Opinion

According to Merriam-Webster, a “community” is a unified body of individuals with common interests living in a particular area. My mother taught me as a kid that community was everything—and that you volunteered to make it better. Bill Weaver, my boss at KLOK-AM, my first...

The Game We’re All Losing Ah, game theory in urban planning—a concept so elusive and mysterious that it might as well come with a decoder ring and a secret handshake. Mr. Suzuki’s editorial raises a valid point: if you’re going to criticize something, you should...

The familiar hum of a well-oiled machine is a comforting sound. It suggests efficiency, precision, and a harmonious system. This is an analogy I provided to Town Council at a council meeting on Aug. 6, as I, along with Chair Eleanor Yick, presented the...

This article serves as a refutation of Jeffrey Blum’s article, “Community, not theory, should be at the heart of Town’s Planning,” which ran in last week’s edition.  Jeffrey Suzuki is a former Planning Commissioner, the current Vice Chair of the Complete Streets and Transportation Commission,...

In nature, water always contains dissolved minerals and nutrients. Water “hardness” is determined by the concentrations of minerals present in a particular water source—specifically calcium and magnesium. Simply put, hard water is mineral water that comes from your tap.  Water containing high amounts of calcium...

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...

Candidate profile one-sided About Dinah Cotton’s article “An afternoon meeting with a prospective Congressman” Just read your Evan Low article.  Very one sided considering the activities Low took to keep a recount from happening. His main contributor appears to be PG&E; his packing of the democrats’ vote to...

The selection of a Bay Area native as presidential nominee of one of the major parties bears watching here in the bear flag state. If successful, she would not only be America’s first female president and the first one of South Asian heritage—she would...

News cycles spin with relentless negativity, bombarding us with stories of conflict, division and environmental woes. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the volume of problems the world faces. Sometimes, the most tempting response is to bury our heads in the sand, hoping the...

Just a quick note to compliment the article (“The long and winding road,” June 19, 2024) by Alan Feinberg. Great feature—and looking forward to more town history. Johanes Swenberg Los Gatos *Letters are edited for length and clarity