The major failing of the study is that it is purposely designed to “tax” new development to fund all the cost of certain transportation projects the Town Council wishes to develop over the next 20 years, regardless of whether they are truly required to accommodate growth.
Elections Code Section 9241 requires that the Town Council either 1) place the referendum on
the ballot for the November 2024 general election or 2) rescind its adoption of the Land Use
Element and the Community Design Element. At its October 2022 meeting, the Town Council
deferred making a decision as to which of these actions to take pending consideration of the
then-upcoming Housing Element adoption. The options are discussed in more detail below.
Once this primary decision has been made, there are other possible steps for the Town Council
to direct staff to take, which are included elsewhere in this document.
For Council closed session 3/26/24 Regarding Interim Town Manager position Dear Council, I am concerned that you will be making a decision on the interim Town Manager by elevating our Assistant TM without looking outside the Town for an … Continued
Guest View – Los Gatan – Published 3-27-24 Four Town officials—Town Manager Laurel Prevetti and former mayors Maria Ristow and Rob Rennie, along with Councilmember Rob Moore—have been responsible for the failure to get the Housing Element passed, despite … Continued
BEST PRACTICES GFOA Achieving a Structurally Balanced Budget Adopt rigorous policies, for all operating funds, aimed at achieving and maintaining a structurally balanced budget. Most state and local governments are subject to a requirement to pass a balanced budget. However, … Continued
Program J addresses HCD’s concerns about fair housing goals in the Town’s Housing Element, aiming to create a more inclusive community through increased housing mobility. While supportive of the goal, the LCGA has concerns about implementation methods.
We have recently made some progress on our Housing Element document that needs to be certified by the State. As you know, the document failed to gain approval 4 times, but obtaining this approval ASAP is imperative, since the fact that it is … Continued
Los Gatos has 8 huge housing projects as a result of our leadership failing to get the Housing Element certified. The General Planning process started over 5 years ago in 2018. One very critical item in the General Plan is the … Continued
An Executive Summary of our letter below to the Town Council.
The staff report for Agenda Item 15 is inaccurate in that it fails to disclose that on November 16, 2023, Staff submitted a November draft of the revised Housing Element to HCD for official review in violation of Government Code Section 65585. We find it hard to understand why Staff would intentionally not disclose this. In our opinion, the lack of transparency and full disclosure has been a consistent theme for the past two Councils led by former mayors’ Rennie and Ristow. They spanned the development of the Housing Element and were the enablers of Town Manager Prevetti. The cumulative effect of this behavior has led to a growing loss of confidence in Staff and the Town’s latest consultant, Veronica Tam, by the public.
I’d like to give you an update on the critical Housing Development situation in Los Gatos, and let you know about an opportunity for you to have an impact. Because Los Gatos still has not had its Housing Element document approved by the State (after … Continued