Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Why Bother?

The General Plan is up for a complete review to be finalized in 2010. The General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) could actually be more lame and infective than even The Committee Services Committee. Hey- Why throw stones you may say? Well the whole idea of a General Plan Committee was to give the community an organized voice with teeth or was it?? The GPAC group has met a whopping TWO times in the last 10 months...
Lack of Agenda items is a popular reason thrown out. But wait! Isn't the idea of a GPAC to add issues to the local "list" as formulation of the town general plan goes forward? I know what your thinking- why do you even care. Well since you thought the question, I must in an ESP fashion reply. Since my telepathic skills are a bit rusty, I shall just spit it out: The General Plan is the town charter. A legal document that the state of California requires all municipalities to follow.
If every county and city in California is required by state law to prepare and maintain a General Plan wouldn't you think that the process would be taken a bit more seriously here in Los Gatos?
This is completely rhetorical because if the town was placing a huge importance on land use issues and smart growth practices then the precedence for meetings would be to hold them and not have a lack of agenda items. It's extremely insulting to all of those members within the community who do indeed care about land use issues. If no one calls the town on the carpet, the empty agendas continue and when 2010 rolls around, the easy answer will be to push through whatever issues are the hot button points and hope no one makes a fuss.

......and by the way The GPAC meeting scheduled for this evening, you guessed it- cancelled.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why be surprised? If the local politicians really cared about what you or I worry about ( land use/ open space) a more honest open process would bexin place.

Anonymous said...

It's 2 bad when good people volunteer 4 these committees they r not chosen..stooges only need apply..

As for the GPAC..we need good voices now more than ever.. Los Gatos blvd looks like a flea market with all the crap going on..1-800-got junk, joes junk hauling, billy bobs outdoor kitchen designs, we haul crap, burned out and vacant buildings, and all hooptee cars 4 sale down there..

What we have is potential for tax revenue desparately needed...and under utilized real estate and ineffective enforcement of town codes..

Mercy mercy me..things ain't what they used 2 be..

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

If the political system is broken, why bother getting involved? It's not like Joe Prizinski gives a rats ass about the town after selling out to Sobrato. Steve Rice is just a taller version of Prizinski but with puppet strings. The town is totally fucked.