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Los Gatos program will try to replenish pool of town leaders
By Gloria I. Wang
Faced with a decline in community participation, many Bay Area cities have implemented leadership programs to get people involved. Now Los Gatos is following that trend with Leadership Los Gatos, a nine-month series for Los Gatans to familiarize themselves with and join community organizations.
The program, which runs October through June, consists of 10 half-day sessions. Each session will focus on a specific aspect of the community, such as education, business and industry, public safety and infrastructure, and will feature speakers, presentations and tours of related facilities.
Candidates must apply to participate in Leadership Los Gatos, and must live, work or own property in town. This year, 20 to 25 people will be selected to participate. Each person must pay $250 tuition for expenses.
The program is largely the result of a collaboration between Mayor Joe Pirzynski and the Chamber of Commerce. Pirzynski says that the town noticed the high number of vacancies on its various committees and commissions; some lack enough members to conduct meetings. In response, Pirzynski met with Chamber officials and town staff to broach the idea of a leadership program, similar to those of Cupertino and Mountain View.
At the July 16 town council meeting, a tentative plan of the sessions was presented to council members. The Chamber of Commerce's Diane McNutt, co-chair of the program, answered questions and noted suggestions for changes to the plan.
McNutt, a public relations executive who spoke at different leadership programs, said that the mission of the program was to "tap into the community," to build more of a resource of people to get involved in the community. The aim, McNutt said, is to focus on the people who are already leaders in the community--such as in schools, churches or service organizations--who want to become even more involved. The sessions will allow Los Gatans to "get a behind-the-scenes view of how towns operate," McNutt said.
Councilman Steve Glickman was concerned with the application deadline of Sept. 14. This would give insufficient notification time, Glickman argued, to those who serve on school committees, since Sept. 14 falls soon after the beginning of the school year. McNutt agreed to change the application deadline to Oct. 1, with the first session scheduled for late October.
Councilwoman Sandy Decker said that the $250 tuition would receive a backlash from the community and wondered if the start date could be pushed into the spring so the program could be fine-tuned.
McNutt pointed out that $250 was significantly less than other similar programs--Leadership Mountain View costs $1,250 and Cupertino $350--and scholarships would be available to those who could not afford the tuition. Postponing the first session to the spring, McNutt said, is impossible because a summer program would likely draw an inconsistent attendance rate.
Having participated in Leadership Cupertino in 1999, Councilman Steve Blanton said he feels Leadership Los Gatos will have many benefits. The program will provide participants with tools to impact the community, as well as raise their awareness of what goes on in local government, Blanton said. Out of Blanton's Cupertino class, one member later went on to become a city council member.
Pirzynski said that he is looking forward to selecting the participants and meeting Los Gatos' first class. He is hoping that people will finish the program with a greater sense of involvement, he said.
The next step is the creation of materials to promote Leadership Los Gatos; those materials will be available at the Chamber of Commerce as well as the civic center, and also will be mailed out to clubs, schools, churches and homeowners' associations. At the same time, organizers are working to book the appropriate speakers and facilities for each session.
Before finalizing the schedule and other details, McNutt will approach the town council for final approval. Recruiting is set to begin late this month.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
