Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Citizens FOR Monte Sereno dominates preservation group

By Clarence Cromwell

The Monte Sereno City Council has replaced Heritage Preservation Committee members with a committee primarily composed of the group that supported council newcomers Joel Gambord and Gordon Knight.

Four members of the previous heritage committee quit after the council accepted a proposal by Gambord and Knight to scrap the law that stops homeowners from destroying or altering historic houses.

Each councilmember gets to name one person to the replacement committee, and it looks as if the appointments are split along the same battle lines as the council.

Former members of Citizens FOR Monte Sereno Knight and Gambord appointed current "Citizens FOR" members Barbara Allen and Hugh Thomas, respectively. Mayor Jack Lucas, who has avoided conflicts over preservation, named Judy Field, a rather moderate member of the Citizens FOR Monte Sereno who hasn't made clear her position on preservation. Staunch pro-preservation Councilmember Dorothea Bamford chose Lana Malloy, who owns a historic house. A fifth committee member is to be named by Councilmember Suzanne Jackson.

Malloy, who does not belong to Citizens FOR, is the only new commissioner who lives in a historic house. None of the new commissioners has experience with architecture or historic preservation.

Allen, Thomas and Field all confirmed that they are currently members of Citizens FOR Monte Sereno. Thomas and Allen have said they support Councilmember Joel Gambord's proposal to make historic preservation voluntary.

Field is apparently a moderate member of the group. Field supported former mayor Nancy Hobbs during last November's council election, although the Citizens FOR Monte Sereno have been critical of Hobbs and have agreed with Gambord and Knight on most issues. Hobbs was bumped from the council when Gambord and Knight won the two open seats.

Field was one of five members who threatened to quit if the council scrapped the historic preservation laws. She'd been on the committee only a few months at the time, appointed to a short-term post to replace Dodi Tabari, who resigned just before the end of her term.

After the council voted to scrap preservation, it reappointed Field.

Thomas said he's a member of Citizens FOR and also was a campaign volunteer for the councilmember who named him to the committee, Gambord.

Knight's designee, Allen, supported Gambord and Knight, she said, and helped them get lawn signs posted on her block.

Two of the three appointees from Citizens FOR are firmly in sync with Gambord and Knight's vision of preservation.

"If you have someone who's bought a historic house, they can be talked around into appreciating it," Thomas said. "It ought to be possible to do preservation with the spirit of willingness all around."

Allen said, "I think you have to take each case as it comes along, and I think the individual property owner should have a great deal of input."

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