Editor's Notebook: Thanks For Welcoming Los Altos Patch and Me

Written by L.A. Chung 

Three years ago, on July 19, 2010, I came on board at Patch and was handed an amazing opportunity: Build my own online news and community site for Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. 

It was a community I had grown up in, and one that I only knew from the perspective of a young person who didn’t follow how things got done here; I only knew that it was a great place to be from. After a decade at the San Francisco Chronicle and a dozen years at the Mercury News, I was returning to my hometown.

And so I began as an adult, meeting the school superintendent, calling on the city manager, covering City Council meetings and attending school board meetings, Chamber of Commerce events and many more. I encouraged many people to write blogs, to post their events and announcements, whether it was a school fundraiser or an engagement. And you responded, creating a vibrant place to start and hold conversations.

Now this eventful chapter is coming to a close. Monday, July 15, is my last day at Patch.

I can’t begin to express my gratitude for the time everyone has given me and what people in the communities of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills have taught me about the things that matter here. People are welcoming and unfailingly helpful. 

I have a few regrets about things I didn’t do in these three years. I never took adult riding lessons at the Westwind Barn before the fabulous Jane Kawahara left last month. I didn’t do the LEAD program offered by the Los Altos Community Foundation. I didn’t meet Sergey Brin when Bumble hosted the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce for an after-hours mixer a few years back.

And, I’m sorry I won’t be around to chronicle the next chapter of our communities’ development: The construction projects on First Street. The flowering of downtown with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art installations. The restoration of Adobe Creek in Los Altos Hills. The restoration of Permanente Creek fish habitat through the Sierra Club lawsuit settlement with Lehigh Southwest Cement. The communities  of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and Mountain View pulling together to find a place to go to school for all of our students, whether they attend Bullis Charter School or the Los Altos School District (I’m an optimist!).

It’s always hard to say goodbye. And in this case, I don’t have to.

I’m not going far.

My next adventure is working for state Senator Jerry Hill, who represents California's 13th District. That includes Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, Mountain View and Sunnyvale, in Santa Clara County, plus much of San Mateo County where Sen. Hill is well known and well regarded.

You’ll see me around town, still, and in our neighboring communities. And I’ll still be asking questions and will be interested in your opinion. We might have a cup of coffee someday, while I’m wearing my new hat.

But no matter what, please keep reading and using Patch. My replacement has not been hired yet, and so you will have to help my colleagues get the best information when they are doing a story for publication in Los Altos Patch.

Keep blogging and commenting on the issues that matter to Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Patch’s new platform will take all announcements and opinion pieces on its boards, and events on its calendar. Use it!