Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Editorials

Voters seek balance locally, nationally

Last week, voters told Linda Lubeck she could keep the job they elected her to four years earlier, and they gave newcomer Jan Hutchins a vote of confidence. We think Egon Jensen, a former mayor and frequent council critic, could have been elected if he had run a different campaign, if for no other reason than that people like balance.

But instead of campaigning as a feisty independent who might provide a check on the council, he aligned himself with newcomer Frank Jones, who like Jensen had been involved with the anti-Measure C forces.

While not officially running as a slate, Jensen and Jones gave the appearance that they were running as Councilmember Steve Blanton's team.

The perception that Blanton was directing the Jensen and Jones campaigns from behind the scenes may have lost the race for Jensen. Blanton, who until recently has kept his personal dislike for Lubeck beneath the surface, made no secret of his desire to unseat her.

Jensen could have spouted off about taxes and overspending and bad council decisions, and everyone would have thought he was playing fair. It was a political campaign, after all.

But rumors were rampant that if Jensen and Jones were elected, Blanton would use his majority to clean house, beginning with Town Manager David Knapp.

That turned a healthy campaign battle into a mean-spirited one.

Election results suggest that the vote against Measure C didn't reflect a deep-seated dissatisfaction for the entire council and town management, as Blanton and his candidates hoped.

Americans hold their system of checks and balances very dear. That's why they usually put one party in Congress and the other in the White House.

In Los Gatos, voters had an opportunity to dramatically turn the balance of power.

They chose, instead to go with Lubeck, who has worked hard and made good decisions, even if the voters didn't agree with her on the utility tax.

And they chose to balance the old council with someone who is very much an unknown quantity but who is positive and bright and committed to improving communications in the town.

We wish the winners well. And we hope that those who ran but didn't win will continue to participate in the process. They will serve the community well by sitting in the audience and asking hard questions.

More Neighborly

In Monte Sereno, voters put their faith in Joel Gambord and Gordon Knight, both of whom promised they would return the tiny city to the minimum-government ideal of founder Admiral Thomas B. Inglis.

Although Gambord spent heavily in a race where candidates seldom drop more than $100, his landslide victory can hardly be attributed solely to his slick signs and brochures.

People in Monte Sereno clearly want to see a less-intrusive local government and one that is, perhaps, a bit more neighborly.

How difficult a task the victors have set for themselves remains to be seen.

We wish them well.