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.
“Petty thefts and opportunistic crimes like car break-ins are up in most areas of San Jose, including in this neighborhood,” said Lt. Glenn Harper, SJPD. “It’s important to be aware of this and to be active in terms of reporting crimes and suspicious behavior to the Police so we can take appropriate action to promote public safety.”
The City Council, facing a budget deficit of $84 million, examined a number of cost cutting measures that affects the quality of life and safety of the Santa Teresa Foothills neighborhood. The FY 2009-2010 City budget (passed on June 23) preserves public safety, neighborhood services, economic development and other essential City services by streamlining administration and utilizing one–time revenues to balance the budget.
The approved budget saves many of the programs that were slated to be cut. Unfortunately, some programs have been reduced, including traffic calming and street landscape maintenance. The City will remove the higher maintenance types of landscaping in the coming months and will only implement traffic calming projects that improve safety. Closing the budget deficit of $84 million would not have been possible without the support of the City’s employees. Nearly all of the employee union groups came forward to renegotiate their contracts and forego raises in order to save City services and jobs. San Jose continued to receive a positive credit rating from three national rating agencies. S&P rated San Jose with an AAA rating, Fitch rated San Jose AA+ and Moody rated us Aa1. Having a sound fiscal profile enables San Jose to borrow at favorable interest rates and it shows confidence in the City’s financial management, particularly when a number of other Bay Area cities faced even more severe budget issues.
However, the State level budget woes are likely to impact San Jose in the future. Council Members Ash Kalra and Nancy Pyle are involved in dealing with the State to minimize the fallout on the city.
“I am proud of the fact that my Council colleagues and I were able to bridge an $80 million budget deficit without a major hit to services to the community and public safety. However, it looks like we will be suffering, once again, at the hands of the State as their budget fixes will inordinately impact our bottom line,” said Council Member Ash Kalra (District 2). “The Governor has proposed taking billions from local jurisdictions. The impact of the recommended taking to San José is close to $100 million, which is greater than the hole we just creatively dug ourselves out of in June! Rest assured we are lobbying hard to fight the State as hard as we can. In the end, we may lose the battle and tough choices regarding city services may have to be made. If that is the case, you can be certain that I will do my best to inform the community of impacts so we can weather this financial storm together.” While the impact of State cuts has yet to be felt, there are many ways that the city’s budget cuts affects our neighborhood.
Chef Deo Tupaz has opened Bistro Tupaz at Snell & Santa Teresa Ave (5899 Santa Teresa Blvd). The rustic European-style bistro and café offers a seasonal menu and dishes made with customers’ well being in mind, using local fresh ingredients whenever possible, supporting ingredients grown through sustainable farming. “We pride ourselves on rustic European Cuisine, and we take the time to research, learn, and to replicate the dishes as they were made by our European counterparts,” said Chef Deo. “We value quality and turn a deaf ear to ingredients we feel have not been picked with pride and responsibility.”
Several volunteers worked the STFNA booth at this year’s Communityfest on September 19th. It was held at George Page Park, and was a free community event featuring all day Entertainment, Community Information, Children's Games, Old Fashioned Field Games, Craft Booths, Concession Booths, Great Food, Give-A-ways, etc. Every year the Santa Teresa Citizens Action Group sponsors this event in conjunction with the office of city council district 2 – we’d really like to thank them for all the hard work and effort that goes into making this a successful event. At the STFNA booth we had animal bones that have been found in the foothills and gave prizes to children that could correctly identify the animals. Many of the adult volunteers were surprised to learn that when it comes to identifying animal skulls, we are NOT smarter than a 5th grader!
September 19 was the 25th anniversary of Coastal Clean-up Day, an annual event with a goal to pull out as much trash, debris and recyclables as possible from the nation’s waterways, lakes and ocean beaches. STFNA provided the coordination for cleanup of the Canoas Creek between Blossom and Lean Avenues. We had 30 volunteers cleaning two sides of the 1.4 mile stretch of the creek. 520 pounds of trash and 38 pounds of recyclables were collected. This was the largest Cleanup Day ever for Santa Clara County with a total of 35 cleanup sites, 59 miles of creek cleaned and collection of a total of 23,173 pounds of trash and 7,499 pounds of recyclables. A big thank you to all who volunteered for this effort!