By Sarah Lombardo
They may have different backgrounds, but all four of the Parks and Recreation Commission applicants have two things in common: kids and a desire to serve their community.
Rick Blomquist, Elaine Clabeaux, Julie Galvin and Patricia Compton have applied for positions on the commission being vacated by Jennifer Clark, Barbara Dutra, Marianne Swan and Kay Whitney.
Blomquist, a father of three boys, said he was asked to apply for the commission by city officials after he spoke at a City Council meeting on the issue of parks in Saratoga.
"I've lived here 38 years, and this is something I could do for the community," said Blomquist, a project coordinator for the building operations division of Santa Clara County.
"My ultimate goal is to make Saratoga have parks the way cities in Europe have them," he said, adding that this would mean a balance between passive parks for quiet strolls, and active parks for organized sports.
Blomquist said striking that balance and facing the reactions of residents affected may be the most difficult task facing incoming commissioners.
Clabeaux, a Saratoga resident since 1967, said she hopes her skills will help the city strike that balance more peacefully.
Clabeaux said she decided to join the Parks and Recreation Commission after seeing the dissension that occurred when the current commission approved plans to develop multi-use parks in Saratoga.
"I guess I took it upon myself to be, I think, that voice of reason," she said.
Clabeaux said that, with her years of design experience, she can visualize and put into sketch drawings suggestions for parks and development. This, she said, will help stop many arguments about aesthetics before they start by giving fellow commissioners and residents a chance to see their ideas on paper.
"Since many people can't visualize, they sometimes get the wrong idea of what something will look like," Clabeaux said. "Sketches can solve a lot of problems."
The schoolteacher and business owner said having raised two children in Saratoga and with six grandchildren attending Saratoga schools, she can understand how important it is to residents with children that kids have places to play. However, she said she can also understand the need of some residents to have quiet parks.
"You want a variety of needs being met," said Clabeaux. "I think you have to look at the entire city and say, 'How can we make this happen?'"
Galvin, a former finance manger for Intel Corp., said what she would like to see happen as a commissioner would be for the city to purchase more land designated for open space. But the stay-at-home mother said the city's budget constraints make that seem unlikely.
"It seems money will be a big problem," she said.
Galvin, who moved to Saratoga in October 1995, said because of her two children, she has an interest in the parks and open space of Saratoga and she wanted to get involved. "And this seemed like a good way to do that," she added.
Compton, a Saratoga resident for 18 years and the mother of six sons, said she also has an interest in the open space of Saratoga.
The community volunteer said that as a commissioner she would like to advocate for Saratoga's developing a program that introduces the city's natural resources to people.
"I don't think enough attention is being given to the natural resources we have," Compton said.
Compton added that she would also pay close attention to developing programs for teens, an issue she said inspired her to apply for the commission in the first place.
"I definitely would like to see a substantial and satisfying program for our youth, particularly teen youth," she said. "I feel very strongly that one thing a community needs to do is provide for the spare time and activities of their teens and their children."
The applicants must be interviewed and appointed to the commission by the members of the City Council.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, September 4, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved