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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975, January Saratogan1� 1 1 � I � a] AN 1 1 i 181`11? 111 MLI I'D A PROGRESS REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY New Faces on City Council Mrs. Margaret Corr and Norm Matteoni were officially sworn in as successors to Jerry Smith and Rod Diridon on the City Council on Dec- ember 20, 1974. With the successful bids of Mayor Smith for the State Sen- ate and Councilman Diridon for the County Board of Supervisors in the November elections, the Council sud- denly faced the loss of 2 of its 5 members. An open and competitive process was chosen by the Council to select the new Councilpersons. All interested Sara - togans were invited to submit applica- tions for the vacancies. The response was overwhelming — 30 persons filed. Each of the applicants was personally interviewed by the other 3 Councilmen on the weekend of December 7 and 8. The final selections were announced on the evening of the 8th. The new Councilpersons bring a wealth of local government experience with them to their new positions. Mrs. Corr is a past President of the Los Gatos - Saratoga League of Women Voters, a member of the Board of the American Association of University Women, and has served on the Santa Clara County PPC subcommittee on Urban Develop- ment and Open Space. She was recently appointed to the Saratoga Senior Citi- zen Housing Task Force. A graduate of Drexel University, Mrs. Corr is married, has two children, and resides at 19224 DeHavilland Drive. Mr. Matteoni was the Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission at the time of his selection. He is a former Chair- man of the Parks and Recreation Com- mission, and headed the Mayor's Select Committee for the Review of the Demonstration Bicycle Route System. Formerly in the County Counsel's Of- fice for Santa Clara County, he is now engaged in a private law practice. Mr. Matteoni holds his law degree from Notre Dame University, is married, and has 3 children. He lives as 12601 Cam- bridge Drive. Both appointees will complete the unexpired terms of their predecessors which terminate in March 1976. The Council would especially like to thank the community for its effusive response, and the deep interest in the future development of Saratoga that was evidenced. City Council's New Face John Brigham, Margaret Corr, Mayor Cole Bridges, Vice -Mayor Hank Kraus, Norm Matteoni State Senator Jerome Smith JANUARY 1975 ")I A Supervisor Rod Diridon Smith and Diridon Move On Activity has abounded at the City Council level for the past couple of months. On November 5, 1974, the City lost two of its able Councilmen'to high- er office — and set about a deliberate and widely- advertised process to select the successors. Mayor Jerome Smith defeated incumbent Clark Bradley for the State Senate seat from the 12th District. May- or Smith was first elected to the Council in April 1972. He served as Vice Mayor from 1970 -72, and was chosen Mayor in April 1972. Among his many accom- plishments are his service as past Presi- dent of the Inter -City Council and Chairman of the Planning Policy Com- mittee of Santa Clara County. Councilman Rod Diridon toppled incumbent Ralph Mehrkens to become the representative on the Board of Sup- ervisors for the 4th District in Santa Clara County. Mr. Diridon was initially elected to the City Council in April 1972, and served as Saratoga's official representative to the Santa Clara County PPC sub - committee on Urban Development and Open Space and to ABAG. He is president of Diridon Research Corporation in San Jose. Housing & Community Development Act Three public hearings, with final act- ion anticipated by the City Council on January 21, 1975, have been scheduled to determine spending priorities for nearly $500,000 of federal monies avail- able to Saratoga over the coming three years. The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 releases this money to cities and counties for pro- jects improving housing quality, the environment, and economic oppor- tunities, principally for low and moder- ate income persons. The City Council scheduled public hearings on December 12, January 7, and January 15 to acquaint citizens with potential uses of the funds, and to solicit input on program and project, priorities eligible under the Act. To qualify, the City must develop a Com- munity Development Plan for the next three years which identifies community needs, develops a strategy to meet the needs, and lists the long -term and short - term objectives. A Needs Assessment Questionnaire 'has been sent to each household requesting your assessment of the City's needs and what the spend- ing priorities should be. Housing, com- munity development, community facil- ities and conservation are the general areas eligible for funding. A Community Development Pro- gram pinpointing the activities to be undertaken in the first year will be developed. It will specify how $82,000 will be spent in fiscal year 1975 -76, and relate these projects to the goals and objectives outlined in the three -year plan. It is anticipated that the second year funds will total $165,000 with the third year being $247,000. A Housing Assistance Plan surveying housing conditions in Saratoga and esti- mating the housing assistance needs of low and moderate income persons is the final element in the application. Citizen participation is essential to the development of the Community Development Plan. Your attendance at the hearings, and response to the quest- ionnaire is requested in order that the City may develop a plan and program that responds to the felt needs of the community. New Library Plans Progress The reality of a new Saratoga library advanced with the appointment of a Citizen's Steering Committee, official City Council action establishing March 4, 1975 as the date for the bond elec- tion, and selection of Spencer Associ- ates as project architects. A Citizen's Steering Committee was appointed by Mayor Cole Bridges to spearhead the bond election campaign. Vice mayor Hank Kraus was named General Chairman, and Mrs. Ann Kulchin, Vice Chairman. The bond issue calls for a 20,000 square foot library to be located on Saratoga Avenue, opposite McFarland Avenue. While the voters in Saratoga must approve, by a 2/3 majority, the issuance of general obligation bonds to finance the facility, the library space in the City will increase from the current 7770 square feet to about 21,770 square feet. Spencer Associates of Palo Alto emerged as the top selection after three days of intensive interviews from a field of over 50 architects who submitted applications. The top 17 firms were first interviewed by a Technical Selection Board, and the top 8 presented their qualifications to an Architect Selection Committee. The wealth of talent to choose from made the final selection very difficult. Spencer Associates constructed the original Village Library on Oak Street in 1927. Other representative projects include the Palo Alto Downtown Lib- rary and Community Center, the Santa Cruz and Aptos Libraries, the Visitor Center at Yosemite, the Nature Center at Palo Alto's Foothills Park, the Con- ference Center in Colonial Williamsburg, and the Indian Arts Museum in the Grand Tetons, among others. Youth Services Expanded The Cities of Saratoga, Monte Sereno, the Town of Los Gatos and the County of Santa Clara recently finalized an agreement calling for the creation of a West Valley Youth Service Bureau. What is a Youth Service Bureau? Basically, it is a community based, multi - disciplinary counseling program with the objective of basic delinquency prevention. The concept was develped from a report of the President's Crime Commission in 1967 recommending the formation of a new, comprehensive youth service delivery system. The West Valley experiment is based on success- ful, on -going projects in East San Jose, Milpitas and Santa Clara. Located at 344 North Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos, the facility will be staffed by two probation officers, a Community Service Worker, and an employee of the Department of Social Services. A full -time police officer will also be assigned to the Bureau, and the resources of other County agencies (Mental Health, Welfare, etc.) and pri- vate organizations will be available as needed. (Continued on next page) Saratoga Gains New Mayor Vice Mayor Cole Bridges was chosen the new Mayor of Saratoga by the City Council at its regular meeting on Dec- ember 5, 1974. The changeover was precipitated by the election of Mayor Jerome A. Smith to the State Senate on November 5, and his resignation from office effective November 30. Elected to the City Council in 1970, and reelected in 1974, Mayor Bridges also served as a charter member and Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. He is a past President of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, and was selected Vice Mayor of the Council in March 1974 by his fellow Councilmen. He has been quite active as Saratoga's representative to the Santa Clara County Transportation Com- mission, and plans to continue in this capacity.