Los Gatos Weekly-Times Letters 'Hero' alerted homeowner to garage fire As a note to the story about the fire in a Monte Sereno garage that ran in the Nov. 11 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, we at Terrasearch Inc. would like to acclaim our Mitch Thompson for his heroic act in alerting Averill Mix and his pet dog to the fire on Nov. 3. He was passing by on his way to one of our job sites, when he took notice of the fire in Mr. Mix's garage. As we all know, it takes only moments for a disastrous fire to lose control. We are thankful Mr. Mix has been spared from harm, and we hope he didn't sustain too much damage as a result of the fire. We feel Mitch deserves be recognized for his quick course of action and to be duly acknowledged in this Los Gatos Weekly-Times issue. Rosie Fragoso-Pham Terrasearch Inc., San Jose Calvary Church did an end-run around the town Calvary Church's ambitious expansion plans are underway. The first stage of the master plan was dependent on the church annexing its county properties to the Town of Los Gatos. This would include a parcel where a church-owned residence was to be demolished to make way for a parking lot. The town specified, and the church confirmed at practically every town meeting, that before a single building was touched all affected properties would be transferred to Los Gatos town jurisdiction. Therefore the town could control the permits and the timing of the project as explicitly dictated by the conditional-use permit. On Nov. 5, Calvary had the house demolished through the county, bypassing Los Gatos altogether. They filed for annexation the previous day, and de-annexation with the county surveyor's office that same afternoon. The personnel in the town Planning Department found out about the church's plans only after a neighbor on Robie Lane had informed them. For years, Calvary's neighbors have told town officials that the church has not dealt with us honestly, but we were not taken seriously. Church representatives have misled, humiliated, and chastised us in and out of town meetings. With the exceptions of Jan Hutchins and Paul Bruno, we were treated with condescension. Now that the town has also been backhanded by the church, how many more violations of C.U.P. will the town be willing to accept? Vera Pierce, Myrna Skala, Dorothy and Jim Lowe Los Gatos Many made the library centennial a great success The 100th birthday of Los Gatos Public Library was cause to celebrate. And celebrate we did, with the help of some friends. Friends of the Library planned and executed a month of events running Oct. 2-30, and we have Los Gatos merchants and the community to thank for the Centennial Celebration's success. The Victorian Tea and Historic Fashions, the five Friday forums, the Internet Workshops, the Vintage Book Sale and the Children's Programs enjoyed capacity participation. The Centennial Celebration was a large undertaking for the young Friends board, which had been reactivated just five years earlier, and we were encouraged by the generous and warm support of the town. Thank you. The Library Centennial Committee and the Friends board thank the following businesses and organizations for their generous support and donations to the Library Centennial: The Los Gatos Weekly-Times, Los Gatos Community Foundation, Patt Mann Berry Graphic Design, Alice McKown, McKown Design, Susan Jaekel Illustration, Quality Impressions Printing, Linotext Printing, David C. and Stacey Geiken Photography, Memorabilia of San Jose, Curious Book Shop, Kinko's, A to Z Nursery, Los Gatos Roasting Company, Nob Hill, Safeway Los Gatos, KCAT TV, Icing on the Cake Bakery, Diddams Amazing Party Store, A Rental Center, Fresh Choice Restaurant, Starbucks, Domus, Deliciously Yours Catering, Peets Coffee and Tea, Frame It, Upstream Fly Fishing, Bettencourt's Gardening Services, Bunches, Gaeta's Flowers and Gifts, Lunardi's, Whole Foods, Green Thumb Nursery and Cat's Meow. Rita Baum Friends of the Los Gatos Library Andrew Fanelli's version of story just isn't true As the chairwoman for the Oct. 19 candidates forum for the Los Gatos Union School District board election, I feel obligated to respond to the article about newly elected Los Gatos Union School District board member Andrew Fanelli and to set the record straight regarding the issue of Andrew Fanelli's absence and lack of a statement at the forum. The candidates forum was sponsored by all five of the Los Gatos home and school clubs with the objective of introducing the candidates to the community. The committee included several home and school club members and all the presidents. We started by contacting all candidates and setting an agreed-upon date of Oct. 19. On Sept. 25, I sent Mr. Fanelli a letter thanking him for previously agreeing to participate in the forum, explaining the objective of the evening and, most importantly, asking for a biographical sketch to be received no later than Oct. 10. There is no question of his not having sufficient time to prepare a statement. He acknowledged receiving this letter by way of a phone call to my home. At the time of this call, Mr. Fanelli then advised me that "after checking his other calendar" he realized he would be out of town on business. I tried to accommodate him and change the date of the event, but other candidates would then not be able to attend. This was explained in detail to Mr. Fanelli. I let him know he would have the opportunity to issue a five-minute statement read either by our moderator or anyone he preferred. I requested that the committee be provided a copy of the statement prior to the event. Mr. Fanelli told me that he would write a statement and have his brother in-law read it. I called to remind him no less than three times, and the last time, he told me he would drop it off at my home prior to leaving on his trip. I never received the statement. At the forum, the moderator asked if anyone was there on Mr. Fanelli's behalf to read his statement. No one came forward. Martha Geiszler Chairwoman, LGUSD Candidates Night EMQ's Los Gatos campus is more than conferences The article about EMQ's plan to bring more youngsters back to the Los Gatos campus in the Nov. 11 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times contained some incomplete information. Although you refer to EMQ as a conference center, this is only a very small part of what we do on our Los Gatos Campus. We are Santa Clara County's leading provider of mental health services for children who are emotionally disturbed and their families. This includes a small residential program and a very successful and growing WrapAround program that treats children who live with their families. Our primary mission is to help children and families, some of whom live in Los Gatos. By consolidating our residential program for young children on the Los Gatos campus, we give them the benefit of a lovely, peaceful place to stay along with a highly qualified staff and a greater variety of recreational facilities. The number of staff members per child will be about 50 percent greater than the number of staff present during the early 1990s. In recent years, we have worked closely with the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department to minimize emergency calls, and we believe the record shows our efforts have been successful. Yes, EMQ's programs have been growing. However, due to changes in health care that encourage outpatient treatment over inpatient care, we expect our WrapAround program to continue growing while the residential program remains the same size. EMQ is proud of our record of success in helping local children and families. Our goal is to be a good neighbor and a valued community asset. To this end, we thank the people of the Los Gatos community for their encouragement and support. Roberto Favela Vice President, Clinical Services, EMQ Chief Todd must take responsibility for cop shortage Regarding the story about the vacancies in the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department in the Nov. 4 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times: Our crime statistics profile the expectations, income and education of the citizenry. It's about demographics as much as our police force. If the LG-MSPD and the Oakland PD switched personnel, we would not also exchange crime rates. If our teens were left alone, we would not suddenly have a huge jump in drug-addicted delinquents. And, yes, our cost of living here is very high. Most of the local fire department personnel cannot afford to live in this town, yet they have an overwhelming number of applicants for every opening-- willing commuters hoping to work for a good department. Chief Larry Todd must take responsibility for his personnel problems. Let the cops cruise our neighborhoods. Get to know us where we live. Earn the respect of the teens who live here without resorting to harassment. Then look at the five Atherton residential robberies last week as a wake-up call. It could happen here while our cops are preoccupied with high-school lockers and cartoonists. Jane Olson Los Gatos Support in wake of disaster is much appreciated Devastation, desolation, misery. It is very hard to visualize. Thousands dead. Thousands homeless, hungry, confused, with no place to go, all due to Hurricane Mitch. On behalf of the people of Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala, I take the liberty of expressing our gratitude to each and every one of you, individuals of every nationality, for your concern, your support and for your generous donations. I shall never stop saying thank you and muchas gracias. Hon. Raul A. Caceres Consul General Emeritus of Honduras, Los Gatos [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 25, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.