M 05-12-1980May 12, 198 0
Los Gatos, Californi a
TOWN COUNCIL The Town Council of the Town of Los, Gatos met in the Counci l
Chambers of the Town Hall at 7 :40 p .m ., in adjourned regula r
session .
ROLL CALL PRESENT : Ruth Cannon, MarLyn Rasmussen, Peter W . Siemens ,
Brent N . Ventura and Mayor Thomas J . Ferrit o
ABSENT : Non e
PLEDGE O F
ALLEGIANCE Givenby all in attendance .
MINUTES Mr . Ferrito asked that minutes of May 5, 1980 be corrected a s
follows : Subject - LANDBANKING PROGRAM - The vote on the motio n
should be "Unanimously carried ." Mr . Ventura moved minutes b e
approved as corrected . Mrs . Cannon seconded . Unanimousl y
carried .
COMMUNICATIONS 1 . Letter from Beth Gallagher resigning from the Parkin g
Advisory Commission . Mrs . Cannon moved Council accep t
resignation with regret . Mr . Ventura seconded . Unanimousl y
carried .
2 . Letter from Monna Fisher,420 Alberto Way, apologizing fo r
not being aware of installation of speed signs on Albert o
Way and stating the new transportation system is perfect an d
wished to thank theCouncil for said service .
3•Letter from S . Reed Graham, Barbecue Chairman for Los .Gato s
Lions Club, requesting Council approval to reserve the fron t
lawn and west parking lot of Civic Center and Pageant Way fo r
the 25th annual Lions barbecue, scheduled for Sunday ,
August 24, 1980,from 7 :00 a .m . to 8 :00 p .m ., for the purpos e
of conducting . the barbecue . Mrs . Cannon moved request b e
granted subject to other departments approval . Mr . Siemen s
seconded . Unanimously carried .
4 Letter from Carol Musser,232 Loma Alta Avenue, opposing th e
ordinance that was introduced regarding changing the Council's
voting on Planning Commission appeals and feels it is essentia l
to retain :4/5th vote . After some discussion, Mrs . Canno n
moved Council continue the adoption of the ordinance t o
May 19, 1980,to allow more input from the citizens of Los Gatos .
Mrs . Rasmussen seconded . Unanimously carried .
5•Letter from Sue LaForge, Executive Manager of the Chamber o f
Commerce, opposing changing Council policy on vote to overrid e
the Planning Commission on appeals, and requesting Council t o
consider abandoning their attempt to change this long-standin g
and effective policy . Hold for the May 19 meeting .
6 . Letter from Sue LaForge, Executive Manager of the Chamber o f
Commerce, regarding cruising and related problems in downtow n
Los Gatos : Chamber has listed different problems, as desig-
nated by Los Gatos merchants, and urges the Council to conside r
the needs of the downtown business community and its importanc e
to the Town (both to merchants and residents) and strive t o
make it a safer, more desirable place within the limits o f
current Town laws and those laws that may need to be establishe d
to deal with the problems .
APPOINTMENT Mr . Ventura moved Council appoint Emma Rau to the Cultura l
CULTURAL RESOURCES Resources Commission . Mrs . Rasmussen seconded . Unanimousl y
COMMISSION carried .
PLANNING Mayor Ferrito stated interviews with persons who had submitte d
COMMISSION applications to serve on the Planning Commission had been hel d
APPOINTMENTS tonight prior to the meeting . Mayor stated there are two openings
May 12, 198 0
Los Gatos, Californi a
PLANNING at present time and nominations are now open . Nominated were
COMMISSION J . D . Vanderlaan, Diane Forsythe, Bradley Clifford, Carol Painter ,
(Continued)Barbara Spector, Linda Barnett and Terrence Daily . Mr . Siemen s
moved nominations be closed . Mr . Ventura seconded . Unanimousl y
carried . Voting was held and Bradley Clifford and Barbara Specto r
received majority of votes, therefore, they were appointed t o ,th e
Planning Commission . Discussion was held as to how to determin e
who would fill what term of office as one vacancy expire s
August 1980 and the other expires August 1982 .Mrs . Rasmusse n
moved the appointees,in the presence of the Town Manager, fli p
a coin at a designated time and place to determine their terms o f
office . Mr . Siemens seconded . Unanimously carried ..
VOTING ON Mr . Richard Gaines stated he would not be able to be present a t
PLANNING the next Council : meeting and asked that he be allowed to spea k
APPEALS to Council tonight regarding his views . Mr . Ferrite, stated n o
testimony would be heard tonight and asked Mr . Gaines to put hi s
views in writing and they would be presented at the next Counci l
meeting . Mr . Gaines agreed to this suggestion .
DISCUSSION O F
POLICE MATTERS Mr . Avery, Town . Manager, stated a letter had been received ,
listing problems in the downtown areas as identified by th e
Chamber in . discussion with the local merchants ; Chief Johnso n
will make presentation to Council regarding these problems .
Chief Johnson stated he would attempt to explain various problems ,
such as problems in the Town parks, property crime, cruisin g
problems in the central business district, drinking driver s
and calls for service . Chief Johnson gave a recap .on polic e
staffing, which is a total of 32 personnel (this includes th e
Chief, cadets, clerks, etc .) Currently, they also hav e
22 reserve officers . But,.only 8 of those officers are eligibl e
to enforce the law, due to 1979 legislation which changed th e
law regarding police officer power for reserves . He explaine d
the ratio of police officers to population, and stated that th e
Town is very low and that he wished Council to keep this in min d
at budget sessions . Chief Johnson introduced Sgt . Tom Mitchell ,
who spoke on property crime in Los Gatos, which includes burglary ,
thefts (grand, petty and auto), and what patrols and the crim e
prevention officers are doing . to help educate the people to way s
of preventing some of these crimes . Chief Johnson asked tha t
Council endorse retaining crime prevention personnel when gran t
expires in June of this year . Lt . Robert Schuster spoke o n
traffic congestion and problems . He gave statistics on variou s
collector streets, and he stated that some problems could b e
alleviated by widening some of the streets . Other problems t o
be dealt with are pedestrian, abandoned automobiles, traffi c
collisions, citations and school-related traffic . Chief Johnso n
suggested that Council assist staff and recommend to the Schoo l
District that Los Gatos High School have a closed campus .
Discussion was held regarding the $1 .00 vehicle fee charge d
for entry to parks and how it has helped to eliminate some of th e
problems . Chief Johnson asked that Council support (at budge t
time) a concept of a ranger division in Los Gatos Parks Department .
Mayor Ferrite asked that Chief Johnson's suggestions an d
recommendations be put in writing to Council as soon as possible .
The following people spoke from the audience on the subjec t
of problems in the downtown area :Carol Harris,56 Bayview Ave .,
presented a petition of 70 signatures opposing rerouting o f
cruisers through the residential area . Mrs . Harris stated tha t
this has led to vandalism and disturbance of the peace in thes e
areas . Lawrence Stern, 17121 Wild Way, spoke against barring of f
residential streets, and recommended speed bumps be installed .
Brian Warkentin,225 Cerro Chico,presented a petition of 15 0
si,.gnatures concerning the disorderly conduct in the downtown are a
and suggesting options that police should take . Other speaker s
with recommendations for solutions to problems were Richard Gaines ,
Rich ChappelgPat Laughlin .
May 12, 198 0
Los Gatos, Californi a
RECESS Mayor Ferrito declared a recess . Meeting reconvened at 10 :50 p .m .
POLICE PROBLEMS Other persons speaking on police matters : Al Hape, owner o f
Round Table Pizza, recommended plain clothesmen be put on th e
beat downtown to get the, violators that are drinking on th e
streets . Mr . William Quigley, 103 Belridge Drive, spoke o n
problems in his area with dirt bike riders . Art Snyder ,
226 North Santa Cruz Avenue, stated that he feels the Tow n
should explore limiting parking in certain areas and he woul d
like to see people attending the different Commission meeting s
and provide input to the different commissions . Beverly Peacock ,
owner of London Oyster, spoke on traffic diversion and recommende d
closing the northbound off-ramp from route 17 to South Santa Cru z
Avenue . Terrence Daily, 15666 Cherry Blossom Lane, stated h e
would be for closing of the off-ramp but against concentratin g
all police power in the downtown area . Jean Moore, 221 Vist a
del Monte, questioned the trouble with skaters and stated sh e
would not like to see this forbidden . Fred Long, 146 Bel ridg e
Drive, stated that many problems result in the high densit y
which has been allowed to come in and he would be willing t o
put up some money . to help defray expense of extra police servic e
and suggested that merchants also put up some money for this .
Bob Hamilton, 368 Bella Vista Avenue, spoke against the closin g
of the off-ramp, stating that it would be like putting the Tow n
in isolation . Mr . Hamilton feels that the Town should give ful l
backing to police in stopping the illegal cruisers . The consensu s
of Council was that the Manager should submit a list of suggestion s
to Council . Mrs . Rasmussen questioned how long it would take t o
close the Highway 17 off-ramp .. Mr . Warnick stated that it woul d
be necessary to have a new signed freeway agreement'. Mr . Ferrit o
directed Mr . Warnick to investigate with the State the possibilit y
of an experimental closure of the off-ramp and give time schedul e
as to closing .
CHART HOUSE Planning Director Lee Bowman presented report on the approve d
PARKING LOT parking lot plan . Discussion was held regarding loss of parkin g
spaces if the . Wilder Avenue entrance were closed . After som e
discussion, Mrs .Cannon moved that parking lot be left as is .
Mrs . Rasmussen seconded . Carried by vote of three ayes ;
Mr . Siemens and Mr . Ventura voting no .
ADJOURN Mr . Ventura moved meeting be adjourned at 12 :00 p .m .
Mrs.. Rasmussen seconded . Unanimously carried .
ATTEST :