Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

The rubber band has stretched to its maximum

For approximately four years, 1991-1994, I was privileged to report on the day-to-day activities of Los Gatos town government for the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. During that time I saw municipal revenues shrink through recession, shifts in auto industry marketing techniques and the depredations of state government. I watched as town administrators coped with these losses by cutting payrolls, automating operations, contracting out services where appropriate and persuading an ever-increasing number of Los Gatos citizens to volunteer their services to the town.

Miraculously, it worked. The level of municipal services provided all citizens was kept where we wanted it.

But cut-and-paste can take a town only so far. Los Gatos has stretched this particular rubber band to the limit (how's that for a mixed metaphor?). Unless Los Gatans want to live from now on with lower service levels--fewer library hours, a smaller police force, permanently potholed streets, for example--the town simply has to find more money.

That's what the 2 percent utility-users tax is all about: It will provide the money, about $800,000 a year for the next five years, to buy the services we all want and need. And it will buy something else.

It will buy time.

It is greatly to be hoped and desired that within five years, economic development compatible with the maintenance of Los Gatos' traditional small-town ambiance will restore tax revenues to where they were, proportionately, before Proposition 13, the Loma Prieta earthquake and the slash-and-burn tactics of the California Legislature.

In any event, the utility-users tax will expire automatically in five years, and while it is in effect, low-income Los Gatans will be exempt from it, and businesses with high utility bills will have their tax capped at $5,000 per utility per year. The tax is the least painful way to raise enough revenue to keep the town functioning the way we want it to. Without the tax, there will be service cuts; there's no way around that. Next year's anticipated operating budget shortfall is $500,000, and the gap is expected to grow to about $1 million annually by the year 2000--unless we find more money.

To keep Los Gatos a great place to live, to keep it the Los Gatos we have come to love, vote Yes on Measure C, the utility-users tax, on March 26.

Wes Peyton

Los Gatos

Town needs tax to maintain its historic charm

One of the many things that sets Los Gatos apart from so many other local towns is its attention to detail. The people care what businesses come to town, what the buildings look like, that we have a history that is important to us, and a "look" or image we'd like to keep up. Lately, though, our town has taken on the look of an old relic, instead of a beautiful historic town. Our streets and sewer system are in need of repair, downtown sidewalks are dirty, street trees need proper trimming, parks and trails should be better maintained, and there should be more downtown parking. Also library hours and an excellent park ranger program shouldn't be in jeopardy every year.

All of this takes money. Due to many factors, most importantly that the state is stealing from the municipalities to balance its own budget, Los Gatos doesn't have enough money to fund all these projects. Without enough detailing, our town is looking ragged.

This is our town and we need to do something for it. What can we, the people, do? On March 26th, we will be asked to vote on Measure C, a utility-users tax that exempts low-income households. It's a small tax, not as much as what has been levied by many of the other cities around us but, yes, it is a tax; and we, the people, don't like to pay more taxes. Sometimes, however, you just have to.

If our town is important enough to us; if we want to keep up the quality of life we've grown accustomed to and not have to worry about cuts to the services we take for granted, then we have to say "Yes." Yes, we care about Los Gatos. Yes, we are willing to pay a few more dollars each month for five years. Yes. We will vote on March 26th and we will vote "Yes" on Measure C.

April & Mike Maiten

Los Gatos

Measure C is like prescribing aspirin instead of surgery

It is no secret that I opposed the utility tax when it was before the Town Council. I felt then and feel now that upon examination there are no persuasive arguments for the passage of this tax. In the past, on these pages, I have expounded on alternatives to this tax, as I have in council chambers.

However, when I read a letter in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times by a representative of the League of Women Voters, a respected organization, that other communities have a utility tax so we should too, I feel impelled to point out to prospective voters that this is as much an argument as to why they should abolish their tax as it is why we should adopt one. When I read that this is a compassionate tax because it exempts low-income seniors, I must observe that it is a degrading tax because it requires individuals to divulge sensitive financial information to town employees for the possibility of an exemption if they fall below an arbitrary income figure. I must further point out that this same group opposed a public vote on the grounds that elections are expensive, time-consuming and divisive: a perfect description of democracy.

I also observe that this measure will be as effective as prescribing an aspirin where major surgery is indicated. The funds raised will soon be inadequate to even cover our annual operating deficit, to say nothing of the major infrastructure repairs
we require. The only alternative that works in the long run is to reexamine our spending priorities and methods of delivering service. I am convinced that our current sources of revenue are adequate to maintain, or perhaps even increase, services without a new tax. Further, this tax foists our problems off on a future council. While this tax technically sunsets in five years, if we don't demand that our local government get efficient now, what alternative will my successors have but to ask for an extension or an increase to this tax?

On March 26, Los Gatans will make a fundamental choice in the direction their town government will take for the foreseeable future. I urge them to join me in voting as I did in council chambers, and how I will vote in the polling place. No on C!

Steven Blanton

Los Gatos Town Councilmember

Students should get back to basics

The editorial in the Feb. 14 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times states: "It's good news that Los Gatos High School has hired an instructor for its TV and video classes. With KCAT-TV as its laboratory, young people in these classes get real-life experiences in television program production."

My question is, do these young people have time for real-life experiences in the study of English grammar, spelling, composition and penmanship? Can they read at a level consistent with the high standards that have been followed in the past? Do they have a good grasp of logic and reason?

Do they know how to look for false premises in a person's reasoning or how to identify the presuppositions out of which he speaks?

Can these students speak the English language so as to communicate clearly and concisely the thoughts they intend to express? Can they discern fact from feeling?

Have these students had the real-life experience of reading biographies of famous Americans, including Confederate men and women from the South? Are they being taught the history of our nation, including its Christian origins?

Have they been drilled in addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, and simple algebraic solving for unknowns, and can they do these operations from memory without a computer? Can they do them using fractions?

Why is it that in our public schools we keep pushing our youth into adult-life experiences without teaching them the basic tools of a well-rounded education? Surely the process of growing up and qualifying over time to enter the adult world is a valuable and irreplaceable process that does prepare young people for entrance into that world. In times past, we had to earn that privilege with education, training and hard work after we had had a basic public education. That system works, and has made our nation strong.

But now, if we continue to shunt this becoming-an-adult process, pridefully boasting of the "creative" things our youth can do, while sacrificing their basic education, we as a nation will pay even more dearly than we already are. As King Solomon wrote with great wisdom given him by the God of his fathers: "Pride goeth before destruction," Proverbs 16:18. As a taxpayer, I resent supporting this costly enterprise.

Dorothy Shattuck

Los Gatos

Utility-users tax is fair and needed

Taxes are never fun, but the fact is that our town needs more money to pay for essential services and keep our valuable roads and bridges from deteriorating. The tax will cost most households less than $3 a month, bringing our town about $800,000 a year in revenue.

Town government has downsized, bringing the same kind of efficiency to Los Gatos that we expect from other service providers. We do more with less than just about any city in our region. I personally value the services we receive, and know how much more it will cost in future years if we don't maintain our roads today.

The utility-users tax is fair in its application to our citizens, protects low-income residents, and will "sunset" in five years. I urge you to support Measure C on the March 26, 1996, ballot.

John S. Snelham

Los Gatos

Need for tax vaguely identified

Shall we support a utility-users tax?

It is impossible for voters to be able to evaluate the merits of the proposed Measure C, a 2 percent utility-users tax, because the specific need has been vaguely identified.

I understand the town has a projected shortfall of $500,000 in 1995-1996. Inadequate reasons for this have been given.

Before I vote "Yes" or "No," I would like to know how the Measure C funds, approximately $800,000 per year for the next five years, will be spent.

It is not enough to say my money will be put into the general fund. We need responsible town government and a lean administration.

Waclaw Bilkiewicz

Los Gatos