Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Saratogan Whitney Moore 11, rehearses for her role as the wicked queen in 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' Behind her are her loyal servants and a row of magic mirrors. The play was done by the Saratoga Children's Festival Theater and was performed at Saratoga Community Theater.




2001 Year in Review: October-December

October

With their new station on hold, Saratoga Fire District officials considered a retrofit and architectural upgrade for their current station. A ballpark estimate by an engineer came to near $1 million for the upgrades, as officials admitted they had never applied for a state retrofit grant after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

Under redistricting boundaries signed into law by the governor, Saratoga's new state senator in 2004 would be responsible for cites from Silicon Valley south into northern San Luis Obispo County. City officials lamented the shift and remarked that the city's current Senator, Byron Scher, had been attuned to the city's issues.

The city council added repairs at El Quito Park and improvements to the Prospect Road median to a list of capital improvement projects slated for approval in late October.

City council members agreed to scale back plans for a civic center remodel, scrapping an idea to level all the site's buildings and start from scratch. The
8.3-acre site contained the civic theater, city hall and community buildings used by the city's recreation and senior programs. Renovation talks centered on improvements to the 30-year-old theater and placement of parking areas.

With a new youth baseball season just months away, the city council approved a plan to put a PONY League field into Congress Springs Park. In developing the park's design, citizens and city officials had left a PONY field out of the park but committed to finding the league, for 13- and 14-year olds, a field elsewhere in the city. But no home was found for PONY.

A commitment from the city council for a makeover of the Azule Park area added to the capital improvement project budget, and the council decided that $5.2 million be spent from the city's budget surplus. Committing money to the Azule project was the final wrinkle in the capital improvement process, and set up an approval of the 26-project plan on Nov. 7.

Appearing before the Saratoga Planning Commission, residents continued to protest the installation of cell phone antennas. They cited health and aesthetic reasons. Commissioners replied that they could not stop the antennas from being put up in the city because the federal government had ruled that certified installations were not detrimental to nearby residents' health.

Less than two weeks before the fire commission election, a debate among the four candidates grew caustic as incumbent Jay Geddes and candidate Joe Long put Firefighters and Citizens Task force candidates on the defensive. Long told the small crowd that Barry Ford and Dave Dolloff were bent on joining the Saratoga Fire District with the surrounding county fire department. Geddes suggested that the two firefighter-backed candidates were part of a union takeover of the district.

Eight new commissioners joined the ranks of the city's advisory commissions during a period of large turnover. The changes included three new parks and recreation commission members, who would join in the contentious planning process for the Quito Park.


Photograph by Paul Myers

Saratoga Fire District candidate Dave Dolloff addressed a crowd at the Saratoga Senior Center during the first contested fire district race in many years.




November

Jay Geddes and Joe Long grabbed the two open fire commission seats in a tight four-way race on November 6. Long, an on-call firefighter and real estate agent was the frontrunner with 29.8 percent of the vote. Geddes, the only incumbent running, narrowly defeated Firefighter and Citizen Task force member Barry Ford by 49 votes, 24.9 percent to 23.6 percent. Task force Chairman Dave Dolloff finished fourth. Saratoga Mayor John Mehaffey said the election indicated that voters were satisfied with the way the Saratoga Fire District was operating.

An owner-tenant dispute led to the shuttering of popular Blue Rock Shoot café. Proprietor Josh White was unable to pay his October rent and was told by landlord Mitch Cutler that he had also neglected to pay his biannual property taxes. Cutler reportedly found a new manager to re-open the café in early December.

A debate among West Valley and Mission College district board members over the placement of flags in classrooms spread to national radio and TV talk shows. Trustee Don Wolfe's proposal to make flags mandatory in all classrooms at both colleges failed on a 4-3 vote by the trustees. Another vote to make flags available to all instructors at the college district's expense was approved by the trustees. But Wolfe and several residents in attendance felt the original vote was unpatriotic and alerted the Bay Area and national media. Trustee Jeff Schwarz called the actions of Wolfe and others "demagoguery" in a San Jose Mercury News editorial.

Saratoga resident Ellen Barrett was arrested on charges of attempted murder, stemming from the shooting of her husband on Halloween Night. Barrett's husband was wounded but not mortally, although he was expected to lose vision in one eye.

Saratoga physician Robert A. Bowman was cleared of charges that he sexually assaulted two prisoners during treatments at a Central Valley correctional facility. A Madera County jury handed down the ruling after less than one hour of deliberation, following a two-week trial. One week into the trial, the presiding judge had dismissed two of the five counts against Bowman, including the only felony charge.

A fallen eucalyptus tree at Saratoga Elementary School rekindled a dispute over the fate of a 90-year-old eucalyptus that tree preservationists had battled to save two years earlier. Parents told school district Superintendent Mary Gardner they wanted the old eucalyptus cut down, pointing to research they had compiled showing the dangers of the shallow-rooted trees. Local preservationists said the tree was a community icon and perfectly safe at the school.

Mountain Winery officials and local trail enthusiasts were satisfied with a ruling from a county judge that mandated that county officials sort out the winery's shortage of parking. Trail enthusiasts sued the winery because, among other things, the enthusiasts said the venue did not have adequate parking. The judge asked county officials to lower parking standards to match the 725 spaces the winery did have, or to force the winery to add more than 100 additional spaces. In a third option, the county could revoke the winery's use permit.

Hillside residents continued to push for an alternate escape route out of the hills, to complement Bohlman Road. Residents focused on the expanding Montalvo arts colony as a site for a route that could lead from Norton Road down to Piedmont Road. Montalvo officials wondered how the throughway, which might feed through the arts venues' driveway, would affect the facility's normal traffic patterns.


Photograph by Paul Myers

Mike Perry (right), job supervisor for University Construction, and Chris Palmer, an engineer geologist with DNN Consulting, prepare to lay the foundation for future housing for artists-in-residency at Montalvo.




December

Local environmentalists were expecting higher levels of toxins in waterways, due to the combined effects of seasonal rains and a build-up of auto-related elements on roadways.

New Administrative Services Director Jesse Baloca, who replaced Mary Jo Walker, indicated the city was in good shape financially. That came, as state budget cuts threatened to affect funding headed for cities.

The Saratoga Fire District filed suit against the city of Saratoga, saying the city council had "abused its discretion" in rejecting the district's plans for a new Village station. Fire commission Chairman Bob Egan said the city had left fire officials with no other options except to seek approval for the station from a Santa Clara County judge. City officials said the suit rested on shaky ground.

A second rash of burglaries hit Saratoga, as thieves broke into empty homes and targeted valuables in bedrooms. In one incident, burglars stole about $10,000 of jewelry and other valuables. The burglaries contrasted with an earlier spree of break-ins, in which thieves had targeted occupied homes.

Former Plumed Horse employee Terry Richardson reopened Blue Rock Shot cafe. Richardson promised the same funky atmosphere and possibly the addition of a pool table and some live music.

Nick Streit moved into the mayor's position during the city council's annual reorganization on Dec. 11. Streit earned a spot on the council in 1998 without the help of a broad political coalition that supported several other candidates that year. He remained an independent spirit on the council but Dec. 11 promised to use his proven negotiating skills to unite the city.

Saratoga officials planned to ask for an extension on a state deadline for the city's housing plan. City council members were uncomfortable with designating certain parcels as potential low-income housing sites without extensive public hearings for residents who might be affected. Council members agreed that the state's Dec. 31 deadline wouldn't allow proper hearings.




2001 Year in Review
Year in Review Introduction
January-March
April-June
July-September

Photo: A Space Odyssey Christmas

Local Home Sales Listings

Friends of the Saratoga Libraries publishes 'A History of Saratoga's Libraries'

Saratoga Sampler

Sports Briefs

High school sports