The Los Altos City Council at its Sept. 8 regular meeting decided against disbanding the Los Altos-Los Altos Hills Joint Volunteer Awards Committee for now after many Los Altos Hills residents voiced their dissatisfaction with the communication regarding the resolution.
“We’d be willing to consider a constructive approach to revitalize a joint awards event,” Mayor Sally Meadows said in response to the council closing the discussion on the resolution, which had been slated to nix the joint committee in favor of Los Altos having its own volunteer award committee.
According to many public speakers from Los Altos Hills, including Mayor Rajiv Bhateja, Vice Mayor Linda Swan, councilmembers Stanley Mok and George Tyson, among others, there was no warning by Los Altos about this would-be change, which Bhateja said left him and the city “flummoxed.”
Bhateja said there have been misconceptions, including at the last council meeting where someone had said that Los Altos Hills recently funded its own nonprofit, which is inaccurate. He said there are 38 nonprofits in Los Altos Hills, and he found it odd to take exception to one and blame the town. Bhateja says Los Altos has claimed that Los Altos Hills residents don’t contribute to the city as much as others, which he countered, pointing to the library and downtown revitalization projects.
“We’re neighbors. We’re one community,” Bhateja said. “Please don’t treat us like an ugly stepchild.”
Los Altos Councilmember Jonathan Weinberg, the council liaison to the committee, said the council had approved actions last year to remove the committee and wondered why no one from Los Altos Hills took action. Bhateja said they were not alerted.
“I think this probably should have started with a conversation with all nine of the (JVAC members),” Weinberg said. “I assumed that had happened. Everything I’ve been told is that there was no interest in moving forward with this committee.”
Weinberg said he was willing to let this lie and hopes the committee comes back with an adjusted reality of what the committee is. Many members of the Los Altos council admitted that the communication between the two cities could have been better, and confusion was elevated due to that. Meadows said it was “frustrating” to hear about communication failure, citing a number of instances where decisions were clearly made.
The Los Altos Hills council speakers had said the hope would be for the two cities to continue to work together to maintain the 43-year relationship they have had through the joint volunteer awards committees. Weinberg and the council decided to pull the resolution and keep the discussion about the committee’s existence open.
Vice Mayor Larry Lang admitted that “It feels like we need couples counseling” and that the city should table the discussion and potentially resolve the issues. Councilman Pete Dailey added, “I’m open to some changes.”
This year’s event is going to be cancelled.
