It's ironic that hostility toward historic preservation has stirred the passion in some Monte Sereno residents to return the community to its historic roots. It was when the city began compiling a list of historic buildings that the fur started flying. As a result, three of the four candidates for City Council are saying the city should butt out of historic preservation and let homeowners do what they want with their homes.
What's more, the furor over historic preservation has inspired a number of people in Monte Sereno to get misty-eyed over the old days when a city clerk could manage all the functions of a small municipality. Thomas B. Inglis, the retired U.S. Navy admiral who founded Monte Sereno, has taken on saintly stature in some circles.
Three of the four candidates for two seats on the Monte Sereno City Council say the city ought to do an about-face and head back to his utopian ideal of a minimum-government city.
On its face, this seems like a reasonable idea. One certainly would think that a city of 3,287 people should be able to get along without a lot of what Inglis referred to as "petty ordinances or unwarranted restrictions."
The problem is that, in the 40 years since Monte Sereno became a city, the state has inserted itself into almost every detail of city government. It is the state that mandates environmental impact reports through the California Environmental Quality Act; and it is the state that dictates the rules and regulations surrounding general plans.
When Admiral Inglis talked about a minimum-government city, there was no non-point-source pollution program in which every city, large and small, was required to participate. There was no county congestion-management agency cities must participate in to collect money for road repairs.
The now-defunct Citizens FOR Monte Sereno, in a letter mailed to city residents nearly a year ago, reminded their neighbors that "Admiral Inglis envisioned the town clerk [as] the only salaried employee."
These days, however, state law dictates qualifications for such staff positions as civil engineers who prepare specifications for road work. A city clerk can't review building plans; the city attorney must have a law degree.
We understand the frustration of people who suddenly find themselves living in a "historic" home. The delegation brings with it restrictions.
But the other side of this kind of government intrusion is an anything-goes mentality. What happens when people with more money than taste--of which there are more than a few in Silicon Valley--move into the neighborhood, raze the beautiful old homes and construct obscene palaces to their newfound wealth? Live and let live?
Monte Sereno finds itself at a crossroads, and this election could send the city on a very different path than the one its been on.
Everyone appreciates the need for government that is streamlined and unobtrusive. What Monte Sereno residents need to decide is whether less government will really bring them closer to the ideal they envision or instead lead to a community of tasteless, oversized monuments to instant wealth connected by roads dotted with potholes.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 9, 1996.
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