 |
|
|
|
Photograph by George Sakkestad
When the weather turned stormy, Saratogans Don and Connie Rood figured it was the perfect opportunity to take their son, Taylor, up to Highway 9.
1999 Year in Review
April
The Saratoga Community Library officials decided to try asking Saratoga residents again to support a bond measure to help pay for the $12 million to $15 million needed to expand the overcrowded 20-year-old structure. Five months earlier, a survey revealed that Saratogans weren't ready to put up the money for a bond measure. The Library Commission and Friends of the Saratoga Libraries embarked on a mission to raise public awareness of the library's expansion and renovation needs.
Mayor Jim Shaw announced a series of measures bringing closure to the four-year $250,000 Saratoga Creek case. The city of Saratoga would pay $84,000 in various costs and attorney's fees to the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, which represented the two plaintiffs in the case, Baykeeper and Friends of the Santa Clara County Creeks. The eight measures were meant to keep pollution out of the creek through regular water testing, sign posting and the adoption of a discharge response plan.
The Saratoga City Council voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with the Santa Clara County housing authority to manage the house for rent at Hakone Gardens, putting to rest months of confusion over how it would rent the two-bedroom cottage. The rent was set at $900 per month; $75 per month would be paid to the housing authority for its services.
Capt. Robert Wilson of the Sheriff's Department Westside Substation began working from the San Jose office, serving as both Acting Assistant Sheriff and Captain of the Westside Substation. If Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith did not choose Wilson as the new undersheriff in May, Wilson said he would retire after 31 years with the department. Lt. Cary Colla at the Westside Substation took over many of Wilson's day-to-day activities. The search for a new supervisor for the substation began.
After a yearlong search, the Saratoga Federated Church selected the Rev. Keith Potter as new senior pastor. Potter came from the Paradise Alliance Church in Paradise, Calif., and replaced the Rev. Greg Ogden. Ogden left his position as pastor in January 1998 to be a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.
May
Nearly one-quarter of Redwood Middle School's students stayed home from school May 7 after the SUSD sent home a letter warning parents of a rumor that a student planned to bring a gun to school that day. The rumors led to the suspension of a seventh-grade boy who was not allowed to return to school until the Sheriff's Department completed an investigation as to whether the rumor was true.
After more than nine months of controversy surrounding the fate of several eucalyptus trees and the problem of increased traffic congestion, the SUSD began the bidding process for Saratoga School's construction plans. Although the board spent time negotiating with community groups, an angry City Council believed its concerns had not been met. The Council threatened to sue the SUSD in an effort to block the district's planned renovations at Redwood Middle School and Saratoga School, which were scheduled to begin in summer. The city wanted a binding agreement to make sure the district didn't stray from the compromise the two bodies had agreed upon earlier surrounding the trees and the traffic issue. Trying to avoid costly, drawn-out litigation over the matter, the City Council and the school district spent two weeks in closed meetings hammering out an agreement so bidding and construction could start on-schedule.
In a drastic move, the City Council appointed four brand-new members to the Planning Commission, choosing them over former commissioners who hoped to return for new terms. Lisa Kurasch, Erna Jackman, George Roupe and Ann Waltonsmith began four-year terms on the seven-member panel, replacing Marcia Kaplan, Cheryl Martlage and Henry Murakami. Mary-Lynne Bernald stayed on to serve as the commission's new chairwoman.
After weeks of searching for a replacement executive director, the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce found it didn't need to look much farther than its own front office. Abby Krimotat, who was executive assistant, stepped up the ladder and took over as new executive director, replacing her former boss of eight months, Sheila Arthur.
Mountain Winery co-owner Bill Hirschman submitted plans seeking a conditional-use permit for the winery to the Santa Clara County Planning Commission. If the permit were granted, the winery could hold concerts and other events legally for the first time in its history. Hirschman also said he hoped to expand the site's concert seating by 750 seats and add more parking and other upgrades. Nearby residents worried that an expansion of the winery could bring more noise and traffic to the area.
Residents living near the Argonaut Shopping Center had similar worries in mind when they derided the city Planning Commission for approving the use permit for a Starbucks coffeehouse with outdoor seating in the center. Irate neighbors vowed to take advantage of the 15-day appeal process. They worried the chain store, which was denied a place in Saratoga Village, would bring increased traffic, noise and trash to the area.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Ray Rossi and his wife, Francine, said good-by to old customers and sold off everything in the historic drugstore.
June
The city accepted the SUSD's plan to save two 100-year-old eucalyptus trees at Saratoga Elementary School. The plans included a city clause stating that the contractor would have to pay a $25,000 fine for any damage to either of the trees during construction. The agreement came after a last-minute scare at a City Council meeting, when it appeared that council members would not agree to the plans.
A state appellate court reversed a county superior court ruling that would have allowed Ray Rossi, the owner of the Saratoga Drug Store, to keep his lease and recover court costs from his long legal battle with his landlord. The ruling left the drugstore's future in jeopardy. Rossi appealed it.
The City Council and the Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously to abandon the idea of reconstructing new playfields at Blue Hills Elementary School, Azule Park, Marshall Lane Elementary or Foothill Elementary Schools and forge ahead with Councilman Nick Streit's resurrected city "hub" idea. The city hub, pitched for the first time in 1996, would be a central sports and community complex. The 20-acre Heritage Orchard, where City Hall, the Saratoga Library, senior and community centers and the theater are located, was mentioned as one possible location, as was West Valley College.
Linda Graef Salter, 13-year president of Skyline College in San Bruno, was named the new chancellor of the West Valley-Mission Community College District after a nationwide search.
The Friends of the Saratoga Libraries threw a "Jump, Jive and Raise the Roof" party for the Saratoga Community Library's 21st birthday in the library's parking lot to raise awareness of the library's need for renovation and expansion.
The City Council did not reject Starbucks's proposal to expand in the Argonaut Shopping Center, but it significantly scaled back how the coffeehouse would operate by limiting outdoor seating and expansion. The council stressed that, at any time, it would be free to call up the individual use permits of the shops in the center for review and could drastically alter them.
Planning Commissioners came to a 3-3 tie and could not approve or deny Jamba Juice's application for the space next to Starbucks in the Argonaut Shopping Center because the seventh commissioner, George Roupe, was absent.
Dan Pulcrano, executive editor of the Saratoga News and chief executive officer of its parent company, Metro Newspapers, was elected president of the Hakone Foundation.
The Red Cross and city-sponsored Safe Rides Program gave 18 students--most of whom probably had been drinking--rides home during the party-filled graduation weekend. The program was such a success that organizers said it would probably run every weekend after school resumed in the fall.
1999: The Year in Review
January - March 1999
July - September 1999
October - December 1999
|
|
|
|
Saratoga, California Since 1955
