Guest View

There is a specific kind of serenity that comes with life in Los Gatos. It is a stage of existence where “high stakes” usually involves the outcome of a Town Council vote on the precise height of a neighbor’s new perimeter hedge, or whether...

As my grandkids call me, “Pop Pop,” I find myself navigating the inevitable march of time. While recent health challenges, like hernia surgery and a persistent snoring problem (these are but a few of the conditions I am having to address), have forced me...

The 2024 presidential election is one to remember, but Santa Clara County residents also faced a rare local decision: choosing a successor to longtime 16th Congressional District Representative Anna Eshoo, a Democrat who held her seat for over three decades. This election was special to...

My North Santa Cruz Avenue business, Beyond Text Bookstore, has now been open for over six months. That’s six months the place has been filled with real people—not just my dreams and hopes. Upon reflection, I wanted to share a little about what I didn’t know...

If you open tourist brochures for Los Gatos, you are likely to see the historic Town Plaza, a Victorian porch in the Almond Grove district, or a parade of shoppers on North Santa Cruz Avenue. It is a highly cultivated, frozen image. However, while downtown...

For decades, development in Los Gatos was a collaborative, if sometimes slow, process of checks and balances. But as we move into the spring of 2026, that has changed. We are navigating a landscape dominated by Senate Bill 330, the “Builder’s Remedy,” and a recent...

For nearly half a century, my identity was topped by a piece of headgear: the Attorney Hat. It was a fedora of authority. As a divorce lawyer for over 47 years, I was the one who asked the questions to command the room, the...

When my husband and I moved from Germany to the United States in 2017, our oldest daughter was three and I was expecting the second of our three children. It was a time of major transitions, and it was important to me that they...

Urban planning thrives on informed decision-making. However, the increasing influence of game theory—a branch of mathematics that studies strategic interactions—can be a recipe for disaster in the messy world of governance. While game theory offers insights in some areas, relying largely on its models...

Like many municipalities, the Town of Los Gatos constantly wrestles with how to manage a complex, high-stakes legal landscape without draining public coffers. As State mandates on housing tighten, and land-use and California Environmental Quality Act issues become more prevalent, the cost of legal counsel...