February, 2003 editor: Larry Ames
Call for Candidates
for the WGNA Board.
~~~
Save the Date:
Spring General Meeting
Wednesday, May 14, 7 PM
Letter from the Editor
Larry Ames
Because of the upcoming election for the WGNA Board, you will be getting two newsletters in rather quick succession: this one, including a “call for candidates” from Kris Cunningham, Chair of the Nominating Committee, and then a second newsletter in late April / early May with a mail-in ballot and details about the Spring General Meeting (May 14th).
WGNA Seeks Board Members
Kris Cunningham
It is time for our association to begin the process of identifying volunteers for the next WGNA Board, which will be elected in May. In accordance with our by-laws, a five-member nominating committee solicits members who are interested in serving on the Board of Directors. The 2003 Nominating Committee was elected in last May’s election and includes Kris Cunningham (Chair), Larry Ames, J. Michael Gonzales, Ann Leever, Phyllis Ward, and alternate, Linda Herschbach.
Our By-laws stipulate that officers of the Association (President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) must be members of WGNA for at least one year prior to the May election date, and can serve for only two consecutive years in any one office. Besides the officers, four Directors and next year’s Nominating Committee are elected. The Directors and Nominating Committee do not have term limits, but typically there is a good mix between new and experienced members on the Board.
The Nominating Committee is actively soliciting WGNA members who would like to become more involved. Perhaps you have helped organize your street concerning traffic problems or land use considerations. Maybe you volunteered for Founders’ Day and enjoyed working with other neighborhood residents. Board members attend the monthly WGNA Board meeting and work to “preserve and enhance” our neighborhood by responding to residents’ concerns, attending appropriate meetings, and participating in neighborhood projects. Please submit your nominations by March 15th to the Nominating Committee by mail (PO Box 7706, San Jose, CA 95150-7706), by phone (408/294-WGNA), or by email (nominations@wgna.net). Contact us if you have any questions.
The Nominating Committee will present to our membership a specific slate of recommended officers and directors for possible election. Any qualified candidate that submits their name to the Nominating Committee by the March 15th deadline can request that their name appear on the ballot. The ballots will be mailed to all WGNA members in good standing in a newsletter several weeks before the May General Meeting. The membership then votes by mail or in person at the General Meeting. The ballots are tallied within a week and the results announced on the wgna.net website, the media, and in the next newsletter.
By Popular Demand…
WGNA has reprinted our book of self-guiding walking tours of Willow Glen,
Historical
Guide
to
the
Homes of Willow Glen
The book is now available at Willow Glen Books, at 1330 Lincoln Avenue. Call 408/298-8237 for details, or check them out at wgbooks@att.net.
County Enacts Financial Privacy Ordinance
Blanca Alvarado, Co. Supervisor, Dist. 2
On February 4, 2003, the County Board of Supervisors approved a Financial Information Privacy Ordinance. This ordinance, which will take effect on January 1, 2004, prohibits financial institutions from disclosing customers’ confidential information to third parties.
The intention of the Board is to afford customers of financial institutions greater privacy protection than that provided in Federal law (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act).
The Federal law’s privacy protection only applies to non-affiliated entities and it requires consumers to opt-out. Financial institutions annually send a notice that specifies how a consumer may opt-out.
The County’s ordinance has two salient features:
· It applies to affiliated financial entities; and
· It requires consumers to opt-in. In other words, financial institutions will be required to obtain written consent from consumers before disclosing confidential information.
Long, Hard Road to Privacy
To protect Californians’ confidential financial information, State Senator Jackie Speier introduced groundbreaking financial privacy legislation last session, which was defeated. This year, Senate Bill 1 significantly enhances consumer control over their private financial information, such as bank account balances, spending habits, and payment history. The Bill also makes it easier for consumers to inform their bank of their privacy choices. If the California Legislature passes S.B. 1, it will become law on January 1, 2004.
If S.B. 1 is not approved, the County’s ordinance takes effect so that residents are protected. Should S.B. 1 become law, however, it will preempt all local ordinances.
Judy Chirco
Judy Chirco
[Councilmember Chirco was recently elected to serve District 9 in the City Council, including those portions of Willow Glen south of Curtner / Booksin / Husted. --ed.]
(Article originally written for the Cambrian Times, 1/27/03)
My roots in our San Jose community run very deep. Forty years ago, my family moved to the Cambrian Park Area of San Jose where I later graduated from Camden High. It was in this same neighborhood that my husband, Ed, and I raised our sons and where we plan to retire. When I decided to run for the San Jose City Council, it was for one simple reason: I wanted to give back to the community that has given my family and me so much. And it is with this mindset I look forward to serving my community.
I have tried to be an advocate for our community in a variety of ways. I am proud of my time as a school volunteer and School Board Member. But I am most proud of being a mother and a neighbor. I believe that we all stand tall on the shoulders of friends and heroes and these people are the greatest gifts in our lives. I want to go through my time on the Council with a sense of compassion for our residents and a mentality of service to our community.
My staff has a wide breadth of experiences, which will be a great asset in obtaining the best service possible. Our Administrative Assistant, Diane Mannina, comes to our office with her background and knowledge of thirty years with the County, as well as several years with City of San Jose Code Enforcement. Tona Duncanson has had twelve years experience in City Council offices, most recently with Councilmember Linda LeZotte. Tona will be dealing primarily with issues concerning the Redevelopment Agency, the Budget, and Land Use. Diana Miller has been active in the community for a long time, most recently as the Executive Director of PACT, People Acting in Community Together. She will be handling issues concerning seniors, schools and community organizations. The final member of our staff is Tim McCullough. Tim is a recent graduate of Santa Clara University and will be handling transportation and code enforcement issues, as well as meeting with the Cambrian Community Council. I feel blessed by the vast and different experiences of our staff.
I have always believed in the importance of all of the people in a community and I think that this is reflected in my initial goals while in office. I believe that it is important that our children and grandchildren are able to live in this area. I will work to ease our traffic problems by improving the essential city infrastructure such as roads. I will also continue to fight for programs that will help our youth. Finally, I intend to make seniors a top priority by working to provide a safe and stimulating place for our elder residents to gather and gain valuable information. But above all, I want to be responsible to you, so please do not hesitate to contact my office with any concerns or comments. Our office line is (408) 277-5275 and our email address is Judy.Chirco@ci.sj.ca.us. We are all a community, both within the City of San Jose and within District 9. I will work to the fix situations we face, but to solve problems we must all work together as a community. I am greatly excited by the opportunity to serve the community that has given me so much.
Sincerely, Judy Chirco
Airport
Just a reminder: there is a Special Election on March 4th, from 7 AM ‑ 8 PM. Only one issue is on the ballot, related to the phasing of the airport expansion and how it relates to the expansion of the freeway and the connection to public transportation. (A compromise had been reached with the voters of the city a few years back, but now additional construction is required in light of the 9/11 events, and the question is whether the compromise can be revised.)
Creek and Trail Update
A new trail serving Willow Glen is nearly completed and will be open soon (check theWGNA.net website for latest details). The trail is along the Guadalupe River, and goes from the northern edge of Willow Glen to downtown San Jose. The trail offers a unique streamside experience: it is an extremely “urban” environment: stark, and yet quite interesting. The trail and the banks are all concrete as the river snakes its way beneath the tangle of ramps and bridges connecting Fwy 87 to Interstate 280.
To reach the trail from Willow Glen, go east on Willow or Virginia across Fwy 87. Turn north on Palm St, and follow it to its end at Grant. Go left a short distance, and the trail takes off from the right. The trail connects to the Guadalupe River Trail at “Discovery Meadows” (the openspace by the Children’s Discovery Museum).
The Guadalupe River is generally being maintained in a natural state, but some compromises had to be made for flood control. The streamside concrete by the new trail is actually the intake weir for a flood bypass channel that had been constructed underneath Woz Way. This channel carries flood waters several blocks downstream, to about San Fernando. A second bypass channel will carry flood waters further downstream, from the confluence of the Guadalupe with the Los Gatos, down to about Coleman Avenue, at which point the river channel is wide enough to carry the flood waters. However, given the layout of the city, the one bypass channel is on the left side of the river, and the other is on the right, and so the cross-over point (at about Santa Clara St.) also needs to be reinforced – that is some of the construction one sees going on downtown.
Website
Larry Ames
WGNA marks its sixth year on the World Wide Web, the last four years at www.wgna.net. The site got over 8,000 hits last year, including from people interested in the latest happenings of the association, those wanting to check up the official WGNA position on a given issue, and those using the site as a “gateway” to a rich collection of community services (e.g., bus schedules, city offices, etc.) Two additional features have just been added: “meeting minutes” and “maps”.
Minutes:
WGNA has begun posting the official minutes of the monthly Board meetings. They are posted about a month or two after the meeting, once they have been corrected (if needed) and approved by the Board. The minutes join with the agenda (usually posted a couple days prior to each monthly meeting) to provide a means for you, our members, to keep in touch with your Association, even if you are unable to attend the monthly meetings.
Maps:
There have been maps on the WGNA.net website for some time, but the links to them have been scattered all over the site. Now there is a “tab” on the left side of the page that links directly to an index of maps. Some of the maps are by WGNA; others are on outside websites. Included are:
· Street maps
· Aerial photographs of Willow Glen
· “Boundaries” of the Association
· A historic map of Willow Glen from 1927, back when it was an independent city
· Hazards maps: floods and earthquake
· Airport flight patterns
· Trail maps and bike-route maps
· Public transportation maps
· and a link to the San Jose 2000 Census data.
The census data is especially interesting. One can see the patterns of the city: what parts of town have the highest density, what parts of town grew fastest, where is rental housing most affordable, where do people tend to stay settled in one place the longest, etc. What I found most interesting was how “representative” Willow Glen is: the houses may be older, but we are quite like the residents living in the rest of the city. Another interesting detail is that Willow Glen is not a monolithic entity: there is considerable variation across Willow Glen in some of the parameters.
Trivia
Larry Ames
Ever wonder what those plants with large, shiny, deeply lobed, dark green leaves are? They are coming up now, grow about 2-3 feet tall, and have 5' tall spikes of pale purple flowers in the fall. They can be seen at various places around Willow Glen and environs, including by the United Methodist Church (at Minnesota and Newport, where WGNA holds its Board meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, as well as its twice-annual General meetings). They are “bear’s breech”, or acanthus. Acanthus is also the name of the ornamentation at the top of a Corinthian (Greek) column, as that design is supposed to look like the plant’s leaves.
And
finally, …
