Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Martin Luther King III hugs Taji Hutchins and her brother, Clayton, after he gave a speech at St. Andrew's School. King, the eldest son of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, was in the Bay Area to speak at a meeting of the Bay Area chapter of the National Black MBA Association. He spoke at five schools while in the area.
The Year in Review 2000
January - March 2000
By Kara Chambers
January
The Saratoga Fire District board of commissioners, with the support of the district's union firefighters, voted Jan. 6 to place a
$6 million bond measure on the April 11 ballot to pay for a new fire station at its current location at the corner of Highway 9 and Saratoga Avenue. Plans for a new station were delayed when union firefighters said they would oppose a November 1999 bond measure since they desired a contract with the county fire department. In Saratoga, the Santa Clara County Fire Department serves one half of the city while the SFD serves the other. On Jan. 6, the commissioners also decided to hire a consultant, DMG Maximus, to study the level of fire and medical services in the district and the union firefighters said they hoped the consultant would recommend a contract with the county department. Because the SFD commissioned the study, the union firefighters said they would back a bond in April.
A Saratoga parent came to city parks and recreation officials on Jan. 10 with an offer that seemed too good to be true. Nemat Maleksalehi, who the county's district attorney's office had recently charged with one count of welfare fraud and four counts of felony grand theft, totaling $212,000, said he would build and manage a state-of-the-art indoor sport and recreation center, for free. Maleksalehi's offer was in response to the need for more recreational space in the city, he said. Maleksalehi's lawyer said that the plans for the sports complex had been in the works before he was charged with the crimes.
In response to complaints from hillside residents about deer and other wildlife threatening pets and gardens, the planning commission on Jan. 12, voted to recommend that the city council relax its strict rules limiting fencing in the hillsides. The commission recommended that the city council change the ordinance from allowing fences in the hillsides to enclose no more than 4,000 square feet to allowing them to enclose 20 percent of the whole property, regardless of the size of the property. In addition, the commission recommended that agricultural purposes be added to the list of exceptions to the fencing ordinance, so that vineyards and orchards could be more protected from animals.
When the planning commission and the city council met jointly on Jan. 25 to talk about the possible change in the fencing ordinance, Commissioner Erna Jackman's decision to change her vote approving the amendment to increase the amount of land allowed to be fenced in the hillsides, set off a heated discussion. After the commission made its decision on the fencing ordinance on Jan. 12, Jackman and Commissioner Cynthia Barry had emailed the council, from Commissioner Lisa Kurasch's computer, asking the council to remand the issue back to the commission, which the council did on Jan. 25.
The two commissioners did not email the other commissioners, who were surprised and upset. Jackman and Barry's reasons were that, at the late hour the commission deliberated the issue, the commission did not spend enough time discussing it.
The city contributed $150,000 toward the new $1.7 million Olympic-sized swimming pool for Saratoga High School. The contribution allowed all the originally planned-for amenities to be included in the final design. The city's gift was actually a "sinking fund," or prepayment, for some 10 years worth of future charges to use the school's facilities for programs run by the recreation department.
Saratoga residents Gerald R. Babb, 52, and Sidhartha Maitra, 50, who were partners in a Saratoga communications software company called Floreat, were killed in s private airplane crash on Jan. 22, in San Antonio, Texas.
February
On Feb. 2, the council approved modified plans for the Azule Crossing mixed residential and commercial redevelopment at 12312 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road that included a larger commercial component than the original plans. In December 1999, the council had denied an earlier version of the plan.
City Clerk Susan Ramos resigned from her position with the city after one year, to accept a job as administrative services manager in Menlo Park's city manager's office.
According to the district attorney's office, Maleksalehi, a Saratoga real estate magnate, collected some $212,000 in subsidies meant for those who can't afford to live in the county without federal assistance. Then, on Feb. 22, a federal grand jury indicted Maleksalehi for mail and wire fraud, as well as money laundering. According to the U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of California, Maleksalehi acquired $1.3 million in subsidies meant for the poor in Contra Costa County through a housing scheme. According to the indictment, Maleksalehi defrauded the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development of money and property.
Pearl Medeiros was named by the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce as the 1999 business person of the year. Medeiros, the president of the Chamber's board of directors, had served on the board since 1991.
The city council asked City Manager Larry Perlin to resign and made the announcement public on Feb. 8. According to Mayor Stan Bogosian, the council unanimously decided that asking for Perlin's resignation would be in the city's best interest since the council and Perlin had irreconcilable differences. The council hired William C. Norton as interim city manager on Feb. 25. Norton, now retired, had been the city manager of Alameda.
Councilman Nick Streit proposed using part of the Heritage Orchard for an indoor sports building. His proposal was for an old barn, big enough to hold two volleyball or basketball courts, to be built in the orchard. Streit, who had not run the idea by the council, said he was giving it to the commission to do with what they wished.
Planning Commissioner George Roupe made his disappointment about an email from two commissioners to the council known at a Feb. 9 commission meeting. He said the email, which concerned the commission's decision on hillside fencing, was inappropriate and that it contained inaccuracies. The decision in question was the approval of an amendment to the hillside fencing ordinance that the commission made in January.
Measure N, the $15 million bond measure for a renovated and expanded Saratoga Community Library, which citizens would vote on in March, was endorsed by the council and other community groups.
March
On March 15, the council voted 4-1 to enact a 45-day moratorium, on any residential development on land zoned commercial, that they would extend to December at a later hearing, and finally place on the November 2000 ballot for a decision by voters in Saratoga on whether or not to keep the moratorium in effect until March 2002. Councilman Nick Streit voted against the moratorium.
On March 2, the Santa Clara County Planning Commission granted the Mountain Winery's application for a use permit that would allow it to continue doing what it had been doing for more than 40 years--legally. Previous owners of the winery, which began hosting its summer concert series in 1958, never obtained a permit from the county for the events that take place there, including weddings, business meetings and concerts.
Besides legalizing the winery's existing uses, the permit conceptually approved an expansion of the concert seating from 1,750 to 2,500 seats and an expansion of the winery building by 1,500 square feet.
Days after the March 2 decision, both the city and the Saratoga Trail Enthusiasts, an advocacy group for the city's trails, appealed the commission's decision to the county board of supervisors, saying that traffic noise and trails were issues that were not addressed adequately by the commission.
The $15 million bond measure, Measure N, for the new Saratoga Community Library passed in the primary election March 7. Seventy-seven percent of voters said "yes" to Measure N.
The city agreed to accept more than
$2 million from Caltrans, to take control of part of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, and accept full ownership, operation, maintenance and liability for its portion of the road.
The legal battle that started in September between Saratoga and AT&T over the city's public access television, KSAR, ended on March 3, with a $95,000 settlement to the city. In September, AT&T had bumped KSAR from its long-held and desirable location at Channel 6 to the less desirable Channel 15, to make room for San Jose's KICU, which is located at Channel 6 in many other Bay Area cities.
After hearing a presentation from architects on a new community center, council members questioned if they were thinking big enough, and directed staff to explore replanning and rebuilding the entire area from the civic theater to the corporation yard, rather than only the community center. The council decided to explore short-term needs of the community center, as well as a master plan for the civic center area, in April.
2000: The Year in Review
April - June 2000
July - September 2000
October - December 2000
Saratoga, California Since 1955
