January, 2000 editor: Larry Ames

The California Primary is early this year, on Tuesday, March 7th. Frank Fiscalini, Councilmember for San Jose's District 6 (including the northern half of Willow Glen) is completing his second and final term. Come hear the six candidates who are running for the resulting vacancy, at WGNA's

v Candidate Forum u

at the Willow Glen United Methodist Church

on Minnesota at Newport.

Come ask questions of the candidates. Enjoy some snacks, and visit with your neighbors!

Other candidates and issues are also before the voters this cycle, and they have been invited to be available to discuss issues and answer questions. It promises to be an evening filled with good political colloquy.

Report on Long's Drugs

The WGNA board has yet to take an official position on the 12,000 to 15,000 square foot Long's building proposed for the old American Savings site. WGNA is currently waiting the results of a traffic study. In trying to understand the Long's proposal, we have been present at three community meetings with Willow Glen residents. WGNA has hosted two of the meetings and the third was hosted by Long's. Unfortunately, although three meetings have been held, Long's representatives have yet to provide answers to the many important concerns raised by the Brace/ Iris neighborhood.

At the meetings, residents have commented on the shopping center style architecture, not in keeping with Lincoln Avenue. In response Long's merely changed its canopies from metal to canvas. Some businesses worry that Long's will undersell the small businesses on the street causing those businesses to fold. In response, Long's indicated that it's just business. Others worry that, by selling hard liquor, beer and wine until 11 p.m., the Long's parking lot and sidewalk will become a hangout for drinkers. In response, Long's stated they didn't believe that would happen.

The number one concern mentioned by residents has been that a Long's store at this location will generate significant increase in traffic, parking and pedestrian problems for the Brace / Iris neighborhood. In response to this concern, Long's indicated that they will install a "no left turn" sign at their driveway. When asked how they would enforce the sign, they had no solution.

The traffic and parking problems Long's will cause are serious and will substantially decrease the quality of life for the nearby neighborhood. All other Long's are located at shopping centers with plenty of parking and directly on main streets. Brace Avenue is a narrow, substandard street that cannot carry the traffic that Long's will create. Long's is a mass marketer that advertises on radio, TV and newspaper. Shoppers will not only come from a block around, but from a regional area.

Once traffic on tiny Brace Street backs up at Lincoln, Long's shoppers will turn into the neighborhood down Coolidge and Newport or will approach from this direction. Taking out street parking is not a solution since it will cause shoppers to park in the neighborhood. A signal light at Lincoln Avenue is not a solution since it will cause traffic to snarl further on Brace and Lincoln. In my view, placing a Long's at this location is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The convenience of a Long's at this site is completely overshadowed by the problems it will cause. In addition, the services and products offered by Long's are already available within a couple of miles or closer at other stores (Walgreens, Safeway, Albertson's, etc.).

The prior use at this site was a bank whose hours were basically 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. This office type use worked well with the neighborhood and the business area. A similar office type use where employees arrive in the morning and leave in the afternoon would be a better fit for the Brace / Iris neighborhood than autos that leave every 15 minutes from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. While not a part of a city plan, another idea for the building that has been circulated is as a site for a new Willow Glen Library. Lastly, the Almaden Road / Curtner Avenue shopping center could be a much better site for major big box retail store like Long's and not tiny Brace Avenue.

~JMG

For your information: There are a number of bond acts on the ballot this spring, including:

Proposition 12: a $2.1 billion bond for parks throughout California. Roughly $30 million is allocated to go to the South Bay (county parks, city parks, Mid Pen. open space, etc.), phased over the next 5 - 10 years. Some of the money is for specific projects (e.g., the Guadalupe Creek Trail and the Bay Area Ridge Trail), while other portions are block-grants. Additional money is available for grants to agencies that propose the most worthy projects. The bonds are paid for from the General Funds, and do not affect the tax rate.

Proposition 13: a nearly $2 billion "Safe Drinking Water Bond Act". It includes funds for urban stream restoration projects and for outdoor recreation along urban streams and river parkways.

Also to be voted on: There are a number of unincorporated county pockets in Willow Glen. The street lights in these areas are financed through a "benefit assessment district", which is up for reapproval by the affected voters. The fee varies according to the benefit received (i.e., the number of street lights on the block), but averages about $20/year per household. This election is not on the March ballot - instead, ballots will be mailed to the affected households. If you live in a county pocket and do not receive your ballot by May 1st, then please call Bob VanEtten at 408/573-2465. If the lights are turned off because a majority of the voters in those areas did not vote for the assessment, then you can privately fund individual lights: call Bob for details.

f you are not registered at least a month prior to the election, you can't vote. You can get registration forms from a variety of locations (post-office, library, fire stations, etc.). You can even go to the internet (for example, go to www.wgna.net, then click on links, and select "the League of Women Voters" site), down-load a form to print, complete it, and mail it in.

Speaking of elections...

WGNA is again looking for a few good people who are willing to serve at least a one-year term on the Board of Directors. The pay's not great (zippo), but the rewards are many (helping to build a community). Due to term-limits and personal lives, there will be a number of open seats this year that need filling. Our by-laws require that officers of the Association (President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) must be members for one year prior to the May election date. Four directors are also elected (with another 2 - 4 members appointed by the incoming President), and there are no minimum time requirements on their memberships.

As per the annual procedure, a five-member nominating committee (elected the previous year and this year chaired by Margaret Hardy) receives short written paragraphs from the membership who are interested in serving on the Board of Directors. The committee also actively recruits persons they think might be interested in serving. They then present a slate of recommended officers and directors to the membership for consideration. All qualified candidates who have submitted their names to the committee will have their names included on the ballot. The ballots will be mailed to the membership in a newsletter several weeks before the May General Meeting. Members then vote by mail or in person at the May General Meeting, and the ballots are tallied a week later and the results announced via the net, the media, and in the next newsletter.

If you would like to be considered for a position, please submit a short paragraph about yourself to WGNA by March 7th, including any qualities, interests or community involvement that you think are pertinent. Remember to include your phone number so that you can be contacted. Members can also help the Association by suggesting names of other members who, with a little encouragement, might decide to volunteer their name for consideration. To submit a name, or if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us by mail (Nominating Committee, WGNA, P.O.Box 7706, San Jose CA 95150-7706), by phone (408/294-WGNA) or on the internet (at www.wgna.net), and we will get back to you pronto.

The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, together with the Willowbrook Townhomes on Stokes Ave., have "adopted" the new park that we helped create along the Los Gatos Creek Trail, between Meridian Ave. and Blackford School. We will host an occasional "clean-up" of the park, as needed, for which we will be recognized with a trail-side sign. So, as you enjoy the park, please feel free to pick up the stray soda bottle or wind-blown newspaper and put it in the trashcan. Drop us a line if you spend any time on the task, and we'll report the efforts. If/when an organized cleanup is needed, we'll contact those members who have volunteered to help: contact us (either by phone or through the website) and we'll include you on the volunteer list. Thanks!

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