Saratoga News


Carolyn Leal	Julie Mehta

Tim Persyn	Robert Scheer

Hello to Saratoga, from the new kids on the block

By Carolyn Leal

Hello, Saratoga, we're the new kids on the block.

I'm the new editor of the Saratoga News, replacing Sue Lick, who will continue writing features and cover stories for us, working from the Los Gatos Weekly-Times office.

Most recently, I've edited the Cupertino Courier, in the neighboring community down De Anza Boulevard. Or is it Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road?

I edited the Los Gatos Times Observer for several years and worked at the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Peninsula Times Tribune and other newspapers in this area.

We also have a new city hall reporter/assistant editor. Julie Mehta replaces Clarence Cromwell, who has taken his considerable reporting skills to the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. Julie comes from the Courier, where she covered the city beat and the education beat. She also worked briefly for the Weekly-Times and was a summer intern for the Saratoga News. She is a graduate of UC-Berkeley with a degree in English.

Tim Persyn, our education reporter, has moved to full-time status, covering schools and cops and writing features. Tim earned a bachelor's degree in history from UC-Santa Cruz. Before coming to Saratoga in January, he interned at the Palo Alto Weekly and the Sunnyvale Sun.

If you've noticed new emphasis on photographs, Robert Scheer is responsible. Robert graduated from Humboldt State University and has worked on The Union, a weekly in Arcata, and the daily Eureka Times-Standard. In addition to photojournalism, he has done theater and fashion photography. Scheer moved to the Bay Area last summer to escape the Humboldt County rain.

We're pleased to be at the Saratoga News, and we aim to put out a good newspaper because this city deserves nothing less.

Already, we can tell Saratoga is unique. How many other cities have citizens who care enough about their city's future to put a measure on the ballot demanding a vote on major rezoning decisions? Measure G may be unworkable, as the critics charge, but it clearly stands for democracy in action.

You can see one measure of citizen involvement each week on the Saratoga News editorial pages, which are filled to overflowing with letters expressing opinions strong enough to singe the paper.

There are other things special about Saratoga: Walking down Big Basin Way in the morning for coffee at the International Coffee Exchange and a croissant from Marjolaine, along the way enjoying the buckets of tulips on the sidewalk in front of Big Basin Floral. Lunching on the porch at Blue Rock Shoot, the delightful new cafe with the name almost impossible to remember, while watching the clouds float over the mountains guarding the city.

We like it here. Call and let us know what's new.