Sound choice: Becker brings experience
The Los Altos City Council’s Dec. 4 decision to bring Lou Becker back was the right one.
Becker, who served on the council 1995-2003, was appointed to fill an open seat, vacated when Kurt Colehower unexpectedly announced his resignation in early November.
The council selected Becker from among three finalists, including current Los Altos Planning Commissioner Megan Satterlee and resident David Gustavson.
Satterlee is certainly a qualified applicant familiar with the city’s processes. But Becker is a proven council commodity. For eight years, he made tough decisions on a wide range of issues, from housing applications to zoning ordinances.
His track record as a fair-minded, well-reasoned council member had one admirer at a Dec. 1 volunteers award luncheon call Becker “the most respected person in Los Altos.” Becker was honored at that luncheon for continued volunteer service in a variety of capacities, including as part of the Los Altos Neighborhood Network and the Measure H schools parcel tax campaign. Such efforts point to the fact that Becker has hardly rested on his laurels since leaving the council three years ago.
Having lost none of his drive to contribute to the community, we suspect Becker’s return to the council will be smooth. This is especially needed at a time when the council expects to tackle some sizable issues, including the oft-discussed downtown boutique hotel plan and the Rosita community pool project. And, as we observed when he ran council meetings as mayor, Becker knows how to move things along.
We appreciate Satterlee’s and Gustavson’s interest in applying. We look forward to Satterlee’s continued involvement and expanded role in city government. For now however, experience is what is needed most, and Becker will bring plenty of that.
Measure C valid, but when does it stop?
We’re encouraged that a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge upheld the validity of the Measure C election, the $490.8 million bond measure for the Foothill-De Anza Community College District that voters approved in June. The district can now proceed with the renovation of its campuses.
On one hand, we’re relieved by the Dec. 4 ruling that Foothill-De Anza followed and met all legal requirements of its Proposition 39 bond, which was approved by 65.9 percent of voters.
On the other, it was dismaying that the court’s time - and the people’s - was wasted by a few naysayers seeking to negate the will of tens of thousands of voters and possibly cost the district millions in delayed construction costs.
We wonder why a law can’t be established to prevent such frivolous challenges from coming to court in the first place? El Camino Hospital, for one, suffered unnecessarily over a similar challenge that dragged on for months. It’s just not right.
