Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

Sidewalks get attention in right neighborhood

I read with interest how the Almond Grove District will be scheduled soon for sidewalk replacement.

On east Los Gatos' border with San Jose--National Avenue--much of east Los Gatos' side of the street remains a mess all winter long without curbs or sidewalks, large puddles full of leaves and trash line the street.

The San Jose side of National Avenue has curbs, gutters, even full sidewalks for the entire length of the street.

East Los Gatos leaves its side of National Avenue in one sorry state.

Apparently the Almond Grove district is quite needy when it comes to sidewalk replacement.

Where do the town limits of east Los Gatos run, anyway?

Jason Parker
Los Gatos

Many changes make LGUSD election important

I would like to call the community's attention to an important meeting that will be held in the Fisher Middle School cafeteria on Monday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. The five candidates (two incumbents, three challengers) for the three open school board positions in the Los Gatos Union School District on the Nov. 3 ballot have been invited to state their positions and answer questions from the audience.

This is a critical time for our school district. With the possible changes mandated by Proposition 8 and the district's own recent turnover in management personnel, we might even say we're at a crossroads. We all know how meaningful the quality of education is to the community. Most importantly, it is critical to our children's future.

Additionally, it is the single most significant factor in maintaining and enhancing property values, thus providing community members with a substantial return on their investment and providing the town government with adequate tax revenues with which to operate. It all adds up to giving community members the quality of life that brought us to Los Gatos in the first place.

Choosing who will determine the district's future and how it will be run should be important to everyone. Making the right choice on election day can be only accomplished if all voting citizens are properly informed, and the best way to be informed is to meet the candidates face to face, listen to what they have to say, and ask questions about issues which may be unclear.

We owe it to our children, fellow community members and ourselves to make an educated choice on Nov. 3. I strongly encourage all residents within the district to attend and look forward to an informative evening and a great turnout at Fisher on Oct. 19.

Dennis Geiszler
Los Gatos

Fence-straddling not a good quality in a governor

I have been watching the debates between Attorney General Dan Lungren and Lt. Gov. Gray Davis as well as reading articles in the paper. I have come to the conclusion that Gray Davis appears to straddle issues until he is certain which way voters are leaning and prefers staying neutral and not passing any judgment.

I sensed that Dan Lungren has more self-confidence in his ability and beliefs in making decisions on controversial issues.

A leader must have core beliefs and the confidence to stand by them in order to govern on the wide-ranging concerns in our state.

Mary L. Johnson
Los Gatos

Size of building should be a warning message

I was shocked to see the size of the new office building on University Avenue (at the site of the old lumber yard) near Oak Meadow Park.

This will, no doubt, create a huge amount of traffic on University Avenue. It would be foolish to create more traffic by adding a large housing tract at the corner of University and Highway 9. This is such a congested corner.

Winchester Boulevard (N. Santa Cruz Avenue) and University already have long lines of autos most every afternoon, and University is so narrow between Blossom Hill Road and Highway 9.

How can University handle even more commuter traffic?

Gertrude Lucia
Monte Sereno

What happened to the idea of playing for fun?

This letter is to all the parents who have been faithfully reading their Los Gatos Weekly-Times, looking for the article detailing the signups for Gatos Little League fall baseball season. Don't bother looking any further, as there was no article this year.

Last year the organizers publicized the season in the Weekly-Times for those kids who desired to play off-season baseball. It was a very low-key season, with no practices and Sunday games. The kids loved it.

This year, it was by invitation only. Letters were sent to those players who played in the Majors last season, and those who were deemed by the organizers to be of "Major League" potential. It totally excluded those kids who love baseball and prefer it over soccer at this time of year, only because they did not fit the qualifications of the elitist organizers.

What this amounts to is "scouting" the kids for next year's Majors teams. And to add insult to injury, there was not enough response to their invitation, so they invited teams from other Little Leagues outside Los Gatos to partake in their games. The organizers seem to have placed their desire to win above the interests of the Little Leaguers.

Wouldn't it have made more sense, and been more fair, to open up registration to all the kids of Los Gatos, and let them participate if they wanted to? After all, Los Gatos taxpayers and the Little League fees pay for the upkeep of our parks and fields for all to use, regardless of qualifications.

As a coach of my sons' teams for the past four years, I have enjoyed every minute. I, and the majority of the other coaches and parents who put their time and heart into it, do it not to win but because of the pure fun our kids have playing this sport.

We are there to teach our kids, and yours, the game of baseball, sportsmanship and fairness, but most of all to just have fun. Let these organizers fulfill their selfish desires to win at any expense in some other venue, not at the expense and disappointment of our children. They grow up too fast already.

John W. Duggan
Los Gatos

Thanks again to community

The teens and adult board of A Place for Teens are happy to report that the fourth annual Great Los Gatos Food Fest last Sunday, at the Town Plaza Park, was a roaring success. Thanks to the tireless efforts of chairpersons Joanne Talesfore, Kristina McGuire and Janet Anderson and teen Darci Palmer, we tripled the proceeds benefiting A Place for Teens this year.

Thirteen of the best restaurants in Los Gatos had delicious tasting booths for $1 per ticket--California Cafe, Cafe Marcella, Gardino Fresco, Delizioso, Los Gatos Brewing Co., Andale's, L.G. Meats & Smoke House, Le Boulanger, High Tech Burrito, Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza, Los Gatos Bar & Grill, La Strada and Dolce Spazio.

The music by Caribbean Rhythms Steel Drum Band and the continuous entertainment by America's Best Karate, harpist Verlene Schermer, magician Willie Franklin, teen DJ Luke Lomberger with Liquid Productions, and the Joel Harrison Quartet were all enjoyed by all. Many underwriting sponsors participated, including GTE, Moore Buick, Metro Newspapers and the Rugani family, and countless donation drawing donors from many of the many generous merchants in town all helped to make this event a terrific success.

It was such a success that many of the booths ran out of food and had to get more, and we ran out of tickets and also had to get more for the rest of the day. All proceeds of this event will go toward the $98,000-a-year budget that A Place for Teens must raise from the community to keep its dynamic directors, Laurie Scolari and Laura Roussel, and the safe, supervised and healthy teen programs going each year.

Gladie Rabitz
Los Gatos

Help may be on the way for tennis courts

In the Sept. 26 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, Don Schmider expressed concern about the tennis courts at Blossom Hill Park. In the past, due to budget constraints, there was little funding for Capital Improvement Programs (CIP). Most of this funding was used for infrastructure repairs that improved safety, health and sanitation.

Recently the economy has grown much stronger and the town has more funding for Capital Improvement Programs.

We will submit resurfacing and new screening for the tennis courts at Blossom Hill Park in the 1999-2004 CIP budget for Town Council consideration. We have estimated the cost to resurface the tennis courts throughout the town at $80,000.

This item will have to compete with many other funding requests.

Questions? Call 399-5770, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Scott R. Baker
Director of Parks and Public Works

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