City council members voted unanimously to declare March "Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month" and make Saratoga a "colon cancer-free zone" at their March 17 council meeting.

The Monte Sereno City Council made its declaration on Aug. 19, 2003, and in February issued a challenge to other Santa Clara cities and agencies to do the same. According to American Cancer Society spokeswoman Angie Carrillo, accepting the challenge means that the city has "made a commitment to educate their citizens and their employees."

Saratoga will also give time off to city employees who meet the ACS colon cancer screening criteria in order to be tested.

Mayor Ann Waltonsmith said before the vote that she was in support of the idea and wanted to make sure the city could make it a long-term effort.

"The whole purpose of this is to raise awareness," she said. "My major concern is that we do something for multiple years."

Julie Goldberry, a Los Gatos resident who grew up in Saratoga, spoke during the public comment session. Her mother died three years ago as a result of colon cancer, which kills approximately 56,000 Americans per year.

Goldberry urged the council to vote for the proclamation so that all residents would recognize the need to be tested for the often-preventable cancer.

"I'm 45 and I'm having my second colonoscopy next month," she said. "This is not just a disease that affects people over 50."

Carrillo said that everyone older than 50 should be tested for the cancer, but that those such as Goldberry with a family history of the disease should in fact be tested earlier.

The unpleasantness of the screening itself may deter some people from getting colonoscopies, but they might be more likely to do so if they knew the cancer is 90 percent preventable when detected early. Carrillo said the colon cancer-free concept is part of an effort to spread the word.

"What we're trying to do is to make people as knowledgeable about colon cancer as they are about prostate cancer and breast cancer," she said. "It's an uncomfortable situation, but colon cancer kills a lot of people."

Goldberry praised the grass-roots movement. She asked the city to follow Waltonsmith's recommendation to continue the program beyond this month.

"I just encourage you to go forward with this for as long as you can and make a big splash with it," she said.