"Cities are the stories we tell ourselves about a place. So the question I've been asking myself is: What story did we tell about Saratoga this year? It wasn't a neat or simple story. Some chapters were joyful. Kids walking through newly striped crosswalks on the way to school. Neighbors stretching together at Yoga in the Park. Volunteers turning Saratoga Nights into a real thing instead of just an idea in someone's notebook."
"Other chapters were harder. Hearing that two-thirds of West Valley College students are housing- or food-insecure and wondering how a community as fortunate as ours can do more. Meeting older neighbors aging in place on fixed incomes, in the same homes where they raised their kids, now mostly alone. Feeling the strain when the cost of living, the pace of change and the noise of national politics all seem to press in at once."
"If there's one word for how I feel at the end of this year, it's gratitude. Gratitude for the chance to serve the city I grew up in. Gratitude for our city staff, who show up every day to do what I consider glamorous work: permits, potholes, tree issues, emergency planningthe thousand tiny things that keep Saratoga quietly working."
The year featured joyful community moments like newly striped crosswalks for schoolchildren, Yoga in the Park, volunteers making Saratoga Nights real, and a local history podcast preserving longtime residents' memories. Challenges emerged as two-thirds of West Valley College students faced housing or food insecurity, and many older neighbors aged in place on fixed incomes and often lived alone. Residents felt pressure from rising costs, rapid change, and national political noise. Gratitude was a prevailing response—gratitude for opportunities to serve, for city staff handling daily municipal tasks, and for resident engagement aimed at making the city kinder and safer.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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