The Los Gatos Town Council has plans to take its show on the road this year—and there are many residents in the outlying areas of town who are saying that it's about time.
The council, at its April 21 meeting, decided to schedule sessions in Los Gatos neighborhoods in an effort to reach out to members of the community.
These won't be conventional town council meetings. The council will continue to hold regular meetings in council chambers at the civic center. Rather, these will be special meetings—less formal town hall meetings meant to address the specific issues important to particular neighborhoods. It's just that kind of attention that residents outside of the downtown core area of town have been hoping for.
The idea is that the meetings will be "meet and greet" events, says Town Manager Debra Figone. And there should be plenty of residents outside of the heart of town eager to greet the council members when they come to call.
There are at least two areas in Los Gatos where residents feel underserved by the town—specifically, those areas where young people attend schools outside of the Los Gatos Union School District and the Los GatosSaratoga Union High School District.
Late last year, Councilman Mike Wasserman and the Los Gatos Weekly-Times attended a community meeting in the Bicknell Road area. The purpose of the meeting was for residents of that neighborhood to meet with the newspaper to determine how their events could be better publicized in the Weekly-Times. They were frustrated by what they thought was a lack of representation in the newspaper, but what also surfaced at the meeting was their frustration over a lack of attention paid to them by town officials.
Their children attend schools in the Campbell Union School District, yet they live in Los Gatos. Much of their frustration stems from what they perceive as a focus by the town and the newspaper on families living in areas where children attend Los Gatos district schools. It's a feeling shared by many residents who live over on the east side of town in the area near Leigh High School.
Wasserman and the Weekly-Times left the meeting with a better understanding of the needs and desires of residents in that part of Los Gatos. When the rest of the council meets with neighbors in the areas near Westmont and Leigh high schools, they no doubt will be enlightened as well.
The first areas targeted for town hall meetings include a June 30 trip to the Bel Gatos neighborhood, near Leigh, and a Sept. 29 visit to La Rinconada, near Westmont.
It's good to see the town council reaching out to the neighborhoods in town to explore specific areas of concern. But it's especially gratifying to see the council make the important first step to reach out to the outlying reaches of Los Gatos where many residents now feel ignored and underserved. It seems to be a crucial step that could make great strides in drawing the entire community together.
