Mr. Shenk was very wise to tie his proposed development to Netflix right from the start. I really have to wonder if his plans would have lead to such a polarization of town as we now see, had he simply proposed the development on its own merits, nearly twice as high and severely more intensive than the town’s laws permit? With the linkage to the town’s largest business, a great source of town revenue and pride, and with a veiled threat of losing this prominent business, Mr. Shenk’s proposal has driven the town’s passions to the boiling point.
Wisely, Netflix has offered mild support for the proposal but does not allow itself to enter the fray to any great extent, acknowledging that it would use at least one of the buildings if built. However, by no means, does Netflix sound the horn and beat the drums in support of the project.
In fact, a year or two ago, several local newspapers reported that Netflix was negotiating with the City of San Jose to relocate the DVD division of Netflix to a San Jose location. Thus, the only source of sales tax revenue from the Netflix operations would be exiting Los Gatos for a more lucrative and profitable site in a neighboring city. The streaming movies that Netflix sells over the internet are not taxed and those operations would remain in Los Gatos. As I understand it, after an outcry from Los Gatos, adjustments were made by Netflix so that Los Gatos continues to receive the sales tax revenue from DVD rentals. But, I must ask, does Netflix really have any real and genuine loyalty to Los Gatos, or, in the simplest terms, just to its stockholders?
I, personally, have a sort of inbred distrust and, I ‘spose, dislike of developers. As I’m not afraid of noting, I grew up in the idyllic and pastoral Almaden Valley just after World War II. Our “safe and sane” way of life lasted long enough for me to savor it but this way of life was cut short by the brutal and greedy tactics of the San Jose City Manager, A. P. “Dutch" Hamann and his developer buddies. Consider the following two photographs:
These were taken by a friend of mine who lived at the foot of the Santa Teresa hills. The two pictures were taken from the same spot up on the hills, the base of Mount Umunhum as a backdrop, providing a good view of the Almaden Valley. The first pic was taken in 1964, the second was taken in 1968 (with a different, better camera). The developers were able to cover the Valley floor with houses in just four years. The farmers who were run off their land were farmers, not investment bankers. They cared about their livelihood, not money. Urban and suburban people like to think that the farmers made fortunes from the forced sale of their farms and were happy, fat cats afterwards. Nope, many of them moved out to other farming communities to start over again, after generations of calm and peaceful agricultural living in the Almaden Valley.
(to see the pics and read the conclusion, click here)
