Many of you will remember the story of the Three Musketeers, a novel by Alexandre Dumas. According to our friends at Wikipedia, The Three Musketeers is set in 17th century France and tells the story of heroic, chivalrous, inseparable swordmen who fight for justice. The musketeers were inseparable as they traveled the French countryside, arm in arm. They are joined by a young man named d’Artagnan and they become involved in affairs of state and at the French court, triumphing over the forces of evil. A noble undertaking to say the least. Dumas frequently portrays various injustices, abuses and political absurdities of the existing regime in France, giving the novel an additional political significance at the time of its publication in 1844. The relevance of The Three Musketeers to this article will have to wait a bit. So please be patient and read on. Continue reading “The Three Musketeers — Los Altos Edition”
Is the City Council completely out of touch with what residents want?
It appears that three of our City Council members seem intent on creating lasting damage to single family neighborhoods in Los Altos. In this article, we’ll explain why we believe what they are doing is not in the best interest of our community. Continue reading “Is the City Council completely out of touch with what residents want?”
Clouded Vision — Does Los Altos have cataracts?
Cataracts create blurred vision and prevent the individual so afflicted from seeing clearly. Perhaps the same might be said for Los Altos with respect to the Downtown Vision Plan and a possible downtown theater. Let us explain: Continue reading “Clouded Vision — Does Los Altos have cataracts?”
Help Wanted
Who would be crazy enough to take the position as a CEO of a 65-year-old organization that was losing money, had significant challenges with staff morale and recruitment, and had a politically divided Board of Directors who at times provided inconsistent and diverging direction? And where the predecessor CEO in the position created what some would characterize as a hostile environment among customers, employees, and the Board. Furthermore, the individual who previously held the job was terminated by the Board, in part for not taking direction from the Board nor listening to the organization’s customers. And if someone were crazy enough to take the job, would that person even be any good, or would the job only attract someone who really wasn’t capable of undertaking the very challenging job of getting the organization back on track? Continue reading “Help Wanted”
Who Gets the Short Straw?
Remember the game that we all played in our youth? A group of straws were put out, with only one end showing. Everyone got to pick one, and the person who got the short straw lost. While not entirely fair, at the age of 8 or 10 (or 12) when we played the game, it seemed to be the best way to pick the winner–though most often the short straw was the loser. Of course, in our heightened awareness of environmental impacts, the dearth of disposable plastic straws likely makes that another relic of a bygone era, much akin to dial telephones and portable radios. But we date ourselves.
Continue reading “Who Gets the Short Straw?”
No Place To Park
This nightmare may be coming to Los Altos
Imagine going to the library at 11 am and being unable to find a place to park. Or visiting City Hall or the new Community Center and giving up after circling the parking lot looking for an open spot. What about going downtown at 3 pm and finding the same situation. As a library lover, community center attendee or downtown shopper what would you do? While none of these is likely to happen next week or next month, changes to parking requirements in downtown coupled with increased building construction and capacity are likely to produce that result over the next few years. Add to that the visioning process which calls for turning many of the parking plazas into dining areas and other uses, and you have what many in Los Altos are calling a nightmare scenario.
Summary of FOLA’s Analysis of Measure C
Friends of Los Altos (FOLA) has published a lengthy position paper on Measure C which provides a detailed analysis of the various arguments against the Measure. The summary below is intended to be a brief recap of the analysis that can be found in the original position paper.
It’s election time again
The Right Stuff: Our Review of City Council Candidates
Its election time again. Once every two years we get the privilege to choose among a group of candidates-some new, one who ran last election, and an incumbent– to represent us on City Council—in this year’s election we get to choose two. Often we decide on candidates because we like or dislike their position on a particular issue, sometimes we pick them because we personally know the person and, sometimes, without much else to go on, we just guess. Rarely do we take a few steps back and ask the question “what kind of person do we need to complement the existing Council lineup and ensure a functioning City Council?” Continue reading “It’s election time again”
The Future Of Los Altos And Why Your Voice Matters
As we head into the final week before the November 6th election, FOLA’s been asked for consolidated email of our recent election related articles. FOLA appreciates the collective passion of our 6,900+ readers, and their desire to maintain Los Altos as a great place to live and to raise and educate a family. Continue reading “The Future Of Los Altos And Why Your Voice Matters”
Making a difference in Los Altos
First we would like to say Happy New Year and thanks for turning out to vote in the 2018 elections. We are excited about the historic all-woman Council and we hope that they can work cooperatively to get important things done in 2019. We are cheering them on!
As residents, most of the time we are in react mode. The City Council has something on their agenda and we have to show up at Council meetings to voice our opinion if we agree-or disagree with what is being proposed. Or, worse yet, we read about what the Council did decide on a specific issue in the Town Crier and we’re frustrated because it’s not what we think is right. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to help decide what the Council focuses on instead? Well, now we all have our chance. The Council is asking residents to take a survey to help them set priorities for the upcoming year. Continue reading “Making a difference in Los Altos”