis caused by diminishing resources.

Hundreds of our fellow citizens reached this same conclusion after attending a series of town forums that began in the summer of 1995 to investigate the town's present budget picture and its outlook for the future. We each asked hard questions of our elected and appointed government officers. We evaluated the impacts of federal, state and county government funding on the town's budget. We did this individually and with neighbors, business compatriots and strangers. We each discovered a common thread to our studies: Something had to be done by us, the citizens, to stop the undermining of our town's fiscal base and ensure that we would continue to enjoy our community's quality of life.

It was clear that Los Gatans had to deliver a realistic and effective method to deal with our developing financial crisis. That method was two-pronged: to promote long-term growth by robust economic development in our business sector while promoting business appropriate to the unique character of the town, and to provide short-term financial stability through a fair and modest utility tax. This was the conclusion reached consistently and frequently by those of us who studied the town's full economic picture. The fact that our Town Council drew this same conclusion was due in great part to the fact that many of us who had arrived at this solution spoke forcefully before the council with this recommendation, and our Town Coucil listened and then acted for the good of our community.

In early January of this year, "Los Gatos Citizens for Measure C" was formed to accomplish the second prong of the long-term solution after a California Supreme Court decision altered the rules regarding levying of taxes. Following that decision, the Town Council acted to fulfill not only the letter but the spirit of the law, even though the earlier decision to implement the utility tax was valid. The utility tax would be put to a vote, and our committee would promote Measure C.

For the last six weeks, our group of concerned citizens has attempted both by print and personal contact to inform our fellow Los Gatans about Measure C. It has been an invigorating experience that has paid off time and time again by the acknowledgement of our neighbors and busines associates of the need for and fairness of the tax. These two characteristics of the proposed tax have been acknowledged by almost every Los Gatos citizen and business owner we have contacted.

In the course of our efforts, it has become obvious that not all members of our community subscribe to our perspective. The democratic process that protects and encourages healthy dialogue on all issues is the foundation for our quality of life as a country. But an informed public is essential to good public decision-making, and misinformation jeopardizes good decision-making. It has been our committee's goal to give clear information without resorting to confrontation of any opposing perspective, no matter how frustrating that perspective has been regarding issues raised either erroneously or with unjustified negativity. I know the committee has fulfilled that expectation and will continue to stay the course through the March 26 election. It is our hope that the clarity of our message and the commitment of our members will accomplish our goal of an informed electorate that will vote overwhelmingly in favor of Measure C.

So it is now with great expectation that my fellow committee members and I look forward to the election and the outcome of our efforts over this long period of inquiry, discovery and involvement. We on the committee have become much more aware of the nature of our own government, and our respect for our elected and appointed officials has grown. We know for a fact that Los Gatos enjoys a true government of and for the people, a government not of bureaucrats aloof from the masses, but one of friends, neighbors, fellow travelers on the road of life. These are people who struggle to make their own personal financial ends meet while devoting large portions of their lives to our community's well-being. These are people who do not always make the perfect decision but strive constantly to make the right one.

It is now more evident than ever that it is the role of every Los Gatan to assume responsibility for the future of our community. Each of us must find that place in the life of our community to make our government work. We must involve ourselves to the level of our capability to help find solutions to problems we face as a town. Our short and long-term financial solutions will be part of this commitment to our future, and I know we will inevitably rejoice in the quality of life we experience because we helped make it happen. This process will really only begin with our passage of Measure C. On March 26th, vote "yes" on Measure C--for quality of life in Los Gatos.