Los Gatos Weekly-Times Letters Andrew Fanelli isn't qualified to serve on board Like many of our citizens, I am dismayed by the election of Andrew Fanelli to the Los Gatos Union School District Board of Trustees. By listing his occupation as "teacher" on the ballot (he is a karate teacher whose business card says Chief Instructor), he was able to garner enough votes to defeat two other candidates. With all the tough decisions and action plans facing the board in the coming years, the district needs someone with experience in school matters as well as a reasonably broad business background and strong educational foundation. While by most accounts he is a fine martial arts instructor, Mr. Fanelli has none of the above qualifications required to be a contributing member of the board. I believe the community's trust has already been broken by being hoodwinked into voting him into office under false pretenses. As it turns out, the matter of trust has become an even bigger issue. Several parent groups have been meeting regularly to voice their concerns about Mr. Fanelli's joining the board, and some disturbing facts have come out. Specifically, he has on various occasions and in front of parents active in the school community, stated that he graduated from UC-Berkeley, and on other occasions from San Jose State. He later retracted those statements, saying he "attended classes" at those schools. Additionally, because there has been some question about his residence being within district boundaries, he stated in the Nov. 18 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times that he lives in a cottage with his brother on his parents' property and on Nov. 30 in the San Jose Mercury News that he lives on his family's five acres. There seem to be conflicting stories about the size of this parcel and whether there is actually a cottage on the property. So, the question remains about where Mr. Fanelli actually lives, but assuming he does live within the district, the more important issue is whether or not he is adequately qualified for the position, and can he be entrusted with helping decide our children's futures? Dennis Geiszler Los Gatos Andrew Fanelli misrepresented himself as teacher Kudos to Robert Jenkins for his letter to the editor in the Dec. 2 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. I applaud Mr. Jenkins for coming forward and admitting he voted for Andrew Fanelli because he thought he was a schoolteacher. I agree wholeheartedly that Mr. Fanelli misrepresented himself by calling himself a "teacher." I worked along with the Home and School Club presidents of Daves Avenue, Blossom Hill, Lexington, Van Meter and Fisher Middle School on the LGUSD candidates forum committee. The purpose of this forum was to give Los Gatos citizens an opportunity to judge for themselves each of the candidate's qualifications, so they could make informed choices. Unfortunately, Mr. Fanelli chose neither to participate in this venue, nor to send a representative to speak on his behalf. In addition, Mr. Fanelli declined to fill out a candidate's statement to be published with the voter information pamphlets. This statement, had Mr. Fanelli chosen to fill it out, would have given the voters in Los Gatos more specific information on his qualifications for office. On election day, many people were surprised to see Mr. Fanelli's description of his occupation as teacher. Many others, like Mr. Jenkins, voted for him because they thought he was an educator. Mr. Fanelli had the opportunity to fill out his paperwork accurately. Unfortunately, he did not do so. I disagree with Mr. Fanelli's recent statements that he would have been elected to the school board whether or not he listed his occupation as teacher. I do believe, as does Mr. Jenkins, that "nothing good can come of his taking a dishonorably earned position." Christine Nichols Monte Sereno Voters bear the responsibility for making informed decisions After reading the letter from Bob Jenkins in the Dec. 2 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, I wanted to let Mr. Jenkins know that I, for one, admire his frankness in addressing the issue of the election of Andrew Fanelli to the Los Gatos Unified School District Board of Education. I was a member of the committee that organized the now-infamous Candidates' Night of Oct. 19. I was at that event when three of the five candidates answered questions and stated the qualifications that made them the best choice. As everyone now knows this did not include Mr. Fanelli. Unfortunately, information concerning Mr. Fanelli was scarce; however, I was familiar with his occupation as a martial arts instructor and lack of involvement in the Los Gatos public school system. I frankly did not see him as a serious contender for one of the vacant seats. One can imagine my surprise when I opened the newspaper on Nov. 4 and saw Mr. Fanelli with the third board seat. I could not imagine what in the world had happened. I was certain that there was a mistake. It was not until that moment that I really looked at the ballot information and realized that Andrew Fanelli had indicated that his occupation was that of teacher. I was stunned! I knew that he taught martial arts and was not an educator in the sense that the word "teacher" implied. The only way that the election results made any sense to me was that voters must have interpreted "teacher" to mean that Mr. Fanelli was a college graduate, certified and trained to educate children in the elementary school curriculum. As voters we must bear the responsibility for ensuring that we make informed decisions when electing people who can so significantly impact the education of our children. However, when Andrew Fanelli told the voters that he was a teacher, he, perhaps, unwittingly, duped those voters into believing that they were making an informed choice. Regardless of Mr. Fanelli's future as a member of the LGUSD Board of Education, one hopes that each of us has learned a very important lesson about one's right to vote--while it is our right to cast our vote as we see fit, it is also our duty to make the most informed vote possible. Jorja Silva Los Gatos It's the people who make town so very special An open letter to the people of Los Gatos: I have truly enjoyed serving the town of Los Gatos these past 16 years, both as your councilmember and as mayor. This experience has taught me much about our town and has caused me to appreciate even more its many wonderful people. I have come to realize that it is not the buildings and town infrastructure that make this community so special, but the dedicated people who live and work here. It is the countless hours of work and caring by so many that makes Los Gatos the unique community that we love. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve and I thank you for having confidence in me and supporting me so tremendously over the years. As I leave office now, I am looking forward to continuing to work with you as a volunteer, in making Los Gatos a special place to live and work. Joanne Benjamin Los Gatos Here are some tips to improve morale of cops I read with great interest the letters printed in your newspaper regarding "low morale" within the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department and their difficulty with recruiting new police officers. I live in Los Gatos and work in Scotts Valley. I am very aware of the community activities of the Scotts Valley Police Department. I think Los Gatos can greatly improve the image of their police department by increasing their community involvement. For instance, I have never seen a Los Gatos police officer walking on foot through the retail area of town (except on Friday or Saturday night and during special events). Seeing your local police officers walking into retail shops to visit with store owners and/or customers, speaking to children in the Town Plaza and other one-on-one casual contacts with members of the community would greatly improve not only the morale of the police officers, but also their image. The Scotts Valley Police Department sponsors numerous events for children of all ages during the year, and police officers are always on hand to meet with people and thereby cultivate good relationships with children and teenagers. An officer could always be present at the elementary schools when children are released to ensure their safety crossing streets or meeting their parents. This provides an excellent opportunity for a police department to create goodwill among small children. Police officers should utilize bicycles and motorcycles to patrol Los Gatos, as they do in Scotts Valley. This also brings them closer to community members and children and has the added benefit of keeping them physically fit. I would recommend that Police Chief Larry Todd contact Police Chief Walpole of Scotts Valley to glean ideas that would not only improve department morale, but also improve community image. Police officers are well respected throughout the country, but good and bad images are earned. I know that I would really be pleased to see a Los Gatos police officer patrolling the community on a bicycle or on foot. I would be much more inclined to communicate with an officer who made himself or herself accessible. Those patrol cars can be intimidating and tend to create barriers. Los Gatos has a fine police department, but everybody and everything can stand improvement. Judi Coffman Los Gatos [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.