November 2002 editor: Larry Ames

(at Minnesota and Newport)

I want to thank all of you who made Founder's Day a success. It was a huge undertaking for WGNA to put on this event, but from the community response it was well worth it. First and foremost, I need to thank Helen Solinski, without her, the event simply would not have happened. I also need to thank our event planner Susan Cooney who put in many times the hours that she was paid for. Helen and Susan had a vision for the event that was well beyond anything that I could imagine, and together with you, produced a great family event. I also want to thank the entire WGNA Board; Chris Carris from the Willow Glen Roasting Company who planned the parade, Ken McKenzie who organized the Car Show, all of our generous sponsors, and especially you, the members of the WGNA, for volunteering and attending.

Please join WGNA at our General Meeting Wednesday, November 13th, at 7 p.m. to acknowledge the volunteers who worked on Founder's Day. We will also be having an informal discussion with Councilmember Yeager, a silent auction of Historic Willow Glen photos (11´ 14" limited-edition prints, previewed here in this newsletter), and have Founder's Day collectibles for sale. Consider the November meeting a "WGNA Mixer" and enjoy some great food and interesting conversation with your neighbors.

Over the next few months, WGNA will be discussing our role in next year's event, and I would appreciate hearing from our members as to whether you want WGNA to sponsor the event again. I should mention that planning an activity the size of Founder's Day does take time away from other Association activities.

As always, I encourage members to visit our web site at www.wgna.net to view positions we have taken, letters we have written, and to learn about developments in our neighborhood. I also encourage you to attend our regular meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Willow Glen United Methodist Church. If I can ever be of assistance, you can reach me by email at president@wgna.net, or during the day at 299-5010.

would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my fellow Board members and WGNA members for offering their valuable time and energy over the last year. Founders' Day was a total success! The kindness and generosity from our sponsors, community members and volunteers surpassed all of our expectations! WGNA was able to raise money in a very trying economy, proof that our community is strong.

A special thanks to Susan Cooney with Songman Entertainment for guiding us through the planning process. She is truly a professional and we are grateful to have found her. WGNA had a vision and with her help we obtained it. Live music, face painting, balloon artists and no one can forget the lines for the pony rides! The parade brought tears to my eyes, hats off to Chris Carris and his team for such an organized march!

Facing the thought of planning next year's celebration is presently overwhelming. We would appreciate your thoughts and ideas for the future of Founder's Day. Please email me at volunteers@wgna.net.

Thanks!

get by easy this time: every article in this edition was written by another WGNA Board Member, by an elected official, or else by someone else and then forwarded by a Board Member. If you miss my writing, you'll just have to subscribe to the eList, as I occasionally join in the discussions and post comments there. (To join the eList - it's free - just send an email to admin@wgna.net with the words "join eList" in the subject line.)

Also, check out our website (www.wgna.net). Now, in addition to upcoming events, bylaws, position papers, and links to various other sites of interest, we now are also posting the minutes of our monthly Board meetings. If you can't join us for the second Wednesday of every month (7 PM at the Willow Glen United Methodist Church), at least you can see what we've been up to.

I'm pleased to give an update on the Lincoln Avenue Main Street Study. Over the past year, many residents and business owners have been involved in studying issues related to Lincoln Avenue.

The study is ongoing, but important work already has taken place. The following is list of some of the actions that have recently been accomplished.

The City of San Jose installed 50 new trashcans along Lincoln Ave. This is 20 more than had existed previously. Along with the other trashcans owned by local businesses, this should help solve the longstanding trash problems.

Additional garbage pick-up has begun for the trashcans on Lincoln Avenue, with Saturdays now added to the regularly scheduled weekday pick-up.

Soon the sidewalks on Lincoln Avenue will receive regular power washing. A new City program is bringing power washing, once limited to downtown sidewalks, to business districts throughout the City.

The pedestrian median signs in the crosswalks have received great reviews. Lincoln Avenue is one of the first streets in San Jose to get these new devices.

New floodlights will be installed to illuminate the crosswalks at night to help motorist see pedestrians crossing Lincoln. They will be located inside the pedestrian archways.

City staff is working to bring "uplighted" crosswalks to Lincoln Avenue. Like the new pedestrian signs, they are new to San Jose. When a pedestrian enters the crosswalk, lights embedded in the street begin to flash.

The City is working with property owners on Lincoln Avenue to address parking. The goal is to identify ways to make more parking available for visitors to the area, as well as to make sure that the parking that is available is easier to find.

City staff has provided business and property owners on Lincoln Avenue assistance in dealing with pigeons. Feedback has been very positive. The Business Association is forming a committee to work on the problem.

The City has responded to concerns about an unidentified odor on Lincoln Avenue north of Minnesota by identifying and removing blockages in the sewer lines. Work is still underway but should be completed in November.

Jeff Eichenfield of Eichenfield Associates has been providing assistance to the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association under a contract with the Redevelopment Agency. Jeff has been working with the Association since late summer and will continue providing assistance to the Association for the next nine months.

A survey of businesses on Lincoln Avenue will soon take place. The survey will address the needs of the businesses and to identify how the Business Association and the City can best assist Willow Glen businesses.

City staff has hired a retail business consultant, Bay Area Economics, to work with members of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association to assist with new business recruitment.

The City's new Director of the Office of Economic Development, Paul Krutko, was taken on walking tour of Lincoln Avenue to familiarize him with the area. The Office of Economic Development will be taking a more active role in business development in Willow Glen than it has previously.

Another community meeting will be held early next year to provide an update on the Lincoln Avenue Main Street study and to receive community input.

I look forward to continuing our work with residents and businesses in making Lincoln Avenue a top-notch destination point. Please contact me at 277-5166 or ken.yeager@ci.sj.ca.us to give me your suggestions.

As your County Supervisor I want to inform you of an opportunity to participate in government, as a member of the Voting Advisory Committee. One of the critical functions of the county is to conduct the elections in which we choose who will represent us in the city, county, state and federal governments.

With the election just behind us, many of you probably have ideas about how it might have been smoother or easier for voters and the county wants your help in preparing for elections of the future.

The Voting Rights Advisory Committee of 15 members was established to advise the Registrar of Voters on all aspects of the voting process including registration, outreach, training of poll workers, and election day procedures. The committee welcomes the public at their monthly meetings.

Goals of the committee are to 1) actively promote voter registration, education and outreach 2) ensure all eligible citizens may effectively and fully participate in the election process and 3) ensure that no eligible registered voter will ever be denied the right to vote.

At the present time there are several openings on the committee and interested community members can obtain an application from the Registrar of Voter's website at www.sccvote.org/vrac.htm or by calling my office at 408-299-5040. The new touchscreen voting should make this a particularly interesting time to serve on this committee.

Several other County Boards and Commissions have openings and others expect openings in the months ahead. I am looking for applicants for the Assessment Appeals Board, the Code Enforcement Board, the National Guard and Veterans Affairs Commission and the Sister County Commissions for Florence, Italy and Region of Moscow. For information on the work of these groups or other Boards and Commissions or to obtain an application please contact the Clerk of the Board at 408-299-5001 or Lee Sturtevant of my staff at 299-5049.

I am pleased that under redistricting I represent a portion of Willow Glen and I look forward to hearing your concerns and providing you with information about the many programs which are the responsibility of the county. I hope you will also share your comments and concerns about county programs such as our public health system, public safety and justice, parks and recreation facilities and services for children. You may call 299-5040, e-mail me at james.beall@bos.co.scl.ca.gov or write to me at 70 W. Hedding, 10th Fl, East Wing, San Jose, CA 95110. I look forward to hearing from you.

Are you frustrated with the deluge of coupons, catalogs, prize offers, and pre-approved credit card applications in your mailbox? What a waste of time and paper!

The amount of time the average American spends opening junk mail over the course of his or her life is 8 months, according to the Consumer Research Institute.

Bulk mail destroys 62 million trees a year in the United States, which translates to a tree and a half per American family.

Anytime you buy a car, purchase merchandise from a catalog, subscribe to a magazine or dial a toll-free number, your name is sold to mail order companies.

A group of local organizations teamed up to help you reduce your amount of unsolicited mail. The County of Santa Clara Integrated Waste Management Program, San Jose State University's Recycling Hotline, and local cities developed a Junk Mail Reduction Kit. This kit provides six simple ways to reduce junk mail and help you take control of your mailbox.

TIPS TO REDUCE JUNK MAIL:

1. Fill out and mail the postcards provided in the kit.

2. Call the following numbers to request your name be taken off their list:

• Credit Card Offers- Equifax/Trans Union/Novus/Experian 1-888-567-8688.
• Sweepstakes - Publisher's Clearinghouse 1-800-645-9242.
• Shopping Flyers - Advo 1-510-489-6577 AND PennySaver/ Potpourri 1-800-479-4795.

3. Call the number on the catalog and tell the representative you want to be taken off its list.

4. When you buy from a catalog over the phone or online, make sure to let the company know: "DO NOT SELL MY NAME."

5. Write on the bottom of checks and mail orders: "DO NOT SELL MY NAME."

6. Don't use Change of Address cards supplied by the Post Office. Instead, send out your own postcards.

To request the Junk Mail Kit, call the recycling hotline at 1-800-533-8414 or visit www.ReduceWaste.org to download the kit.

[Note: WGNA does not sell, share, lend, or in any other manner distribute your name or other information. We will, on occasion, mail information at the request of others (e.g., City or County) to our members that have expressed a special interest in receiving such information, such as a flyer announcing a public meeting on bike routes, parks, or the like. -- Ed.]

The Grand Opening of the new Willow Glen Longs store is scheduled for Thursday, November 14, 2002. I am positive that our store manager, Bob Petrequin, will help make the Longs store a valued member of the Willow Glen community.

I would like to take a moment to mention and thank some of those in the neighborhood who have worked with us on this project. I apologize in advance for anyone I may inadvertently not mention. The members of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, the Willow Glen Business Association and the City Planning Department all spent many hours working with our Design Department and PSM Architects. I believe the final result is well worth all of their efforts. The design elements of the final building design works well with the surrounding neighborhood. The awnings, canopies and the "second story" windows give the building help give the building softer "scale" that is in keeping with the rest of the area.

I would be remiss if I did not thank our neighbors for their patience and understanding during the months of construction. It was a long construction phase and there were a few "bumps in the road", which they handled with grace and we were able to resolve them. I especially want to thank Helen Solinski for acting as a constant contact source between the neighbors and Longs. It was a pleasure working with her throughout the project and she is to be commended for helping it go as smooth as it did.

he official Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) for the Airport Master Plan, analyzing the impacts of the Automated People Mover (APM) project and updating the existing Master Plan Environmental Impact Report noise analysis is now available for review at:

• San Jose Martin Luther King Main Library (180 W. San Carlos St.)
• Rosegarden Branch Library (1580 Naglee Ave.)
• Planning Division Office (City Hall, 801 N. First St., 4th Floor)
• Airport Administrative Offices (1732 N. First St., 6th Floor)

The deadline for public comments on the Draft SEIR is 11/22/02. After that, the SEIR is updated and sent to the City Planning Commission for a certification hearing in January 2003. Once a Final SEIR is certified, the Airport will agendize Council action on a Minor Amendment to the Airport Master Plan to add the APM project.

Call Janis Moore of the Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement at 408-277-4756 with questions on the SEIR. Questions about the APM project can be referred to the Airport Neighborhood Services Group at 408-501-0979 or communityinput@sjc.org .

There are an estimated 71,000 children in Santa Clara County who do not have health insurance. Without health insurance, most families can not afford to take their children to the doctor and consequently many medical conditions go undiagnosed and untreated. Children who see a doctor regularly do better in school and are less likely to expose others to illnesses. They are also less likely to have undiagnosed vision or hearing problems that hinder learning and when diagnosis is early, treatment is more effective and less expensive.

Santa Clara County is the first county in the nation to commit to providing full medical, dental and vision health coverage for ALL of its uninsured children.

Through a groundbreaking comprehensive health insurance package and aggressive outreach program called the Children's Health Initiative, more than 40,000 of those uninsured children have applied for coverage since its inception on January 2, 2001.

Three plans make up the Children's Health Initiative, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and the innovative, first-in-the nation health insurance program called Healthy Kids. Healthy Kids reaches out to all uninsured children in Santa Clara County who do not qualify for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families and whose families earn up to 300% of the federal poverty level. For example, a family of four can earn up to $54,300 per year and still qualify for Healthy Kids.

Working Partnerships USA and PACT (People Acting in Community Together) convinced the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the City of San Jose to commit tobacco litigation settlement money to fund Healthy Kids. Other support comes from cigarette taxes. Together, these sources provide half of the funds necessary to support this program each year. Additional funding is being sought from foundations, corporations and individuals.

You can make a difference in the health of our community!

In a recent San Jose Mercury News editorial, Publisher Joe Natoli wrote:

"Every child in Santa Clara County deserves adequate health care. Along with high-quality parenting, there's nothing more central to a child's ability to learn and become a good citizen. And if it can't be done here, in this valley of wealth and innovation, where and when can it be done?"

It's easy to donate to Healthy Kids. Just log on to www.healthykidsfund.org/donations/don_001.htm or call 408-874-1999 to make a tax-deductible donation.

If you know someone who may qualify for one of the Children's Health Initiative's three low-cost or free health insurance plans, please call toll-free 1-888-244-5222. Telephone assistance available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

The Silicon Valley Marathon was held last Sunday, October 27. For the first time ever, its course took it through the heart of Willow Glen...starting at the Tech Museum and heading south on Bird, across Willow Glen Way to Lincoln, back to Willow St. and then on to the Los Gatos Creek trail, with runners returning by the same route. It was a much nicer route than in previous years, which one runner said was like running through 26 miles of parking lot.

For residents and casual strollers, it was a thrill to watch as thousands of runners ran quietly by. Kids and adults cheered, clapped, and some even banged pots rallying the runners on. Our neighbors' kids on Willow Glen Way set up a free Gatorade stand for the runners. The runners were grateful for the support, waving and even saying thank you with what little energy they had remaining after so many miles. Ken Yeager was one of those who ran by as part of the marathon relay. The runners were a great inspiration to us that morning to get out and enjoy another beautiful day in Willow Glen. Let's hope that next year's route again takes it through the neighborhood.

It's that time of year again, parties, food and family! Here is a wonderful little recipe for your holiday spread. Enjoy!

2 - 8oz packages of cream cheese (room temp)

3 cans cocktail shrimp

2 Tbsp horseradish sauce

2 Tbsp chopped onion

2 bottles cocktail sauce

Drain the shrimp and mash with fork until it becomes a fine, pink, crumbled mess. Combine with other ingredients (except the cocktail sauce) and shape into a ball, then chill. When ready to serve, pour cocktail sauce over the ball. Serve with crackers.

The Willow Glen Business & Professional Assoc. is putting together a holiday program for downtown WG. They are looking for carolers to roam the streets on Sundays and Thursdays in December. The shifts are 2-hour slots, 4 teams on the Ave at a time, with 60 shifts to fill. If you're interested, contact Cara Finn at carajane@mindspring.com or call 829-8339.

A Tree Removal Permit is required for the removal of any tree on private property which has a trunk circumference (measured two feet above grade) of 56 inches or greater. There is no fee for this permit; however, a site plan, photographs and envelopes addressed to adjacent neighbors are required. In addition to a tree removal permit, removal of trees of any size from a site zoned Planned Development, or zoned anything other than Single Family Residence requires a Permit Adjustment. Both a Tree Removal Permit and a Permit Adjustment are necessary for trees 56 inches in circumference or more. Fine amount for tree removal without a permit is $500.00 per tree. Not severe enough (my opinion) for the life of a mature tree. Applications are available by fax (408) 293-5097.

If you've recently renewed, but it is not reflected in the expiration date on the mailing label, don't worry, it's probably "in process". If the expire date indicates that you're past due and you haven't renewed yet, why not do it now? Your membership dues (and donations - thanks!) allow us to undertake activities like community forums and the Founders' Day Festival, as well as pay for printing and mailing newsletters and maintaining the website (www.wgna.net) and the electronic "neighborhood back fence" (the eList). If your dues are up-to-date, Thank You! Please feel free to tear off this half of the form and give it to a friend or neighbor!

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