A few champagne corks probably popped when word began to spread that Len Pacheco had lost his bid for reappointment to the planning commission. Those who considered him a nitpicker obsessing over details are probably delighted that the town council appointed three newcomers to a commission whose most experienced member has served for just two years. Council member Randy Attaway told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times that he voted for people he thinks best represent the community right now.
New blood is always good.
Keeping the same old volunteers performing their same old jobs indefinitely is not conducive to good decision-making. When Planning Director Lee Bowman left Los Gatos after 25 years, he took a lot of history with him. Fortunately, there were planning commissioners who went back a few years, and they had the benefit of learning much of the community's planning history from Bowman. But Bowman's replacement has already resigned to take a new job. Attaway's reassurance that the council will work more closely with the planning commission in the future is not comforting.