The 40th anniversary of the Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival, scheduled this weekend, gives us an opportunity to weigh its impact on downtown Los Altos.
Decades later, the festival remains Los Altos’ most popular event. Each year, we gather to celebrate sunny summertimes and enjoy a weekend escape.
Summer 2019 is here, and, of course, we’re all thumbs.
• Thumbs-up: To the actual start of work on a new Hillview Communty Center. Demolition and construction will soon begin on a 24,500-square-foot, $34.7 million center to replace old, run-down facilities that formerly housed an elementary school many years ago. Estimated time for completion is December 2020. After decades of talking about it, Los Altos is finally getting something done.
For years, we and our friends in the newspaper world have operated under a double standard. In print, we’re all about accountability. Letters to the editor must have names. Information in news stories must be attributed. Online, however, we’re not as accountable. In our collective desperation for people to use our websites, we’ve allowed readers to offer their feedback anonymously. As all of us are well aware, anonymity emboldens some to be aggressive, even hurtful, in their comments. We’ve encouraged and enabled that cowardice.
We want to change that. Our first step has been encouraging people to use their real names online – no more pseudonyms like “Los Altan” or “Fed Up.” We may get fewer comments, but we feel it’s the right thing to do. We encourage our newspaper friends to follow suit.
Last week’s surprising announcement of a major facilities deal between Bullis Charter School and the Los Altos School District has far-reaching implications, to say the least.
If the boards of both entities agree to the proposal, Bullis Charter School would get the Egan Junior High campus and most of its 18 acres, beginning as early as 2023, and operate under an enrollment cap of just over 1,100 students. Egan would occupy the new 10th-site campus in the San Antonio neighborhood of Mountain View.
The Los Altos School District needs to come up with a proposal by Friday on how to accommodate Bullis Charter School and its 190-student increase from 915 to 1,105 students for the 2019-2020 school year.
The increase means the school district may no longer be able to fit all charter school students on the Blach Intermediate and Egan Junior High school campuses. It means the district will likely offer part of an additional elementary school site.
After decades of talk, the city of Los Altos is on track to rebuild its dilapidated Hillview Community Center. Well, maybe not.
It seems at least three members on the five-member Los Altos City Council are not satisfied with the current design and footprint, which they contend is too small and too costly. Mayor Lynette Lee Eng thinks the city can get a better “bang for our buck.”
In the wake of recent news to start the year – yes, we’re all thumbs.
Thumbs-up: To the 2019 Mountain View City Council, which saw three newly elected members sworn in last week, along with the appointment of a new mayor and vice mayor. As mayor, Lisa Matichak brings a level-headed approach to leadership, while newcomers Ellen Kamei, Lucas Ramirez and Alison Hicks all come highly qualified to carry on the business of this high-profile city.
The Town Crier welcomes letters to the editor on current events pertinent to Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View. Write to us at 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022, Attn: Editor, or email editor Bruce Barton at bruceb@latc.com. Because editorial space is limited, please confine letters to no more than 200 words. Include a phone number for verification purposes. Anonymous letters will not be printed.
You can also have your say right here at losaltosonline.com – scroll to the bottom of any story to add a comment.
