Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Fourth of July reflections on our community

By Linda Lubeck

As we approach the Fourth of July, I think each of us reflects on the birth of our nation and what it means to be an American. A lot of us, though, focus more on our hometown than on the country at large. I know that I have reflected a lot more in this last year on Los Gatos, and especially on what it is that makes Los Gatos the place where I want to live.

I've had a lot of opportunity this past year to reflect on this. It seems to me we've had more than our usual share of issues to discuss--from putting the finishing touches on the Los Gatos Boulevard plan to starting the general plan update process through the work of the General Plan Task Force. We've discussed some projects that were "controversial" depending on which side of the issue one stood. We're still discussing the proposal for a new power substation in our town. We've weathered elections on school financing and argued with each other over school boundaries. Los Gatos is still here.

So what is it that makes us all proud to say we call Los Gatos home--no matter which part of town our house or our business is in? Is it the schools? The police department that make us feel safe? The parks and open space? The library? The thriving downtown? The Boulevard, many parts of which have been updated in the last few years? The older homes? The tree-lined streets? The foothills that are our backdrop?

Personally, I think it's all of these things, but the most important factor for many of us is the sense that Los Gatos is a "community," something not many towns and cities can say anymore.

As towns and cities spread out during the past 30 years, many of them lost their identity as separate and distinct communities.

While the citizens of Los Gatos sometimes refer to the part of town where they live by "downtown or "east side," usually when asked they just refer to their home as being in Los Gatos.

Los Gatos has not lost its identity for its citizens as a distinct, wonderful place to be, and much of this is due to its sense of community.

We all work hard to foster that sense of community. When disasters strike, we all turn out to help each other. The fire last year proved that again, although many remember the '89 quake as one of Los Gatos' finest hours as a united community.

We gather together in strong service clubs to serve the community. We celebrate the holidays together each year with a parade. We spend many a summer hour playing together, eating together at the annual Lions Club barbecue and listening to Music in the Plaza. We get to know each other--residents and business owners alike--and work together to keep Los Gatos a wonderful place.

Los Gatos is geographically defined by town boundaries, and they are at times far flung, it seems. The community is not defined by school district boundaries, although we are all proud of the schools that all of our children attend. It is not always even defined by the words Los Gatos, since many organizations use the words Los Gatos but do not serve the entire town.

In some ways that hurts because we all have such a strong sense of Los Gatos as one community that we automatically assume the use of the words denotes the entire community. It doesn't.

It's a wonderful Catch-22 to be a part of--we moved here to be a part of this community, and the harder we work to foster that sense of community, the more other people want to join this community. Sometimes we try to protect our community by not letting others in, but I will never forget the sight of one of our senior citizens addressing the council and reminding us that "Los Gatos is a community of inclusion, not exclusion."

As we approach this Fourth of July, and many more to come, I hope that you will join with me and your fellow citizens in celebrating and recognizing that what makes Los Gatos truly wonderful is its sense as one community. I hope we will all work together to find even more ways that we can strengthen the community bonds we have, to recognize and celebrate the achievements that all of us share, and to find ways to be of service to all of the citizens of Los Gatos. We've come to expect it--and we owe ourselves nothing less.

Linda Lubeck is the mayor of Los Gatos.

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