Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

Council forum was eye-opening and appalling

This letter is inspired by our attendance at the League of Women Voters' forum for Monte Sereno City Council candidates. Individually, we were appalled by the statements of the three challengers. Their thrust was that everybody should be able to do whatever he wants with his property. One mentioned all the changes this council has made in city ordinances which make it difficult for a homeowner to carry out his plans.

Except for the Historical Preservation Ordinance, and further adjustment on second units, there have been no changes since Rosemary Pierce was city manager!

There was talk of cutting personnel, probably not immediately. One challenger, who has been coming to most council meetings since last winter, did not know what the city planner's duties were!

One candidate's primary complaint was that he felt it unfair that his house was put on the city's Historical Inventory (although he himself went to expense to get it on the National Register).

One candidate was very concerned about reducing expenses and would use any savings to augment our already more than adequate reserves. Another said he didn't know much about budgets.

Not one seemed to realize that the City Council is a quasi-judicial body that operates under state laws, which require it to enforce our own ordinances impartially. They all said circumstances alter cases, so they would feel free to bend the rules.

The city is always open to constructive new ideas. Many of the present ordinances were developed as a result of the suggestions of residents. There seemed to be no realization that every day, residents and developers come into City Hall to have their projects considered; most are completed without any council review.

Nancy Hobbs has been on the City Council for more than four years. She is conscientious, level-headed and understands the limitations of a City Council member. She has been active in community organizations for all of her 40 years of residence. She has ably represented our city among the West Valley Mayors and Managers, the Peninsula Division of the League of California Cities, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Water District and others.

We urge Monte Sereno residents to vote only for incumbent Nancy Hobbs for City Council.

Jack Lucas,
vice mayor

Dorothea Bamford,
councilmember

Pam Bancroft,
retiring councilmember

Monte Sereno City Hall suffers from attitude problem

It's really unfortunate that such an important observer of our community affairs is so myopic when it comes to Monte Sereno's political atmosphere.

In an editorial in the Oct. 9 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, you dwelled endlessly on the historic preservation issue as being the motivating force underlying formation of Citizens FOR Monte Sereno. Now you continue this silly serenade suggesting to your readers that the same singular issue is the motivator of three candidates running for Monte Sereno's council seats. What nonsense!

You have ignored the fact that more than 300 citizens in Monte Sereno responded in writing, supporting the letter mailed in January by the Citizens FOR Monte Sereno.

You might look carefully at an example of what I consider a conspicuous problem at our City Hall--that of Attitude. Mrs. Hobbs in her comments to Clarence Cromwell [in the story profiling Monte Sereno candidates in the same issue], says: "Anything that is very well organized--to someone who doesn't understand what is going on--will appear to be a bureaucracy." Here is an example of what some of us are talking about, a not-so-subtle kind of arrogance coming out of our City Hall.

The citizens of Monte Sereno are not stupid, nor are they children in Mrs. Hobbs' classroom. I don't believe the citizens of Monte Sereno will put up with being treated in this manner. And remarks of this sort are what stir people to react and to get involved--and even to run for a council seat.

I also take issue with your headline that states the voters must choose direction. This implies the three non-incumbents running are wild-eyed radicals bent on turning the city upside down.

I am quite sure each of us running realizes the modern nature of local government with all the citizen demands for services that that implies. We are not unaware of state and federal mandates, either. Crossroads? I don't think so. Maybe you should think of it as a 20- or 30-degree tweak of the rudder.

It would be worthy of you to try and delve a little deeper, get under the surface and find out what's really bothering the people of Monte Sereno. In the 28 years I have lived here, I have never seen so many people of this little city so unhappy with their local government.

Joel Gambord
Monte Sereno

Town clerk not trained to scrutinize the town's budget

In "Breaking the Silence," the cover-page story in the Oct. 16 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, Egon Jensen says he wants to eliminate the finance director, have the manager write the budget and the town clerk write checks and scrutinize the budget. "This is putting it back the way it was," he says.

I hope Mr. Jensen doesn't actually believe that's all the Finance Department does.

Marion Cosgrove, the town clerk, is a dear lady, puts in many, many extra hours and is expert at her job, but does she know how to account for grant proceeds or bond issues? Can she prepare a Redevelopment Agency cash flow or Statement of Indebtedness to the County? I think not.

It seems to me Mr. Jensen is living in the past, before the Redevelopment Agency and the other complex financial issues that have to be accounted for nowadays by the town. It scares me to think someone who knows so little might convince some trusting voters that he knows what he's talking about.

It is naive to believe that the town clerk and town manager could replace the Finance Department in this day and age.

Dolores C. Baker, CPA
Los Gatos

Residents who signed petition not 'just anyone'

Upon presentation of a petition signed by nearly 200 taxpaying residents of Monte Sereno to the City Council in June 1995, I was insulted by a certain councilmember who stated "Anyone would sign those things." When councilmembers completely disqualify our opinions on the grounds that we indiscriminately affix our signatures to just anything, it's time for a change in councilmembers! I'm not just "anyone who would sign anything."

Barbara A. Demblewski
Monte Sereno

Inglis knew that government could be minimal

The editorial in the Oct. 9 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times that Tom Inglis, the founder of Monte Sereno, "has taken on saintly stature in some circles" because some of the candidates for City Council "say the city ought to do an about face to his utopian ideal of a minimum-government city."

So, why is that such a bad goal? Inglis's basic idea was sound and successful. Without his vision and persistence, Monte Sereno today would be just another Los Gatos neighborhood with all the accompanying benefits: high taxes, bloated bureaucracy and budget deficits. The Monte Sereno-type of government has been altered by the influx of residents who never heard of Inglis and his minimum-government ideas. By not knowing what was once doable here, the newer residents assumed what was dished out at City Hall was gospel. Having probably come from towns and cities with standard bureaucracies, no change was noticed.

People get the type of government they deserve. If they fail to stand up and say "Hell no, we won't take it anymore," they end up with "petty ordinances and restrictions" that dictate the depth of shelves permitted in remodeling any building classified as historical.

For those "post-Tom Inglis" residents wanting to know the history of Monte Sereno and why the "utopian ideal of a minimum-government city" is possible, I recommend they read City of Monte Sereno--Battle of Peaceful Mountain by Thomas B. Inglis. The book used to be available at City Hall for $34.

C.J. Szukalski
Monte Sereno

Jensen, Jones rise to the top as best council candidates

Clarence Cromwell's article, "Breaking the Silence," in the Oct. 16 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times is one of the best political articles to come out of your paper in the past six or seven years.

His questions brought out the best qualities of each of the candidates, and after analyzing the entire article, there should be no question which candidates should represent the people of Los Gatos after the election.

Jan Hutchins, without any doubt, is an asset to our community. He adds dignity and a decent image to his ideological views, but he seems to lack the goals to implement these ideas in managing government.

Egon Jensen, on the other hand, being a former councilmember and mayor, understands the problems of running a government. When he left office, our town was in excellent financial condition.

Frank Jones, another longtime resident, represents managerial ability and is a professor of mathematics.

These qualities seem to be lacking in our present council. Linda Lubeck, an incumbent, represents the problems which confront the council, and our financial position over the past four years.

It's up to you, the voters. On one hand, you have a fine person of character, intellectual skills and personality, but he lacks the necessary talent to step into a poorly managed town government. You have an incumbent, a supposedly top-notch accountant, who came into the council when it had a surplus, and now we are in bad financial shape. She voted to give the police chief a $325,000 home loan with terms very unfavorable to the town. She voted for a new staff position in the town in a time of low finances, to perform the job that the town manager was hired to do.

She voted, in the last budget session, to fire a dedicated ranger with many years of service.

On the other hand, you have two individuals--Mr. Jensen, a dedicated former councilmember and mayor who knows the workings of the town and how to correct some of the problems, and Mr. Jones, who has managerial experience and who is a mathematician and can analyze figures properly. What's more, both of these men are against raising taxes.

Bill Quigley
Los Gatos