Los Gatos Weekly-Times

MONTE SERENO COUNCIL AGREES TO HEAR CONCERNS OF CITIZENS GROUP

Unsigned letter to be put on Feb. 6 meeting agenda

Mayor wants to talk first

By Anne Gelhaus

The Monte Sereno City Council last week agreed to address concerns raised in a letter penned by a group calling itself "Citizens FOR Monte Sereno."

Earlier this month, the group mailed an unsigned letter to all Monte Sereno residents, lambasting the city's government for "arrogant leadership more concerned with process than how that process is impacting its citizens."

The letter addresses a wide range of topics, including the city's budget, its heritage and tree-preservation ordinances, and its quest to save the Claravale Guernsey Farm.

At a Jan. 16 meeting, group member Barbara Allen asked the City Council to make a discussion of the letter part of its Feb. 6 agenda. The council complied, but Mayor Nancy Hobbs said she'd like to meet with the citizens group prior to the next council session.

Hobbs added that she would write a letter in response to the group's missive that will also go out to the citizenry. The mayor said her letter will clear up what she and other city officials term inaccurate information in the first letter.

After the meeting, Hobbs pointed out that while members of the citizens group asked in their letter that city officials do something about the issues they've raised, they didn't make any specific requests.

"At the moment," the mayor said, "I'm not sure what's going to come out of all this because the letter doesn't ask for any real action. That's why we'd like to meet with them."

Hobbs said she'd already spoken with several members of the group about arranging a meeting, and they said they'd get back to her.

A number of people involved in the citizens group have complaints about recent City Council decisions that have directly affected residents' homes and property. Members of the group who have indentified themselves to the Weekly-Times include: Joel Gambord, who was slapped with a "stop work" order recently when city officials deemed that his remodeling efforts were harming the historic value of his home, which was built by John Steinbeck; and Bruce and Jan Bergman, whom the City Council denied permission to fill in a seven-foot ditch on their property.

Before last week's council meeting, Jan Bergman said she saw her group's effort as a long-term one.

"Even if the council approved everything we wanted, we'd stick with the group," Bergman added. "So many people have been treated unfairly."