Rast, a member of both the North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association and the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, led a workshop May 20 called "How Neighborhoods Can Have a Say in Neighborhood Changes."

Nearly 20 representatives of various neighborhood organizations attended the workshop, which was part of the monthly meeting of the United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County advisory council. Rast's 16-point presentation prompted one representative to propose that the group create a planning and land use committee to monitor San Jose's development projects.

Rast and members of other neighborhood organizations were prompted to look closer at local government's activities regarding distinct development projects because of a supposed loophole in San Jose City Council policy. The policy, titled "Policy 6-22"—adopted in 1991 and later revised in 1994—states that for major development projects a task force must be created to make sure the project stays on track. The task force should include council members, various commissions, property owners, local businesses and neighborhood organizations.

United Neighborhoods wants to be an integral player in decisions made on city development projects. Rast's workshop was one of the first steps in moving in that direction.

Rast touched on various topics, including making sure that neighborhood organizations have a diverse membership; being specific about classifying, categorizing and documenting issues that affect the community; and creating plans and back-up plans. He also discussed the importance of not being a federally recognized nonprofit organization.

He told the group that becoming a federally recognized charity with a 501(c)(3) designation was not advantageous because under federal regulations it would prevent the organization from endorsing political candidates, something the group might want to consider if a candidate's vision matched theirs.

Rast also said it's better to have different members who represent different—but not necessarily opposing—interests and that a diverse membership is a healthy one.

"This helps avoid creating adversaries" who'll balk more than cooperate, Rast said, "but if your neighborhood association is made up of only property owners, then the association's focus is too narrow."

Classifying, categorizing and documenting issues that affect the community, Rast warned, may seem daunting, but in the long run helps make addressing issues and cooperating with government officials much more efficient.

"That's how we got rid of a couple drug dealers in our neighborhood," Rast said.

By identifying an issue in simple language, like traffic or land use, safety, crime or property, it's easier to find the proper city department that handles those particular issues, he said.

And he advised against having more than one plan of action and looking for alternatives, mentioning as an example a major issue in North Willow Glen.

The area is part of a federally designated flood zone. The North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association believes this is no longer accurate and should be changed because homeowners are required to pay costly flood insurance annually.

Rast had hoped the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association would back the smaller North Willow Glen Neighborhood in pressing the city to remove the designation.

"But the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association felt that not enough of Willow Glen is affected by the zone," he said, "so they opted to write a letter of support" to elected officials to have the neighborhood resurveyed.

At the end of the evening, Judd Murkland of the Cory Neighborhood Association proposed that the organization create a planning and land use committee to be tasked with educating the organization about local politics and laws; to help develop relationships between neighborhoods, the city's planning department and developers early in the planning proposal stage; and to work to develop relationships with several council members.