March 10, 2006

Community leaders: To make a difference ‘know your neighbor’

Police chief, San Jose councilmen and LDS
leader encourage civic involvement

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

San Jose’s top cop says the key to getting government leaders to work with ecumenical and neighborhood groups to solve community problems is by giving them face time.

Another way to help address neighborhood concerns is by teaching them how to get involved and encouraging them to know their neighbors.

Speaking to a crowd of nearly 100 people at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Cherry Avenue in Willow Glen on March 3, San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis said sometimes citizens feel overwhelmed because they don’t know where to start to make a difference in the community.

“It’s a lot like running track,” Davis said, dressed in his blue police uniform. “They’re looking at the hurdles and realizing how long the distance is and how problematic it’s going to be.”

But citizens need to take issues one at a time, Davis said.

“How do you eat an elephant?” Davis asked, referring to the many problems citizens want to tackle to improve their communities. “The answer is one bite at a time. You don’t have to be overwhelmed.”

Davis was one of four keynote speakers at a dinner hosted by leaders of the LDS Church to reach out to different government, education, neighborhood and religious leaders in the San Jose area to develop positive relationships with them and build bridges of friendship and understanding.

Some of those in attendance included Father Jose Rubio with the Catholic Diocese of San Jose; Dennis King, executive director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Jim Zito, a member of the San Jose Planning Commission; Vahid Motazedian with the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i Community of San Jose; Pastor Thomas Garner, with the Cambrian Park Seventh-day Adventist Church; the Rev. Nancy Schell with the Westminster Presbyterian Church and Ed Rast, chairman of United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County.

“The key is to start somewhere,” Davis said. “Start with the basics. Get to know your neighbors. The important thing is establishing relationships.”

Through networking with neighbors, residents can also learn about issues, he said.

And citizens can also start reading the daily newspaper, doing research on the Internet and attend and watch government meetings, he added.

Davis said the growing gang problem in the city in the 1980’s and 90’s was a perfect example of an issue properly addressed through community involvement.

He also said it’s important for residents to understand their differences and similarities realizing that, most often, they share more things in common. “It’s about personal relationships,” Davis stressed. “We need to take our small piece of the elephant or hurdle and add to the greater good.”

District 2 San Jose City Councilman Forrest Williams said personal relationships “make a world of difference” when trying to address community problems and concerns.

Williams believes he’s a servant of District 2, which represents Blossom Valley and Santa Teresa. “I don’t feel that I’m mightier than them (constituents). I don’t feel that I have more prestige.”

Williams said to make a positive impact in the community residents need to stay true and keep commitments.

He said to know the needs of his district he meets with all its neighborhood groups and tries to address their issues in a prompt manner directing his staff to respond to them within 15 seconds from initial contact.

District 8 San Jose City Councilman Dave Cortese echoed Williams and Davis’ advise to dinner guests.

“Get involved,” Cortese said. “Whatever you do in life, make service to your community a priority.”

Cortese also said citizens need to get back to championing basic core values of truthfulness, openness and candor. Speaking about recent scandals at City Hall and other society problems, the mayoral contender said, “I think it’s systemic and it needs to be changed,” he said. “When did lying become okay?”

Due to budget cuts, and with the city facing a projected $78 million deficit during this fiscal year, Cortese said city leaders are asking residents to roll up their sleeves and improve their communities asking, “What can you do about it?”

He encouraged those in attendance to speak up if public service issues aren’t being addressed. “Please show up, write letters, write e-mails and do something,” he urged.

Cortese was accompanied by his wife, Pattie Cortese, who invited participants to attend the Carry the Vision peace conference April 22 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Evergreen Valley College. The conference is being sponsored by his office, the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment and the San Jose Sikh community.

It is part of an international grassroots educational campaign launched at the United Nations in January 1998 commemorating the memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. The campaign fosters a deeper understanding of the viability of and necessity for nonviolence as a way to bring forth peace in the world.

Randy Mack, chairman of the LDS San Jose Fremont Multistake Public Affairs Council, told the Old Testament story of Joshua at the Jordan River with the Ark of the Covenant and how they prayed and the river split for them to walk across to the other side.

Mack said as memorials, 12 stones were taken from the Jordan at the place where the priests had stood.

“What will your memorial be to your children and the community?” Mack asked.

Imam Tahir Anwar, with the South Bay Islamic Association, gave the evening’s benediction. But before praying for understanding, peace and love and the ability to overcome problems, he told the audience that he believed everyone had the same challenges.

“Frankly speaking, we’re all in this together,” Anwar said. “We’re just one very large family and we just have to learn to understand one another and really respect each other.”

Anwar said he learned from his father, the first Imam in the state of California in 1978, to meet his neighbors.