Deepak Chopra is an idea man.

As an entrepreneur, Chopra has run companies that specialize in everything from imports and exports to medical supplies to technology. Most recently he opened a Cajun restaurant in Willow Glen.

Now Chopra has come up with ideas that he thinks pertain to the entire Monte Sereno community. As a result, he is trying to win one of the three open city council seats next month.

"I make things happen. I don't fail. I'm a go-getter," Chopra says.

One of Chopra's ideas is to increase communication between the council and residents. Chopra thinks the city should issue regular newsletters making people aware of the reasoning behind the city's rules. Along with a newsletter, he says, there should be a "Welcome to Monte Sereno" brochure for new residents that spells out all the regulations.

"I would try to bring the frustration level down. If residents are not able to get something done, they'll know why," Chopra says.

Similarly, Chopra envisions more resident feedback to city government. Chopra hopes the city will improve its website and include some interactive features. And Chopra is interested in a council performance review committee that would make council members accountable to residents.

Chopra hopes to involve professionals in the community as consultants, finding out which residents are experts in certain fields and then meeting with them one on one. The council would then base decisions on the experts' recommendations--in matters such as building, planning and transportation.

Council members don't necessarily have the expertise to make qualified decisions for specific issues, Chopra says, and should make the most of residents' knowledge. "You involve people and they shine like stars," Chopra says.

Chopra also wants to have a hand in creating community events, such as some sort of athletic event for Monte Sereno residents at Vasona Lake County Park. But Chopra says it's not the location that's important. "I'll do it in my backyard," Chopra says, chuckling. "It's just the sense of being together."

Although his own daughter attends Hillbrook School, Chopra is concerned about school district boundaries in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno. Chopra's house is located in the Campbell school districts. Chopra says the city should set up a task force to make a recommendation that would allow all Monte Sereno students to attend the same school.

"We already have a good city, and I think we need to make it better," Chopra says. "I can't resolve all the problems myself, but with the participation of the community and all the good folks around, we can do anything."

A 10-year resident of Monte Sereno, Chopra first came to the United States almost three decades ago. Chopra and his wife, Kathleen, built their Becky Lane home--"I'm used to the process of building and getting permits," Chopra says--which has tennis courts that Chopra uses on occasion.

Because of that experience, Chopra empathizes with the residents who want to build their dream homes, but says their visions and the city's regulations must be well-matched.

That means that there should be a sufficient rural quality in the development, he says. Rural, however, does not mean the Monte Sereno of decades past. "I don't think we can go back to where the horses are there and buggies go down the street," Chopra says. Rather, Chopra's goal is to return natural conditions after the building process to what they were before construction started, undergrounding utilities as much as possible and limiting residential development to a 6,000-square-foot house for one acre.

Affordable housing has been a hot topic in Monte Sereno because of the city's imminent adoption of the housing element. Chopra says that he does not know enough about affordable housing but that high-density housing would not fit with the character of the city.

"I think it's good to have affordable housing. I don't think Monte Sereno is the right place," Chopra says. According to Chopra, people move into the city because they want to live in an affluent area and don't want to be surrounded by low-income units.

Chopra says his background in business has given him people skills and the ability to communicate and be a consensus-builder. "I want to take that experience and that wealth of knowledge and share it with the community," Chopra says. "I have seen the ups and downs of the valley, and I'm a better person for it."

Deepak Chopra

Age: 50

Occupation: Entrepreneur; currently running a medical business, a technology corporation, a catering company and two restaurants

Education: Bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Delhi

Family: Wife Kathleen, 10-year-old daughter, 3-year-old son