November 19, 2005

LETTERS2theEDITOR

EVC professor hopes to increase Latino student success at EVC, SJSU

On behalf of the Evergreen Valley College and San Jose State University Title V Hispanic Serving Institution participants, I thank you for your article about our cooperative project.

We hope that during the next five years, we can create, implement and institutionalize efforts to increase the number of Latino students who succeed at EVC, transfer to SJSU, and graduate from SJSU.

Richard Regua
English professor and
co-creator of the Enlace Program at EVC

Hey! Put down the cell phone, slow down and pay attention!
You’re in a school zone …

It’s increasing at an alarming rate around Montgomery Elementary School—people speeding, not paying attention to the road or their surroundings and failing to yield.

It’s so bad that we have a team of parents who take the time out each day to control the parking lot before and after school hours to keep our kids safe. I’m talking about all the students, not just our own children.

We started the parking safety team at the beginning of the year as a way to ease the congestion in the parking lot. But when we started on day one, we found out there was a bigger issue—unsafe driving.

I would rather get hurt than an innocent child. So we placed ourselves in the parking lot in the paths of speeding cars while letting parents know they need to slow down, they can’t double/triple park and they need to stop the car before their child gets out. We also talk to the students who make unsafe decisions while crossing the street, reminding them that they need to wait for the crossing guard before crossing the street.

We all have busy lives and need to be somewhere at some time, but can we wake up a bit earlier? We need to manage our time better. Kids are tough on parents sometimes by not listening, not getting up or not getting ready in time, but that’s what we are there for, to teach responsibility and punctuality to our children.

I’m a parent who owns a business, works full time, has a student at Montgomery and a child who is not in school yet and is involved in the PTA and other school boards, so even on the hardest days, I know it can be done.

I recently took 20 minutes of video in front of the school and when I viewed it, I was shocked and appalled—10 cars speeding, one car not waiting for the crosswalk to be clear of pedestrians and the same car almost running over a parent with a student not much earlier. I also have witnessed failing to yield to a pedestrian, parking in a red zone and people going opposite of traffic. What else can we do to keep our children safe?

As of today there is still that 25 percent who are running late, thinking its OK to barrel into a school parking lot at 30 miles an hour. Better yet, the high school parents or students late for school speeding down the street with not a care in the world but themselves and not watching for the crossing guard, who, by the way, has been there for years, but no one watches for her. Will it take an injury? A fatality? Then will we recognize what is at stake?

So next time you are at your child’s school, open your eyes and take a look around. Step out of your world for a second and see what’s happening around you. You will be just as shocked as I am.

P. Salazar
Evergreen citizen

Disaster risk lurks in San Jose

The disasters of this year—the tsunami and other devastating earthquakes, hurricanes beyond imagination and now tornados—command our attention to minimizing the risk of disaster here in San Jose.

There is a disaster that has been waiting to crash down on us for many years at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. How many more years can we afford to ignore it? We do nothing about it; we don’t even talk about it.

Yet each time we enjoy a performance at the CPA we are staring at a disaster that’s waiting to happen. An earthquake or a fire could put hundreds of us at jeopardy for the lack of adequate egress. For the sake of a few seats, there are no center exit aisles. Getting out safely in a fire or earthquake is unlikely unless exit aisles are added. It is time to make this happen.

There is another reason for adding a center aisle. It’s a quality issue. Squeezing by so many other people is awkward both for those seated and those trying to get to their seats. While risk of disaster is a serious reason, comfort of the patrons should be taken seriously too.

Carter V. Multz, M.D.
Cabernet Court
The Villages

Canyon Creek Plaza managing general partner
opposes full-service grocery by EVC

Dear Editor,
My name is Ed Abelite and I am the managing general partner for the neighborhood retail shopping center known as Canyon Creek Plaza. Canyon Creek is approximately 60,000 square feet in size and has been open since the year 2000. I am responsible for all aspects of this center which is located in the Silver Creek area. I am also a local resident of Evergreen.

I wish to state that I adamantly oppose the portion of the retail study created for the Evergreen East Hills Vision Strategy Task Force that recommends expansion of a retail component of the Evergreen Community College property, with particular reference to any expansion that would include a full service grocery operation.

Our center is anchored by Cosentino’s Market, which occupies in excess of one half of the retail component of Canyon Creek. Canyon Creek is heavily dependent on the operation of Cosentino’s Market as the anchor draw supporting the other retail, professional and restaurant uses located there.

As owners, to support our tenants, our initial design, our ongoing attention to maintenance and landscaping and concern with tenant mix has been directed toward creating an environment pleasing to, and utilized by, Evergreen residents. This level of care does not occur by accident. It takes effort, money and pride. We have been, and will continue in every way, to keep the center healthy.

Nevertheless, Canyon Creek Plaza may not remain healthy if a full-service grocery operation is allowed to be developed in our trade area. The retail study conclusion that the trade area around the college site can support another grocery store is incorrect in our opinion.

Any study that concludes that a new full-service grocery operation developed within 4,600 lineal feet of Cosentino’s, and in such equally close proximity to Lunardi’s, will not irreparably damage both food store operations and the surrounding tenants within those centers is utterly and completely wrong.

Building another full-service grocery operation within 4,600 feet of Cosentino’s will take away a significant percentage of the traffic that currently exists and potentially result in its closure. By going down this path, the EEHVS Task Force would be putting the future of our center and that of Evergreen Village Center in jeopardy.

To be absolutely clear, the design of Canyon Creek Plaza was totally reliant on the written commitment of the community college in the form of its own letter to the City of San Jose, dated Oct. 23, 1996. Had we known that the college was going to renege on their written commitment, we would have designed a different center.

It is obvious to me, that the EEHVS retail study report is flawed with serious issues as they relate to the future of our Cosentino’s site and the Shapell Lunardi’s site. The EEHVS Task Force, the Planning Department, the Planning Commission and the City Council should not rely on the report as it is currently presented.

In conclusion, the community college needs to honor its written commitment, which states the following, and I quote:

“… by excluding a full-service grocery operation, the revised amendment (to their application) is intended to complement and not adversely impact the commercial Village Center in the Evergreen planned residential community. Our intention is to work cooperatively with the City administration, Councilwoman Woody and the community to bring about a land use that will benefit everyone …”

If the community college truly cares about maintaining a healthy and balanced land use for Evergreen, then it needs to withdraw its request for another full-service grocery operation. Absent that, the Task Force will need to step forward with common sense and courage and simply recommend against expanding the community college site to include another full-service grocery operation.

For the good of our community, I hope everyone agrees.

Ed Abelite
Managing General Partner
Canyon Creek Plaza, L.P.,
and Evergreen resident

Attendee sings praises of Veteran’s Day Program
presented by The Villages Music Society

Every few years or so, a Veteran’s Day program is presented where everything seems to come together in perfect harmony. Common chords are struck that are so indelible in the individual and collective memory of the audience that the audience members become part of the performance.

It becomes a deeply moving performance for both the performers and the members of the audience as they transcend the mere enjoyment of the program and move into the higher realization and appreciation of what actually motivated them to attend the memorable program.

Such was the Veteran’s Day Program presented by The Villages Music Society on Nov. 11 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 4977 San Felipe Road in San Jose.

In this program, the Village Voices, the Villages Concert Band and the Villages Handbell Ensemble combined forces to make a truly memorable presentation in honor of our veterans. Their performances—from a moving rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” to “Let There Be Peace on Earth”—touched the audience. One can only imagine how much time was spent in preparation for the event.

The speaker for the program, Major Graham Clark of the United States Army National Guard, had taken a year’s leave of absence from the Fremont Union High School District when his unit was called to serve in Iraq. He returned with his unit safely and now serves as principal at Homestead High School in Cupertino.

His experiences were memorable and reminded me of the sacrifices that are being made by the soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and by those who have been killed and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families and loved ones.

The participatory high note of the afternoon sounded when the veterans of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps Coast Guard and Air Force—as well as the wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters who had made their sacrifices along with the veterans to their country in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq—were asked to stand as the Villages Concert Band played the musical salute to each one of the branches.

The program printed for the day summed up the emotionally moving event well with this quote, “We extend our gratitude and appreciation to the past and present veterans of our Armed Forces and to their families. Their valiant service for their country will never be forgotten.”

Tom Harney
The Villages

Have an opinion?

Let the Evergreen Times hear from you. In order to be considered, letters must be signed by the author or come with the name in an email and have author’s phone number, which will not be printed. Send letters to bea@timesmediainc.com, or via mail to:

The Evergreen Times
1310 Tully Road, Ste. 107
San Jose, CA 95122