I have been a resident and a dog owner in Los Gatos for several years. As such, I frequent the trails and neighborhood sidewalks with Ivy, my rescue dog from the Humane Society.
I am consistently amazed and appalled by the number of dog owners who do not clean up after their dogs. These dog owners often leave their pooches' calling cards right in front of someone's house ... in the middle of the sidewalk! I can't imagine who they think should clean it up--the homeowner? A jogger?
This is part of the responsibility we are obliged to accept as dog owners. I know there are many dog owners who are tired of being disallowed from hiking trails and parks. Those of you who don't scoop are ruining the joy of canine companionship for the rest of us as we become more and more restricted.
It's so easy; just take a couple plastic baggies with you and spare the rest of us your mess. And if this reaches anyone from Parks and Recreation, please add more trash cans on the trails so we can lighten our load along the way!
Please keep Los Gatos dog-friendly.
Deborah Thornton and Ivy
Los Gatos
As a 12-year resident of Los Gatos and a golfer, I'd like to offer some suggestions in this open letter to Pete Denevi about his proposed golf course in the Lexington Basin:
I want you to understand I know you need a return on investment for you and your Hong Kong partners. Take a look at your opposition.
On Sunday, April 27, they were in town at the Farmer's Market. They were leafleting, cajoling and proclaiming their position to the shopping masses.
They oppose the project from every conceivable angle: exclusivity, logging, traffic, drainage (golf course turf), waste disposal (residential effluent)--you name it.
They've gone so far as to suggest buying the project site from you and your partners. You are witnessing the massing of a formidable opposition.
Where were you? I would hope you are addressing their concerns, to some extent. Your project hangs in the balance. A solution to save the development involves complex compromise. But look at the changing climate around golf, for instance.
A year ago, golf was as it had been in America for a century: an import from the British Isles, exclusive, for the landed gentry. Its heroes were lily white, literally. But that has changed; the game is changed.
No longer do neighbors and the wider community look at golf the same way. An exclusive club, with a $40,000 membership fee [as you currently propose] will not serve this development's neighbors or golfers to come. Today, post-Tiger Woods, PT in golf time, the game will be for the masses. This should change your project.
The game needs more access, not less. Thousands of new players, some 10 years and younger, have become aware of and want to learn the game. Turn the golf portion of this development into a training facility with a nine-hole course, practice range, video studio, restaurant, etc. Invite the wider community, sparked with excitement in this PT era, to come learn the game.
Address the concerns of your growing opposition. Don't fence them out; let 'em in to learn the game.
You are perceived as an outsider. Don't miss your opportunity today to address your opponents.
Cut fewer trees, allow more access, build fewer homes, build consensus. Better to have a project than none at all.
Steve Conway
Los Gatos
Upon reading the article by Clarence Cromwell in the April 16 edition of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, I was surprised to learn that Bruni Sablan had chosen to leave her Old Town location in favor of a new site in Campbell.
I was even more surprised to read Bruni's letter in your April 30 edition refuting the April 16 story. This is a story that should be of concern to the art-conscious in our community--if there are any remaining.
Bruni's Old Town Gallery has been an asset to the town for many years. Her Jazz Masters series has attracted numerous individuals to the very shopping center that may be attempting to evict her.
I would hope that something can be done to keep Bruni in Old Town, or at least in Los Gatos. There must be some things that are of more value than the Almighty Dollar, even to shopping center owners Hunter and Storm.
Tom Engelmann
Los Gatos
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This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, May 14, 1997.
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