JULY 2008
VOLUME1I/ ISSUE 7
| DISTRICT 3 | JULY 2008 |
VOLUME1I/ ISSUE 7 |
|
||
|
|
A Child-Friendly City Our local nonprofits continue to offer a wealth of family-friendly options downtown. As the acclaimed Alice’s Wonderland exhibit returns to the Children’s Discovery Museum, the CDM is setting attendance records with its award-winning and innovative brand of educational activities and interactive displays. The Tech Museum, on the heels of its wildly successful “Body Worlds” exhibit, will enthrall thousands of students and families with a Leonardo DaVinci exhibit this fall, featuring original works that attracted hundreds of thousands in Tokyo and Florence. The San Jose Downtown Association continues its tradition of hosting family-friendly outdoor movies in St. James Park on Saturday nights (more sophisticated fare can be found in San Pedro Square on Wednesday nights). For kids as young as five and up, the Friends of Guadalupe Park and River Gardens have brought back the popular River Day Camp, while creative youngsters should sign up for the Kids Art Summer Camp at the San Jose Museum of Art. MACLA offers ballet folklorico classes, and young thespians can participate in the Red Ladder theater program at the San Jose Repertory Theater. Why is all of this important? No one can argue about the need for safe and constructive recreational opportunities for children of all ages. Some have asked, though, in a time when our budgetary difficulties have forced difficult choices between paving streets and staffing our police department, why should the City place a priority on pools, parks, and libraries? Similarly, with the skyrocketing prices for gas and food, why should people dig deeper into their pockets to donate to nonprofits offering youth programs? The most obvious of many reasons: consider the alternative. That is, what would our downtown communities resemble without supervised opportunities for play, education, creativity, and interaction? As for those of us without kids—beyond our altruistic desire to see children happy and thriving, why should it matter that the City and its nonprofit partners strive to make our downtown neighborhoods more welcoming to young families? As utilitarian as it may sound, it’s critical to our economic growth. Employers seek family-friendly cities because they know that young parents will consider the nearby amenities before making a job decision. While twentysomethings will flock to more hip, urban environments, their slightly older peers –who drive, innovate, and manage the companies of our high-tech economy--continue to flee San Francisco and New York in search of better schools, parks, and youth programs. Therein lies San Jose’s opportunity, and its competitive advantage for the future: our future, and our children’s.Sincerely, Sam Liccardo P.S. Is there something exciting happening in your neighborhood? We welcome submissions for our monthly e-newsletter. Please contact Ragan Henninger at ragan.henninger@sanjoseca.gov or (408) 535-4929. |
Contact Us D3 Staff |
Downtown Response to Traffic Calming We are requesting that each neighborhood assign a volunteer who can attend meetings with the DOT, communicate status back to their constituents, procure volunteers, and take action items as needed to further traffic calming efforts for their neighborhood. Please provide the name and contact information (email, phone) of your representative to Scott Owens, committee chair at scottowens2042@sbcglobal.net or Ragan Henninger, Chief of Staff at ragan.henninger@sanjoseca.gov. Neighborhood Advisory Group Leadership Cameras Fighting Crime Neighborhood Clean-ups and Large Item Collection Annually, each Council office hosts two cleanups in their district free of charge to residents. The District 3 "dumpster day" is October 18, 2008 for the area serving primarily the neighborhoods of Spartan Keyes, Gardner and Delmas Park. For more information about the District 3 clean-up, call (408) 535-4903. If you do not live in these neighborhoods, you can still have items such as sofas, refrigerators, computers, TV’s, mattresses or tires picked up at your curb for a small fee. For more information or to schedule a pick up appointment, call (408) 535 – 3500. Expanding Our Trails In June, the City of San Jose received a grant from the State of California to construct a nearly one mile trail along Guadalupe River from Woz Way to Virginia Street. The State also awarded an additional grant to construct park-like elements along the trail to minimize the impacts of Highway 87 near the trail. This is an important addition and critical connecting stretch of the Guadalupe River Trail. Recently, the City's Annual Trail Report was released. The report provides an overview of the many trail projects that were studied, planned, designed and constructed over the past 12 months. To view the report click here. |
Give Crime and Drugs A Going Away Party - National Night Out Please check with your local neighborhood association or call Sam’s office at (408) 535-4903 for more details regarding time and location of events in your specific neighborhood. Cleaning Our Creeks
Thanks to local volunteer group, Friends of Coyote Creek, for their dedication on keeping Coyote Creek clean. The group regularly hosts creek clean-ups, pulling large amounts of trash and debris from the creeks and creek banks. If you're interested in volunteering, contact Marley Spilman at spilogs@rawbc.com or (408) 292-8171. There’s Still Time to Swim
Similarly, Biebrach Pool offers recreation swim Saturday 2:30-4:30, as well as Tuesday and Friday 7:00-8:30P.M. For swim lesson information, call the City at 227-2291 or click here. The pool is located within the Biebrach Park, on W. Virginia St. and Delmas Ave. Airport Construction Update
Another change at the SJC Airport is the relocation of the shuttle bus stop. The airport blue shuttle bus will now stop at the Terminal A Ground Transportation Center on the arrivals side, south of the parking garage. This change will require a short walk back to the terminal, however, a free courtesy cart will be available for passengers. One final change to note is a temporary bypass detour that will make it easier to reach Terminal C. In an effort to relieve potential traffic at Terminal A, a temporary detour will allow drivers heading to Terminal C to bypass Terminal A while simultaneously shortening the loop. |
Founders Day Fandango Volunteer to Keep San Jose Beautiful The Keep San Jose Beautiful Steering Committee is the guiding force behind citywide beautification and environmental education programs of the City of San Jose. The Steering Committee, comprised of 30 volunteers, is appointed by the Mayor and City Council. The Committee meets monthly working on objectives such as; establishing San Jose as a city of gardens by creating and enhancing outdoor spaces with gardens and public art, coordinating and supporting other City programs and department projects related to beautification and to leverage City funds for beautification with volunteer, nonprofit, civic and corporate contributions. If any of these objectives interest you, please consider joining the Keep San Jose Beautiful Steering Committee. For more information, please call (408) 723-1574. |
Annual District Barbeque & Recognition Event If you know someone in your neighborhood deserving of recognition, please email Ragan Henninger at ragan.henninger@sanjoseca.gov.
Great Cities Series Speakers A graduate of San Jose State, Matthews holds a doctorate in American History from Stanford University. She has also authored “Silicon Valley Women and the California Dream” and several other books and articles. For more information click here. |
California Theater Movie Night The California Theatre will be showing classic movies on Thursday nights. The evening also includes the “Mighty Wurlitzer” organ player performance at 7:00P.M. and two feature cartoons at 7:20P.M. All shows are $5.00, including free popcorn for all guests. Jaws will be shown on July 17th, ET: The Extra Terrestrial on July 24th, True Gift on August 7th, and West Side Story on August 14th. Cinema San Pedro/Cinema St. James Cinema San Pedro and Cinema St. James will show various movies at dusk. Admission is free and open to everyone. It is suggested to bring a chair or blanket, but snacks will be available on site, and dinners-to-go will be available in San Pedro Square. For more information or questions, call 408.279.1775 or click here. Backesto Park Flea Market The annual Backesto Park Flea Market is back. Bring your family and neighbors for a day filled with fun for all, benefting the 13th Street Neighborhood Action Coalition. Volunteers are greatly needed to help clean the park from 2:30-5:00P.M. on the day of the event. For more information or if you're interested in renting space, contact Chuck Hagenmaier at 408.295.5860. Animal Detectives Workshops will be held to explore the Guadalupe River Park and all of the animal activity within it. Attendants will learn all about the lives of animals through their tracks, scat, calls, and other clues they leave behind. Pre-registration is required, but parents need not be present. For more information, call 408.298.7657 or click here. Energy Efficiency Program Learn about fun and easy tips that will help save energy and money at home. The meeting will also have information concerning rebate and incentive programs from PG&E and the City of San Jose. Light refreshments will be provided, as well as one, free compact fluorescent lamp per person who attends. Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) |
The Neighborhood Advisory Group has deemed traffic calming as one of the downtown’s top priorities. A traffic calming working group, comprised of volunteer residents and a representative from the Department of Transportation, meets regularly to guide the districts traffic calming requests. Starting in September the group will start routine traffic calming communication meetings with the City’s Department of Transportation. 
Furthering the fulfillment of the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, SNI/Agency staff, working with PRNS staff, located funding and purchased seven surveillance cameras for parks. The cameras will be used as a crime deterrent in Forestdale Tot Lot, Martin Park, O’Donnell’s Gardens Park, Backesto Park, Roosevelt Park, and Padre Mateo Sheedy Park. As of now, all of the cameras have been delivered, and two have been installed in the Forestdale Tot Lot area. To completely ensure the success of the cameras, these two cameras are being utilized as tests for their indestructibility and best placement method for deterring crime. The remaining cameras will be installed and tested by the beginning August.
Ryland Pool offers recreation swim Monday through Friday 1:30-3:30, Saturday 12:30-5:30, as well as Tuesday and Friday 7:30-8:30P.M. For swim lesson information, call the City at 277-2291 or 
Also until mid-August, the departures curb will relocate to the front of the International Arrivals Building, just after passing Terminal A. Travelers dropped off at the International Arrivals curbside will need to walk back to Terminal A in order to check their bags and enter the building. Airport Ambassadors will be on hand to provide assistance, plus free luggage carts and wheelchairs will be available for all passengers who need such assistance. The airport provides another alternative, and this is for passengers to be dropped off inside the Terminal A parking garage. With this alternative, a grace period of 20 minutes will go into effect. Although, if drivers do not exit until after the grace period, they will be charged for the entire time spent in the garage.
Bring your friends and family to enjoy the spirit of downtown at the Founders Day Fandango THIS Sunday, July 27th, 2008. The event begins at noon with the Spanish Flag raising and reading of the Pueblo Charter. The location for the event is 175 West Saint John Street at the Peralta Adobe-Fallon House historic site. Fun will be provided for the entire family, in addition to having the opportunity to learn about life in early San Jose while listening to music by Alta California Orchestra and Calican Singers. Also, attendees are welcome to take part in traditional singing and dancing, spinning and weaving, tortilla making, roping and branding, pottery making, and much more. Finally, travel the Anza trail and earn a Jr. Anza Ranger Badge and take a tour of the Peralta Adobe and Fallon House. For questions, contact Barbara Johnson at 408.918.1047. For more information 
Everyone in the district is invited to join Sam and your Neighborhood Advisory Group for a BBQ at Backesto Park on September 6th. The BBQ is a chance for residents to meet other downtown neighbors from all over the district and for Sam to recognize and celebrate residents who’ve worked particularly hard to making the downtown community great.