I very much appreciate when a student at one of our schools writes in his opinions about an issue affecting our city and a decision the city council has made (Saratoga High School senior Kevin Lee's letter regarding the sale of the North Campus facility, March 16). The sale of the North Campus is not an easy decision for the council to make and has been discussed since the senior citizen foundation decided 2 ¹/2 years ago not to move. Personally, it has been one of the toughest decisions I have made.

I need to review some events that occurred three years ago. The original plan was to move our sheriff's substation to the spot where the seniors are and move the seniors to the North Campus. We would have saved the cost of our rent and received funding from Cupertino and Los Altos Hills, whose sheriffs are housed with ours. The week the campus was purchased the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council board decided not to move. We ended up having to allow our sheriff's department to find commercial space outside of Saratoga and inside Cupertino's border.

SASCC has stated it needs more space and would prefer to be on a campus that has less traffic congestion. With the sale of the North Campus, capital funds would be freed up to make space available in the current location. If the senior group of 880 members were to move to the North Campus, there would be operating expenses of at least $100,000 there, in addition to the cost to the city for the current site. Where will these funds come from?

I would like you to know all that we have done to try to raise revenue in the last two years. We hired a grant-writing firm and we did not see more grants in six months. I have learned you need matching funds to get grants. It takes money to make money.

We have tried a redevelopment agency. Our study has shown that we could not successfully justify an RDA. It is not enough to have potential blight but you must show current blight. And we have tried the very unsuccessful utility tax proposed that lost by 80 percent.

Let's talk about commitment. The city committed to church members that it would try to use the church for community needs. I completely understand their frustration. But my commitment to the city is to make tough and sometimes unpopular decisions that keep our city financially strong.

Kevin, I want to commend you on your letter. It was well-written and thorough.

Mayor Kathleen King

Saratoga

No promise broken
by the city council

Recent letters state that the city is breaking a promise by its vote to sell the North Campus. The "promise" to retain the North Campus was inferred from an incomplete statement by Councilman Norman Kline that the present council is not bound by the vote of the past council. What Mr. Kline should have said was that when the city took possession of the North Campus, its duty was limited to use of the property in the best interests of the community.

Neither the current council nor the previous council have or had a duty to retain the property as a senior center. In other words, by its vote to purchase the property for use as a senior center, the old council did not commit itself to use the property for that purpose, or even to retain the property.

The previous owner of the land sold it to the city without any conditions. Had it been the previous owner's desire that the land be retained by the city and used as a senior center, that condition could have been stated in the deed, but it was not. By ignoring the provisions of the deed, the proponents of retention of the property have created a promise where none exists. Mr. Lee (letters, March 16) alleges that, "By selling this land, we are clearly breaking the vow to help the people."

We elect councils to represent our interests. We do not expect that, on each issue, the council must accept the opinion of the majority of the people who are heard during public hearings. Mr. Lee's statement that there was a "strongly one-sided public opinion" in favor of retaining the land ignores the fact that those protesting represented about 0.1 percent of the residents of the city.

Leasing the land instead of selling it may be labeled as a compromise, but as a budget issue it is a halfway measure; it means less money available to fill the budget shortfall, and it would also entail a continuing drain upon funds and staff.

Ted Furman

Winter Lane

Clarifying the needs
of Saratoga seniors

On behalf of the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council, we feel compelled to respond to some of the implications of your editorial of March 2 regarding the council decision to sell the North Campus. These are some key clarifications:

We appreciate the difficult financial situation of the city. Our primary concern in order to meet senior needs is that we need more space, by whatever reasonable means the city can obtain it.

It can be said that SASCC programs operate "at a loss" since we charge members and the public less than it costs to run our programs, to keep them affordable. However, this loss is made up with earnings from our endowment and fundraising; we are not going into debt.

The statement attributed to Mayor Kathleen King does not completely reflect what the council proposed. Our position was if the North Campus were retained, we would propose to move all of our operations there, with the exception of the adult care center and one administrative office. This would free up substantial space in the existing senior center building for the city to use for fee-generating activities or rentals.

The adult care center requires a specialized facility, which could not be moved until funds were obtained to build a comparable facility elsewhere--for which grant funds could be sought if a site were available.

The city provides space for the council--which is essential--but very minimum funding ($18,000 in general fund money, or $1.92 per senior). The association provides most of its funding through fees and fundraising--$41.14 per senior.

If the North Campus is sold, what we need and have requested is 4,000 square feet, not 1,000 square feet, in order to serve a larger number of Saratoga seniors. We now have space to serve only 10 percent.

We hope this clarifies to the public how the council is funded and what our true space needs are.

John Feemster, President
Genie Dee, Executive Director

Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council