Letters

Annexation changed area for the worse

We were forced to be annexed to the town of Los Gatos some 25 years ago. Prior to that we spent 30 wonderful years living within the county. Living under the jurisdiction of Los Gatos has been hell.

The town allowed five acres of a 1910 residential subdivision in which I live to become a controlled manufacturing area. The town let my neighbor cut a deal with them that enabled the landowner to build a two-story office building eight feet from my property line. The town previously declared the area a right-of-way.

Quails' nests and heritage native oaks were bulldozed to make way for the light industrial park. The project has forever changed the atmosphere of the area.

The town has allowed one-acre properties in this area to be subdivided into one-third-acre lots with 3,000-square-foot homes on them. They have replaced cottages which had fit in well with an oak wood landscape in which my home is located.

The county paved our roads every 10 years. The town has repaved our roads once. That time was when they took us into the town more than two decades ago.

Recently I went down to the Los Gatos planning department. I asked for a permit to have a llama. The person at the front desk informed me that since I lived in a residential area, "no barnyard animals" were allowed. Under county code one was allowed to have horses, chickens and goats.

Several weeks ago I went to the only video store, Video Era, I frequent. It was closing. The owner told me that since the Hollywood Video chain had been allowed to come into town, his business had dropped by more than half. He could not compete with them.

I hope those people who want to be annexed to the town of Los Gatos rethink their position. And those who don't want to be part, work even harder to stay out.

Mary Keith Osborn
Los Gatos

County residents have no say in town's policies

If you are a resident who lives within a county pocket and are intending on voting against the annexation issue because you mistrust town government, I would like to point out a few facts concerning this issue.

First and foremost, you are living within a pocket that is surrounded by the town and influenced by present and future town policy but you have no say in how this impacts your neighborhood.

The town is presently engaged in doing a major update to the General Plan. This includes a traffic circulation element which shapes the flow of traffic through the town. By not concentrating on improving the efficiency of moving traffic on the major thoroughfares and preparing for the impact from the development of the North Forty, the present committee in charge is creating a pattern that will cause gridlock and encourage traffic to move through adjacent neighborhoods.

If you live in a pocket area, you have no voice in this process. In fact, this encourages the town to direct traffic through your neighborhood because they are mandated to protect the flow through their own neighborhoods.

A perfect example of this is Englewood Avenue, which runs parallel to Los Gatos Boulevard.

Furthermore, you do not have the ability to vote in the local elections.

Community policy is formed by who is elected and what issues are approved. Town regulations and policies change over time to meet the changing needs of the community. You will not have the opportunity to participate in this process without being a town resident.

Finally, the county planning department has a large staff headed by Don Weden whose only agenda is this annexation process. Your tax dollars that could be spent on improvements to your neighborhood are paying their salaries. County Supervisor Don Gage has also stated that services will continue to deteriorate in these pockets while they are still within county control.

Street maintenance and traffic enforcement are a few of these services. There can be no traffic enforcement success story similar to Bella Vista since the town cannot do enforcement on your county street.

You are justified in mistrusting town government. Town residents should always mistrust local government and not allow those in charge to dictate policy that adversely impacts their quality of life. As an outsider--a county resident--you cannot participate in this process.

There is nothing to be gained by postponing the inevitable annexation of these pockets and much to be lost.

Gregg Moss
Los Gatos

There's no speed trap on Quito Road

I am writing to challenge the accuracy of an article published [in the NewsBriefs section] in the Sept. 29 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times titled "Quito Road earns dubious distinction," which also apparently led to the editorial cartoon depicting or at least implying that the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department participates in some type of "speed trap" enforcement on Quito Road.

While your article clearly states that the source of the story was "the extremely unscientific study, published Sept. 3 in USA Today," to my knowledge your paper made no attempt to validate the accuracy of the data reported in that article.

Traffic issues have been a significant concern of residents in both Los Gatos and Monte Sereno for many years. The Police Department strives to provide effective education and enforcement in an effort to ensure that the streets in both communities are as safe as possible. To accomplish this, the department's mobile radar display trailer is moved throughout the communities to assist in raising driver awareness of vehicle speeds.

On the enforcement side, the department issues both "courtesy" citations (written warnings) and regular traffic tickets as deemed appropriate by the officer. In 1998, as an example, there were 3,320 "courtesy" citations issued compared to 1,042 regular tickets for moving violations. This is a ratio of more than 3 to 1.

With respect to Quito Road specifically, the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department has issued a total of 33 citations over the last three years, an average of less than one ticket per month. Of these, 13 were courtesy citations, six were for mechanical violations and only 14 were regular tickets issued for hazardous moving violations. This hardly represents what I would consider to be a speed trap!

I raise this issue because confidence in police ethics and the fair enforcement of the law is a critical factor in the ongoing process of developing a strong police/community partnership.

Your article and the editorial cartoon were not only inaccurate, but also unfairly maligned the dedicated efforts of the police personnel who serve the citizens of Los Gatos and Monte Sereno.

It is extremely poor journalism on the part of USA Today to report such inaccurate information, but for our local community paper it is inexcusable. A simple phone call would have provided you with the correct information. Maybe DeCinzo will do a political cartoon on the subject of journalistic responsibility?

Larry J. Todd
Chief of Police

Newspaper did a great service with Travis story

We, as members of the American Association of University Women and AAUW Committee on Homeless Women and Children, wish to extend a special thank-you to editor Dale Bryant, reporter Sandy Sims and photographer George Sakkestad.

The Sept. 15 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times depicting the life and works of Georgia Travis, founder of our homeless committee, showed how one dynamic woman made such a difference in the lives of homeless women and children in our area.

The cover story and pictures so wonderfully portrayed today's homeless and our committee's ongoing efforts in helping them to return to the workforce and to make a home for their children.

Georgia felt honored and was so pleased to think her efforts were newsworthy!

We truly appreciated the paper's interest and hope this article will help the Los Gatos and Saratoga communities in general to be more aware of the problem of homelessness in Santa Clara County.

Penny T. Sink
Melva Volkerson
Co-chairs of AAUW Committee on Homeless Women and Children

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