The Willow Glen Resident

Letters

Leaf-blowers are obnoxious

I want to thank Thomas Sutton, who wrote to you about the incredibly obnoxious sound of leaf-blowers. I have lived here for three years and have been tortured by this. Otherwise, Willow Glen is fabulous!

Morning after morning, Willow Glenites are subjected to sounds that are easily way over any code. Leaf-blowers should be banned in Willow Glen. The garbage trucks are loud enough one day a week!

If anyone is interested in a petition, let's do it.

Kathy Sasseen
AntiMI Records Ltd

Allow billiards club to stay open to 2 a.m.

I have been a Willow Glen resident for more than 10 years, and I teach at a local school. I have a great idea about how to alleviate the parking problem in downtown Willow Glen.

Most of the traffic and the parking problems occur between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. If the Planning Commission, WGNA and the Meredith neighbors join forces, they could force all the restaurants on Lincoln Avenue to close between these hours. Eureka, problem solved.

Oh, but that would be a stupid idea if all the restaurants would shut down for good. What if only a few closed down during this time? Oh, that wouldn't be fair either. So, why, I ask, are several bars on Lincoln Avenue allowed to stay open until 2 a.m. while Willow Glen Billiards and Brew is not? Well, the bogeyman lives there, and he comes out after midnight. Yeah, that's the ticket. The bogeyman takes all Willow Glen Billiards and Brew customers and transforms them into wild beer-drinking motorcycle-riding fiends! And when they leave, they all go down Meredith Avenue and have a barbecue on their street. Not!

Do you get my point? I am amazed that a handful of neighbors with ulterior motives can dictate policy to the city of San Jose. Equally amazing is that the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, all nine of them, can do the same. What happened to our democratic society? I almost forgot; this is an election year. Linda Lezzotte did not forget. She was the planning commissioner who tabled Billiards and Brew's request for a year, making it impossible for the owners to appeal the decision to the San Jose City Council--the City Council we elected and the City Council to which Linda Lezzotte is trying to get elected next year.

Is it possible that Linda and certain members of WGNA planned the tabling motion? Well of course not! How would Linda have known a tabled motion can't be appealed to the City Council? After all, she based her decision on senior planner Carol Hamilton's answer to her question, stating that the police department felt Billiards and Brew had not been open long enough to have any crime statistics. But wait, didn't the chief of police recommend Billiards and Brew stay open until 2 a.m. on a trial basis for eight months? Sure he did! But why should we state the facts at a public hearing?

For what it matters, 99 percent of the people I have spoken with support Billiards and Brew staying open until 2 a.m. Now, if only these people go out and vote.

As a single female, I finally have a class establishment where I can relax and enjoy a glass of wine without worrying about being accosted by some immature male. Billiards and Brew is one of the classiest and most upscale clubs in the entire Bay Area. It is only fair we extend the same rights and privileges to them as we do to the other establishments located on Lincoln Avenue.

Erin Quinn
Willow Oaks

Why is the high school so trashy?

Recently we've driven by the Willow Glen High School campus and were dismayed, depressed and discouraged by the trash on the lawns and the defacement of the concrete Willow Glen High sign.

Is this mess really a "sign of the times," as one of our grandsons stated? Is this the lack of regard our young people have for their campus? Their homes?

Would more trash cans help? How about members of the student council and/or teachers policing the campus? Or a semester course in good citizenship? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Mary B. Weller
Gerald Way

Lincoln Avenue lacks holiday spirit

As I drove through downtown Willow Glen early this morning on my way to work, I was overwhelmed by how terribly lacking the Avenue is in holiday spirit. The individual shopkeepers, for the most part, have put forth a valiant effort to project a warm and festive holiday mood with their front-window displays, while the wreaths on the "Welcome to Willow Glen" arches are so nondescript, they look like an afterthought.

I cannot help wondering what exactly the business and professional association is doing. I am grateful the decrepit decorations of yesteryear were not put up this year, because they were not only an eyesore but also an embarrassment to the community. The businesses in Willow Glen and the surrounding community are plentiful with creative talents and energy, and I am confident that simple, cost-effective and tasteful holiday displays could be put up around the Avenue. Now that our trees have matured, white lights would add ambiance and style to an already charming area.

If a neighborhood tradition of placing a single lit tree on the front lawn can catch on, why can't we join forces to decorate downtown?

A smart shopper with a small budget could decorate Willow Glen and make us all proud to be residents and embrace a consumer-friendly environment. This action would not only create a festive atmosphere but also generate good merchandising.

Kathryn Kelly Joesten
Nevada Avenue

DeCinzo's cartoon on independent book- sellers hit the mark

We loved DeCinzo's cartoon in the Dec. 10 issue of The Resident and are glad that some of us are still around to poke fun at the mega-chains. We would like to remind you that we are also an independent bookstore in San Jose that has fought the independent battle long and hard!

We have been in business on Lincoln Avenue for almost 18 years. We have seen many changes in the bookselling industry and are proud to work side by side with Willow Glen Books as the only independent booksellers in San Jose. We hope there will be more independent bookstores in the future.

Monica Holmes
Co-owner, Hicklebee's Childrens Book Store

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