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Editorial
The best candidates will offer workable solutions
November is a long way off. Still, there's no doubt the campaign season is beginning. In many corners of Los Gatos, people are talking, forming coalitions, deciding who they want to support. With three candidates already in the race for two open seats, the field is still wide open.
We expect that with the new activist spirit brewing in town, it could be a crowded field. We say the more the merrier.
Interviews with those who have thrown their hats in the ring reveal that the impact of the high cost of living on the town is going to get a good airing during the campaign.
For all three candidates, affordable housing emerges as a high priority. That certainly reflects concerns one hears every day. Anyone who's been here a while understands that one of the town's real strengths has been its economically diverse population.
The problem is that the obvious solutions--including high-density housing--don't play well to those who are concerned not only about affordable housing, but also about protecting their own property values.
Propose high-density housing, and it's a given that neighbors will turn out to complain about increased traffic and falling property values.
We hope that this election is an opportunity for a creative interchange of ideas between candidates, residents and business people about how Los Gatos can preserve the qualities that make the town unique.
It won't be enough to come out in favor of housing where teachers can afford to live or to grouse about the escalating cost of doing business in town. Everyone knows what the problem is. The voice that rises above the crowd will be the one that proposes honest-to-goodness workable solutions.
Los Gatos is not the only community reeling from changes brought about by the fallout of prosperity, and some have fought back in unconventional ways. Some Bay Area cities now prohibit the building of second stories in older neighborhoods of one-story homes.
In Portland, Ore., the newly rich have become enamored of a new style of house that puts an oversized garage in front of the living area. Developers love the new homes, but detractors call them "snout houses," and the planning commission outlawed the style in some older residential neighborhoods.
Many Los Gatans understand that the battle can't be fought by doing business the same old way, and that's why there's such a push to close loopholes in the General Plan update. That's why some are saying, "change the shoulds to shalls."
Political campaigns at the local level--unlike the debacle at the national level--offer a real opportunity for candidates and citizens to engage in serious dialogue about where the community is headed. In many ways, it's a time of hope, a time when bold ideas can be proposed.
Let the campaign begin.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
