Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Editorials

Budget conservative in spite of the boom

What a difference two years can make. Two years ago, the budget process was an interminably long, drawn out, contentious affair. It was during those public hearings that would-be council candidates actually began campaigning for an election that wouldn't even make the news for several more months.

This fall, there are three openings on the council, yet the budget breezed through with barely a dissenting word.

Blame the Silicon Valley boom.

This year the council is not in the difficult position of having to cut into popular services as was the case two years ago. Nevertheless, the council was in a conservative mood this year. And we think that's the right frame of mind.

Anyone who's been in Silicon Valley for any length of time knows that boom times don't last forever. Additionally, the town is again at the mercy of the state, not knowing whether it can continue to depend on funding it currently receives from vehicle licensing fees.

So when Councilmember Steve Blanton proposed increases to A Place for Teens and the Art Docents, he had trouble getting the rest of the council to back him.

These are both worthwhile causes, with tremendous support in the community. But as Joanne Benjamin pointed out, giving these programs additional funding during boom times is a setup for a bigger disappointment in the future, when the boom ends.

The town is also in the process of converting to a system of full-cost accounting, which is a positive move. Not only does it give the town a more accurate picture of where the money is--or isn't--going, but it also makes it possible for any citizen who's willing to invest a little time to actually understand the town's finances.

And finally, we would like to commend the council for an economy that only a headline writer can truly appreciate: The consolidation of the Department of Parks, Forestry and Maintenance and the Department of Building and Engineering Services into Parks and Public Works. Just fits across two columns.

A Timely Decision

As the general plan revision enters its second phase, councilmembers made a wise move by including a plan for the Yuki property in the process. For years this 40-acre walnut orchard was looked at as the last parcel likely to be developed along the boulevard, and there seemed to be no sense of urgency about coming up with a vision for the area's eventual development.

But the Yuki property, currently zoned mixed-use commercial, has caught the eye of developers. Several applications are already pending, and two acres of nearby Yuki land have already been approved as a 17-unit townhouse complex.

Intelligent planning demands inclusion of the property in the general plan revision.

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