Editorials

Morgan's contribution to town was significant

In her 18 years on the Los Gatos Planning Commission, Kathy Morgan made a real difference. She's probably best known for her efforts to preserve historic buildings. She has been active on the Historic Preservation Committee and was instrumental in getting historic preservation guidelines approved.

Although she was passionate about preservation, she made it a point to attend seminars and classes, so that she could speak from a position of authority.

But for all the visibility she gained as one of the town's foremost preservationists, planning commissioners and staff say nothing stands out for them like her ability to make "findings."

What most people know about planning decisions comes from their observation of change--or lack of change--in the community. For those who hammer out decisions late into the night, however, "findings" are everything.

Before planners can rule on an issue, they must know the ordinances and how they apply to the issue. Findings are the bridge from the facts to the decision. One of Morgan's planning commission colleagues says her findings will go down in the annals of Los Gatos.

She studied findings with the same dedication she committed to historic preservation.

And with her English teacher's penchant for clear, concise writing, she made sure that her findings came complete with every "i" dotted and every "t" crossed.

More than anything, though, Morgan will be remembered for the strong set of core values she brought with her to the Planning Commission.

Skateboard Scene

A skateboarder's life is not an easy one. Reduced to practicing their sport on loading docks and parking lots, the young people who have chosen skateboarding as a form of recreation and transportation have learned to keep one eye out for cops and the other for angry merchants.

Skateboarders are not criminals, as we are sometimes reminded by the bumper stickers on their parents' cars; they're mostly clean-cut, wholesome kids who have to engage in their sport illegally or not at all.

It's not skateboarding that's a problem; the problem is that there's hardly anyplace where skateboarding is legal.

We think it's time for the community to get behind the small, but growing movement to provide a place where skateboarders can engage in their sport.

With the many parks in the community, and protection from liability provided by state law, surely there's a spot somewhere in Los Gatos that could be developed for this activity.

When a cop breaks up a group of kids skateboarding on a loading dock, he ought to be able to send them some place where they can skateboard legally.

Caere Inc. will stay in town after merger

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