I just read William Jeske's article on Christmas Tree Lane in the Dec. 18 issue of The Willow Glen Resident. We do things a little differently in our neighborhood, which is located at Louise and Ellis avenues. We order the trees from another Willow Glen resident and supplier, David Green. He delivers the trees to our house on a Friday and then on Saturday morning our neighborhood meets at 10 a.m. to put the trees up together. It's fun for everyone—the teenagers, who get to sit in the back of a neighbor's pickup truck and drop the trees off at the designated houses; the little kids, who deliver new strands of lights in their wagons to those who order them; and the adults, who measure and stake the trees.

We have coffee, doughnuts and hot chocolate, and everyone is full of good cheer and a sense of community spirit. In the evening, at 5 p.m., we walk down our streets of brilliantly lit Christmas trees to gather at a neighbor's home for an open house. We all bring food to share.

It's a warm and wonderful way for our neighborhood to get to know each other and welcome the beginning of another Christmas in Willow Glen.

—Barbara Krause, Louise Avenue


Purpose of Measure F funds appears vague

I agree with Todd Kaiser's assessment—in the Dec. 8 issue of The Willow Glen Resident—that the performing arts program at Lincoln High School qualifies as a specialized instructional program, but I disagree with the claim that a new theater at Lincoln High qualifies for Measure F funding.

The San Jose Unified School District submitted Measure F to the voters under the rules of Proposition 39 so that it would require only a 55 percent majority vote for passage instead of a 67 percent majority, as otherwise mandated by Proposition 13.

These rules clearly and repeatedly require that Measure F include a list of the specific school facilities projects to be funded and certification that the school district board has evaluated safety, class size reduction and information technology needs in developing that list. Repairs, upgrades or construction of facilities for specialized instructional programs listed in Measure F—such as the Lincoln High School theater project cited by Kaiser—is not specific, nor does it address a safety, a class size reduction or an information technology need.

The district has known about plans for a theater at Lincoln High School for a couple of years. The district should have listed this as one of the projects for Lincoln High School on the ballot measure and then explained how it would reduce class sizes, improve safety or add to information technology on that campus.

Perhaps the district felt the public would not agree with their argument.

The district has made it clear that they intended the project list on Measure F to be vague so they would have flexibility in spending the bond money. In fact, the district is just now developing the real project list to be funded by Measure F dollars. This strategy clearly defeats the intent of Proposition 39 and is a deliberate deception of the voting public.

Since the board did not develop the project list according to the rules of Proposition 39, and the language of the list is vague and ambiguous, Measure F itself might very well be illegal. The citizens of San Jose generously approved Measure F to complete the repair and rehabilitation of local schools, including health and safety repairs. The district should respect the public and not try to spend Measure F money for projects not clearly specified in the ballot language.

If the district continues to forge ahead with its plans to spend Measure F funds on projects like the theater at Lincoln High, the public will be forced to ask the court to specify exactly what is and what is not allowed under Proposition 39. It seems unwise and unnecessary for the district to jeopardize $429 million plus matching state funds when there are so many important, uncontroversial things to do with the money.

—Bill Aaron, Redbird Drive


Too many Willow Glen people act like NIMBYs

I read with interest, appreciation and total agreement Mr. Schrag's letter in the Dec. 18 issue of The Willow Glen Resident regarding the traffic-calming meeting held by Mr. Yeager.

Mr. Schrag certainly hit the nail on the head regarding Glenites' approach to traffic: "Get traffic off my street and put it on their street."

I have lived in Willow Glen since 1980, and I have never met a larger group of busybody, NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) neighbors in my entire life. I have long quipped that if they could, the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association would close off Lincoln Avenue and other Willow Glen streets and charge a toll to all non-95125 residents.

If the city wants to calm traffic, the traffic engineers must be completely reeducated. They think their job is to control traffic. They should realize that their job is to effectively move traffic. If traffic lights were synchronized properly—they did it by hand on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles in 1954 from Santa Monica to downtown—people wouldn't be stopped for no reason at endless traffic signals, causing them to cut through neighborhood streets. Effectively moving traffic would enable drivers to get to and from work in a reasonable amount of time each day.

And the expressways in the entire valley are anything but express. For instance, drive from the beginning of Almaden Expressway to McKean Road in Almaden on a Sunday at 9 a.m. and I'll guarantee you that you'll be forced to stop at 90 percent of the lights.

The NIMBYs need to back off, and the traffic engineers need to reverse their mode of thinking if they want traffic to be "calm . "

—John Michael O'Connor, Willow Glen