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Neighbors rate safety and street upgrades top needs
Northern WG still reeling from recent sex assault on girl
By Kate Carter
Public safety must be a top priority, northern Willow Glen residents stressed in a workshop with city officials.
The plea came in the wake of the April 28 sexual assault of a 7-year-old San Jose girl nearby.
About 30 Gardner, Atlanta and Gregory Plaza community members gathered at the Gardner Academy on May 12, to also rank a list of action items proposed to improve the neighborhood. The community is one of 20 city areas in line to receive $100 million in San Jose Redevelopment Agency money, senior planner Mike Brilliot said.
Several San Jose police officers told the group they are still searching for the suspect in the sexual assault of a Gardner Academy second-grader last month. The girl had been walking to school alone, when a man on a blue bicycle lured her beneath a railroad trestle over the Guadalupe River near Willow Street and McLellan Avenue, threatened her with a knife or sharp object and sexually assaulted her.
Capt. Mike O'Connor said police were still gathering evidence and questioning witnesses and persons who matched the suspect's description. He said they brought a man to police headquarters on May 11, for further questioning and then released him.
"We're not going to give up until we find this person," Lt. Rich Saito said.
Neighbors Norma Mendez and Gary Jansen said they were concerned about crime in the area, which they say is caused by homeless people living in the Guadalupe River banks.
"We've got a crime problem," Jansen said. "It's right over our fence and we're tired of it. We're not going to get a good neighborhood here, until the perception is that the crime is gone."
Jansen added that a variety of agencies are responsible for the riverbed but none ensure that the homeless people living there don't commit crimes.
Saito said police don't believe the assault suspect is homeless, but, rather, a transient staying with friends or relatives in the area. O'Connor said the homeless in the area have been helpful in the search and that it's important to separate homeless concerns from criminal problems.
Saito said police make regular sweeps of the area, trying to help the homeless people find shelter and resources.
O'Connor said the police rely on the community to report suspicious behavior and asked residents to do so.
Consultant Terry Bottomley, who has been working with neighbors for more than six months on plans to improve their community, presented a proposal for street, park and property upgrades and reconfigurations. Group participants, most of whom had also attended the meetings creating the plans, then discussed and ranked its 25 items.
Neighbors rated repairing and rebuilding streets and sidewalks, affected by soil subsidence in the area, as their top priority. Other high-ranking improvements include providing better parking and drop-off areas at Gardner Academy, widening Fuller Avenue for more parking and enforcing laws that prohibit people from storing cars on the street and equipment in their visible yards.
Proposals for calming traffic on Bird Avenue, building a Light Rail station drop-off site, installing street sweeping signs and reconfiguring the intersection of Bird and Coe avenues and Fisk Street ranked midway down the list.
Planner Brilliot said the ranking results would be discussed at the next neighborhood community meeting on June 25, 6:30 p.m., at the Gardner Community Center.
The Gardner-Atlanta-Gregory Plaza area is participating in the city's Strong Neighborhoods Initiative. In order to qualify for the redevelopment funds, representatives from the participating communities must be elected to a project area committee. The committee will review the proposals for improvements in the 20 neighborhoods and make recommendations to the city council about which should be included in redevelopment plans.
Brilliot said two Gardner-area representatives were elected to the 50-member committee that will begin meeting this summer.
He said the $100 million of redevelopment money would likely be approved next spring, but that short-term improvements and plans for long-term improvements could begin before then.
Other sources of funding, including federal, city and foundation money, could also pay for some of the revitalization efforts, Brilliot said.
"The city is committed to working with the community to find funding," Brilliot told the group. "We expect you to be a squeaky wheel when you need to be. We expect you to keep us on the ball."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
