Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Former councilmembers shouldn't set future agendas

By Dorothea Bamford

I was interested in the opinion by Monte Sereno councilmembers Joel Gambord and Gordon Knight in the July 15 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. In the first paragraph they bring up "incumbent recruiting." I don't recall their suggesting that Jack Lucas or I find candidates to take our places on the council as their opinion piece suggests.

I am opposed to that concept anyway, because I don't want to see former councilmembers attempting to set future agendas. Usually the best councilmembers are those who have been following city affairs, who have no personal aims except to work for the welfare of the city as a whole, and who are supported by their friends and neighbors, because of their prior community service.

Gambord and Knight state that the process of incumbents choosing their replacements "is working remarkably well at both the state and national levels." As the average citizen knows, this does not occur at the higher levels. We have primary elections for that purpose.

Monte Sereno has 3,400 residents, Saratoga has 29,800, but each city has five councilmembers. One can't expect the same number of candidates in Monte Sereno where the pool is so small. Since 1982 there has been only one instance where an election was not held, in 1992 when Pam Bancroft and Nancy Hobbs were appointed. In all the other periods there was a contest.

There is not Citizens Against the Citizens FOR group that I know of, althought Gambord's and Knight's piece implies such. Indeed, the 1996 election was interesting. This was the first time Monte Sereno had a organized group dedicated to electing its chosen candidates. Also, this was the first time in Monte Sereno that Big Bucks played a part.

Lawn signs--costly items--sprouted. Joel Gambord spent $4,277 of his own money (public record) in a way that also helped two other candidates. Nancy Hobbs had no ballot statement, no yard signs. She lost by 47 votes. If she had put $4,277 into the election, or even $1,000, wouldn't the results have been different?

Gambord and Knight state that the council needs managers, people who are accountable for results, people who know how to take action and get problems fixed. They seem not to grasp the legal concept of a city council's role. By state law, managing is done by the city manager. He or she is accountable to the city council, acting in public session. No individual councilmember, even if part of a majority, has the right to give orders to the city manager, nor to any staff member. Of course, the individual can ask. If this seems restrictive, it is. The system is called democracy.

The most important qualities for a city councilmember, I believe-- and this belief is supported by attendance at numerous League of California Cities training sessions--are the ability to work with the rest of the council for the general good, an awareness of community needs and the ability to make logical decisions based on the city code, not on friendship.

If the city is running smoothly, projects are being dealt with fairly and expeditiously, potholes are being filled, and other city business is being taken care of. Then a vote of confidence to the incumbents is in order--however long they have served.

Gambord and Knight write that "with term limits we believe that the sitting czars will begin to consider looking for others" to replace them. Referring to councilmembers as "czars" is way off the mark. Perhaps that title grew from Joel Gambord's expressed dissatisfaction at often being on the low end of a 3-2 vote.

For his first 10 months on the council, most of the votes went 4-1 with me on the short end. I didn't like it. I believed that many decisions were not based on the code, but I did not call the others "czars." By my standards they were misguided, but, hey, name-calling doesn't improve matters.

City affairs go more smoothly, problems are solved more readily, staff is happier and residents are more content when councilmembers treat each other with respect and concentrate on areas of agreement.

Dorothea Bamford is a Monte Sereno councilmember.

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