A large grass fire broke out in the hills above the Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood earlier today. The fire broke out just after 2 p.m. and has burned about 50 acres. The fire is being attacked by the San Jose Fire Department, including water bombers dropping chemical retardants and helicopters. No homes are threatened.

The Association's Board of Directors is considering whether to adopt a resolution regarding the City's budget crisis.  A draft of the resolution is printed below.  Given the importance of this issue, the Board does not want to adopt this resolution without first hearing from you, the members of STFNA.  So, we are asking for your thoughts and input on this draft.  Are you in favor?  Are you opposed?  Do you want changes made to this draft?

PLEASE RESPOND BY WEDNESDAY, MAY 26th.  THE BOARD WILL CONSIDER ALL INPUT BEFORE VOTING.  THANK YOU!

DRAFT  RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SANTA TERESA FOOTHILLS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION REGARDING THE CITY OF SAN JOSE BUDGET CRISIS

 In recognition of the ongoing structural budget deficit that is significantly affecting, and will continue to affect, the ability of the City to deliver a variety of critical services to its residents, the Board of Directors of the Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association hereby adopts the following:

• The Association supports the Mayor's call for a 10% permanent reduction in City employee pay and benefits.  While this reduction will represent a burden to City workers, it is necessary to save the employees' jobs and to preserve the delivery of City services to the greatest degree possible.

• The Association supports changes to the compensation and benefits packages, including retirement, of all future employees to be hired by the City, such changes that will solve the City's ongoing structural budget deficit.  The Association supports a pay-as-you-go system such as the 401K retirement system that covers many private sector employees.  A pay-as-you-go system avoids the problem wherein future liabilities are left unfunded and future generations are left to pay these obligations.

Best Regards,
STFNA Board

Where:
Santa Teresa Library - Community Room
290 International Circle
(Santa Teresa & Camino Verde)

Who:
Mayor Chuck Reed

When:
Wednesday May 12th, 2010 7:00pm

Come out to meet Mayor Chuck Reed, local police & fire officers, our two city council members and your neighbors! It’s time once again for our biannual neighborhood meeting, which will give you a chance to learn more about what is going on in the neighborhood from projects that STFNA is working on to crime activity. We’ll have the following presentations/discussions:

• Learn from Mayor Chuck Reed about the budget crisis the city is facing and how it may impact our neighborhood services. Also learn about Neighborhood activities & projects such as the foothills trail, cleanups and any hillside development.

• Police – learn about any recent crime activity and preventative measures that can be taken. As always, there will be time to ask questions about specific neighborhood problems.

• City Councilmember Nancy Pyle will provide details on what is going on in city council district 10 (west of Blossom Ave )

• City Councilmember Ash Kalra will provide details on what is going on in city council district 2 (east of Blossom Ave )

The City’s budget crisis will be the main topic discussed at our Spring general membership meeting on May 12th. Meeting info...

Come hear the latest, make your views known, and get your questions answered. Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmembers Ash Kalra & Nancy Pyle will be in attendance.

The current crisis is unprecedented and the proposed cuts in service (see below) will affect every citizen. Worse yet, the crisis is expected to continue beyond the coming year. The solution requires strong input from neighborhood associations and citizens throughout the City. Your attendance at our May 12th meeting is critical to letting City leaders know that you care!

Background:
The City is entering its 9th year of budget shortfalls. The anticipated 2010-11 shortfall is roughly $116 million. According to the City, here are some of the service cuts that are being considered for implementation starting in July:

• 140 sworn police officer positions eliminated (10% of total)
• 73 firefighter positions eliminated (10% of total - loss of 4 engine companies and 1 truck company)
• All branch libraries to be open only three days per week (45% reduction in library hours)
• Main library hours to be reduced by 16%
• Community centers to be closed
• Defer all new park projects
• Delay the completion of the new police substation in South San Jose
• Further reductions in park hours and maintenance
• Further deferrals in roadway repaving projects
  

These cuts - and more - will occur unless there are significant increases in revenue or significant reductions in costs or some combination of both. New sources of substantial revenue are unlikely. Also, as of late-April, none of the City’s 11 employee unions have agreed to any reductions in wages or benefits, although the City Council has called for a 10% reduction.

Saturday, May 15, 2010
Event Times: 9:00AM– 12:00PM

District 2 Location: Coyote Creek - Hellyer Park to Metcalf Rd. (Visitor Center - 985 Hellyer Ave.)

District 10 Location: Guadaloupe River, Blossom Hill Rd. to Coleman Rd - Volunteer Meeting Area at the Santa Clara Valley Water District, 5750 Almaden Expressway

Come help keep our local waterways clean and join others in the Community as we pick up litter and trash along the Guadaloupe River and Coyote Creek.

Many sites request that you sign up before you show up, since they have limited parking, facilities and/or space.

To see locations, please visit www.cleanacreek.org.

Dear Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association Members,
As many of your know there was a tragic accident on the Los Alamitos Creek Trail that resulted in the passing of a beloved member of our community, Beverly Head. Since that accident many of you have come forward with suggestions about how the City of San Jose can improve safety on our trails. Guided by your community input, analysis of best practices, and deployment of planned improvements, staff has developed a set of recommendations to present to the Parks and Recreation Commission and the City Council including:

• Limiting the length of a dog leash on trails to 6 feet
• Requiring owners to be responsible for both their dog and their leash
• Installing centerline striping and signage instructing users to “keep to the right” and other cautions
• Installing new, graphics-based signs
• Posting new trail rule signs to include the leash clarification
  

Later this year, staff will begin deployment of Milestone Markers. These devices will be placed every ¼ mile and provide a landmark for trail users to track distance travelled and emergency services to improve emergency response for accidents on trails. Each marker will be associated to site-specific data so that emergency services can quickly find a preferred entry and exit point, understand physical limitations for vehicular access and other parameters.

A volunteer program will also be launched entitled Trail Watch. We seek to encourage regular trail visitors to provide condition and incident reports to our Park Concerns Hotline. By receiving data from the community, we can better target staff to address maintenance and/or enforcement issues.

San Jose has the largest urban network of trails in the Nation and has ambitious plans to nearly double our network in the next 12 years. The trail network is used by commuting cyclists, recreational cyclists, park rangers, skaters, joggers, pedestrians, pedestrians with dogs, cyclists with dogs, young children, people with disabilities and senior citizens. These recommendations will be presented to the Parks and Recreation Commission to gather feedback and then to the City Council. I will announce the date of the Parks and Recreation Commission Hearing in my newsletter so that you can attend and participate if you are interested.

All the Best,
Nancy Pyle, Councilmember
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/district10/

In recent years, heading deeper into spring means the city budget looms large in the minds of many of us. With a projected $116 million shortfall, it is going to be a difficult challenge to close the deficit. That being said, I feel if we work together with the employees and community, we can hopefully avoid major disruptions in city services. Although the current budget situation may dampen our spirits, upcoming projects in our community will help bring some hope during these tough times. We have received some stimulus funds to help repave some streets in our community. You may see some work on Snell Avenue and Santa Teresa Boulevard in the relatively near future, and Monterey Highway is also at the top of the list for the city in terms of priorities for repaving. In addition, the new Lowe’s is open and, of course, our wonderful Santa Teresa Library is open once again and looking better than ever. In addition, future projects for District 2 include the Edenvale Community Center which will be opening in the fall, and the police substation opening next year. Also, you should expect to see construction for the pedestrian overpass over Monterey south of Blossom Hill later this year. As for the trail, we are getting hard numbers as to the cost and will certainly help make it a priority when funding sources become available.

On a brighter note for our local economy, we have had some positive signs, particularly in the Edenvale Technology Park in District 2. Many companies plan on hiring employees in sales and manufacturing over the coming year. This is a great sign as we make efforts to bring more jobs to our residents, as well as encouragement to the many small businesses which rely on a steady stream of local employees. My hope is that through this difficult time we can all stay supportive of each other and collaborative in how we approach problems. As always, I wish you all good health and happiness in this wonderful place we are fortunate enough to call home.

Best Regards,
Ash Kalra, Councilmember
http://www.sjdistrict2.com/

The STFNA membership area is served by three school districts. Some residents live in the San Jose Unified School District. Members in the southern part of the membership area are residents of the Oak Grove School District (for Elementary and Intermediate Schools) and the East Side Union High School District. The budget situation for all school districts is dire.

Oak Grove News
Area Voting: Elections will be moving from “at large” model to an “area voting” model. Voters will now elect a member of the Board of Trustees from their specific area.

Parcel Tax: The current Oak Grove parcel tax ($68 per year) raises $1.7 million per year to help maintain key programs like Visual and Performing Arts, after-school sports, counselors at the intermediate schools, custodial and library support. Voters will be asked in the June election to renew this parcel tax for another four years.

Budget: Oak Grove has lost more than $9 million in funding over the past few years, and needs to reduce the budget by over $5.5 million by the end of next year. Additional cuts proposed by the Governor could result in additional loss of $2.2 to $2.5 million. The district will need to cut $9 million overall by the end of the 2011-2012 school year.

East Side Union High School District
Solar Panels: You may have noticed the "covered parking" that has been installed at Santa Teresa High School. This is part of a 3.7-megawatt solar project that is anticipated to reduce the district’s electric utility costs by 30 percent and deliver $36 million in savings over the life of the project.

Measure E Construction Projects: Almost $150 million in construction projects (paid for by proceeds from the Measure E bond approved in 2008) are scheduled to begin over the summer across all eleven East Side High School District Campuses and special schools. Plans for Santa Teresa High School include construction of a new multi-purpose building which will provide a space for large meetings, and a place where students can eat lunch indoors.

Budget: The East Side operating budget is under extreme pressure. Planned reductions include more than $10 million in non-workforce expenses. An additional $9 million reduction in workforce expenses includes elimination of 75 non-teaching positions, 4 district office managers or administrators, and 73 teaching positions.

San Jose Unified
Budget: San Jose Unified School District will experience $35 million in cuts next year alone, and the following year (2011-2012) is expected to be worse. The District will avoid teacher layoffs by cutting pay by 2.5%, raising student to teacher ratios in Kindergarten through Third Grade from 20-1 to 30-1, and having five furlough days. However, 160 administrators throughout the district may be laid off.

Want to learn about Fire Safety for your home? Want to meet the police commander for our area?  How about questions for the city council members Nancy Pyle and Ash Kalra?  Come on out to our neighborhood meeting and learn what is happening in the area, find out ways to participate, and meet your neighbors!

WHERE:
      Southside Community Center
      5585 Cottle Road rooms 8 & 9
      San Jose (corner of Cottle & Poughkeepsie)

WHEN:   
      Thursday, October 29, 2009
      7:00pm - 9:00pm

More information...

Think you live too far away from the Bay to have an impact? Think again! Our houses, our parks, and our businesses are all directly connected to the San Francisco Bay through the drain at the end of the street. Rain and water from our lawns, gardens and streets washes pollutants like motor oil, pesticides, fertilizers, metals and debris into the gutter, down to the storm drain, out to our creeks and into the Bay without treatment. Storm water pollution is one of the leading causes of pollution in our creeks and the Bay.

What can you do?

A lot! Small changes in your daily routine can add up to big pollution prevention pay-offs.

·         Reduce the use of toxic products in your home or garden, and dispose of what you do have as Household Hazardous Waste. (www.hhw.org)

·         Sweep your driveway and sidewalk instead of using a hose. Keep yard trimmings out of the storm drain.

·         Keep your car in tune and fix any leaks promptly.

·         Move your car on your street sweeping day

·         Pick up litter and pet wastes, and put them in the garbage.

·         Wash your car at a commercial car wash or over a lawn instead of in your driveway or the street.

Call 945-3000 to reports spills, dumping, and anything that threatens the Storm Drain. You can also report storm drain pollution online by going to http://www.sanjoseca.gov/esd/stormwater/ and clicking the online reporting form.