Willow Glen Neighborhood Association President Helen Solinski said that the association has an exciting year ahead with a "cohesive team" of board members.

Some of the community issues the association plans to tackle are traffic in downtown Willow Glen, work with the community to help deal with the San Jose Unified School District budget-cut problem and the potential loss of the hose truck and three personnel at Fire Station 6, she said.

"We're still a grass-roots platform, and we're going to tackle issues as they come," Solinski said. She added that the association also wanted to contribute to rebuilding Gardner Academy's school library.

Land use was also at the top of the association's list, and she noted that many new developments are under way.

A likely hot building topic in 2004 will be the city council's reevaluation of "in-law units," also known as "granny units," on residential properties, she said. The city council is scheduled to discuss the matter and listen to public comments in January.

"It'll be a big deal in Willow Glen because of the lot sizes," Solinski said. Building secondary units for aging parents on existing properties appeals to many residents, she said. But there are concerns that these units will add to issues of parking and noise.

North Willow Glen Association President Tom Smith is also looking forward to the upcoming year. He believes 2004 will be an even better year for the association because of the momentum generated from winning the BRICC award—a Community Foundation Silicon Valley recognition of a new and emerging neighborhood group. He thinks the association will be able to attract more members.

"We are wildly optimistic," Smith said. "And there's a lot to be done." He added that recruitment and growth may be aided by various issues that have sparked community interest. Some of those issues include the arson fire at Gardner Academy, converting the railroad easement on Fuller Avenue into a park and continuing the neighborhood garage sale and Fourth of July block party.

"We want to be more inclusive and accessible," he said, noting that welcoming all ethnicities, senior citizens and new neighbors would be one of the association's primary areas of focus.