Meeting Report
PRESENT: Chair Cindy
Chavez, Vice Chair George Shirakawa, Jr., and Councilmember Ken Yeager
ABSENT: Councilmember Pat Dando.
STAFF: Jim Holgerson, Norm Sato,
Mark Linder, Jane Light, Jim Norman,
The meeting was convened at
9:10 a.m.
a.
Youth Commission Monthly Report (Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood
Services).
Mark Linder, Director of Parks, Recreation and
Neighborhood Services, presented the report.
Upon motion of Vice Chair Shirakawa and seconded by Councilmember Yeager, the Committee accepted the staff report.
b.
Library Commission’s Annual Report on Library Benefit Assessment
District (Library).
Jane Light, City Librarian, discussed the Annual
Report on the Library Benefit Assessment District. She stated that the Benefit Assessment District funding expires
in FY 2004-05 and cannot be renewed as a Benefit Assessment District. However, the Council can place before the
voters and the voters can agree to a parcel tax or other mechanisms for a
special tax for the libraries. Planning will need to begin in 2002 to replace
that source of funding which is so vital to the City’s libraries. Also, as the library system expands, as new
branches are built, the need for this kind of supplemental funding will only
grow in the next ten years.
The Library Commission not only reports annually on
the expenditures, they actually roll up the expenditures over the years. The Commission also has posed a series of
questions on behalf of the public and answer those each year. Some of the successes this year in terms of
educational and outreach programs are a Teens Reach Program, which is using
teen volunteers both as volunteers in the library and advisors to the library
for developing services for teens, Books for Little Hands expansion program,
participation in San José LEARNS, and the partnership with the Tech Museum to
have passes available at the libraries.
Upon Motion of Vice Chair Shirakawa and seconded by Councilmember Yeager, the Committee accepted the staff report.
c.
Animal Care and Services Status Report (Parks, Recreation and
Neighborhood Services).
Recommend deferral to January 2002.
Jim Holgersson, Deputy City Manager, requested this
item be deferred until January 2002,
due to a change in leadership of the facility. Chair Chavez requested a copy of the legal guidelines that set
the City in motion for taking the leadership role over Animal Care Services and
any statements of philosophy that were put forward in making that
decision. Mark Linder stated the
Groundbreaking for the new Animal Care facility was delayed because there was a
need to re-bid the project, as the first set of bids did not include certain
items that were needed. Consequently
all bids were rejected. The Groundbreaking should be in January or February and
the project completion sometime in 2003.
Mark assured the Committee the Santa Clara County Humane Society is
still in operation. The City is
providing field services, but the Humane Society is still under contract from
the City to provide the housing of the animals.
Upon motion of Councilmember Yeager and seconded by Vice Chair Shirakawa, the Committee accepted the staff report with the following direction to staff:
The report be returned to Council in January 2002, including the following:
§ Legal guidelines for the City taking a leadership role over Animal Care.
§ Statements of philosophy that were put forward in making the decision to take a leadership role.
§ Capacity of facility based on need.
§ Building design (actual layout of building).
§ What other cities are doing in relation to Animal Care.
d.
San José BEST Update (Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services).
A report for each Council
District with the following truancy information:
§
Raw
Numbers, along with percentages
§
Number
of truants by age and how many have learning disabilities, drug problems and/or
mental health problems
§
Student
profiles, by school
§
Types
of programs being offered
§
Amount
of money being lost by school districts
§
What
are best practices
§
Income
level of families
Mark
Linder introduced Ron Soto to present the follow-up information requested by
the Committee in June. The presentation
was an update on Truancy related findings broken down by Council District. (presentation attached). Findings were presented to the School
Collaborative Group and the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force Policy Team,
seeking their assistance in addressing questions posed at the last Committee
meeting, as well as receiving their endorsement of the concept. Next steps will
be to prepare for next year’s budget.
Chair Chavez reiterated the importance of finding out what is happening
to the children that are being picked up for truancy and returned to the
schools to help them remain in school and be successful. CouncilmemberYeager requested that in a
future meeting of the City Schools’ Collaborative, truancy becomes the sole
item on the agenda, requesting participants to come with their needs, questions
and expertise.
Chair
Chavez requested all Councilmembers receive the handouts passed out in the
meeting with a cover letter offering to review the data with them.
Upon motion of Councilmember Yeager and seconded by Vice Chair Shirakawa, the Committee accepted the staff report, with the following directives to Staff.
§ Work with the school collaborative to look at overall strategies and obtain a commitment for an increased ADA and sharing those resources.
§ Obtain information on truant students once returned to school.
§ Obtain “best practices” from alternative high schools
§ Prior to going to Council, a global comparison of ethnicity versus the Case Management is done.
e.
Proposed Implementation of Skate Parks (Parks, Recreation and
Neighborhood Services).
Deferred from 10/15/01 Education, Neighborhoods,
Youth and Seniors Committee.
Mark Linder introduced Jim Norman who discussed the
proposed Skate Park Implementation Plan.
Jim N. stated they had identified locations in each Council District for
the skate parks. When building skate
parks there is a cost of $25 to $45 per foot.
In San José the cost will be closer to $45. The vast majority of users favor the permanent and larger skate
parks. Council Districts 5 and 7 have
parks funded. Jim N. said they would be
putting a package together through staff and the Commission to make the funding
for larger scale skate parks part of the State Prop 12 bond. The skate park
would be on the larger scale, over 20,000 square feet, which would give a
city-wide feel and also have a better appeal for the State Bond money, both to
the entire Council and the users. The larger park would also accommodate a
variety of skills levels. Jim N. stated
there could be smaller skate parks in each Council District or several larger
facility across Council Districts.
Councilmember Shirakawa stated he feels there is a real need for the
smaller neighborhood skate parks as he is proposing in his District, but the
larger ones could be spaced throughout the City. Jim N. clarified that the Greenprint did state there should be a
skate park in every District, but the Greenprint is only a strategy and of
which funding is not a part. Mark
Linder said we should move ahead with the neighborhood skate parks. The larger skate park at Lake Cunningham
will come later using funding from Proposition 12 and then Proposition 40,
which will be on the ballot in March.
Upon motion of Vice Chair Shirakawa and seconded by Councilmember Yeager, the Committee accepted the staff report.
f.
Aging
Services Master Plan (Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services).
§
Preliminary
report on strategies and process for updating the Plan, including cost per
unit.
§
Plans
for Senior’s citywide event for May 2002.
Deferred from 10/15/01 Education, Neighborhoods,
Youth and Seniors Committee.
Jim Norman discussed the update. This report is a
follow-up from the Committee’s request last June to update the Aging Services
Master Plan, which was last done in 1994.
The County of Santa Clara will work closely with the City to develop the
needs assessment, as well as updating the strategic plan. Housing and Transportation are the most
significant issues for our seniors. The
plan will just not be an update of the 1994 Aging Services Master Plan, but
will include a strategic plan that will align with other strategy plans and
will also have action and funding plans.
Mark Linder stated that the important difference from previous efforts
is it will be done in concert with the County, a more Regional Plan. He also stated they are hiring a Community
and Cultural Events Coordinator.
Mark reported they would be hosting the Senior
Olympics in August of 2002. Also, a
holiday “thank you” for the members of all the Commissions that do work inside
Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services will be held on December 5 at the
Mexican Heritage Plaza. This event is
for their year of service and will center on a particular topic that will be of
collective interest to the group.
Upon motion of Vice Chair Shirawaka and seconded by Councilmember Yeager, the Committee accepted the staff report.
h.
Oral Petitions
None
i.
Adjournment
The Committee was adjourned at 10:45 p.m.
Councilmember Cindy Chavez, Chair
Education, Neighborhoods, Youth and Seniors Committee