And while some community members may be critical of the town's choices as to where those cuts would be made, know that the council members labored over each one and made their decisions with the best interests of the town at heart.

The bottom line? The cuts had to be made so that the town could maintain its bottom line. The state has grabbed so much of the town's revenue that it just isn't possible to maintain past levels of service. Or is it?

There is a way to compensate for the deficits in these times of financial downturn, but it means that community members will have to be called upon to dig deep once again—not in the form of taxes or bonds, but through contributions.

Donations of money and materials from members of the community could help offset the town's losses during this time of economic strife in the state of California and its municipalities.

History tells us that this situation is short term and that the economy will stabilize in the not so distant future. So an infusion of cash to the town coffers from the community could help to save jobs and programs so that the town does not have to suffer the loss of services.

It's clear that the communities of Los Gatos and Monte Sereno have the wherewithal to raise funds in a hurry. They're proven that through their efforts to support the schools through the Los Gatos Education Foundation and the Theater Improvement Project.

Monte Sereno helping out the town of Los Gatos financially? That's right—because, Monte Serenans, this is your problem, too. You use the library, you use A Place for Teens, the history of Los Gatos is your history, too—and it is, after all, the Los Gatos­Monte Sereno Police Department. All four are slated for cuts, and all four could benefit from a quick infusion of cash.

The library will be called upon to cut its hours and reduce its materials acquisition budget to meet the budget. Partial funding cuts are planned for the Los Gatos Museum Association and A Place for Teens. Public donations could easily offset those cuts and restore all three entities to full capacity.

It's not likely that enough funds can be saved to help save positions that will be lost in the police department, which figure to translate to longer response times to non-emergency calls. But donations in the other three areas could make it possible for the town to allocate more funding for the police, thereby solving many of the problem areas.

Community members have stepped forward to answer the call of "Save our Schools" with donations of nearly $1 million in each of the last two years. Now it's time to save our town—and believe us when we say, it's a town worth saving.