I held off for a few weeks, yet I feel the need to provide some Willow Glen feedback.

I participated in The Taste of Willow Glen festivities for the first time this year. I must tell you that I was extremely disappointed. Obviously I was not the only one; every participant and even some of the store employees I ran into felt the same way. As a new Willow Glen resident, I had hoped it would have the appeal of the Art and Wine festivals I have always enjoyed over the years. Instead I was greeted by half-deflated balloons, a lack of participants and an empty promise of gifts, food and drinks.

Some of the participants were even closed. Others such as Starbucks merely gave away the same samples they give daily. Several stores had the nerve to simply offer an entry to a drawing. One restaurant, Aqui's, had tastes of tequila. And my hat is off to them, along with Round Table and Pizza My Heart for providing pizza. But other than Aqui's, there were no drinks to be found. Some previous participants were out-and-out rude.

I was disappointed and regretted my donation to the Boys and Girls Club, given to the only two members I saw. I was sad to see our town give itself such a poor show.

—Jennifer Rahn, Willow Glen


Citizens and the city should be partners

Regarding the Tamien Place Development and the Tamien Specific Plan, I would like to request that the San Jose City Council and city planning revisit and adhere to the General Plan, which specifies maximum building heights of 65 feet, mixed use, and density. These are the specifications that were arrived at through intensive communication and involvement with the community and should serve as a model for all of San Jose.

I ask the council and planning commission that when a project is proposed, that the unique character and needs of each district affected by the project be taken into consideration and that the residents of each of the impacted districts be notified and their input solicited in the proposal stage of the development process.

It's a fact that San Jose needs more multi-family housing, and I do not oppose new development to support the growth of the area. However, I do oppose the careless and unfair manner in which this project has been handled so far.

What the City really needs is affordable housing with viable shopping and commercial. And preferably part of the development itself consists of more than a coffee kiosk or newsstand in a train station; and public parks are within reasonable walking distance of residents.

How is Tamien Place addressing these needs? If it isn't, why isn't it? How will future developments address these needs? From what I have seen so far, the proposed developments run completely counter to meeting these needs, which I thought were primary goals of the city.

I can imagine how the medium-density townhomes that the developer is proposing, plus viable shopping with mature trees and plenty of parking with a large, publicly accessible park would fit in with the neighborhood just fine. And make everyone involved happy, not just the developers.

Maybe we could take a cue from the e-Government Portal Project launched by Senators Joseph Lieberman and Fred Thompson to enable citizens to help shape legislation. This could be done on a smaller scale by the city of San Jose, and be a truly interactive and collaborative forum for citizens to read and participate in through discussions of key issues. Comments could also be sent and suggestions made to the city council and the planning commission.

—S. Kusters, Guadalupe Ave.


Recall opinion shared by reader, adds ideas

Moryt Milo's commentary in the Aug. 6 issue "How can a recall solve our problems?" was as funny as the recall itself.

How dare we let an ordinary citizen run for governor? How can we know if he or she will be a tax-and-spend, anti-business liberal? What if some common man or woman were elected and supported the idea that we would balance our budget by simply not funding education for one year? When the children graduate from public school they can't pass basic tests anyway, so it's not like closing the schools for a year would cause any real harm. But, of course, that's as loony as, well, charging Californians 25 cents a gallon for gas to poison their water supply with MTBE.

What if an ordinary citizen was elected who happened to be a conservative Hispanic Catholic? If he or she lauded merit and morality and personal responsibility, what on earth would the liberals do? Yikes! Ms. Milo, I feel your pain.

—David Bishop, Saratoga


How the association is representing area

In response to the question in a letter published in the July 23 Willow Glen Resident, "Where is the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association and where is our representation?" WGNA has been involved for many years on the redesign of the Tamien Station area (see "position papers" at www.wgna.net). We were supportive of the design that was adopted in 1995. That plan was worked out in consultation with the surrounding communities and called for relatively high-density housing and a maximum height of 65 feet. It also had a neighborhood park and convenient pedestrian access to the light rail station.

In the past year, the city revised the plan, and recently the city council voted in favor of an amendment to the General Plan allowing maximum building heights of 120 feet.

The association understands the city's desire for high-density development near transit stations, but we have serious concerns about the proposed change, and we expressed our concerns both in writing and in person before the city council.

We've also joined forces with surrounding neighborhood associations and have held numerous meetings, including a training session by the San Jose Planning Department to better understand the complex development process.

Lastly, the association, in conjunction with the North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association and several other nearby neighborhood associations, has formally filed a 27-page official protest that gives us a 30-day extension to work with officials, planners and the developer on concepts for a more compatible design.

—Helen Solinski, President, Willow Glen Neighborhood Association