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August 14, 2002
Willow Glen, California Since 1992 |
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Speak Out
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Traffic calming
I'd like to express strong agreement with the
comments made by Pat Leader in the July 17
issue of the Willow Glen Resident regarding
traffic calming and the need for speed limit
signs and other traffic law enforcement
measures in all neighborhoods. Keeping people
off one street won't make them drive nicely
on another. And when I commute, I have no
desire to share major streets with
individuals who object to my desire to be a
courteous, law-abiding driver.
To this driver, it would be nice if the
powers that be in San Jose would make traffic
law enforcement a high priority. Perhaps a
few expensive citations might make drivers
who speed, run stop signs, cut off
bicyclists, and so on, change their dangerous
behavior. In an ideal world, insurance
companies would use their lobbying muscle to
encourage San Jose to religiously enforce
traffic laws.
And come to think of it, how about some signs
around town saying San Jose enforces the seat
belt law? If they do exist, I have yet to see
one, but I do know you see them in places
like Campbell.
—June E. Cooley, Almaden Road
The IBEW is not run by mobsters
In recent letters to the editor published in
the Willow Glen Resident, Allan J. Hall and
Dale Swanson characterized union workers in
an offensive manner.
They suggested that the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is
run by mobsters and that we do not look out
for nonunion workers.
Let me educate you.
Were it not for unions looking after their
members, many people would be not be afforded
health and welfare and pension benefits. We
look out for nonunion employees who make less
than affordable wages in Santa Clara County
and nationwide. How? We organize them.
Through membership in the union, they are
educated and given jobs and health, welfare
and pension benefits. If it weren't for
unions, the welfare rolls would climb even
higher, along with unemployment benefits.
Corporate America is not so protective or
caring. Look at the recent fraud committed by
certain corporate bosses that resulted in
longtime employees losing their jobs and
their pensions. Who is looking out for these
people? Where are they now?
They're on unemployment, with no medical
benefits for them or their families. No
pension benefits. And you call this
'freedom'?
Unions have ensured their members the safest
working conditions. They take pride in
training—our apprenticeship is a five-year
program with schooling two nights a week and
on-the-job training. On job sites we can
guarantee that the work done by union members
is safe and up to code so that when you are
at work or when you go home at night and tuck
your children into bed, you won't have to
worry about whether or not your house will
burn down due to faulty wiring.
By the way, nonunion workers are welcome!
Their greedy bosses are not.
Membership in our unions is voluntary.
Unemployment is not!
There are a few who joined unions when times
were bad and took advantage of union wages
and benefits, yet bailed when the first
opportunity came for a management position in
the nonunion sector! In that case, who is
the greedy one?
—Terry D. Tanner, business manager, IBEW Local 332
Welcome to Willow Glen
Friends of mine recently moved from Los Gatos
to Willow Glen. They live on one of the side
streets that intersect with Lincoln in the
business district. They love their proximity
to shops and restaurants and the convenience
of walking as a family to the park on Willow
Street.
I was totally shocked when I heard the wife
recount during a recent dinner an attack by
another Willow Glen resident while she was
out walking her kids with their family pet
around their new neighborhood.
With the 2-month-old strapped in a carrier to
her chest and an 18-month-old in a stroller,
their leashed dog used the area immediately
next to the sidewalk. As she stopped
immediately to reach into the stroller to get
a plastic bag for the cleanup, the lady
standing in the yard actually ran at her and
accosted her verbally, even threatening her
and her children with a spraying from the
garden hose she was holding. This neighbor
demanded that she get her dog and "white
trash children" off her sidewalk. Is this the
Willow Glen we think we live in? As
residents, we are right to be upset with
irresponsible pet owners who make no effort
to clean up after their pets, but this is
totally outrageous. Where is the compassion
for a young mother juggling two children and
trying to do the right thing?
—Fred Oliver, Willow Glen
Blight law unrelated to eminent domain
Your opinion column of July 17 titled
"Blighters, I'm unwholesome and at risk,
too," about the Strong Neighborhoods
Initiative (SNI)—a citywide effort led by
neighborhoods—brings up some issues that
need clarification.
The recent updating of the San Jose blight
ordinance outlines minimum standards for yard
landscaping. Its relationship to
redevelopment is tangential and it has
absolutely nothing to do with eminent domain.
The changes to the ordinance were the result
of dozens of neighborhood associations
pleading with the city to provide a stronger
tool helping neighborhoods to prevent genuine
eyesores. The San Jose Redevelopment Agency
does not look to the city's municipal code to
make a determination of blight. Rather,
California redevelopment law outlines
specific standards—including physical,
economic and social conditions—to establish
blight findings. This is required when
proposing the creation of a redevelopment
project area.
SNI is about using redevelopment resources to
meet the highest priorities identified by the
neighborhood for improving their community.
It is absolutely erroneous to suggest that
low-tax neighborhoods are "victims"—through
this effort, these communities are finally
the beneficiaries of redevelopment
investments.
As for the Tropicana Shopping Center—it has
not been acquired through eminent domain nor
is it an SNI project, although the residents
in that neighborhood strongly support SNI.
The use of eminent domain is a tool in
redevelopment project areas, but is used only
after all possibilities of negotiating a
settlement with the owners have been
exhausted.
Strengthening San Jose neighborhoods is a
major commitment by the San Jose
Redevelopment Agency.
—Peggy Flynn, San Jose Redevelopment Agency
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