The Eden Examiner

September 2000

President's Message
Carl Shoemaker

These are exciting times. There are a lot of good things going on. At our September meeting Kip Harkens, Dwayne Hearn, Sam Som and Parice Shaffer from various city services departments will tell us about plans to revitalize neighborhoods, including some areas east of Eden Ave. It's all part of our Mayor's Strong Neighborhood Initiative (SNI).

There is more good news for the area East of Eden Ave. SNI is providing dumpsters on Saturday (September 9). Dumpster Day for the rest of the community will proceed as planned on Saturday, September 16th. Those who need help in getting their trash to the dumpsters should call our Hot Line. Please come early since we expect to be done before noon.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday October 10 when the two candidates for the vacant seat in the House of Representatives will be present for a Town Meeting. See Andy's article in the newsletter.

We invite everyone to come to our informative meetings to meet our nice neighbors and important community leaders. Working together, we can make our community a safer, cleaner and more friendly community.

Beautification Committee

Thanks are due to Superintendent Jim Ritchie for arranging the removal of 4 dead trees from the large playground at Primary Plus School. The bent fence posts at the corner of Amber and Phelps have also been straightened.These modest improvements help to enhance the appearance of our neighborhood and are much appreciated.

Carl Shoemaker

The Vial of Life May Save You

The Vial of Life is a Senior Services Program through Stanford Hospital and Clinic. In an emergency, time is crucial! The Vial of Life kit allows Emergency Responders (Firefighters, Paramedics, and Police), to obtain critical medical information about you, if required.

The kit, which is free, contains:

a) A Medical Information Form

b) A vial to store the form and any other information which is then stored in the door of your refrigerator

c) Two stickers: One is already on the vial. Place the other on the outside of the refrigerator.

Emergency personnel are trained to look for the Vial of Life Sticker on your refrigerator, if no one is available to obtain information. In the past few weeks, there were two articles about the Vial of Life in the San Jose Mercury.

At the September meeting, I will have available, a few of the kits which I obtained from Paul Fong, pharmacist/owner, at the Medicine Shoppe located at 3120 Williams Road. Paul stated that The Vial of Life Kit may be picked up at The Medicine Shoppe, for those who are interested.

Jim Kono

Membership

ENA would like to welcome our new neighbors on Yuba Ave., Al and Leslie Posada. They are very happy to live here and joined ENA after reading The Eden Examiner. Renewals this month are Theresa Pelinga, Obi an Josephine Egwin, Joseph Liotta, Jim & Diane Sandvig, Donna Nirschl & Mike Hill, Mei-Uy, Teresa Wong Orr, Steve and Linda Ichinaga, Matt & Nancy Bernsein, Dave & Liyusa Eisbach, Blake and Diann Wigins, Ken & Clare Livack, Jack & Fran Garnett, Shahriar Vaghar and Massarat Kourash. Our membership is now 46% of our neighborhood and has surpassed 370 paid supporting members. Membership dues are still $15.00 per calendar year.

Mario Vazquez

Membership Chairman 248-2918

Trees--How Low Can They Go?

According to City Code, trees must be 8 feet above the sidewalk and 15 feet above the road. This keeps the trees from interfering with pedestrians and tall vehicles.

If you would like a free tree for your parkway, call the hotline.

October Town Hall Meeting to feature Congressional Candidates

Congressional candidates Jim Cunneen and Mike Honda will participate in a Town Hall Meeting, during our regular meeting, October 10th. Members will have the opportunity to ask questions after they both give opening statements. Members of the Boynton and Lynnhaven Neighborhood Associations are being invited to attend, so we expect a large turnout for this meeting.

Our 15th California Congressional District is one of a handful in the nation where the incumbent isn't running for reelection. The outcome of the November 7th election is critical in determining the majority in the next session of the House of Representatives. Mail-in registration forms will be available at the September meeting. It will be too late too register after the October meeting. Newcomers to the neighborhood will need to register, in order to vote.

During the business part of the October meeting, Dr. Wanda Farber, Superintendent of the Campbell Union High School District, will update us on the future of Blackford High School. .

Andy Sermersheim

Neighborhood Priorities

The traffic committee has met many times during the past several months. Although our goal is to address traffic concerns, other issues always seem to come up. In an effort to keep on track, we decided to prioritize our issues and then list the top four. Next, we would find out which things are feasible. Finally, we would develop a plan to achieve our objectives.

We agreed to the following neighborhood priorities:

1. Traffic calming

Enforce speed limits; add speed controls such as circles, bike lanes, and sidewalks; start an aggressive neighborhood tree planting program; develop "Sense of Entry" at entrances to let people know they're entering a residential area.

2. Sidewalks and Curbing

Eden Ave (Payne to Williams Rd.); Williams Rd (Calboro to Winchester Blvd.); Payne (Eden to Winchester Blvd.)

Handicap ramps throughout the neighborhood

3. Neighborhood recreational area (Amber Drive School)

Establish "use agreement" between City of San Jose and Moreland District for Amber Drive School; renovate existing play areas; replace existing chain-link perimeter fence; plant trees around property perimeter; provide additional facilities (par course, BBQ, picnic tables, etc.)

4. Winchester Blvd (Hamilton Ave to Moorpark Ave)

Add landscaped medians/ islands; plant trees; enforce sign codes

Sue Gawf, Lynn Melville and I met with Coucilmember Linda Lezotte and her assistant, Edesa Bitabal last week. We discussed the items on our list, and asked for their support. Although we don't have anything concrete yet, I believe we will be able to effect many of the suggestions on the list. We'll keep you posted.

Betty Kabanek

One Neighbor's Request

I live on Spaich close to Payne and have two issues:

1) people coming off Payne to make a U turn at Spaich or going a few feet more and making a U turn at Sunnymead and 2) the speeders on Spaich (some seem to be heading to the townhouses on Polk Lane. How about putting up planter boxes in the middle of the street at various intersections like was done at the other end of Payne and Central?

These and similar issues are being dealt with by the traffic committee. If you would like to help, we meet on Thursday nights. Call the hotline for more information.

Need Exercise?

You can sign up for aerobic dancing at the Campbell Center. A session starts on September 13th. Call 354-3956 for more information.

Time

Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift
That's why it's called the present

And last, but not least, a parting word from Dan Quale: "I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix"

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