North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association
Word of Faith Church
April 27, 2004
7 – 8:30 pm

Minutes

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Welcome and Introduction Tom Smith 7:00

Tom said that the meeting part of the meeting would be short (one hour) in order to allow an extended social time, over pizza donated by Sarpino's (thanks, Sarpino's!). New attendees introduced themselves.

Huge Neighborhood-Wide Garage SalePlanning Update
Ken Eklund & Debbie Palmer

Plans proceed apace for the event on May 15. Bud Beede volunteered sandwich board signs; residents donated money to meet expenses of running ads (although more donations are needed). We need balloons to jollify the signs, and residents suggested that we buy a balloon kit. Residents thought that having maps of the sale available was a good idea; the maps would be available at key locations having sales on each street. Mike Gaines volunteered to get the maps printed. The association thanked Mike Gaines for distributing the flyers advertising the sale to homes in the neighborhood. Cynthia said that Hope Rehab is likely to send a truck to the sale, to collect donations near the end of the event, if we call and notify them of the event.

July 4th Planning Update Mike Gaines and Marc Bauman

Planning is underway. Things are going well. Many volunteers are needed and the chairpersons seek people to fill roles in preparing for the event, in conducting the event, and in cleaning up. Judi McComak reported success in getting the petition (enabling the street to be closed) signed by all the affected residents on Delmas - thank you, Judi. Next meeting of the July 4 Committee: Thursday, May 6, 7 pm at Tlacapaque (formerly Sangria) at Delmas and Willow.

Neighborhood Service Day Tom Smith and Dan Erceg

The April "neighborhood improvement" day was successful - people showed up to help with a neighborhood-wide street tree planting and to help with a major Greater Gardner Coalition/SNI project: painting the railroad bridge at Prevost. Tom told the assembly that the NWGNA Board has changed the recurring date for the Neighborhood Service Day, from "the second Saturday of the month" to "the Saturday after our monthly meeting." Tom explained that the old method did not have any good reminders for people about the meeting day; the new day will be publicized by our monthly postcards and reinforced at our monthly meeting.

Quality of Life Issues Ed Rast

Ed briefly introduced the idea of developing a quantitative standard of measuring traffic, noise, crime, infrastructure deterioration, code violations, and other things that impact our quality of life. He explained that these standards would be useful in getting the city to address problems and preventing developments that would undermine our quality of life.

Residents brought up the "second unit" or "granny unit" ordinance before City Council now as a good example of developments that threaten our quality of life. Rich Abdalah related his experience with Granny Units in Los Altos - they were a problem even though Los Altos requires a lot size of 10,000 sq. ft or more (San Jose's proposed minimum is 6,000 sq. ft.).

Paint-A-Thon Update Liz Ortiz

The event is June 6, and will feature up to 4 houses in the area being painted. Volunteers are urgently needed - call Liz at 297-9135.

Police Update Public Safety

Lt. Ted Vasquez gave a report. There are still heightened tensions among gang members and violence reports are up. SJPD has increased patrols and presence in North Willow Glen and other neighborhoods. Residents spoke about the increase in crimes against property in NWG -- characterized by thefts of opportunity against cars (sometimes by people on bicycles) and by back yard invasions. The police will continue to have an increased presence in NWG and welcome calls to report anything suspicious, especially things that seem gang-related.

New Business AA meetings on Delmas

Several people attended the meeting in regard to the apartment on the corner of Delmas and Fuller that has recently started to be used as a meeting place for an Alcoholics Anonymous chapter. A spokesman for the property told the assembly that Code Enforcement had been alerted about the operation and that they were working to bring the operation into compliance with Code. Time prevented a community discussion, but Liz Ortiz continued an offline dialogue with the AA proponents on behalf of Neighborhood Services.

Pizza, conversation, and planning 8:00 pm

That's all, folks!