editor: Larry Ames
Come join us at 7 PM at the Willow Glen United Methodist Church, at Minnesota and Newport, for an evening with the Mercury News' "Mr. Road Show", Gary Richards. In addition, related organizations (e.g., Valley Transit) will have representatives at booths, available to answer your questions.
The positive response to our last newsletter has made this newsletter, just one month later, a reality. As you read through the October edition, you will see how the WGNA Board has stepped forward in their willingness to share with you the projects and issues they have been working on over the past few months. Thanks goes to our Board and to several other members of the Association for pulling together a communication which we hope will be both informative and interesting. One column which I am excited about is our new section on local gardening. Member Nancy Garrision, the Urban Gardner/Master Gardner Program Coordinator for the University of California Cooperative Extension, will be encouraging our green thumbs by writing specifically about horticulture in Willow Glen.
As you will read inside this edition, WGNA's Fall General Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 5th. We are pleased to have Gary Richards, the Mercury News' Mr. Road Show, as our guest. His reputation as an engaging, humorous speaker is almost as well known as the traffic problems he addresses each week! We will also be updating you on current WGNA projects and we plan to leave time for a little munching and mingling. Please join us. It is important for the Board and for WGNA members to identify real people with the names they see in print. It is important for you to know the Board that represents you and for us, in turn, to meet and communicate with the individuals that make up the Association. Mark your calendar now for Wednesday, November 5th, 7:00 PM, at the United Methodist Church. If you RSVP to the WGNA message machine (294-WGNA) by November 1st, we can plan to have enough snacks on hand. Hope to see you on Nov. 5th!
WGNA continues to receive messages from residents relating to airplane noise. In mid September, I attended a meeting with WGNA member Charles Luckhardt, Director of Aviation, Ralph Tonseth, and Noise Abatement Manager, Gary Stowell. For the past two years, Charles has been active in efforts to communicate with San Jose Airport officials in order to lessen the noise impact of airplanes over Willow Glen. Councilmember Fiscalini's aid, Edith Rimerez, set up the meeting so that adjustments to the recommended flight path could be explained to us. Three basic changes were made to the Fairgrounds Visual Approach this May, in response to long-time requests made by WGNA representatives and others for noise abatement measures. Ralph Tonseth explained to us that the FAA will not make changes in flight paths that reduce noise in one populated area while increasing it in another. Therefore, the modifications needed to show that the overall numbers affected by noise would be reduced. The changes made were:
Radial 176 degrees was changed to 170 degrees (the southern approach should be more south-eastern);
The Base Leg recommended altitude was raised from 2,000 feet to 2,500 feet (fly higher); and
Routes 85 and 87 were added to the chart (so the pilots can more easily follow the correct flight plan).
To those of us on the ground, the impacts are as follows: Pilots approaching from the north and west are directed by the Bay Radar Control Center in Oakland to fly one mile further south towards Lexington Reservoir before turning east. This places airliners further south over a less populated area as they line up for the final approach over the County Fairgrounds. The second change, which addresses altitude, keeps the planes higher over a number of neighborhoods until they reach their line-up with the airport, for less noise on the ground. And finally, by adding Routes 85 and 87 to the maps used by both the control center and the pilots, they are given additional visual guides and are more likely to stay on the prescribed coarse. Planes approaching from the south are to stay east of the Route 85/87 junction.
No one expects these adjustments to eliminate airplane noise over Willow Glen but they do show an effort on the part of airport staff to address the impact that their operation has on residents. Mr. Tonseth gave credit to Gary Stowell for pursuing these matters with the FAA. It is important to note that we are now going into the cooler months when, because of weather/wind factors, planes may take off towards the south instead of the north. This will cause more noise, as will certain inversion factors created by clouds. Please understand that occasionally planes will be directed to deviate from the recommended flight path for traffic and/or safety reasons.
Charles and I were told that the altitude of identified noisy aircraft is now being checked and that the airport staff will report to the chief pilots, representing the various airlines, those planes which are in violation of the recommended flight approach. Therefore, If you phone the Airport Noise Report Line (998-0707), be sure to record the time and your location (e.g., on Hicks, just south of Pine). The added information may have more of a chance of effecting change.
Trees are good. They cool our neighborhood, clean our air, beautify our streets and increase our property values. Willow Glen is known for its canopies of camphors and sycamores, its palette of crape myrtles and liquidambars. Yet, as disease and chain saws have taken their toll, barren spots along our streets and parkways have become all too visible. If future generations are to experience the urban forest we enjoy today, we need to work towards maintaining and nurturing our neighborhood trees. This is where Our City Forest can help. This organization is comprised of professionals who assist in the planting, staking and fertilizing of trees. Understanding the variables that go into choosing a city tree, they can also help in the selection process. Our City Forest has received a grant from the State which provides for 2,000 trees to be planted on public lands (including the strip between curb and sidewalk). They are to be planted within a three mile radius of Highway 87, which includes most of Willow Glen.
How to reach us: Contact us by phone: 408/294-WGNA (294-9462), write to us at WGNA, PO 7706, San Jose CA 95150-7706, or by the World Wide Web at http://www.wgna.net
WGNA hopes to join Our City Forest in sponsoring a Willow Glen Tree Planting Project this fall. Already, there are quite a few Willow Glen residents who have applied for a tree from the grant program. If you are interested, call Our City Forest at 99-TREES (408/998-7337) to request an application form. Neighbors might join together and select from a choice of species of tree for their street, or an individual might plant a tree or two to frame their home. Whatever the choice, we ask that forms be sent in as soon as possible so that tree planting dates can be set. Fall is the perfect time to put trees in the ground, and we should take advantage of the free "El Niņo" watering that is predicted!
If you have adequate trees on your property but would like to join in the fun of bettering Willow Glen, we invite you to help plant. Those who have checked the "tree planting" interest box on their membership form, and those who contact us by phone or e-mail, will be sent flyers with more information and pertinent dates. We will also keep the Resident informed. A tree planting project fits right into our association goals of preserving and enhancing our neighborhood, and builds community as well. Come join us!
We had a pretty good turn-out for the walking tours, especially considering the small amount of time available for people to sign up. Evelyn Ucovich, Fred Gardner and Paulette Ornellas each conducted a tour of about 20-30 people. We did a loop, going from Minnesota and Lincoln west to Newport, south on Newport, left on Nevada, and back up to Lincoln. It was certainly interesting to see all the new remodels and a few new homes on old sites. It made an interesting and informative tour.
If anyone has a good idea for a walking tour for next year's Founders Day, we'd like to hear from you. You can reach us by phone at 408/294-WGNA, or through our web site at http://www.wgna.net.
[ed. note: we on the WGNA Board recognize the volunteers for a job well done. Thank you!]
A major concern expressed when the Challenger School was proposed was the traffic at the nearby Meridian/Foxworthy intersection. Now that it is open, the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association was told that the morning traffic there was indeed a problem. Kris Cunningham and Dick Schwartz went to the location on the morning of September 17, 1997 from 8 to 9 a.m. and did not observe any major difficulty. At about 8:45 a.m. the left turn traffic heading north did have about 12 vehicles backed up at a time, but the traffic signal north/south changed frequently and it appeared that all of the 12 waiting cars were able to make the turn. On the school site, the traffic was well controlled by a security officer, teachers and administrators. Parents dropping off the children adhered strictly to the Challenger School traffic flow guidelines. The WGNA visitors to the site did not observe any of the departing vehicles go onto neighborhood streets. The traffic committee will check on the area again when children are both dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon, but our preliminary assessment is that Challenger has not caused a problem.
WGNA was invited to review the designs for the upgrading of the Safeway on Hamilton near Meridian. Some of our initial concerns were:
impact on the traffic flow on Hamilton and Meridian;
pedestrian access from the surrounding communities and the adjacent business area;
the configuration of the parking lot; and
landscaping and setbacks.
We have had several meetings with representatives from Safeway, and have kept in contact with the Planning Dept., and we feel that the design is evolving satisfactorily.
The Willow Glen Billiards & Brew is applying to amend their Conditional Use Permit to extend their hours of operation to 2 AM (like the nearby Sharky's and Plaza Inn), seven nights a week. WGNA Boardmembers have canvassed the adjacent Blewett Ave. for comments, and have found that most neighbors had only positive impressions of Billiards & Brew. However, several homeowners directly behind the establishment had concerns about noise impact. We are in the process of setting up a meeting between these individuals and the management to address and mitigate the noise issue.
New plans have surfaces for a development on Radio Ave., creating an extension of Lincoln Ct. WGNA will follow the plans, and act as warranted.
At our General Membership Meeting last fall, we had a forum on the issues that were going to be on the November 1996 Ballot. One of those items was Measure C, asking voters to amend the county Charter to allow for vacancies on the Board of Supervisors to be filled by election, as opposed to appointment. The measure overwhelmingly passed, and Don Gage was elected to fill a recent vacancy on the Board.
Other issues debated at the annual meeting were Measures A & B. Measure A was an advisory measure allowing voters to voice their support for a list of transportation projects and improvements; Measure B was a 1/2 cent sales tax. Both measures passed, but Measure B has been challenged in the courts, suggesting it is a "special tax" requiring a 2/3 vote, as opposed to a "general tax" requiring only a majority vote. Measure B was upheld by the trial court, but was appealed to the California Court of Appeal. It is expected that a decision form the Appeals Court will come down early in 1998. In the meantime, the sales tax is being collected and placed in an escrow account. The bad news is that needed transportation projects and road improvements are on hold awaiting the outcome of a legal appeal. On the upside, because the expenditures are on hold while the tax is being collected, funds are accumulating so that projects can begin as soon as the Court makes its decision. Also, because the economy is booming, more money has been raised than estimated so that more projects will be done than originally identified. Stay tuned as the case works its way through the system.
In response to the Help Needed Column in the September WGNA Newsletter, I offered to write a gardening column. My name is Nancy Garrison and I've lived and gardened in Willow Glen for 18 years. Since 1980 I've been a Horticulture Advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension Santa Clara County. You may be familiar with our 17 acre research station on Winchester Blvd. at Forest Ave., which has been there for 50 years. I and other U.C. staff from throughout the Bay Area (including from the Davis and Berkeley UC campuses), conduct horticultural and agricultural research there and hold annual field days for landscape professionals and occasionally for home gardeners.
In 1982, I organized the Master Gardener Volunteer Program, and have trained nearly 600 community volunteers. The initial training consists of 60-plus hours of intensive home gardening course-work, and continues year round with advanced or specialized classes each month. You might like to call our gardening hotline (at 408/299-2638 or 299-2639), which is staffed from 9:00 AM - 12:00 noon Monday through Friday by Master Gardener volunteers. We specialize in plant problem diagnosis.
One topic which I would like to cover in this column is year round fruit gardening, since we can do it so well here in Willow Glen with our deep fertile soils and amenable climate. We can probably grow the greatest range of tropical to temperate zone fruits of anywhere on the planet. I would like to encourage anyone who appreciates vine-ripened, superior quality fruit to grow their own, since we have such ideal growing conditions, and also some of Willow Glen's lots are large.
Just to provide some background on my own endeavors, I grow close to 30 different varieties of fruit, including such treats as strawberry and pineapple guavas, 6 varieties of apples, two mouth watering plumcots, raspberries, 6 varieties of blueberries, Persian mulberry (which are bigger and tastier than bosenberries), white nectarine, flat white peaches, Pinkerton avocado, and 6 different citrus for months of fresh juice and fruit smoothies (to which I add my strawberries and peaches). The list goes on and on, and I'll highlight a few different fruit in each issue, emphasizing the best varieties for our area, environmentally sensitive pest management, and seasonally timed cultural techniques.
If you have a gardening interest that you would enjoy hearing about, please leave me a message at 294-WGNA as a possible topic for a future column.
As we prepare to launch a membership drive, we want to pull together a Membership Team that will give our membership the attention it deserves. Are you an organized, detail-oriented person with basic database skills? Are you looking to become more involved with your community, and also gain some computer experience? If so, we would certainly like to talk with you! We can teach you our present system of paying dues and recording membership information, or will gladly consider your suggestions on how to make life easier and more efficient. Call Kris at 294-WGNA and she will return your call promptly!
President Kris Cunningham
1st Vice President Tiralisa Kaplow
2nd Vice President Pat Whiteside
Secretary Lynn Repetsky
Treasurer Joan Doss
Elected board members: Larry Ames, John Gibbs, Paulette Ornellas, and Dick Schwartz.
Appointed Board Members: J. Michael Gonzales and Donna Jones.
As indicated in the Sept. edition, we want to introduce our Board to you, so that you will come to know the WGNA representatives. The following Boardmembers describe themselves in their own words. Additional autobiographies will be included in upcoming issues.
Donna J. Jones, an appointed member of the Board, has been a Willow Glen/Palm Haven resident for over 13 years. "Almost a native", she has lived in San Jose since second grade and is a graduate of Camden High School, San Jose State University (business/accounting) and Santa Clara University Law School. She currently is a corporate counsel at Adobe Systems Inc. in downtown San Jose.
She is an avid walker, biker and gardener who enjoys the tree lined streets of Willow Glen and the Los Gatos creek trail. She has worked as a volunteer for Junior Achievement with sixth graders at Willow Glen Education Park and at the Founder's Day Festival. As one of the newest Board Members, her goal is to increase membership of WGNA so that the group has an even stronger mandate when representing the neighborhood on various community issues. She also sees this position as a opportunity to reinforce the sense of community that currently exists in Willow Glen and makes it a special place to live.
I was born in Washington DC and raised in suburban Virginia. The family moved to Tucson AZ, where I went through high school and college. After getting my Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin (Madison), I sent all my resumes to California-I'd had enough of the cold!-and my wife and I moved to San Jose in 1979. Our first real estate agent out here showed us the town, and then tried to sell us houses out in the (boring) suburbs, so we found another agent who would sell us a home in Willow Glen. We've been at the corner of Willow and Glenn ever since, raising three sons (two are now teenagers!).
Having been in other parts of the country, I can recognize their virtues and faults. The Washington area has lovely park chains and museums; but they don't require developers to build roads to the sprawling suburbs, and so they have horrendous traffic problems. Tucson is laid out as a continuous strip malls along evenly spaced roads-the town has little sense of community; but it does have a well-defined greenbelt (thanks to a nearby National Forest and the Saguaro National Monument). Madison is cold, but it is a lovely town, with a large campus community and an active pedestrian mall. Madison also has a very thorough network of bike paths and lanes, and it is there that I developed my taste for recreational and commute bicycling.
When we moved to San Jose, I tried to get a bike route map for this area: with the perfect topography and climate, I figured bike routes would be everywhere. Finding that they were just in the planning stages, I started lobbying for their completion, and thus became involved with the Los Gatos Creek Trail, then also the Coyote Creek Trail, the Bay Trail, and Ridge Trail. Two years ago I was appointed to the County Parks & Rec. Commission: now I can lobby more effectively!
Other hobbies: given that we bought a house built in 1925, the repair and enhancement of old homes become one, along with the related fields of historic preservation and community enhancement. The Los Gatos bike path lead to WGNA's creek restoration project, which folded into my environmental interests. I play lunch-time volleyball, like stained glass, and do silk screening. And I like computers, which ties into the WGNA web site (http://www.wgna.net). In my spare time, I do systems analysis, optics, and computer algorithms for Lockheed-Martin in Palo Alto.
I was born in Willow Glen in 1961 and attended Willow Glen Elementary, Edwin Markham Jr. High, and graduated from Willow Glen High School in 1979. I attended San Jose State University graduating with a B.A. in Political Science and with a Masters in Public Administration. I also have a Law Degree from Willamette University in Oregon. I was a long time Aide and Chief of Staff for Santa Clara County Supervisor Dianne McKenna, and was recently selected as Chief of Staff to County Supervisor Don Gage. In addition to being an elected Board Member of the Neighborhood Association, I am the secretary of the Willow Glen Beautification Project, and on the Board of Directors of St. Elizabeth's Day Home.
When I decided to purchase a home, the location was easy, I bought one on Minnesota Ave., a block from where I was raised. I love Willow Glen because of its sense of community. I enjoy the feeling of living in a small town in the middle of a big city. From my house I can walk east to the Tamien Light Rail/CalTrain Station or west to downtown Willow Glen. The only downside to living in Willow Glen in trying to decide what to have for dinner - the Greek Burger at Bill's Cafe, the Rav's at LaVilla, the Turkey Cobb Sandwich at Cafe Primavera, or..... I have seen a lot of changes in Willow Glen since 1961, and although change can be frightening at times, it is also how a community grows and becomes stronger.
I've been a resident of Willow Glen for 34 years. Moving here as a young bride (from Santa Clara!) I hoped to always live here and so far so good... And we don't intend to move away when retirement comes around. This is a most exceptional place to live.
Maybe living here in Willow Glen is what nurtured my passion for local history, the love old buildings and antiques. Certainly working for Lockheed for 28 years did nothing to cultivate that interest, so I joined some preservation groups. I became more and more preservation minded through the years and have been active in the Victorian Preservation Association for 22 years. I was treasurer for 13 years and have been a board member for the last 4 years. Also a member of the National Historic Trust, Preservation Action Council of San Jose, and the San Jose Historical Museum where I was a docent for 3 years. I am involved now with the Andrew P. Hill house restoration. Our Victorian Preservation Association was responsible for saving and moving the house to the SJHM.
Since being laid off in '93, I have been happy to have time to myself to do the thing I like: restoring antique frames and finishes, gold leafing, cross-stitch, crochet, beadwork, French ribbon embroidery, my club work, and just enjoying my home and yard.
I moved to Willow Glen in 1990 because it reminded me of the Chicago neighborhoods where I had been raised. The feeling of community, variety of housing and accessibility to public transportation were all important considerations. My home was built in the 1930's and I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with the improvements and maintenance that go along with purchasing a "fixer upper". My home's claim to fame is the huge olive tree on Blewett Ave.
I just began a new job teaching special education students at Palo Alto high school. Riding my bicycle to the Diridon Station in order to take CalTrain has become my favorite way to commute. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling up the peninsula. My weekends are usually spent bicycling, working in my garden and taking the time to relax with friends.
My interest in the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association began with attendance at candidates forums as well as meetings around specific issues. I've participated in graffiti paintouts and creek-trail plantings as well. Since I live on Blewett Ave. which is around the corner from downtown Willow Glen I am specifically interested in issues of traffic and parking.
As a board member for approximately a year, I feel that my involvement has broadened my knowledge of the community and city politics. I've enjoyed seeing the impact of input at the individual and community level.
Little time has past since the last newsletter, and that time we spent studying issues rather than taking positions.
You can see WGNA in action: you are invited to any and all of our Board Meetings. We generally meet the second Wednesday of every month, 7 PM, at the Willow Glen United Methodist Church on Minnesota and Pine-check the 294-WGNA phone or our web-site to verify the date and location. You can also now read many of the letters and position papers: we are posting our positions on our web site.
Tell a Friend! Invite a Neighbor!
The WGNA membership rolls grow in large part by reputation and word-of-mouth. Feel free to pass this letter along to a friend or neighbor, and invite them to our Fall General Meeting to hear "Mr. Road Show" himself, Gary Richards.