01 Attachment 7 - Public Comment Received 1101 am January 3 2020 to 1100 am January 13, 2020Council Members,
I plan to attend the Strategic Priorities meeting on January 14 and
speak on behalf of significantly increasing our focus and funding on
public safety, specifically Wildfire Prevention and Preparation. I
expect the document I have attached will get into the Addendum
to your regular packet since I am sending it to the Town Clerk
today.
Let me preface this submission to you by stating that Public Safety
needs to be elevated significantly in our community. The threat of
wildfire is the biggest single safety concern. Our community is at
high risk for wildfire and this risk needs to be mitigated by taking
definitive actions with a HIGH degree of urgency. This risk was
really brought home through a publication (updated July 2019),
“Where will the West's next deadly wildfire strike? The risks are
everywhere.” In this study, Los Gatos was rated 4.06 on a scale of
1-5 (very low to very high). Paradise, California, prior to its
devastating fire, was rated a lower risk than Los Gatos at 3.81. A
wildfire with the same ferocity of Paradise would take out most of
our hillside community in less than 60 minutes (fire traveling 100
yards/second).
Are we as prepared as we should be for wildfire? The answer is
“no.” There is much more we need to do to get our community
“house” in order. Attached is a list of items/actions that need to be
addressed with a great sense of urgency. Funds needs to be
allocated to address matters of public safety. Downtown parking,
economic vitality and traffic are important issues but no one will
die or be injured due to fewer parking spaces, less dollars spent on
economic development or time spent in traffic. Let’s get serious
about an issue that could forever change the Town of Los Gatos,
wildfire.
Rob Stump
ATTACHMENT 7
From: Phil Koen
Sent: Monday, January 13, 2020 10:54 AM
To: Marcia Jensen <MJensen@losgatosca.gov>; BSpector <BSpector@losgatosca.gov>; Marico Sayoc
<MSayoc@losgatosca.gov>; Rob Rennie <RRennie@losgatosca.gov>
Cc: Laurel Prevetti <LPrevetti@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: suggested changes to the Strategic priorities for FY 2020 - 2022
Dear Honorable Mayor and Council Members,
Please see the attached documents for your consideration.
Thank you.
Phil Koen
Dear Honorable Mayor and Council Members,
I would like to suggest the following changes to the draft Strategic Priorities FY 2020 – 2022.
Core Goals
• I would suggest changing “good governance” to “transparency”. Good government cannot be
achieved without transparency and accountability. You heard at recent council meetings that
residents are “surprised” by Council decisions and are sometimes not fully informed of matters
that are of critical concern to them. I suggest the Council commit to specifically improving
transparency which will result in “good governance”.
• I would suggest changing “fiscal stability” to “long term financial sustainability”. The Town
annually adopts a balanced (i.e. “stable”) budget, but over the long run this does not guarantee
long term financial sustainability. As an example, since 2015 net total governmental
expenditures have increased 72% (increasing from $17.8m in 2015 to $30.6m in 2019). In 2019
total tax revenues barely exceeded net governmental expenditures as compared to having
$7.6m in surplus tax revenues in 2015. I think we need to ask ourselves as we adopt annual
priorities, approve annual budgets or implement a new General Plan if these actions are
consistent with long term financial sustainability.
Specific Priorities
• I believe Wildfire Protection should be its own specific priority. To achieve this there are a
number of actions the Town might consider taking, including adopting a mandatory 100 foot
defensible zone for all lots in the VHFHSZ, committing to a 7 year (best practices) tree
maintenance cycle (currently 15 years), working with PG&E to insure all power poles and
transmission lines in the Town are properly maintained and clear of brush, and increasing
outreach programs to residents in VHFHSZ on actions they can take to reduce the risk of
wildfire.
• Establish a two year pavement condition index goal of 70 and invest sufficient money to
achieve this PCI level. According to reports from MTC (attached) the Town currently has a three
year average PCI of 67 which has declined by 6 points over the past 10 years. Achieving a PCI of
70 has an impact on the Town’s ability to use Measure B funds.
• Actively encourage citizen participation in Town governance. When citizens become involved in
what government does, they become more invested. Additionally active citizens are more
willing to express their views about policy decisions that affect them. Active citizen participation
will help the Council focus on issues that are top of mind for residents and act accordingly.
There is no “button” Council can push to increase participation - rather this will only come
through sustained commitment by the Council and Staff.
Thank you.
Phil Koen
STRATEGIC
PRIORITIES
FY 2020-2022
CORE GOALS: COMMUNITY CHARACTER • GOOD GOVERNANCE • FISCAL STABIITY •
QUALITY PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE •CIVIC ENRICHMENT• PUBLIC SAFETY
SMALL TOWN SERVICE, COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP, FUTURE FOCUS
ANTICIPATED NEW
Regional Housing Needs
Allocation Process
Updating Town Ordinances in
Alignment with New State
Housing Legislation
Regional Transportation
IN PROGRESS
General Plan 2040
•Objective Standards
•Environmental Sustainability
Vehicle Miles Travelled Policy
Streamline regulations to enhance
Town businesses
School Bus Pilot
EOC Upgrades
ONGOING PRIORITIES
TRAFFIC/TRANSPORTATION
Comprehensive Parking Study
•Short, Medium, and Long Term Actions
Transportation Demand Management
•Summer/Rush Hour/School Traffic
•Develop Measure B Transportation Projects
•Install Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements
•Community Shuttle
QUALITY OF LIFE
Community Vitality
•Events and Other Efforts
Economic Vitality
•Policies and Ordinances
SAFETY
Emergency Preparedness
•CERT Recruitment and Training
•Community communication
Fire Protection
•Vegetation management on Town properties
•Enhanced community education
PRUDENT FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Address Pension and OPEB Obligations
•Additional Discretionary Payments (ADPs)
•Reduced Amortization Strategies
•Pension Contribution Management Strategies
Sell or Lease Certain Town Properties
RECENTLY COMPLETED
Almond Grove Streets
Measure G (Sales Tax)
Implementation
$8.9 M CalPERS Pension Payment
Short Term Rentals
Complete Streets Policy
One-Way Downtown Street Pilot
Annexation of Small County
Pockets
ATTACHMENT 2
Page 8
Im provin g conditions
Rou ghes t roads
Im provin g conditions
S m ooth es t roads
Declin in g conditions
S m oot hes t roads
Dec lin in g conditions
Rou ghes t roads
20 18 3-Year A verage Pavement Condition Index (PCI)Change in Pavement Condition Index (PCI) between 2008 and 20182018 Street Pav ement Cond ition Dis tribution by City - Santa Clara
C ounty
L os G atosLos G atos
San Jos eSan Jos e
40 50 60 70 80 90
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
H i ghchar ts.com
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