October 3, 2008

OnPoint

Graffiti, speeding challenge our neighborhoods

By Bill Highlander
Editor

Evergreen is a wonderful place. The residents like living here and are always looking for ways to make it even better. However, there are areas that need attention: Graffiti and speeding in residential neighborhoods.

Eliminate graffiti
Taggers are defacing public property through some misguided notion that they are cool. In fact they are lonely delinquents desperately seeking attention. No one seems to notice them so they believe the notoriety of splashing their initials or signs on walls and buildings will make them stand out.

Surely someone must see them at their destructive work. Report them to the police or to school officials or tell their parents. Volunteers dutifully paint over the tags but that takes money and time away from more constructive activities. The Concerned Citizens of Graffiti Clean Up Task Force encourage reports to the San Jose police at 408.277.8900 or Anonymous Tips at 947.7867.

Anyone who knows these brats should ostracize them. Perhaps counseling would help these miscreants, or maybe their juvenile behavior warrants a public spanking in the middle of Evergreen Village Square.

Speeding
Recently a speeding motorist ran over a puppy at the corner of Everdale and Balgray Court and didn’t stop to console the owner or apologize for the reckless action. Where are these people in such a rush to go? Residential streets are not racetracks and unless the driver is trying to get someone to a hospital, there is no need to pretend to be a NASCAR driver. But it happens in every neighborhood. I have no confidence that mentioning this will cause a change in behavior in most of the speeders, because obviously they don’t care what other people think. They probably won’t stop either when they run down a child or older person trying to cross the street.

Election 2008
The general election is only a few weeks from now. A large turnout is expected since we will be electing a new Pres-ident of the United States. But there many others issues to decide: County supervisors, city council members, state-wide propositions, bond issues for public construction and schools. Voters will have to spend a good bit of time to make informed decisions. Read critically, study the news and analyses of the issues and get involved. Mail-in ballots will be arriving in mailboxes next week. You have time to make an informed decision, so you don’t have to rush.
I am not endorsing any candidates or issues at this time. I want to take the time to study the issues, evaluate positions, and then decide. I hope you will do the same.

The Evergreen Times will publish profiles of Rose Herrera and Pat Waite in the next issue.

Opportunities to meet and greet the District 8 candidates for city council are scheduled next week. On Tuesday, Oct 14, the candidates will be at the Community Room, Evergreen Library at 6:30 p.m., and on Wednesday, the public can meet with them at the Silver Creek Valley Country Club at 7 p.m.

Your vote is always important, but this election will have many effects on you and your family.

Reader input
See the results of the reader survey elsewhere in this issue. Thanks to all those who sent in their comments. The results of the Best of Evergreen are still being compiled and we hope to print those in the next issue. We always like to hear from our readers so don’t be bashful. Let us know what you think about the issues facing our community.