Schools Sports Town Traveler Foothill-De Anza trustees Los Altos falls Local preserves offer support move to mandate in CCS baseball outdoor adventures COVID vaccines for final and a dose of history students, staff Page 12 Page 14 Page 18 Vol. 74 No. 25 • 50 cents losaltosonline.com WEDNESDAY • June 23, 2021 Community news for Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View since 1947 Retiring Hills Celebrating a grand reopening LA council city manager Residents herald end set to hire of many pandemic gets contract health restrictions new city extended By Zoe Morgan Staff Writer/[email protected] manager By Megan V. Winslow ocal officials, business By Bruce Barton Staff Writer/[email protected] leaders and residents are Staff Writer/[email protected] Lcelebrating as the state’s os Altos Hills City Man- tier-based COVID-19 restrictions rospective Los Altos City ager Carl Cahill will re- are lifted and more than 70% of Manager Gabriel Enge- Lmain at his post through eligible Santa Clara County resi- Pland doesn’t shy away Oct . 29, the city council decided dents are fully vaccinated . from challenges . He embraces Thursday . As expected, council The early days of the pandem- them . members were divided on the is- ic were “exceptionally scary,” Engeland, 42, whose three- sue, with Mayor Kavita Tankha, but the community stepped up year agreement was up for ap- Vice Mayor George Tyson and and rose to face the “daunting proval at Tuesday’s city council Councilmember Lisa Schmidt challenge,” Santa Clara County meeting – after the Town Crier’s voting in favor of extending Supervisor Joe Simitian told the print deadline – comes from Cahill’s contract as his replace- crowd at a June 17 reopening Sierra Madre, a Southern Cali- ment is identified; council mem- celebration at Rancho Shopping fornia community that faced its bers Linda Swan and Stanley Q . Center, hosted by the Los Altos own serious budget and infra- Mok opposed Tyson’s motion . Chamber of Commerce . ZOE MORGAN/TOWN CRIER structure challenges when he Swan, as she did at the May “As we begin again, I hope Local officials, business leaders and residents celebrate reopen- assumed city manager duties in See CAHILL, Page 8 See REOPENING, Page 8 ing with a confetti cannon at Rancho Shopping Center June 17. 2017 . “We solved a lot of these is- sues,” he told the Town Crier Critters at Cuesta Park amuse some, alarm others last week, prompting his desire By Megan V. Winslow your pocket,” wrote Leonard M . “That to search for a new position and Staff Writer/[email protected] can really hurt, especially if you have new challenges . “The challeng- a hole in your pocket . The really dan- es (in Los Altos) line up nicely t began with a social media post gerous ones are throat gophers because with the things I want to work featuring a photo of two wee beas- they gopher your throat ”. on . It feels like a very good fit ”. Ities convening on a pile of excavat- David S . responded with a still One of the biggest issues for ed dirt . from the 1980 comedy “Caddyshack ”. Los Altos is housing . A host of “These guys seem to be everywhere Throughout the film, Bill Murray’s new state laws require the city at Cuesta Park and are freaking me “Carl,” the groundskeeper at a country to supply a high number of af- out,” wrote Jen C . of Mountain View club, wages war on a menacing gopher fordable housing units . The on Nextdoor . “Are they gophers? Are residing under the club’s golf course . council June 8 approved a con- they dangerous?” “I know of a good exterminator that sultant to work on a new hous- That was back in November . Seven solved persistent such problem in past,” ing element for the 2023-2031 months later, residents of Los Altos, David S . wrote . general plan . Under a Regional Los Altos Hills and Mountain View are Housing Needs Allocation still responding to Jen C ’s. distressed ‘Blunt torpedoes’ mandate, the city must create COURTESY OF NORMA JEAN GALIHER A Botta’s pocket gopher grins for the camera inside inquiry with comical quips and la- Norma Jean Galiher of Mountain conditions for 1,958 new units, Redwood City’s Russian Ridge Preserve. Unlike other ments about their own ravaged gardens . View’s Martens-Carmelita neighbor- 1,115 of them deemed afford- gopher species, Botta’s pocket gophers use their teeth “Those are pocket gophers, which hood, a longtime Edgewood Park and able . for digging. aren’t dangerous unless they end up in See GOPHERS, Page 7 See ENGELAND, Page 6 ALSO INSIDE – JUNE 23, 2021 Business & Real Estate . 19 Letters to the Editor . 9 Schools . 12 Classified . 27 Obituaries . 26 Sports . 14 Comment . 9 Peek into the Past . 9 Stepping Out . 15 Community . 10 Police Blotter . 4 Town Traveler . 17 Datebook . 27 Public Notices . 26 Your home is where our heart is THE TROYER GROUP 1400 RAVENSWOOD DR Open Saturday & Sunday 1:30 – 5:00pm | VISIT 1400RAVENSWOOD.COM FOR VIDEO & 3D TOUR! 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