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Published on 11/17/1997 All articles from this issue

Civic association sees rebirth of LAH club

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By Carol Tiegs / Town Crier Staff Writer

A postcard sent by the Los Altos Hills Civic Association provoked strong negative and positive comment at the Oct. 15 meeting of the Los Altos Hills Town council, but shed little light on the organization itself.

Begun in the 1980s by Betty and Patrick Ng as a way for people to get together and get to know each other and occasionally to introduce people to candidates for office, the civic association has expanded its mission and is attracting new members.

"It's a community spirit-founded organization," said association spokeswoman Shelley Doran. "We want to get people in town to get to know each other and not to feel isolated on town issues. We hope it will spur people to get involved in town government. There are openings on several town committees."

The civic association has grown from 60 to more than 400 members. It's three-fold mission is to encourage friendship among neighbors, inform residents of current town governmental issues, and improve resident involvement in town government. One of its programs is to send postcards notifying residents on items of interest on the town council agenda, such as the recent mailing regarding changes to the zoning ordinance affecting backup and turnaround areas.

That mailing resulted in a standing-room-only audience at the Oct. 15 town council meeting and generated controversy over allegations it contained misinformation (Town Crier, Oct. 22).

Information contained on that postcard came from a March 27 planning commission report, Doran said.

The civic association is committed to finding out what the residents want, Doran said. To that end, each newsletter contains a survey regarding current issues. Results of a recent newsletter survey indicated 94 percent of respondents would like the town to conduct a town-wide survey to provide broad based input to the town council. A town council subcommittee also proposed such a survey, Doran said, but the council declined.

"We are not trying to change how the town is, but to keep it from becoming more restrictive," Doran said. "We're for protecting property rights as they stand now."

In keeping with its social mission, the civic association plans to hold two social events each year. For information on the Los Altos Hills Civic Association, call 599-1968.