The Willow Glen Resident

Council Watch

Willow Glen will now be incorporated into the city of San Jose

City Council vote follows the public's Sept. 4 approval by a 928-871 margin

By Laura Stuchinsky

SEPTEMBER 1936: The San Jose City Council voted at its Sept. 21 meeting to approve the consolidation of the city of Willow Glen with San Jose.

Willow Glen Mayor W.B. Puterbaugh, along with Willow Glen councilmembers Lyle Austin, A.R. Webster and Louis Bergna, presented the results of their city's Sept. 4 consolidation election at the meeting.

According to City Clerk Dana Thomas, 928 Willow Glen residents voted in favor of consolidation, and 871 voted against.

The 57-vote spread is indicative of the heated debate that led up to the election. Residents who opposed annexation championed the city's independence. Those who favored it argued that consolidation would be more economical.

For some time now, Willow Glen has been confronted with the need to build a modern sewer system and a high school--costly improvements that have become more pressing as the city has grown. Yet four weeks ago, residents failed to pass a bond measure that would have given the city's finances a boost. A majority of residents voted in favor of the measure, but it failed to capture the two-thirds majority necessary to pass it.

The warm reception extended by San Jose councilmembers W.L. Biebrach, Charles Bishop, J. T. Brooks, Clyde L. Fischer and Harry Young to the city's smaller neighbor was not unexpected. On Aug. 31, the San Jose City Council voted unanimously to formally invite Willow Glen to consolidate with San Jose.

Willow Glen's decision will boost San Jose's population by approximately 4,000 to 91,000.

A second reading of the annexation ordinance is scheduled for Sept. 28.

In other actions taken during the Sept. 21 meeting: The council granted a permit to J.C. Falkenberg to keep automatic amusement games at the Hotel Montgomery and to Mrs. R.J. O'Keefe to operate a hotel at 29 E. Santa Clara Street. The council also read and filed a request by the Building Trades Council of Santa Clara County to change the general prevailing rate of per diem wages on public works.

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