Los Gatos Weekly-Times Editorials Informed discussion will be necessary The Town Council was wise to delay a vote on amending the Town Code as it relates to mobile-home conversions. There's much at stake, and the subject deserves thorough and informed debate. Right now, it's mired in vague language, and many who most need to understand the issues--those who live in the town's mobile-home parks--don't. Although the matter should be debated as a theoretical issue rather than as one piece of a bigger discussion about a proposed housing development, the reality is that this debate has been fueled by Barry Swenson's plan to build apartments on the site of a mobile home park at Woodland Road and Highway 9. Everyone agrees that something should be done to accommodate those residents who are displaced when a mobile-home park is sold and converted to apartments. And everyone agrees that whatever is done should be fair and reasonable. But then things get murky. Should the developer be required to replace mobile homes with affordable apartment units on the same site at a rate of 1-to-1? In other words, should the town require the builder to put 72 affordable apartments in that location? And if he did, how many additional apartments would have to be built for the developer to make a profit? The developer favors a formula that would permit him to relocate current mobile-home residents to a different location within the town in partnership with a nonprofit agency. But one apartment for each mobile home? Murky. The town is under pressure from the state to comply with its housing element and provide affordable housing in Los Gatos. But state pressure aside, it is in the best interest of the community to ensure that the conversion formula does not reduce the number of affordable units in town. If schoolteachers and town employees and shopkeepers, senior citizens and children of people who've lived here for years can no longer afford to live in Los Gatos, the town can stop thinking of itself as a real community. How the town handles mobile-home conversions will say a lot about its commitment to the importance of economic diversity. Campaign Fundraising The beauty of local elections is that they can be run without megabucks. Well into the council races in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, candidates are, for the most part, collecting contributions in sums of $100 or $200. While it's true that developers and businesses that occasionally come before the Planning Commission or Town Council do make political contributions, it's hard to imagine that anyone could buy a vote with such modest contributions. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 14, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.