January 5, 2007

Cambrian Times: Year in Review

Politics, politicians dominate news

By Carol Rosen
Editor

New Year’s Day 2006 came in with a roar as heavy rains and strong winds felled trees throughout the city. It was much the same throughout the year in politics, ups and downs and jumbled expectations—problems for the old mayor and a big change of scene with a new one. Elections brought little change within Cambrian Park with Judy Chirco regaining her District 9 council seat with a vote of 63.6 percent of the vote.

There was a long, very hot heat wave along with some bitter cold weather—for Californians—in the late fall and a dusting of snow on the East Hills in February, but other things didn’t change.

In August, Lynn Rogers, a teacher at the Kirk Community Center, held book signings for her new book titled “Alviso, San Jose.”

Aside from politics and weather, the city opened the new Cambrian Branch Library to large crowds; Cambrian paragon Carolyn Norris passed away; Rhea Perlman visited Hicklebees; the Cambrian Little League celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new tractor and scoreboard; Bagby School planted new, beautiful gardens; and this year’s Grand Prix went much smoother than in 2005.

Rough year
But it was politics that claimed the major headlines, especially politics surrounding termed-out Mayor Ron Gonzales. It was a tough year for the lame duck mayor as a December 2005 censure over the Norcal garbage scandal and his attendance at a meeting when the city council had taken away his committees led to his January resignation from four powerful municipal committees appointing council members Nancy Pyle, Madison Nguyen, Linda LeZotte and Judy Chirco in his stead.

In June, things took an even gloomier tune for Gonzales when the district attorney indicted him on multiple counts of bribery and conspiracy. The City Council tried to force him to resign, but he steadfastly refused saying he would serve out his term, which he did.

While the council in the fall approved an ordinance allowing it to remove the mayor or council members who have committed egregious misconduct, it was too late to use with Gonzales.

Running for mayor
While that was going on, there was a mayoral race with five candidates vying for the job; among them was District 8 Councilman Dave Cortese, who was endorsed by the Times. The June primary, however, led to a big surprise. Chuck Reed finished a strong first, followed by Cindy Chavez who up to then was the front-runner and considered by many to be a shoo-in for the job.

The two held their first November election debate in Cambrian Park in September at the Cambrian School District office and sparks flew. In later news Chavez accused Reed of spending taxpayer money for events, dinners and religious ads. Reed admitted his mistake and paid the city back $39,000, just slightly over the total he spent.

By the time the November election rolled around, it appeared that voters were in the mood for a change, decisively electing Reed. Pundits claimed that Chavez’ ties to Gonzales were too close despite her asking the mayor to resign after his indictment.

Following his election, Mayor-elect Reed tapped Cortese for his transition team and later to serve as vice mayor, saying the latter “shares my commitment to open government and reforming city hall. His broad experience working in collaboration with other cities will be an invaluable asset as we deal with regional issues that affect the quality of life in San Jose."

There were two other elections affecting Cambrian residents. Santa Clara County’s District 4 Supervisor, Jim Beall, was termed out after 12 years on the board. He ran for and won the race for Assembly District 24. Ken Yeager who resigned his District 6 City Council seat on Dec. 5 replaced him on Dec. 12. Yeager handily won the primary despite strong competition from District 1 Councilmember Linda LeZotte and Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan.

Superintendents resign
Dr. Barry Groves stepped down as the Cambrian District’s superintendent in June after 14 years as head of the district. He left to become the superintendent at the Mountain View/Los Altos High School District.

During his tenure, the five district schools increased enrollment to 3,100, improved music, art and physical education programs and began modernizing the schools. Teacher salaries remain in the top 15-20 percent of similar districts and middle school students receive computer and technology elective classes. In those 14 years, the district managed to keep all its teachers and staff and didn’t close any schools. It also has one computer for every three students.

Dr. Thomas R. Dase, who joined the district on Sept. 18, replaced Groves. Dase previously served as superintendent of the Pleasant Valley School District. He was an assistant superintendent for educational services for Culver City Unified District and director of curriculum for Fontana Unified District. He also served as principal for two schools in the Redondo Beach Unified District and as a classroom teacher in the Downey Unified District.

Phil Quon also stepped down from his job as Union School District superintendent accepting a similar position at Cupertino Union District. Quon had been with Union for 12 years. He said his toughest job was closing two schools after a parcel tax vote missed passage by less than 5 percent. Without the money, Quon had no chose but to close Athenour and Lone Hill because declining enrollments and too few dollars per student fiscally mandated that action.

Joining the departures, but this time for retirement, the popular principal of Leigh High School, Rick Costanza stepped down after 30 years with the Campbell Union High School District. He joined Leigh in 1998 as dean of students after 22 years at Westmont. He took over as principal in 2000.

Monthly happenings

January
San Jose residents woke up Jan. 1 to uprooted trees, fallen fences and downed power lines. Cambrian neighbors helped each other clear away debris and assisted with toppled holiday decorations and trees that left roads, like Almaden, impassible and homeowners stuck.

In other news, a New York Judge ordered that a Calpine Corporation motion moved to U.S. District Court from Bankruptcy Court. The energy company wanted to reject eight energy contracts with the state because prices were too low.

Vandals wrote derogatory words on a lawn and car on Milton. And, taxicab companies joined Santa Clara County police departments and Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.

February
In February, the city’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department let residents know that the city was determined to save senior centers despite its reuse plan for community centers. With budget cuts, staffing at the city’s 32 centers had been cut in half after $4 million was slashed from the PRNS budget in five years. PRNS had developed a plan to initiate partnerships with schools, agencies and communities to run the various centers. It was later pushed back to the end of the year.

Elva’s Coffee Stop starts a raffle to help pay for the Cambrian Park Little League tractor and tools that were stolen Thanksgiving weekend. The first gift is from Elva’s co-owner Frank Acevedo, who works for Southwest Airlines. He donated two roundtrip tickets anywhere in the United States.

Also that month, Michael Mulcahy, local businessman and former executive director of the Children’s Musical Theater, threw his hat into the ring to run for mayor. He told residents his decision was “motivated by his disgust with the state of affairs at City Hall.”

Beall delivered the State of the County address pronouncing Santa Clara County in good shape despite a decreased budget. In the past year, the county, he said, initiated health insurance programs for children, juvenile detention reform and opened an office of affordable housing.

Chirco recognized the District 9 volunteers Dr. Rhonda Farber, superintendent of Campbell Union High School District; Laurie Melo, founder of the Itty Bitty Orphaned Kitty Rescue; Lindsey Yamamoto, a first year teacher at Oster Elementary; and Philip Anderson who founded Braham High’s Helping Humanity Club.

March
Cambrian Park’s Luis Urbina received a Good Neighbor Award for volunteering more than 4,000 hours during the past five years to help beautify Houge Park. Urbina also has adopted Branham Lane Park. He makes sure it is clean and presentable for the public. Carol Farris Greer, who runs the Young People’s Theater program and her staff, also received a commendation for their work.

Carolyn Norris passed away in March, She put Cambrian Park on the jelly and jam map. Several years ago, she began showing her jams and jellies at the Santa Clara County and California State Fairs, winning many blue ribbons.

Christina Asbury, a Presentation 2005 graduate, dies. The young woman who touched many hearts, especially at a recent Willow Glen Relay For Life, always wore a smile and never complained about being sick or hurting or about the blow that cancer had dealt to her life.

Carolyn Norris, who worked hard for Cambrian Park as part of the Cambrian Council, also passed away. County supervisor Beall called her a “Renaissance woman. She had all kinds of talents and abilities. She always had advice for me, she knew a lot about everything. She was also feisty. I liked that. She would fight the good fight and she was persistent; she didn’t give up until she knew things would work out well.”

April
The Cambrian Little League celebrates its 50th anniversary with more than they bargained for. After the theft of their tractor and tools, and the raffle set up by Frank and Elva Acevedo, netted more than $9,000—including a check from the Air Systems board for $6,675. The little raffle that could made enough money to replace the tractor, tools and provide repairs to the shed to keep them from getting stolen, with enough left over for a new scoreboard.

The City Council votes 10 to 1 to sift through Sunshine reforms in hopes of making council business more transparent and open. The motion includes development of a task force to determine what regulations are necessary. The dissenting vote came from Gonzales who said he supports Sunshine laws, but there could be “problems of unintended consequences.”

Three council members—Linda LeZotte, Judy Chirco and Cindy Chavez—propose a resolution asking Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital/Hospital Corporation of America develop a partnership to provide a local community children’s hospital in San Jose. The council unanimously passed the resolution.
Willow Glen and Cambrian schools 2005 API test scores soar.

May
More than 20 volunteers met at the Kirk Community Center before fanning out all over Cambrian Park to pick up trash from parks, streets, creeks and green space.

The City Council adopts a resolution for an application for Federal Surface Transportation Program funding for fiscal years 2007-08 and 2008-09 to improve the condition of about 14.7 miles of streets within District 9.

The Times publishes interviews with the five mayoral candidates. The City Council raises fines for illegal tree cutting and schedules a code enforcement officer on Saturdays to handle violations.

Councilmembers Judy Chirco and Linda LeZotte kick off their respective campaigns; Chirco for District 9 and LeZotte for District 4 county supervisor.

June
The Times endorses Cortese for mayor. He comes in fourth out of five, beating latecomer Michael Mulcahy. The Times also endorses Measure A, a half-cent sales tax that will generate local funds for health care, transportation and child abuse prevention.

Willow Glen’s sixth annual Relay For Life raises nearly $111,000 significantly exceeding its goal of $80,000. The event added more teams and included more young people than it has in the past. Bagby Elementary School begins work on its Community Garden and Learning Center. It’s the brainstorm of parent volunteer Angie Horne and first grade teacher April Wolff.

Ida Price School opens a renovated library and media center. Farnham Elementary holds a spelling bee with the winners taking home certificates and bee trophies.

A large crowd meets early on a Saturday morning to Celebrate Cambrian. The five-hour celebration offered residents a chance to take a fun walk, play games and see the results of various classes in action as well as find out about services and programs at the center. There were square dances, tiny, young ballerinas dancing, a jazzercise class with LeZotte participating and Taiko drums.

Chirco recognizes Cambrian volunteers in Nancy Edwards, Amy Huddlestun, David Littau, Jessica De Santiago and Anthony Sedillo.

July
Voters renew funding for regional parks; the City Council passes $2.6 billion operating and capital budgets. The council also increases its library parcel tax and announces sunshine reform implementations.

Sebastien Bourdais gives a member of the McDonald’s Newman/Haas Racing Team a well-deserved champagne shower following the win at the San Jose Grand Prix in August.

Branham High valedictorians Lilianna Nguyen and Linh Nguyen and salutatorian Long Nguyen, Linhn’s brother celebrate at the school graduation.

August
Sebastion Bourdais wins second San Jose Grand Prix. While everyone agrees San Jose needs more parks, developers, city and parks commission differ on where the money will come from. The city holds a celebration to mark the closing of the Willow Glen branch library.

Cambrian Park Kiwanis holds its third annual music camp with 52 students taking part.

The Almaden and Cambrian Business Associations get together for their second annual softball game and picnic. Almaden slaughtered Cambrian in a four-inning game with a score of 25-8. The win was revenge for the previous year when the Cambrian business people won handily.

Kirk Center teacher Lynn Rogers published a good book on Alviso.

Judge James Emerson sets the trail date for Gonzales, his budget and policy aide Joe Guerra and Norcal Waste Systems on May 14, 2007.

September
The San Jose City Council approves monthly disclosure statements from members about any work unrelated to council business. They also discuss providing financial and staff aid to the financially strapped Repertory Theater starting a long discussion about providing help to arts entities that are monetarily in trouble.

The Vistamont neighborhood closed off its street and held a National Night Out party for about 50 neighbors, former neighbors and friends. “Every year we have a different house hosting the event. We do a BBQ and invite friends from all over the area,” said this year’s co-host Susan DeRosa. The event encompasses several generations from original families that moved in in 1959 to new younger families who have recently moved there. This year Chirco and her husband Ed, who helped alleviate possible leftovers, joined them.

The City Council approved purchase of an electronic citation system for the San Jose Police Department. The Cambrian Park Kiwanis Club installed its new officers including Ed Chirco as president.

October
City officials, family and friends of Louise Benson honored the founder of Sacred Heart Community Service and Martha’s Kitchen with a plaque at Hummingbird Park, three blocks from her home. The Willow Glen resident, who was known as the Mother Teresa of San Jose, decided it was her mission to feed and clothe the poor.

The San Jose Auxiliary benefiting the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital held its 34th annual Pumpkin Patch Boutique on Oct. 14 netting more than $100,000 for the hospital that never turns a child away despite his ability to pay. The fantastic boutique served 850 patrons. Baked goods were sold out by 2 p.m. Chair Arden Belsshaw made 50 pounds of toffee, which had sold out by 1:30 and all the plants were gone too.

The Times endorses Reed for mayor suggesting it’s time for a different approach to governing the city.

The Kiwanis Clubs of Willow Glen, Cambrian Park and South San Jose held their first annual joint Chili Cookoff and BBQ. The successful venture was designed to provide funds for service club projects for the three groups.

The city council unanimously approves proposals to adjust the Parkland Dedication and Park Impact Ordinance fees to 100 percent of 2005 land values.

November
The city holds a groundbreaking for a dog park at Roy M. Butcher Park.

The remodeled Cambrian Park Library opens its doors for the first time on Nov. 18. After waiting patiently through the opening ceremonies, a huge crowd of nearly 1,000 people enter the new building that has nearly doubled in size with a much larger number of offerings in books, movies and music. The building itself is unique, with angles throughout and furniture to match.

PRNS meets with District 6 and 9 community members to discuss its re-use for community facilities in those districts. About 100 attend the meeting, which is divided into sections for discussion of particular parks and community centers in those districts.

Matthew Haugland, a San Jose, Calif. native, Leigh High School grad and University of Oklahoma student, is the 2006 grand prizewinner of the Collegiate Inventors Competition, a program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. Haugland’s work, which departs from existing conventional wisdom in the field, involves accurately predicting nighttime temperatures, currently a challenge in any area that involves microclimates. He receives a $25,000 prize.

St. Frances Cabrini holds its 50th annual three-day festival with between 5,000 and 10,000 people attending.

December
Chirco again honors several District 9 volunteers including Carlo Pedron, Breena Sra, Vickie Johnson and Farnizaz Tavakoll.

An icon at Cambrian Park Plaza, the Bunny Hutch, turns 25 and changes its name to Bella Casa. Otherwise the store remains the same.

John Farley and local Kiwanis Clubs hold their second drive to solicit turkeys and food for Thanksgiving resulting in 5,000 turkeys, 100,000 pounds of non-perishable foods and about $7,500 in cash at 35 Nob Hill, Raleys and associated stores.