Photograph by Robert Scheer
The Good Government Group board studies local issues.
By Cecily Barnes
The first colonists to step foot upon American soil began a tradition; they congregated in halls and town centers to discuss politics and community issues, and often they gossiped. Today, this tradition is virtually extinct. However, in certain unusual places, the practice of community politics can still be found. Saratoga is one of those places.
At the time when Saratoga incorporated as a city in 1956, a group of residents founded the Good Government Group. The group's purpose was to keep an eye on Saratoga's inexperienced government, which was forged to protect the village from the San Jose strip mall virus.
"The city was incorporated as sort of a defensive measure, to keep the city of San Jose from gobbling it up," GGG's president, Burt Kendall, explains. "Folks in Saratoga were feeling threatened by the city of San Jose, which was rapidly annexing outward."
The GGG's mentality was the same as the city's--protect Saratoga.
However, new City Councilmen Stan Bogosian and Jim Shaw, who won without the GGG endorsement in November, believe the GGG has lost track of its original intent.
"I believe that the GGG started with goals that were very much in line with what I believe and hope to practice as a city councilperson--maintaining a rural atmosphere for Saratoga," Bogosian explains. "But over the past few years, the GGG has become a power broker. They've lost sight as a group."
Bogosian argues that last November's election results prove Saratogans want preservation and growth control. The GGG's endorsements went against what the majority wants, he claims.
"The GGG is backing candidates who have been oriented toward projects that [indicate] we have to accept progress," Bogosian says. "I'm talking about a growth mentality rather than a preservation of the neighborhood."
But GGG leaders claim their group has no political aspirations beyond informing the community.
"It's not like we have an agenda," GGG president Kendall says. "We're not the real estate board. We're a fairly broad base of folks from large segments of the community."
GGG membership is open to all residents of Saratoga. All that's required to join is residency and a $20 annual fee. Members are rewarded by receiving invitations to all GGG events and voting for the group's endorsed candidates and issues. The group holds board meetings monthly, as well as special events.
"The most important thing is the group has been active since the founding of the city; it's ongoing and diversified," treasurer Marlene Duffin says. "We have people who are members from all over the city. We don't represent any single philosophy. We may have realtors on our board, but we don't paint things with a pro-development brush. However, we do have a lot of respect for private property."
Duffin ticks off the names of board members to show they represent different segments of the community: Dane Christensen, of the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council; Jim Ousley, a member of the city's Finance Advisory Committee; Cindy Ruby, a member of the Saratoga Union School District Board; Judy Johnstone, president of the Saratoga High School PTSA; Bob Louden, president of the Saratoga Lions Club; Steve Hall, local insurance broker; Joe Long Jr. and Roy Cook, local realtors; Beth Wyman, former city council candidate; Kendall, the president; Ann Peterson, past president and a member of the Library Foundation Board; Jane Dennis, active in the Vineyards condominium association; Joyce Hlava, former city councilwoman; Pete Kreamer, member of the community; Al Roten, Greenbriar Homeowners Association; Don Sturdevant, community member; and Duffin herself, a campaign consultant, member of the AAUW and the League of Women Voters.
"The people who are our members are from a broad spectrum," Kendall says. "I'm a Silicon Valley computer type. There are insurance agents, real estate brokers--lots of different types of people. It's not like we're of such and such neighborhood or group."
Unconvinced of their sincerity, Bogosian says the GGG is a political action group.
Kendall explains that the GGG was forced to register as a PAC if they wanted to continue publishing their endorsements, an act that is mandated in the GGG bylaws.
"From a legal standpoint, [we are a PAC]," Kendall admits. "But under today's laws, in order to publish your endorsements, you have to register as a PAC."
Duffin was appalled when then-council candidates Shaw and Bogosian boycotted the GGG's candidates forum and justified their absence by pronouncing the group a PAC.
"They did appear in front of the Sierra Club, and they're a PAC," Duffin points out. "We felt the criticism wasn't justified because they did appear in front of that group."
Hosting candidates forums and making endorsements has been a primary function of the GGG since its inception. When Shaw and Bogosian refused to attend the GGG's candidates forum, it was the first time in the group's history a council candidate had done so.
Perhaps, ex-councilman F. L. Stutzman suggests, the newly elected council members thought it in their best interest not to attend.
"For a while," Stutzman explains "you almost couldn't get elected unless you were endorsed by the GGG. Now, if you are endorsed by the GGG, it's almost a lethal endorsement."
The GGG's stamp of approval in the last City Council election failed to sway the voters. Wyman and incumbent Ann Marie Burger, both GGG candidates, were defeated.
The GGG also found itself on the other side of the popular vote with Measure G, the city's neighborhood preservation initiative, which voters approved in March 1996. The GGG was dead set against Measure G, and members actively worked to defeat the growth-control measure.
On another hot local issue, the utility users tax, the GGG took a position against the tax, which was narrowly defeated in November. Now members find themselves in the uncomfortable position of recommending what should be cut from the city's budget in the wake of the lost tax revenue.
Bogosian and Shaw say they have nothing against GGG members as individuals; it's the group they have a problem with.
"I believe the group is comprised of good, solid Saratoga citizens of good repute," Shaw says.
But he and other critics say the group is antiquated, out of touch with the community and headed downhill. GGG members respond that they're being unfairly criticized.
"There is no other group that is open to everybody and endorses local candidates," Duffin says. "We're in an area where there isn't really anybody trying to compete with us, [yet] everybody can be so critical."
The GGG's chief role is that of a civic watchdog.
"We're an organization that oversees city government. We attend the City Council and Planning Commission meetings and, at board meetings, we report back what the City Council and the Planning Commission are doing," Duffin says.
Duffin describes GGG activities with pride. "We were active in the Montalvo Fourth of July celebration and in Saratoga's Hometown Parade. We marched and handed out information on when commissions and the council meet. We held a candidates forum and then did a mailing [of endorsements] to registered voters. In December, we held an event honoring elected and appointed officials."
Almost any topic in Saratoga is apt to come under GGG scrutiny.
When Fire Chief Ernie Kraule proposed expanding the Saratoga Fire Station, he was summoned to the GGG to explain.
The GGG faces some heavy decisions on future issues. On March 10, Mayor Gillian Moran will give the GGG an update on the City Council's budget-cutting efforts in the wake of the utility tax defeat.
"We will listen to where they are going to cut and give input at some point," Duffin says. "If there was something being cut we felt strongly about, then we could jump in and see if we could save anything."
The GGG is also expected to take a stand on the Saratoga Union School District's $40 million school bond issue heading to voters on the June ballot. A representative of the school district will explain the need for a bond issue April 28 at 7 p.m. in the Saratoga Library at a GGG-sponsored meeting.
A library board member has already made an appearance to explain the need for Saratoga Library expansion.
Members study issues and then take a stand.
The format is for members to be polled either by telephone or by written ballot. Once a decision is reached, the GGG does a mailing to all registered voters in Saratoga.
"There is no other group like ours," Duffin says. "We're the only group that continues to care about the government and what goes on in the city. We may be more visible some years than others, but it's a constant caring, without having an ax to grind."
Editor Carolyn Leal contributed to this story.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 26, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.