Los Altos Hills Open Space
	"Value Beyond Price..."
	Dedicated to protecting our open space assets for the future

E-Mail Bulletin #15 - 9 November 2002

• Open Space Forum
• Initiative Status
• Schedule for Signature Gathering
• Fundraising
• Election Results & Comments

Open Space Forum:

The Los Altos/ Mountain View League of Women Voters invites you to a forum on the role of local government and citizens in the protection of open space.

When: Sunday, November 17 from 4-6 pm
Where: Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills

Speakers include:

Huey Johnson, Founder and CEO of the Resource Renewal Institute
Anna Eshoo, US Representative, 14th District
Darla Guenzler, Bay Area Open Space Council
T. Jack Foster, Partner, Foster Enterprises
Michael O'Malley, Los Altos Hills Town Council
Craig Britton, General Manager, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

Following the presentations, a panel will discuss the role of citizens in protection of open space.

Panelists include:

Eric Carruthers, BCDC Commission Citizen's Task Force on Coyote Valley
Florence LaRiviere, Citizens Committee for Complete the Refuge
Kim Brosseau, Citizen User Group

The forum is free. Please RSVP by November 15 to (650) 968-7622 or JLucas1099@aol.com.

This forum is also co-sponsored by Acterra, Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, Committee for Green Foothills, League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Santa Clara Chapter of California Native Plant Society, and Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society.

Veteran conservationist Huey Johnson will be honored at this Forum. Representative Anna Eshoo and Mary Stegner will present Huey with the first Mary and Wallace Stegner Award for environmental stewardship. The Award has been created to recognize those who have done outstanding work in local conservation.

Initiative Status:

As of today, 720 signatures have been gathered from registered voters in Los Altos Hills!! This is an impressive number since starting the process less than one and one half weeks ago. We have set a goal of 1100 signatures, though our legal requirement is 823 - 15% of the 5,484 registered voters.

If you would be willing to provide a location for a neighborhood gathering, we would like to set some evenings aside (from 5 PM to 7:30 PM) for neighbors to come by and sign the initiative petition. Please contact Nancy at couperus@mindspring.com if you would be willing to help in this way.

We are finding that residents are anxious to sign our initiative and that they understand it. Many signers first ask if this is the Citizens' Initiative - they want to be sure that they're signing our open space initiative!

Scheduke for Signature Gathering

Foe the next two Saturdays, November 16th and 23rd, we will be at the Town Hall Parking Lot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please tell friends and neighbors to stop by and sign.

The day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 29, we will also be at Town Hall to give students who have come home for the Holiday an opportunity to sign. We will be there the same hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. By this time, we hope we will be wrapping up the signature gathering - that we will have reached our goal!

Fundraising:

Thanks to all of you who are continuing to contribute to the Open Space Initiative! Every contribution - no matter the size is very much appreciated. We still have October's legal expenses.

Check our website www.lahopenspace.com - How to Help - for details on how to make a contribution.

Election Results:

We have learned that 79% of our residents voted on November 5th. This is an impressive statistic and demonstrates the level of interest in this year's Council race. Preserving our open space was a galvanizing issue, and Dean and Breene, who were closely identified with the LAH Open Space Initiative, were obviously rewarded by the voters for their support of this issue.

And from Attorney Rachel Hooper:

"This is a well deserved victory for the community. . . . Jeff and I are thrilled and proud to have been working on such a great cause. Please pass along best wishes to the entire group."

And Huey Johnson:

Congratulations! . . . A wonderful success!

E-mail distribution list:

If you have friends or neighbors in Los Altos Hills who would like to be placed on this e-mail information list, please have them contact either Nancy Couperus at couperus@mindspring.com or Val Metcalfe at metcalfes@worldnet.att.net