Council Funds Shuttle Service For Employees During Holidays
Workers turn out in force to protest parking time limits
Bid for service is $5,500
By Nathan R. Huff
The downtown employees who were missing at previous parking-related Town Council meetings showed up in force Nov. 1 to weigh in on the proposed holiday shuttle.
Employees offered their general support for the shuttle, which would take them from the Miles Avenue lot to downtown businesses during the holiday season. But they took issue with the proposed hours of operation, the shuttle's limited capacity of 15 riders, and the general parking situation facing downtown workers.
The council agreed to fund the shuttle service, and asked Director of Parks and Public Works Scott Baker to modify, according to need, the hours and days the service operates.
The employee shuttle program was developed as an alternative to lighting the Miles Avenue parking lot and trail, which Baker said would cost close to $5,000 and wouldn't necessarily satisfy employee safety concerns. The shuttle bid from Golden Gate Valet is $5,500, which may increase if the program expands.
Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Com-merce members sought Town Council approval of the shuttle to make up for the employee parking deficit created after
the council passed three-hour limits on town lots but rejected the other half of the Chamber's proposal, which was to open up University Avenue for employee parking.
Downtown employees lambasted the council, and to a lesser extent the Chamber, for what they called a lack of foresight and communication with employees.
"It's very disappointing the mistakes this town has made planning its parking on the backs of the people who work [here]," Scott Judd, a California Cafe employee, told the council. "All these restaurants and retail shops we like to go into are just rooms without the people who work there."
Employees, mostly from Old Town businesses, challenged the proposed 7-11 p.m. shuttle hours, saying many employees, particularly those working in restaurants, leave work after 11 p.m. and carry cash tips with them.
"Some of us leave with over $100," Tim Flynn, another California Cafe employee, said after the meeting. "I might be OK to walk to and from [the Miles Avenue lot], but a lot of the ladies are not."
Chamber Executive Director Sheri Lewis said she was pleased to see employees finally making their voices heard at the council. "What the council responds to is people who come, stand up and complain," Lewis said. "We asked employees to come up with specific concerns, and they did."
Chamber chair-elect Diana McNutt said they were also pleased that the town was willing to invest in a shuttle service for employees. While she acknowledged that changing attitudes and behaviors on parking would be difficult, she expressed optimism for the program.
McNutt, who drew some grumbling from employees in the audience when she referred to the shuttle as an "employee limousine," said informal conversations between Chamber members and employees after the meeting cleared up much of the employees' confusion. "Almost universally, they felt reassured," McNutt said. "They've just felt like they were taken unaware."
Chamber members are also suggesting that businesses work more closely with their employees, providing more information on parking areas, offering incentives not to park in prime customer spots and staggering their work hours slightly to make the shuttle more efficient.
According to Flynn, the town needs to take drastic steps soon if it wants to retain its service employees. With the entire Santa Clara Valley facing an employee shortage, skilled service workers have a number of options.
The town of Los Gatos has high standards for service, Flynn said. "If it wants to hold onto that level of service, it has to place a higher value on its employees."
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
