Los Gatos Weekly-Times Letters Remembering a father, friend and valued member of the community On Sept. 16, 1998, I lost my beloved father, William Flick. He was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, the Air Force Institute of Technology and Santa Clara University. He had a wonderful soul and was forever a teacher. He died from a heart attack while teaching his favorite class at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. He gave his body to the University of Texas so others could learn more about the extraordinary heart splints that greatly improved his life and the heart disease that would eventually take it. Those of you who knew or met my father know the sorrow of this loss. Those of you who did not, please cherish your own, for they can be gone so fast. If you see me around and I seem different, it's because I have lost my mentor, my inspiration and my dearest friend. I love you, Dad. Dave Flick Los Gatos Pearlman article leaves important questions unanswered As a retired LGUSD teacher and resident of Los Gatos, I read your article about Dr. Bert Pearlman taking special assignments with some interest as to what was not said. School districts have a difficult, if not impossible, job of firing unsatisfactory employees. Thus we have the situation of having to "buy out the $100,000 contract" of Pearlman. Your article did not answer some important questions. If Pearlman continues to receive his $100,000 salary, what salary is Mary Ann Parks to receive? Is she being paid as an assistant superintendent but doing the work of the superintendent? You also didn't note that the principals are going to assume Park's duties. Are the principals to be compensated? This means more out of the general fund and less for teachers and students. I hope you will be able to answer these questions. Marlene Lamb Los Gatos Hillsides should remain natural and undeveloped I would like to voice my opposition to the development of the Alma College properties. The amount of housing will not make a dent in the "shortage" of housing in the Bay Area, nor would it be affordable to most people. The proposed golf course will benefit few, make poor use of water resources and add fertilizer chemicals into the runoff. My choice is to have this area become a public open space. Part of the beauty of living in this area is to look into the hills and see the trees. I have lived in this valley for 35 of my 40 years. I have always loved looking at those hills. This is a chance to leave the area a living memory of what this valley and surrounding hills were once like before development. Future generations of children would be able to experience the joy and wonder of nature for real. I hope the Board of Supervisors will take this long-term view. Steve Gann San Jose Fiesta de Artes is valuable event in the community As manager of the Los Gatos Discovery Shop, I feel it is important to give feedback regarding local special events, especially when these events show signs of benefiting business within our community. The Fiesta de Artes, sponsored by the Los Gatos Kiwanis Club, was a wonderful boost for the American Cancer Society, introducing Discovery Shops to a wide range of prospective customers. Several other merchants agree that the Fiesta de Artes will be a valuable event for years to come. I urge community involvement to continue, to encourage the Fiesta de Artes and similar programs. Theresa Garcia Manager Los Gatos Discovery Shop Window shopping brings locals back to make purchases We recently read with interest the cover story, "Boom Town" by Jeff Kearns, in the Aug. 19 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. We have had many conversations over the years about the changing face of Los Gatos. We moved here almost 20 years ago from Texas to take part in the semiconductor industry expansion. We chose to live in Los Gatos initially because of the schools and later came to appreciate the small-town culture and atmosphere we still associate with the communities where we grew up in the East and Southwest. This is not going to be a letter agonizing over the loss of our little-town environment. Those of us who read John Baggerly's column and the other articles relating to the past know much of that is already gone, some for the better--such as trains running through the center of town and certainly the odorous problems associated with horses and mules (although we did lose a ready source of fertilizer). What we will touch on is how our lifestyle has changed in the last few years--and we would imagine the lifestyles of many other Los Gatans. Years ago we enjoyed going downtown on a Friday evening. We would usually park at one end of Santa Cruz Avenue and walk up one side of the street and then return on the other side. In the course of the walk we would find one restaurant or another for dinner (we enjoyed, among others, the Chart House, Pedro's, Good Earth, Edna Ray's, El Nido, Valeriano's, California Cafe and later still the newer restaurants on Main Street). Before and after dinner, we would window shop and, later in the week, come back to buy clothing or a painting or a print from the galleries of furniture from the Los Gatos Porch or one of the antique shops or luggage--mostly items we had identified from our weekend window shopping. Not any more! Gradually, over the last three or four years, we have come to avoid downtown almost completely. The streets now have bumps on top of bumps, holes within potholes; the sidewalks continue to deteriorate; parking is almost impossible, and now the kids have taken over on weekends with the associated bumper-to-bumper traffic, exhaust fumes, noise, clogged sidewalks and the observed abuse of our fine police force. (We don't want to be completely negative--the new benches and flower pots on Santa Cruz Avenue are lovely, but someone in town planning does not understand priorities.) We were calculating, after we read the boomtown article, how much money we have spent over the last four years outside of Los Gatos. By mentally looking around the house and adding up the total price for items such as clothing, furniture, lamps, rugs, prints, computers, garden plants and tools and then calculating at least one dinner and at least two lunches per week, the total came to a ballpark figure of $95,000. Not a great amount, but, nevertheless, gone. The lunches and dinners have traveled mainly to Saratoga and the rest to other stores and shops around the area. We still go downtown, but now it will usually be early on a Sunday morning. We park and walk around for a while, step around the accumulated trash from Saturday night's revelers, maybe have a cup of coffee and then leave before the mobs start arriving from all over the valley around 10 o'clock. We know it will be impossible; to stop the high-powered developers and the chain stores, but maybe some of the merchants of Los Gatos (other than the bar and disco owners) might want to ponder the ramifications of this letter. We doubt seriously that any of our newfound friends contribute anything worthwhile to our economy or to the town. It is time for the police to stop issuing "warning tickets." This town has loitering and noise ordinances that should be enforced! The police should issue real tickets and let the residents of Los Gatos, the ones who pay taxes here and want to spend money here, reclaim the town! H.K. and Pamela Flesher Los Gatos Seniors should be respected, not avoided Was it just coincidence or the work of a sly editor that resulted in Carl Heintze's fine article being juxtaposed with the elitist, "not in my backyard" sentiments of Patricia Horton on the Sept. 16, 1998 Opinion page? Mr. Heintze eloquently describes the shameful way in which our culture treats its elder citizens, exiling them to nursing homes or senior communities where they will be out of the sight and minds of younger people. Ms. Horton, by contrast, is incredulous that the Town of Los Gatos would permit the extraordinary number of six elderly people to live in a residential care facility in "her" neighborhood. Ms. Horton did not move to the exclusive, upscale Glenridge neighborhood to have "businesses" such as residential care facilities popping up in "her" neighborhood. Dear Ms. Horton: The neighborhood belongs to residents of all ages, sizes, colors and beliefs. Ms. Horton is inconvenienced by the sight of elderly people walking on the sidewalks, especially if, by reason of advanced age, their mental faculties have deteriorated to the point where they might not behave in a way that Ms. Horton finds to be normal. In particular, Ms. Horton complains of an elderly gentleman who on two occasions could be observed "marking a cross with a green pen on trees, automobiles, and a brass plaque." Furthermore, a certain elder woman had the audacity to ask passersby for a cigarette! I am certain that, as a group, teenagers bum cigarettes and write graffiti a thousand times more frequently than do elder citizens; yet, presumably, Ms. Horton does not feel the need to evict those of her neighbors having teenage children. Ms. Horton plays the familiar "children" card by suggesting that it is not in the best interests of youngsters to have contact with their elder neighbors. Mr. Heintze, on the other hand, points out that, in other cultures, children honor the elderly and seek from them the wisdom that can come only with age. Finally, it does not sit well with Ms. Horton to have "complete strangers walking the streets of my neighborhood." This just in: Strangers, by definition, cease to be such when you get to know them. Perhaps Ms. Horton could find a few hours per week to visit with the often-neglected seniors. I expect that she would bring considerable joy to herself as well as to those elderly who so desperately crave just a little companionship. One last thing: Lest I be accused of throwing stones whilst living in a Los Gatos house, I truly don't think it would bother me at all to have a residential care facility "pop up" in "my" neighborhood. Bruce Janke Los Gatos Correction In the Sept. 16 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, a Business Brief incorrectly identified the real estate office of Los Gatan Paul Paolini. He is actually an agent with Alain Pinel Realtors, located at 214 Los Gatos-Saratoga Road. We apologize for the error. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, September 23, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.