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Editorials
Planning Commission should stay at seven
Reducing the Planning Commission from seven to five members sounds like a strategy for getting more proposals approved faster. That should make developers happy, and it might even make meetings shorter, but it's not the best way to preserve the character of Los Gatos.
A seven-member commission offers a greater opportunity for a balanced body representing divergent viewpoints and experience than does a five-member commission.
Granted, commission meetings have been long. That's partly a reflection of the booming economy which has resulted in a virtual doubling of building activity in Los Gatos in the past two years. That means the commission is overworked, and meetings last late into the night.
But the very fact that building activity has doubled is all the more reason to maintain a seven-member commission. As pressure mounts for the Planning Commission to gloss over concerns about neighborhood compatibility and appropriateness of design, the commission needs more than ever to stick to its guns, or Los Gatos will become a very different community than the one many residents believe should be preserved.
The problem of crowded planning agendas needs to be analyzed; the town needs to consider whether design review should become a part of the process at an earlier stage. Perhaps an architect could consult with the Planning Commission. Maybe the planning staff needs to be more critical of designs before they reach the commission. Long meetings and backlogs can't be ignored.
But whittling down the Planning Commission to just five people is not the best solution to this problem.
Lights, camera ...
Televised council meetings have become commonplace. Just about every city in Silicon Valley televises its council meetings, thanks to cable-access community stations. And why wouldn't local cities jump on the bandwagon?
This is Silicon Valley where work schedules and family responsibilities make participation in civic activities difficult at best.
But in Los Gatos, where a recent settlement with TIC/AT&T have made the funding available so that KCAT could televise the meetings, it's the Town Council that's standing in the way.
At this point, the council majority still opposes televising the meetings. On May 22, a public hearing is scheduled so the public can weigh in on how the $95,000 in settlement money should be allocated. Council members may not want to have the TV cameras catching their every unguarded moment during meetings, but one thing we know for sure. If a big crowd turns out and says televising the meetings is the will of the community, the council (two of whose members sit on the KCAT board) will be hard-put to keep the community in the dark ages.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
