TMCnet News
Buncic, Siemans vying for open space spot [Los Gatos Weekly-Times, Calif.](Los Gatos Weekly-Times (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 23--When voters approved a bond measure this past June for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, they opened the doors for an estimated $300 million in spending. The open space district has a Vision Plan that lists 25 priority projects the money will be spent on, some of which directly impact Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga and Cupertino residents. Those four municipalities make up what's known as open space district Ward 1, with two candidates running for election to the Ward 1 board of directors seat on Nov. 4. Incumbent Pete Siemens, who is 77 years old, was first elected to the district's board of directors in 1992. He's lived in Los Gatos since 1969 and served on the town council between 1978 and '83. Opponent Mike Buncic is also a Los Gatos resident. The 52-year-old Buncic moved to town in 1986 and is a biology teacher at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara. The open space district owns more than 62,000 acres of land in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. But access to much of the land is restricted, which is why the Vision Plan calls for opening access to the Cathedral Oaks area of the Sierra Azul Preserve in Los Gatos, among other things. It also calls for the development of new trails connecting Sanborn Park in Saratoga with Lexington Reservoir and completing the connection between the Upper Stevens Creek Trail in Cupertino with the Bay and Bay Area Ridge trails. "I'm looking for something of a change in the district's approach, which has focused a lot of time on land acquisition," Buncic said. "Very clearly the public would like to increase access to the land. My motto is open space equals open for all. Some of the public calls it closed space because it's a well kept secret." Preserves that are accessible are open year-round, from dawn to dusk. There are no entry fees charged. Buncic is an outdoor enthusiast who claims to have been on every trail in the district's inventory. "It's something dear to my heart," he said. He is running a word-of-mouth campaign and uses the Bear Creek Redwood Preserve as an example of why change is needed. "I went to a meeting on that eight years ago, and it still hasn't been fully opened to the public. A lot of people resent that," Buncic said. "It's the public's land. It's their say what happens with it. That message is very clear; a public agency should provide benefits." Siemens said that since he took office the district has doubled the amount of land it owns, which means the staff has doubled, too. There are currently 106 full-time employees and 12 seasonal employees. "I was instrumental in limiting expense growth," Siemens said. "We set a guideline that the staff couldn't exceed a percentage of annual revenue, so if revenue grows by 4 percent then staff can grow by 6 percent. We also keep our operating costs under 50 percent of revenue to save money to buy land. As a consequence, we've never had layoffs or staff reductions." Siemens said that when he came on board 22 years ago, only about 10 percent of residents were aware the open space district even existed. "We started increasing our volunteer and public affairs programs to get ourselves recognized," he said. "The last survey we did [earlier this year] showed well over 80 percent of residents know we exist." Siemens said the Vision Plan answered the questions, "Where are we going in the next 40 years and what do people want?" The answers, he said, are that "people still want us to preserve and restore land, and we still need to purchase some land, but they also want more access." So in regard to the access question, the incumbent and the candidate are in agreement. Buncic summarized his campaign by saying, "I want to increase communication with the public and improve access. I want to see more users." To learn more about the areas served by the Midpeninsula Open Space District, visit openspace.org. Mike Buncic's campaign information is at democracy.com/votebuncic. Pete Siemens' campaign information is at petesiemens.com. ___ (c)2014 the Los Gatos Weekly-Times (San Jose, Calif.) Visit the Los Gatos Weekly-Times (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com/los-gatos Distributed by MCT Information Services |