Flags are flying at half-mast at City Hall this week to honor Mayor Jim Shaw, who died at his Saratoga home on Monday after a year-long bout with cancer. He was 72.
The former Navy man rode a wave of slow-growth sentiment onto Saratoga's City Council by championing neighborhood preservation and low taxes. Shaw was elected to the council in 1996 with Stan Bogosian after successfully campaigning for passage of the controversial growth management law known as Measure G, which requires general plan changes to go before the city's voters.
Though he led a neighborhoood wave of discontent with conventional politics, Shaw's personal style was anything but a firebrand, and friends and colleagues cited his calm, genial manner and sense of humor in recalling his personal ways. "He was a quiet, considerate gentleman," fellow Councilman Evan Baker said. "He was always the diplomat and kept things cool and folksy."
His colleagues selected him as mayor in 1998, not long after being diagnosed with cancer. In a 1998 interview with the SARATOGA NEWS, Shaw expressed nothing but optimism and a dedication to continue his work until he felt he couldn't give 100 percent. He did just that, leading council meetings until July 21.
Even though the mayor showed signs of slowing, his mind and spark never diminished. He ran meetings efficiently and always possessed the ability to sum up the feeling of a moment with a comment or bit of noteworthy advice, even during contentious debates.
Baker, who lives in the same neighborhood as the Shaw family, said that the mayor's death doesn't come as too much of a surprise to those who knew him because he had been ill for the past year. But having to deal with it now, Baker said, is not easy.
"Even when the issue came up, there were some points that indicated the chemotherapy would take him so low that he couldn't continue," Baker said. "But he's the kind of guy that wouldn't quit and would keep at it until he felt he couldn't do the job."
Baker said he visited Shaw at Los Gatos Community Hospital on Friday, July 30. But on Saturday, Shaw was released to go home after treatment and surprisingly was up and walked, with some assistance, through his front door.
He died the following Monday at home, in the presence of his wife Barbara. Shaw is also survived by his three grown daughters Debbie, Patty and Ann.
According to city law, Vice Mayor Stan Bogosian will now serve as the city's mayor.
The two ran together in 1996. Bogosian said he first met Shaw during the campaign for Measure G.
One of his best memories of Shaw was to see him pulling up on a motorcycle in front of his house one day when the two were supposed to go make copies of campaign flyers.
"I said to myself, ïThis is the guy I'm running with?'" Bogosian laughed.
"He never said a harsh word. It was like we had been through all these wars together and when we celebrated our victory, it quickly became a realization that we were now a two-member minority on the council."
Following the upset victory over the city's dominant political players, Shaw summed up the phenomenon in his characteristically self-effacing way. "It was gratifying to consider the significant number of votes the Shaw-Bogosian ticket received, but I do think we need to understand what the votes were for and what the votes do not stand for," Shaw said in Dec. 1996.
"I reluctantly understand that the vote was not an outpouring of admiration for the charm and Superman-like qualities of Shaw or Bogosian. I do think that it stands for direction to this council to try hard to make our local government easier to access and to demonstrate greater awareness and responsiveness to its citizens."
Following the November 1998 election, Shaw went from being in the minority to leader of the dominant faction with the election of John Mehaffey and Nick Streit to the council.
A visitation will be held on Aug. 5 from 6-8pm at the Alameda Family Saratoga-Cupertino Funeral Home, 12341 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd. in Saratoga.
Services will take place Friday, Aug. 6 at 11am at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 13601 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga. He will be laid to rest at Madronia Cemetery in Saratoga afterward. A reception will take place at Hakone Gardens after burial.
The family has requested donations be made to the Friends of the Saratoga Community Library in lieu of flowers, to help fund the library's expansion drive.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
