Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by Jeff Kearns Rosemary Scher answers a question during the forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Monte Sereno candidates face off By Jeff Kearns In a small community with few pressing issues, Monte Sereno City Council candidates agreed that the city needs to protect property values by keeping it just the way it is. At the Oct. 7 League of Women Voters forum, five of the seven candidates--Erin Garner, Mayor Suzanne Jackson, Barbara Nesbet, Rosemary Scher and Tom Williams--made it to the forum. Councilmember Jack Lucas was out of town, attending a public transportation conference in New York. The seventh candidate, Jim Rubnitz, says he's dropped out of the race because he'll be too busy to campaign during the last weeks before the election, but he has endorsed Scher and Williams, calling them "clear thinkers." His name will still appear on the ballot. Candidates began the forum by giving short speeches about themselves and outlining their platforms, after which the audience--a rare full house in the City Council Chambers--submitted questions on cards. Scher billed herself as a wife, mother and mechanical engineer familiar with the intricacies of the universal building code. She said she wants to represent families with children in local schools because the quality of the schools relates directly to property values. Garner, who introduced himself as a licensed geologist and co-founder of an environmental engineering company, said he didn't want the city's housing density to increase because of state-mandated affordable-housing quotas. Williams said that he jumped into the race because he felt compelled to get involved with the community--and to protect the property values and rights of property owners. Nesbet, a trademark lawyer and the youngest candidate at age 29, said high demand has upped the median home price in the city, and that adding new homes would "destroy home values." Nesbet also came out in favor of limiting the size of some new homes, which she said would preserve neighborhood quality by keeping behemoth homes out of smaller, older residential areas. Jackson, the lone incumbent at the forum, said her priority is to complete a plan for the city's hillside safety, which she's been working on since she became a councilmember. Jackson also said she wanted to work on enacting architectural guidelines, start a pedestrian safety program and continue efforts to establish public open space and gain access to county lands within the city's sphere of influence. Asked whether the city needed to hire a full-time city manager instead of maintaining the current dual-role manager/planner job Brian Loventhal has taken on in the wake of Gay Strand's departure, Nesbet, Jackson and Williams agreed that the positions should be divided between two full-time staffers. (City clerk Andrea Chelemengos has also taken on the role of assistant city planner.) "I've seen a dramatic change in the quality of our city services," Jackson said. "We need officials who are schooled in how to run a city." Nesbet said that it was important for the all-volunteer council to have "someone who's there for us as a resource." Garner said he didn't think the city needed to hire another planner to support Loventhal. Scher said the jobs could be combined. "With a 93 percent build-out, we're not exactly a growing city, and the job of the planner is minimized," she said. "I don't know if [hiring two people for the duties] is a wise use of resources." Although the tiny city's only political action group, the Citizens FOR Monte Sereno, has apparently been defunct since the '96 elections, one resident still wanted to know whether the candidates were aligned with it. Jackson and Nesbet said they weren't involved. Williams said he believed that the group was "history," and Scher said she was trying not to be divisive. Garner said he didn't know what the group stood for yet. On term limits, Jackson and Nesbet said a small city like Monte Sereno doesn't need to cap the amount of time councilmembers can keep their seats, but other candidates said that term limits would bring new ideas to the council. "We need new blood, new enthusiasm," Garner said. The candidates unanimously said that they would not support a ban on all leaf blowers. Only three candidates reported raising any money on campaign finance forms submitted to the state Oct. 5. Garner led the pack with $1,401, followed by Jackson at $1,000 and Nesbet at $800. One more filing date, Oct. 22, remains before Election Day. After that date, candidates must report any additional filings within 24 hours. [ 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.