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Commissioners are ready to give back to community
By Kara Chalmers
A clinical psychologist and a computer virtuoso are the newest members of the Planning Commission and the Library Commission, respectively. The city clerk swore them in to their new posts at the City Council meeting Nov. 3.
Cynthia Barry, Ph.D., who has lived in Saratoga for 23 years, said now that she has raised her two children, she thinks it is time for her to give back to Saratoga. A strong supporter of Measure G, the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative, Barry said she has watched parts of Saratoga, like orchards, hillsides and trails for example, disappear over the years.
"I believe Saratoga is a unique city," she said in a telephone interview. "We have a very special character among South Bay cities, we don't have the kind of density they have. Saratoga has always been a more rural space and has had more of a country atmosphere. I think it is important to preserve as much as we can and to return as much as we can."
Bobby Chandra is marketing manager for Navin.com, an Internet start-up company based in Saratoga. Navin.com allows people to send global voice-mail messages to friends and families around the world for the cost of a local phone call. Chandra also founded Blue, an e-commerce website that is like an Amazon.com for magazines, three years ago when he was 18-years-old. Another company absorbed Blue less than a year ago.
Chandra, a New York state native, has lived in the South Bay for seven years and in Saratoga for six months. He, too, thinks it is time for him to make some contributions to the city.
"I felt there were two areas where I could help out," he said. "The library expansion and helping the library assess digital options as far as e-books and Internet access."
During his tenure with the Library Commission, Chandra would like to explore the emerging concept of e-books. But, as an avid reader, he believes there will always be a need for ink on paper.
"The library has always been a fountain of knowledge for people interested in self-education," he said, noting that he learned everything he knows about computer programming from books borrowed from a library.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
