Attachment 9 - Public Comment received from 1101 am August 5 2019 to 1100 am August 6 2019From: Phil Koen <pkoen@monteropartners.com>
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2019 8:18 PM
To: Steven Leonardis <SLeonardis@losgatosca.gov>; Marcia Jensen <MJensen@losgatosca.gov>; Marico
Sayoc <maricosayoc@gmail.com>; BSpector <BSpector@losgatosca.gov>; Rob Rennie
<RRennie@losgatosca.gov>
Cc: Laurel Prevetti <LPrevetti@losgatosca.gov>;
jvannada@gmail.com; tduryea@aol.com; Rick Tinsley <rnt97@yahoo.com>; leefagot@gmail.com; Rick
Van Hoesen (rick.vanhoesen@gmail.com) <rick.vanhoesen@gmail.com>; Maria Ristow
<ristows@comcast.net>; melaniehanssen@yahoo.com; Peter Hertan <phertan@yahoo.com>;
eclendaniel@bayareanewsgroup.com; vlado.herman@gmail.com; rondickel@gmail.com
Subject: Item #7 - Council meeting of August 6, 2019
Dear Honorable Mayor and Council Members,
I am encouraged to see the Staff has revised their earlier recommendation and is now recommending
reducing the size of the Oversight Committee to 5 and allowing only resident members of the Finance
Committee to fill any vacancies on the Sales Tax Oversight Committee. While this is clearly inferior to
the proper solution, which was to appoint 7 independent residents to the Oversight Committee, it is
probably the most practical one given how late in the game we are.
Having said this, the Council must make it clear to the Staff the importance of fulfilling what was clearly
promised by Measure G. The Ordinance stated “the proposed measure requires independent Citizen
Oversight”. Suggesting that it is appropriate to appoint members of this Council to that Oversight
Committee is chilling and raises basic questions about Staff’s judgment.
Using their logic, which they continue to put forth in the August 5th memo to the Council, the Staff
apparently mistakenly believes that the 3 members of the Town Council who are not members of the
Finance Committee could still be appointed to the Oversight Committee. That is the only conclusion you
can arrive at since the most recent Staff memo again states that the Town Council has the sole
discretion over the “number, qualifications and duties of Committee members”. Let us be very clear, this
is not what was required by Measure G when the words “independent citizen oversight” were used.
Since the Staff is clearly mistaken in their understanding of Oversight Committee membership, I strongly
suggest that the proposed resolution be further amended to make it clear that an active member of the
Town Council may never also be a member of the Sales Tax Oversight Committee. Making this revision
will make it clear that the voters intended Measure G to have independent citizen oversight and not a
committee that is comprised of Town Council members.
I respectively request that the Council instruct Staff to make this additional revision.
Thank you,
Phil Koen
ATTACHMENT 9