Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Saratoga firefighters continued to do their job while the battle over bringing the historic fire district into the Santa Clara County fire department raged. The district tried unsuccessfully to start construction on its new fire station, and the formerly ho-hum fire district race turned into a high-profile, contentious clash of wills.
Fire district story was ablaze all year
Like a firestorm that rages out of control, calms deceptively and then flares up again, the Saratoga Fire District couldn't seem to stay out of the heat this year.
Early on, disgruntled firefighters joined with a citizen's group to push for a merger with the Santa Clara County Fire Department in stark opposition to the will of Saratoga Fire District officials. Firefighters argued that the merger would bring benefits both to them and to the community.
Although the fire district is not in the jurisdiction of the city of Saratoga, the city did get involved, first with a public safety commission study that determined the district's service was adequate. Then the city toyed briefly with the idea of establishing its own fire department.
Shortly after the planning commission haltingly approved plans for the district's new fire station, community activist Don Whetstone revived the idea of turning the corner of Saratoga Avenue and Highway 9 into a public safety plaza incorporating the fire district, the post office and the sheriff's substation. City officials seemed to warm to the idea, but fire officials, eager to move ahead with their own fire station were dubious.
Meanwhile, the fire district election, long the biggest yawn in Saratoga, was declared, "the hottest ticket in town."
At year's end, the city rejected fire district plans for a new station, and the district, in turn, filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming the city abused its discretion.
As if a tumultuous fire district weren't enough, the city was under pressure from the Association of Bay Area Governments and the state housing department to complete its housing element, which ABAG had determined meant that Saratoga must create 539 housing units--239 of which must be below-market rate.
The city protested that ABAG used inflated job and population projections to determine Saratoga's housing needs, but when state lawmakers threatended to put teeth in its housing element requirements, including withholding of state funds for noncompliance, the city hired a new community development director well versed in writing local housing plans. At this moment, the city is awaiting a decision on its appeal for an extension on the Dec. 31 deadline for submitting its housing plan.
On the plus side, work began on expansion of the library, and a temporary library was established for operation during construction.
The Chamber of Commerce lost an executive to the Mountain Winery, hired a new one, only to have her leave under something of a cloud and hired yet another director. The business community, however, was heartened by the city's hiring of its first economic development director.
The city, having experienced an exodus of staff over the previous year, analyzed possible reasons and found that Saratoga paid the lowest salaries in the area. Officials responded by increasing salaries, and there are positive signs that stability in staffing is stabilizing.
In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, Saratogans learned that three people with close ties to the West Valley had perished in United Airlines Flight 93 which crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, bringing the tragedy close to home.
And finally, the saga of a 100-year-old eucalyptus tree that survived the woodchopper's ax following heated debate and not a little drama several years earlier, came to an unceremonious end when a storm took down a younger eucalyptus on campus, forcing the board to conclude that safety concerns would trump history and nostalgia. The tree was slated to come down during the winter vacation.
--Dale Bryant, Interim Editor
2001 Year in Review
January-March
April-June
July-September
October-December
The Year in Review was compiled by Oakley Brooks, assisted by Gloria Wang and Rebecca Ray.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
