During the 1998 Council campaign, Steve Finn proposed the undergrounding of all utilities in Los Altos. This banner has now been picked up by Mayor Bob Fenwick.

This proposal can best be characterized as a wonderful idea with a terribly flawed implementation plan.

First of all, a few introductory facts:

A reasonable estimate for completing the undergrounding all utilities in Los Altos Hills totals about $50.0M. Putting this in perspective, it represents the town's total budget for ten years.

About 50% of our town already has underground utilities. All new construction since the early 1980's has underground utilities.

The mayor's plan is to ask for a parcel tax to be imposed on all homeowners whether or not they already have underground utilities. Such a tax would require a 2/3 voter approval in accordance with Proposition 13.

The mayor has also "floated" an alternate plan to underground only the main thoroughfares in town such as Fremont Road, El Monte, etc. This would require even more people to pay for an undergrounding that they would not see on their street.

The funds required by the town to put the utilities in the street do not pay for connecting the residence to the utility. This will cost an estimated $5,000 per house, to be paid for by the resident.

Now for a few observations:

A parcel tax will require a 2/3 vote of the residents (Proposition 13). Why would residents who already have underground utilities be willing to pay for others to be undergrounded? A 2/3 vote is virtually impossible to obtain since this plan is unfair.

On the alternate plan, why will residents pay to have just the main thoroughfares undergrounded when their own street will still have overhead lines? Again, a 2/3 vote is very difficult.

The proper way to accomplish this worthwhile goal is to form special assessment districts which would include only those streets whose residents are willing to pay for their  part of the project.  What they pay for they will get - on their own street. This is both fair and achievable.

Not surprisingly, almost nothing has happened on this proposal. It has not yet become a campaign issue, and the current plan is unsound. The Casey/Civic Association candidates (Vitu & Kerns) can be expected to continue with Fenwick's unworkable plan. The HILLS2000 aligned candidates (Kerr and Warshawsky) can be expected to take a more realistic approach to achieving this worthwhile goal.