Speak Out

Careful driver offers crosswalk safety tip

For added safety of pedestrians, whenever I stop to let one cross, I quickly put on my car's hazard flashers (just push the button). This will inform cars behind that I have stopped, and possibly warn the cars in the other lanes to do likewise. Once the pedestrian clears, turn them off and continue. Easy to do and it could help reduce accidents!

Terry Reilly
Emory Street

Let it not be said, and said to your shame ...

Your party at Bramhall Park was a success. There was plenty of food, the cake was yummy, and the favors were a big hit with the kids. We know you were here. Your empty soda cans, candy wrappers and cake plates abandoned in the sand and play areas are testament to that. You probably forgot with all of the other post-party clean up. Or, maybe you thought the parks department folks would take care of it. Well, guess what? We're the families that use the park the day after you, and your trash is here waiting for us. We pick it up so our young children don't get cut on the cans or stick half-eaten candy in their mouths.

What a wonderful opportunity to teach your children about respecting public property and themselves: team up with them to pick up the litter before everyone leaves. There are plenty of trash cans, and many hands will make short work of it. The parks department has enough struggles with budgets and basic maintenance. Let's do our part and leave the park as we found it, or better, so that others can enjoy it as much as you did.

Natalie Krumm
Malone Road

DeCinzo cartoon bad, big corporations good

I am writing you this letter in response to a comic written by Stephen DeCinzo that was published in your weekly paper. I am a native resident of Willow Glen. Over the years, I have watched our community grow and flourish. Excepting the fact that growth is inevitable, Willow Glen has always kept its small-town charm.

I am an avid reader of your publication and appreciate the positive light it sheds on our community. This is why the DeCinzo comic offends me.

Enclosed is the comic "The growth control measures failed." It completely mocks Willow Glen and our community. Visually, it makes the statement that our progress has annihilated our small-town charm and attracted a slew of degenerates (note the syringes, trash, and passed-out drunk man). It also implies that large companies have a negative impact on our community. Nothing can be further from the truth.

In fact, the very corporations highlighted in the comic have employed hundreds of our resident young adults, giving them the opportunity to develop a sense of self-worth and become contributing members of our community. Furthermore, Starbucks Coffee Company on Lincoln Avenue is extremely involved in the community. In conjunction with the San Jose Museum of Art and Willow Glen Elementary, student artwork is currently being displayed in the store windows. This contributes to, not destroys, the charm that Willow Glen is so famous for.

I would like to see comics that are in good humor and do not downplay the development of our small town. There is a thin line between humor and bad taste. DeCinzo clearly crossed that line and left a very bad impression on this loyal reader.

Cindy Marino
San Jose

Creativity at Willow Glen Middle School

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a function at Willow Glen Middle School, Estrelles de Noche. This was the second year that the Latino Club sponsored this event. It consisted of many of our middle school students participating in a creative and dramatic program using today's music as the medium for entertainment. Those that participated developed their own choreography and lip sync techniques. They selected and made up costumes, props, and stage backgrounds. Last year there were only 10 groups participating and just a handful of people in the audience. This year there were 25 acts and because of the size of the audience, there was standing room only. The opportunity to participate has grown to include all of the students and generated tremendous excitement and effort on the part of those who participated. Special thanks go to the teachers, Helena De La Puenta, Gloria Hernandez, and Robert Gutierrez for the gift of their time and energy. This is one more special event that makes me proud to support our Willow Glen Middle School.

Susan Chavez
Bello Avenue

Train yard mars city's livability

Two recent letters to the Resident (April 19) point to the need for and importance of proper city planning. "Future Cities Must Be Livable and Walkable" stresses safe streets and good transportation access to all parts of the city as well as the benefits of green space. "How will train yard affect Palm Haven?" warns neighbors of a proposed Caltrain maintenance yard which is scheduled to be built in the middle of our city. Both express the concerns that many of us have over the future of San Jose. How will we handle growth? Will we make planning decisions that enhance our quality of life not diminish it?

In San Jose, we are fortunate that new energy has been breathed into the issue of pedestrian, bike, and traffic safety. An innovative group, Walk San Jose, has brought attention to problems many of us have experienced in our neighborhoods--difficulty in obtaining safe pedestrian crossings (it took us over a year to get the stop sign at Bramhall Park), speeding and cut-through traffic on our streets (we obtained photo radar on five Willow Glen streets, but more surveillance and enforcement is needed), and safe, pleasant bike routes (Los Gatos Creek Trail still must be linked to downtown). In response to Walk San Jose's efforts to pinpoint residents' safety concerns, San Jose Streets and Traffic Department is reviewing city policy as related to stop signs, pedestrian crossings, and traffic safety. This is good news.

Positive news is also found in the city's Creative Community Project. As reported by the Resident, a 20-year plan is being developed to address San Jose's park and recreational needs. At the April 13 meeting, it was encouraging to hear the good ideas residents offered and the positive response from city staff.

The Caltrain maintenance issue is on the other side of the coin. While our city is supporting residents in some areas, they are letting them down in others. Because of time constraints and monetary considerations, Caltrain has zeroed in on a large maintenance yard site located in the middle of our city. A request for an environmental impact report by Councilman Fiscalini and neighborhood members has been denied even though 24-hour noise and pollution impacts are obvious. Community members are outraged--their quality of life has just been hit broadside by a noisy, diesel-spewing train.

We need to promote long-range planning that emphasizes the quality of life in existing and future neighborhoods. We also need to denounce poor planning that results in adverse impacts to the residents of San Jose. Reviewing street safety and traffic policy, assessing our park and recreational needs, and building the Caltrain maintenance yard away from our neighborhoods, are all basic to good city planning.

Kris Cunningham
Candidate for City Council

Around the Glen

Walls separate neighbors, cultures

San Jose Children's Musical Theater presents 'State Fair'

Sports Briefs

High school sports