‘I have hope’
LOS GATOS WIDOWER GETS CHANCE TO PRESERVE HOME AFTER COUNTY RELENTS
“Polly had a huge heart for providing a space for people . ... Being able to keep that is such a relief, to continue what she started and inspired in me.” — Gary Claassen, who lost his wife Polly while vacationing in Kansas
LOS GATOS » This was the week Gary Claassen’s downstairs tenants at his Los Gatos home were supposed to move out under a county ruling, which was essentially an eviction notice for him too because he couldn’t stay without their additional rental income.
The loss of the house on Old Santa Cruz Highway was going to be especially painful because it was where his wife and 8-year-old son lived until the family plunged through a frozen pond while vacationing in Kansas, with Claassen as the only survivor.
But instead of more heartache, the week was infused with hope. After a story by this news organization prompted a county supervisor to get involved, Santa Clara County officials rescinded their move-out requirement, giving Claassen and his tenants a fighting chance to retain their living arrangement.
It’s a source of great peace for Claassen, who now gets to continue his late’s wife legacy of making sure their home always had room to provide solace from hardships, or in the case of the Temple family, relief from exorbitant Bay Area housing costs.
Polly Claassen would have turned 45 on Thursday.
“Polly had a huge heart for providing a space for people,” Claassen said. “Some were coming out of homelessness, and others were people who had to get their feet under them.”
He added: “Being able to keep that is such a relief, to continue what she started and inspired in me.”
The reason Claassen was facing the loss of his home had to do with planning laws that changed earlier this year, which combined with an anonymous tip to code-enforcement officials, suddenly made the twostory duplex where he and the Temples lived in violation of county ordinances.
Claassen struggled to get good answers from county staffers for the abrupt revelation; he was initially told his home would be grandfathered as being in compliance, and a few weeks later he was told that the structure that operated as a duplex for decades always should have been considered a single family home.
Claassen and tenant Christina Temple decided to go public in a story in The Mercury News, which ran Aug. 13. Their fortunes changed swiftly afterward.
Supervisor Mike Wasserman said he heard about Claassen’s predicament on Aug. 14, his first day on the job following recovery from back surgery.
“That Monday, I heard about Gary’s situation and scheduled a conversation,” he said. “We spoke a couple times and met, and he’s obviously a nice, kind-hearted person and the loss of his family is quite unimaginable.”
He said he “admired Gary’s courage,” and the meeting went well.
“It’s a complex situation, but the result is we are working on a path to bring it into compliance. I think it’s headed in that direction, and I and staff certainly want to see him and his tenant continue to live there.”
Wasserman said that after lengthy meetings between county planners, code enforcement and Claassen, they narrowed potential issues into those dealing with the septic system. There are still outstanding issues, but Wasserman and Claassen express confidence they will be resolved.
“There are a number of things being checked out, and Gary and staff very sincerely agree upon what the issues are and what remedies are possible,” he said. “In the meantime, nobody is going anywhere.”
Claassen said he was astonished by the outpouring of community support, many of whom voiced similar grievances, as well as the swift attention and assurances he received from the supervisor after the story ran.
“It was so encouraging to hear him say that,” Claassen said, adding that he was equally grateful to the same officials and staffers who worked with him. “One of my biggest concerns was that my tenants, Will and Christina, had to move out quickly. The next day, code enforcement decided to lift any required move-out date.”
There is still a lot of work to do on the home, so no one is in the clear quite yet. Christina Temple, grateful for not having to frantically relocate her family — including her young daughter — is still exploring other housing options just in case.
“A couple of weeks ago, things looked pretty dire, and I was terrified of people knocking on my door and saying I have to move out right now,” Temple said. “It’s eased our temporary fears. But we also can’t afford to wait and see.”
She also noted that her and Claassen’s situation is anything but unique in both their mountain community and beyond.
“One of the core reasons I wanted to reach out is that it’s not just happening to us,” Temple said. “We’re hearing about it left and right. These are good people trying to do the right thing, and we have this big housing crisis. Where are people going to go?”
Claassen, who was optimistic before getting the good news, remains steadfast in his outlook. He said he is weighing a job offer that would have him work with international students from Bay Area colleges, and sees keeping his home as a direct way to honor his wife’s mission.
“It can be a welcoming place for students. It’s a neat feeling to know I have a mountain home for them to experience and be able to show them a neat experience,” he said.
But more than anything, the home he shared with his wife and son, and all of the memories and reminders inside, the dozen-plus chickens, tree house and rope swing outside, remain firmly in his grasp.
“This was Polly and Trent’s favorite place,” Claassen said. “At this point, I have hope.”