Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Editorials

Mike LaRocca made his mark in town

Corporation yards usually aren't much to look at, what with trucks and equipment and sandbags for stormy weather occupying much of the space. In Los Gatos, though, the corporation yard--officially known as the R.J. Bryant Center--is something special.

And Mike LaRocca, director of parks, forestry and maintenance, is a key reason why.

Not only was he instrumental in moving Maria's Berry Farm house to the corporation yard and crusading for its renovation, he serves as the gracious host of the restored Victorian which is now the office for the corporation yard.

Go there for a meeting, and he might prepare lunch in the updated country kitchen; call him at home on a Saturday to say you forgot to pick up the key to the house where your group is meeting, and he'll come down and open the door--and pick up coffee and cookies on the way.

In fact, LaRocca is behind much that is gracious and lovely in Los Gatos.

It is his department that sees to it that bright flowers are planted in the median strip along Los Gatos-Saratoga Road at the entrance to the downtown and that they are carefully tended.

And the town's beautifully maintained parks? Thank LaRocca and his staff.

As a matter of fact, we'd like to say thanks to this dedicated public servant, who puts in his time at work on behalf of the community and who frequently spends his weekends clearing trails as a community volunteer.

LaRocca retires on June 21 after 30 years with the department, a career he started on the ground floor as a warehouseman. He worked his way to the top, and into the hearts of many Los Gatans.

On the Boulevard

Los Gatos Boulevard, a vision that sprang to life more than two years ago, has been stalled for nearly a year while the Planning Department worked on a strategy for an easy-to-understand public presentation.

When planners staged a public hearing a year ago, they expected the plan, which seemed to have the endorsement of a large part of the community, to be warmly received. Instead, they encountered a hostile audience.

Auto dealers, in particular, objected to the concept of a pedestrian-friendly boulevard, a notion embraced by more than 200 citizens who participated in the early planning stages of the boulevard plan.

On the theory that one picture is worth 1,000 pages of bureaucratic documentation, the planners will return June 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers armed with photographs and illustrations.

Let's hope they're right about the illustrations. It would be a shame to let the vision die.

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