Saratoga News
News
Constituents will set the agenda for Maldonado
By Judy Peterson
The California State Legislature is wrapping up its business in Sacramento, which means senators and assembly members will soon be more available to meet with constituents on their home turf.
One such meeting is scheduled for Oct. 19 at the Los Gatos Town Council Chambers. State Sen. Abel Maldonado is holding a town hall meeting for residents of Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga.
"Being a senator in the minority party means it's not always easy to get bills through," says Brian Gesicki, an aide to the Republican senator. "But we're always trying to see what we can do for education, health care and high tech."
The town hall meeting is designed to give Maldonado an idea of what bills voters want him to carry in the next legislative session. With so much emphasis recently on going green, Gesicki says, "a greener and cleaner environment will come from Silicon Valley. So the senator doesn't want to do anything to stifle innovation.
"I think the senator believes we need to work with the UC system on research and development for high tech," added Gesicki. "Silicon Valley has been the cradle for advancing technology, and we want to continue to encourage R&D."
The senator does not have an agenda for the town hall meeting. Instead, he's encouraging constituents to come out and talk about whatever they want.
One person who plans to attend the meeting is Joanne Peth, co-founder of the ad hoc committee Citizens for Highway 9 Safety. She says her organization continues to work with local, state and federal officials to find money to make Highway 9 safety improvements. Phase one of the improvement plan involves adding bicycle lanes to the busy highway.
"To me, it seems Phase one is funded; they're waiting for bids and that part of the work will probably get started in December," Peth said.
But Peth cited a Sept. 15 accident as evidence of continuing pedestrian problems on Highway 9. In that incident, a 16-year-old Saratoga girl was seriously injured while crossing the highway at Mendelsohn Lane. The driver involved in the accident was not cited, though Sgt. Ed Wise of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department said at the time, "He may have been driving too fast for the road conditions. He should have been able to stop in time."
So Peth sees Maldonado's town hall meeting as an opportunity to re-visit the Highway 9 safety issue.
"It's certainly wonderful the bicycle part is getting done," she said, "but there's a lot of people using that highway so we need to get the pedestrian part done."
In addition to the town hall meeting, Maldonado will meet with local elected officials and community leaders.
Maldonado was elected to the state Senate in 2004. He represents the 15th District, which stretches from southeast Santa Clara County to northern Santa Barbara County. It also includes portions of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, as well as all of San Luis Obispo County. He chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee. Maldonado is running for re-election in 2008.
Sen. Abel Maldonado's town hall meeting is Oct. 19 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Los Gatos Town Council Chambers, 110 E. Main St.
