03 Staff Report - Community Service CommissionersMEETING DATE: 10/16106
~°w N °'ITEM NO.
COUNCIL, AGENDA REPORT
~oS
GAtos
DATE: OCTOBER 9, 2006
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: DEBRA J. FIGONE, TOWN MANAGER
SUBJECT: ACCEPT RECOMMENDATION FROM COMMUNITY SERVICES
COMMISSION CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR TO APPOINT PILAR SVENDSEN
AND BEN JOLITZ AS STUDENT COMMUNITY SERVICES
COMMISSIONERS
RECOMMENDATION:
Accept recommendation from Community Services Commission Chair and Vice-Chair to appoint
Pilar Svendsen and Ben Jolitz as a student Community Services Commissioners.
BACKGROUND:
Students are recruited for the Community Services Commission during the recruitment period from
April through June. Following the June application deadline, the student's eligibility is confirmed
by the Clerk's Department. Qualified students are then interviewed by a sub-committee of the
commission. The sub-committee's recommendation is then forwarded to the Community Services
Commission for approval, if time allows, and then to Council for appointment. The student
commissioners appointed by Council will begin their term of office immediately after taking the
Oath of Office.
DISCUSSION:
The Community Services Commission Chair and Vice-Chair held interviews on September 21,
2006, and recommend that Pilar Svendsen and Ben Jolitz be appointed.
PREPARED BY: REGINA A. F
Community Se irector
Reviewed by: Assistant Town Manager ttorney Clerk Finance
Community Development
Reformatted: 5/30/02 N:\CSD\TCRPTS\2006 TCRPTS\CSC-2006 Parks Student
Com.wpd
PAGE 2
MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: ACCEPT COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STUDENT
COMMISSIONERS
October 16, 2006
CONCLUSION:
It is reconunended that Council_ accept the recommendation from the Community Services
Commission Chair and Vice-Chair to appoint Pilar Svendsen and Ben Jolitz to the Community
Services Commission.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No fiscal impact.
Attachment:
1. Student Applications
N:\CSD\TCRPTS\2006 TCRPTS\CSC-2006 Parks Student Com.wpd
TOWN OF Los GATOS
COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION APPLICATION
Submit to: Clerk Department
110 East Main Street, P.O. Box 949, Los Gatos, CA 95031
Telephone: (408) 354-6834 a Fax: (408) 354-8431 e Email: clerk@losgatosca.~zov
tease type or print
* Last Name: SLn 6'~eA-)
* Address: UA I Q
Email: W 1C(1S t' 1 t1~ t~ ' ~ 1'YICI 1 I , 03 YV()
Present Employer:
Length of Residency in Los Gatos: t L~
* First Name:?kkck_~
* City: (_XttCZS ' Zip: (6 ~
Cet1
--Vrk Phone_ ~(~~L- 1-~-I-- -
Fax:
Job Title:
* If appointed, this information will be made available to the
Previously Held Elected or Appointed
Governmental Positions
Position/Office Held
Dates
i E- ► ate w v elf
Civic or Charitable Organizations
You Have Belonged To
Position/Office Held
Dates
C~GtCC`~ (5c'~Cato k_ ~~-r I ova 1
Sc hools Attendcd/Attending
Major Subject and/or Grad-- Level
(.~S C C)s hsth(DC)I
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A sep ate application is require or each Commission. Please list other Commissions you are applying to:
Signature: Date: 0 _'b Z U
i
Name cif applicant:
Please check the appropriate category:
❑ 1 am applying for an adult commissioner position.
I am applying for a student commissioner position.
1. Why are you interested in serving on the Community Services Commission? ~el1~~11 ~1~1OV owo,
Ge \rv l r°'p t~,nrl 1 ~f llo'd ~Cl Its ~ -to L!Y)ll A ~`~APrngr . (YN-w rr)'^vWl rr( i
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2. What kinds of fund-raising activities have you participated in? a\ E ~e ~ N
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3. What experiences have you had with non-profit agencies? CV_\1Z0'_
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4. Please describe any experience you have with grant writing and grant application review processes.
5. Have you ever attended a Community Service Commission meeting? n D . . If so, please provide a
summary of your observation of the meeting.
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6. What community needs would you like to specifically address? f1 cc mYV~t, ►n ttL4 y\ee- kS is
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TOWN OF IIOS
COMMUNITY SERVICES COMN
Submit to: Clerk Depar
110 East Main Street, P.O. Box 949, L
Telephone: (408) 354-6834 a Fax: (408) 354-8431 ® Email:
Please type or print
*Last Name: 3o 11
ii ~'t ern f
*Address:
Email: cavy tV-N 6 nn ` e e-VvlWe .\'-J
Present Employer:
Length of Residency in Los Gatos: rz&
* If appointed, this information will be made available to the
.a vTJ Lim L9:1 j~
bN APPLICATION
MAY 0'5.' 2006
nt
;a%„,(I GATOS
First Name:
*City: L-.C)-, Ga\ y5 * Zip: C-) 5'D3-3
Work -P-hone.- N/
Fax: O/A
n
Job Title:
Previously Held Elected or Appointed
Governmental Positions
Position/Office Held
Dates
Civic or Charitable Organizations
You Have Belonged To
Position/Office Held
Dates
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Schools Attended/Attending
Major Subject and/or Grade Level
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~~✓'!oS 14s [,r~;~ ~f Ci 1, l4~ y L t~N1 = rl "VI'l tier f N5 z"-Ok
A separate application is required for each Commission. Please list other Commissions you are applying to:.
4,
/ '~M' ~A' Ive
Signature: Date: '5-1 k
Name of applicant: Ben
Please check the appropriate category:
❑ I am applying for an adult commissioner position.
[ I am applying for a student commissioner position.
1. Why are you interested in serving on the Community Services Commission? 5-c
ising_acxivitiesha_ve_y_ou__particip.ated-in? ? _
3. What experiences have you had with non-profit agencies? 6e-e- r~tivt5u✓zr It .
4. Please describe any experience you have with grant writing and grant application review processes.
5. Have you ever attended a Community Service Commission meeting? `l If so, please provide a
summary of your observation of the meeting.
6. What community needs would you like to specifically address?
Page 2 of 2
1. I think community service is unappreciated. I have always enjoyed the events that
I've done, the people I've met, and the places I've visited. Many of my friends
think that community service is like homework - something you don't want to do.
They don't see that you can explore interests with people like I do showing
families the stars at an SJAA star party, or have a blast with the kids games at the
town 4th of July carnival. I would like to bring a student perspective that shows
how much high school students like me receive when we participate in
community service. I believe you have to do it to understand it, and I want to get
high school involvement.
2
I most recently helped at the 4th of July carnival fundraiser. (I signed up to help
with-the-Christmas--carriage_rides,_but_that_s_such_afun one_that_Ldidn_t_make_the
list). I have helped at the SJAA astronomical equipment auction, which is their
primary fundraiser, as well as church events (setup and teardown, mainly).
3. Along with nonprofit groups like the SJAA and my church, I have spent a lot of
time this last year with the San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project, the
Ikon Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, and other non-profit groups researching
the impact of non-native species on the bay salt marshes as part of the restoration
of the Bay Area wetlands. I received a first place medal in botany at the 2006
Synopsys Science and Technology Championship for a study of different salinity
levels and spectrophotometric profiles of native and non-native cordgrasses and
will continue working with these groups to better understand how we may control
non-native species better. I could not have done this work without the assistance
of all these groups, and I am excited that I am contributing to such an important
project. Next week I will be attending the Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair in Indianapolis as an Intel Ambassador with the Synopsys
Outreach Foundation (another nonprofit). I am very grateful that they feel I will
make a good ambassador and I intend to do my very best.
4. 1 recently won a $2,000 grant to attend the University of California State Summer
School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS), a "rigorous, four-week
residential program for talented and motivated high school students". The
application process was very competitive, with good grades, recommendations,
outside math/science projects, and test scores. 80% of students have a 3.5 GPA or
higher. But in order to win, I not only had to write convincing essays about my
long-term science goals, I also had to convince the judges at Synopsys 2006 of the
quality of my research. Those COSMOS judges absolutely grilled me on my
knowledge of astronomy, physics, biology and chemistry. One judge walked up
and said "Now tell me why I should let you into my astrophysics class?" so I told
him about my work in optics and collimation of telescopes. It wasn't easy to win
this grant, but I really wanted it, and I did my very best, and I got it.
5. I haven't attended a Community Service Commission meeting, even though I have
done community service for the town of Los Gatos for three years and have
attended the volunteer's reception. I like going to the reception, because I always
Community Service -Commission Anntication - Ben Jolitz 1
meet interesting people. But this is the first year I've really had a chance at school
to write about political questions and get involved with the Politics club. I didn't
know there was any possibility of a high school student getting involved on the
Community Service Commission until I saw the notice in the Los Gatos Weekly
News saying there were student positions available, but by that point I found out
the monthly meeting had been held and I couldn't go to one and see it for myself
before the deadline for this application. But I am very interested in this position,
and I think I would make a very reliable candidate.
6. i think ii is very impofiax t fur kids my age to PiU- of community service as an
"opportunity" for learning and doing new things and meeting new people, and not
school and film festivals, and I think it would help to do media projects that make
community service attractive and relevant. I especially know that kids my age are
very interested in ecology and the environment, especially with gas prices
increasing and global warming, and that projects that focus on bettering our world
for our generation (like the YSI or trail cleanups) would be a lot of fun. There
should also be more ways that kids get together than just work projects to build a
team, like a pizza party in the parks (so you can scope out what needs to be done
there) and contests with small awards, so that we all get to know each other and
depend on each other. Finally, I was reading in the SJ Mercury News about Dana
Gioia, the Chairman for the National Endowment of the Arts, and he talked about
how reading has fallen in every group in America, with the lowest level in the 18-
24 and 25-34 age groups. He said something very interesting, that "If you are a
reader, you are overwhelmingly more likely to engage in positive social and civic
behavior versus non-readers". I notice that most of the kids I know would rather
spend an hour playing a video game than read a book. My family always is
reading, and it comes naturally to me. Even though I also like to play video games
sometimes, I find that those kids who play all the time never seem to read a
newspaper or a book without having the teacher assign it (and even then they
complain about it). I think that Mr. Gioia is right - that promoting reading is very
important, because it brings people out of their own little world and makes them
see the larger world as it is. So I would like to see some work towards
encouraging community service volunteers to read and debate and discuss what's
happening in the world, so that community service really matters, and isn't just
something you have to do to get credit.
C;ommiinity Service Commission Annlicatior► -Ben Jolitz 2