Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Saratoga voters go to the polls Nov. 7 to fill two vacancies on the city council
Son of Measure G
Hotly contested campaign issue or not, the latest Measure G reveals a lot about the candidates
By Kara Chalmers
When he first became the mayor of Saratoga last December, Stan Bogosian made an issue of the importance of keeping commercially zoned land in the city commercial. He proposed that the city place a growth measure on this election's ballot to give the city "breathing room" while it hammered out a policy to keep Saratoga from turning into a true bedroom community and, at the same time, preserve the retail tax base in the city. Detractors argued this was a ploy to create a campaign issue that would resonate as had the original Measure G, the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative that voters passed in 1996. That measure called for a vote of the people in order to convert open space, or residentially zoned land, to commercial. That same year, the measure's success brought Bogosian and the late Mayor Jim Shaw--who worked together on the original Measure G campaign--into office.
In December, Bogosian said he envisioned another voter initiative that would "extend" Measure G to apply not only to conversions of residential and open space, but to commercial zoning districts. But what the council finally voted to approve as a ballot measure this spring, with Councilman Nick Streit opposing, is actually a moratorium on conversions of land zoned commercial to housing that would only last until March 2002. This, according to Bogosian, achieves similar objectives to what he envisioned.
The new measure, which is also called Measure G, would lengthen the temporary moratorium that the council approved. If it does not pass, the moratorium will be lifted in December.
Ann Waltonsmith, who was appointed to the council to serve out Shaw's term when he died in office in August 1999 and sides with Bogosian on nearly every issue, also helped put the measure on this year's ballot. She has made it a campaign issue of her own.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Ann Waltonsmith talks with people in the audience during a campaign forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters on Oct. 5. At left, is Planning Commissioner Cynthia Barry, Waltonsmith's campaign treasurer.
But the fact remains that the measure has not resonated with the community the way the original Measure G did. There have been no citizen committees pounding the pavement for the measure. There aren't even any campaign signs advocating for it.
Still, the measure serves to point out differences among the candidates. While Bogosian and Waltonsmith, who are running on the same ticket, endorse the measure, the third candidate, Chuck Page, opposes it--not necessarily because he thinks commercial space should be converted, but because he does not see the need for the moratorium.
In this way, Page reflects the views of the lone council member who voted against placing the measure on this year's ballot--Nick Streit.
Streit has said he does not see the urgency of the measure and calls it a reaction to the Azule Crossing mixed residential and commercial development. According to Page, Streit is also the council member with whom he is more philosophically in line, than with those he calls a "faction" on the council.
On Nov. 7, Saratoga voters will choose among Bogosian, Waltonsmith and Page, who are competing for two open seats with terms of four years. Voters will also decide the fate of the new Measure G.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Members of the audience pay attention to candidates during the Oct. 5 forum.
Measure G
Less than 1.6 percent of the city's land is zoned for commercial uses. According to Bogosian and Waltonsmith, the economy has led to an increase in demand for residential development in Saratoga in the past decade. Developers and property owners are requesting the rezoning of the city's small amount of commercial areas to residential, so that more homes can be built.
Without a moratorium, building homes on commercial land has been allowed, as long as developers and property owners obtained conditional-use permits from the city's planning commission.
Bogosian and Waltonsmith claim the rezoning will result in the loss of retail tax revenue to the city and retail services for residents. They also say an increase in housing will strain the city's infrastructure. The two candidates see the moratorium as a way to buy the city time to implement the economic development plan that the council has recently begun. The plan entails revitalizing the city's business districts by beautifying the Village and Gateway areas, hiring an economic development coordinator to retain and recruit businesses, and seeding the districts with new businesses by using financial incentives. As Waltonsmith said at an Oct. 5 candidate forum, governments move slowly and property owners, who have space to sell at high prices, can move much quicker.
They say the measure is also intended to allow the city some time to figure out how it will comply with what the state will ultimately require of Saratoga in the way of below-market-rate housing in the city. The city is just beginning to study and update its housing element of the General Plan with all three candidates recognizing the need to provide such housing.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Mayor Stan Bogosian (right) responds to a question at the Oct. 5 candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Listening are (from left) Ann Waltonsmith, Chuck Page and LWV moderator Elizabeth Ansnes.
At the same forum on Oct. 5, Bogosian claimed the new Measure G is consistent with what the founders of Saratoga would have wanted for the city. He added that fewer places to shop in the city would lead to more congestion on the roads as residents would have to drive to other cities to spend their money.
"There is a significant retail tax base at stake here," he said.
Page claims Measure G is an issue purely created for his opponents to campaign on. He said that if there is an emergency, the city should amend its code now to include tests with which developers would have to comply to obtain conditional-use permits for converting commercial spaces. He suggests requirements such as a development proving it would maintain the retail tax revenue to be approved. According to Page, all the moratorium will do is postpone any innovative ideas for the city's commercially zoned land until 2002.
Page also faults the council for not doing enough for the business people who already work in the city, and for not working toward a cooperative relationship with the city's Chamber of Commerce.
Today, the city and the Chamber have still not agreed on a contract, which they have been negotiating for months. The last version that the council approved but the Chamber did not, included an increased fee from the city for visitor and tourist services--from $3,400 per year to $10,000 per year--if the Chamber would agree to being judged on performance criteria and act as an educator about city codes to the city's businesses. While the council saw these as reasonable requests for the increased fee--the city also allows the Chamber to rent one of its buildings for $1 per year--the Chamber saw them as unfair clauses. The Chamber says it would lead to conflicts of interest between itself and the businesses, which the Chamber is supposed to represent.
Page says, if elected, he would push to cooperate with the Chamber, and advertise the city's existing businesses better.
Came in With Measure G: Stan Bogosian
Portrait by Kathy De La Torre
Stan Bogosian
Stan Bogosian grew up in the same house on Lomita Avenue where he and his wife live today. He has lived almost all his life in Saratoga. Bogosian is a small business owner and an instructor in traffic violation classes for ACCTS, a consortium of community colleges for traffic safety in Santa Clara County.
Before he was elected to the council in 1996, Bogosian served on the planning commission from 1990 to 1993.
At the time he was first elected, Saratoga was engaged in a lawsuit over pollution in Saratoga Creek. Bogosian, with running mate Shaw, vowed to settle the lawsuit and the two fulfilled that promise. They also vowed to make City Hall more accessible to citizens. Today, thanks in part to their efforts, all city council meetings and planning commission meetings are televised and the adjourned council meetings are held in the community center rather than the administrative room, which is much smaller. City Hall has set up a website and a quarterly newsletter. Bogosian says that being a council member has been a large part of his life for the past four years and he makes sure he is always accessible, by phone and email.
As a council member, Bogosian helped negotiate agreements with the Mountain Winery concerning its use permit, and the Hakone Foundation for the handling of the garden's long-term care.
Bogosian helped write the survey of residents that appeared in the city's newsletter concerning the development of the Heritage Orchard for recreational space. After the informal survey showed that respondents did not favor development, Bogosian and Waltonsmith pushed for the council to enact a resolution preserving the orchard in perpetuity.
Bogosian has been involved with the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta chapter, and he served on the Open Space Task Force in 1990. He campaigned actively for the original Measure G in the 1996 election.
Bogosian's campaign platforms include a joint powers authority for playfields to address, in the long term, the lack of space for fields in the city. He said he has made finding short-term sites to lease--such as fields at West Valley College--a priority.
Another of Bogosian's priorities if elected would be to increase law enforcement for traffic, especially in certain city neighborhoods such as Prides Crossing. He has participated in many public safety commission meetings and other meetings on the topic.
Bogosian has also stressed in his campaign that the current city council works well and professionally together and that changing it by bringing in a newcomer could mean derailing the hard work the council has already done.
"My concern would be when we're looking at things like playfields space and dealing with traffic, consensus can be achieved if people are working together than if there's a divisiveness in the council," he said. "Our record has proven its worth in negotiating important land use decisions. It's worked well, If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Dedicated Environmentalist: Ann Waltonsmith
Portrait by Kathy De La Torre
Ann Waltonsmith
Waltonsmith grew up in the hillsides in Saratoga and, after living on the East Coast for a while, she moved back to Saratoga with her husband in the mid-1980s. Her three children are grown. She is a psychologist who also manages a Bay Area office of a publicly held HMO, a national employee assistance program called Managed Health Network Inc.
In her work as a therapist, Waltonsmith manages support and professional staff, negotiates contracts, handles budgets and works with families and children. She thinks the communication skills she has developed through her career help her as a council member.
"I'm well-trained in good communications skills," she said. "That makes me a good therapist and also makes me a good leader."
Waltonsmith is the only Democrat, and the only woman running for council, and she is also the only Democrat and woman on the council today.
Waltonsmith has served as a council member for the past year, since her appointment in Sept. 1999, to fulfill the remainder of Shaw's term. She served on the planning commission for half a year before that.
A strong advocate of open space, Waltonsmith has volunteered on such issues as the Save the Nelson Gardens 1998 task force, the Saratoga Hills Road Association and the 1990 Citizens Open Space Task Force. The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation voters have endorsed both Waltonsmith and Bogosian.
Waltonsmith serves as the council liaison to the parks and recreation trails subcommittee and to the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council--positions she said she specifically requested. She has also been involved in the city's effort to abate noise on Highway 85. During her time on the council, no matter what the issue, whether it was preserving the Heritage Orchard or planning the library expansion, Waltonsmith constantly has advocated on behalf of trails, parks and open space.
"All of my stances and votes on political issues in Saratoga have grown out of my long Saratoga history and also my professional and volunteer history," she said at the Oct. 5 candidate forum.
If elected, Waltonsmith says her top priorities are to keep the council open and accessible to people who appear with problems, and also to build on the city's services for youth and senior citizens. She wants to work on the renovation of the community and senior centers and to find short-term playfields for the city's youth. Waltonsmith said the city needs to respond to the demand for housing for Saratoga seniors who want smaller scale, more affordable housing but who do not want to move out of Saratoga.
If elected, she said she is interested in exploring how the city can promote its local artists. She said she would like to find public spaces for artists to showcase their work, and possibly establish an art commission that can work to promote art in schools.
'Not Part of a Faction': Chuck Page
Portrait by Kathy De La Torre
Chuck Page
Page, his wife and his 4- and 7-year-old daughters moved to Saratoga in 1998. They had lived in southern California. He cites the good schools, rural charm, and beautiful locale as reasons he "fell in love" with this city.
Page is a businessman, a representative of the young professionals who work in the technology field in Silicon Valley. He worked for IBM for 15 years, starting in 1978, and for Microsoft and smaller computer firms until this past April when he took a job at WebPartner, an Internet services provider in Cupertino, as vice president for sales.
Page has focused on his managerial history in his campaign and says he is a team-builder with experience that he can transfer over to the local government realm.
Page also says he represents the newer Saratogans, young mothers and fathers who did not grow up in Saratoga, but who still choose to raise their own families here. He is involved in activities at Blue Hills School, which his daughter attends, and the Friends of the Saratoga Libraries.
Endorsed by mayors of Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, Page is serving his third year on the city's planning commission and is currently the chairman. His term on the commission will end in April.
Page emphasizes that he is not part of any political faction or special interest group and, he says he thinks that the other two candidates are. He thinks all Saratoga citizens need more representation and that there should be more diversity on the council. He calls himself the voice of common sense and reason, and says that the group in power today has its own political agenda.
"I'm not a political animal--what can I tell you?" Page stated. "I just want to do the right thing. I just want to help."
Page's campaign platforms are to establish stronger ties between the city and the schools in the city. He also wants to increase law enforcement for traffic issues and implement the circulation element as soon as possible.
"Traffic by parks and schools is a severe issue," he said. "If we work together stronger with schools, we might be able to enact some semblance of a shuttle bus ... If you build strong relations, ongoing, not just in an election year, you're not surprised. The city has been surprised by things, and it doesn't have to be that way."
Page has also noted the need for below-market-rate housing for people who serve the community, especially teachers.
He also wants to improve the city's parks, the safety at parks and schools, and other services for children.
"Relating to the parks, I really think that our neighboring communities--they have the same issues we have, they don't have enough space either," Page said at the Oct. 5 forum. "While we could certainly lease space, and I think it's a great idea, I think that the ultimate problem is ours to resolve and we really have to look within and figure out what we can do, how we can do it and try to move forward in the best possible way."
Saratoga, California Since 1955
