Pombo’s Road Still on the
Drawing Board
Alum Rock Freeway study “funding
likely”
(Just when you thought he had given up on it!)
Pombo’s Road is not dead. Recent letters to the editor of this newsletter
have implied that U.S. Representative Richard Pombo (R. Tracy) has given up his
mission to build a six-lane highway over the Mount Hamilton Range into East San
Jose. One letter clearly stated that feasibility studies were not going
to be done – therefore the subject was kaput. We folks who live in the
neighborhood where the road would be built could stop worrying about it and go
on with our pleasant way of life.
Well, a headline in the September 3, 2004 Pleasanton Weekly dashes all
thoughts that Pombo has given up on “the Alum Rock Freeway” and gone on to other
environmental mischief. “Funding likely for Pombo freeway study,”
blares the headline. Its subhead, “Money in Transportation Bill to look at
Hwy. 130 corridor” says it all.
According to the article, Pombo announced the week before “that he has
secured funds to launch a federal feasibility study for a new freeway that would
link Interstate 5 south of the I-580 near Tracy to I-680 and Highway 101 in San
Jose, possibly using the Route 130 corridor.” The specific alignment has not yet
been set, but the writing is on the wall, isn’t it? For the uninitiated, Route
130 is Alum Rock Avenue and Mount Hamilton Road! So much for going back
to our usual complacency.
The Weekly article goes on to describe the new freeway even to details
such as that, per Pombo, it “would be restricted to passenger vehicles only,
allowing it to be built to less costly construction standards” and “We’re
studying the possibility of making this a toll road where if you’re driving by
yourself or in an SUV you pay a toll…..” Sure sounds like Dick has focused down
pretty tightly on this project, doesn’t it?
“Pombo who now chairs the House Resources Committee, sought funds for the
feasibility study last year as a member of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, which has included the project in its 2004
Transportation bill that could by approved by Congress and signed by President
Bush later this year.” Got it? There’s not much of “this year” left, so we
should soon know the lay of the land.
Now you have the choice of praying that Congress and George Bush don’t sign
the bill or you can do something proactive like reminding our
Congresspeople that A.) We live here. B.) A road here is not
appropriate. C.) A new road won’t accomplish anything long-term because it would
soon bog down with traffic from the newly built-up Tracy area. The ball is in
your court.
Click
here to read the article in the Pleasanton Weekly. Watch our Letters to the Editor page
for comments and new inputs on Pombo's road between editions.
Editorial – Editorial –
Editorial
Vote for Tanya Freudenberger for
Trustee of Alum Rock Union (Elementary) School District
NNV supports Neighbor John Leyba, too
NNV is proud to know Tanya Freudenberger and truly pleased to support her
campaign for a seat on the board of ARUSD. Tanya did not ask us to editorialize
on her behalf, but she is just such a natural for the job (and precisely what
the district needs!) that it seems really appropriate for us to tell our readers
about Tanya and ask them to support her too.
NNV knows Tanya, an East Hills dweller, from several years of affiliation
with PACT (People Acting in Community Together), the organization which goes to
bat for the little guy and teaches citizens how to hold their elected officials
“accountable.” Now Tanya wants to be one of those elected officials for
the next four years and we can tell you that she knows accountability from the
inside out! From her experiences via PACT, she knows what it means to work hard
and represent the needs and values of her constituency. Tanya is not a
“glad-hander” or a “hail-fellow-well-met” type and definitely not one of the
“good ole ‘boys.’” Tanya is as genuine and sincere as anyone we’ve ever met and
she has no agenda except to advocate for the happiness and success of the
children in our community.
Tanya is a selfless, tireless worker. She has been active in many, many
arenas – especially those concerning youth. She has taken on many
responsibilities in the organizations she has joined. She has earned many kudos;
the one that fits her best is “Community Hero.” Click
here for our story on how many years she
(and PACT) worked on the Alum Rock Youth Center before it was completed.
In July, Tanya was appointed to fill the vacant trustee seat of Adriana Garza
after competing with two other candidates for the interim position. In order to
continue as a board trustee, she must win the seat in the November 2nd election.
Obviously, this will be a big, national election in which school board contests
will get short shrift, but we neighbors can get out the vote for Tanya.
NNV is also supporting another neighbor, newcomer John Leyba, for a seat on
the ARUSD board. John, too, will put all his many strengths into bringing new
vision to our district – which, sadly, is the lowest performing in the
County. Click here for John's Web site.
Vote Tanya! Vote John!
Click here for photos of
Tanya on the campaign trail and here for a
photo of John Leyba. See our
Letters to the Editor page for a letter from Gaye
Dabalos outlining ARUSD problems and endorsing John.
NNV invites other opinions and endorsements for our
Letters to the Editor page. Send an e-mail to
JudyET@NNVESJ.org with “Letter to the
Editor” in the Subject line, please. Include your full name, which will be used
with your letter. No contact information will be published. Short, constructive
letters are more likely to be published – and read!
James Lick Moves Into a New
Era
API score increase impressive
There's a lot of work yet to be
done
By Bill Rice, JLHS Director
The New Era at James Lick High School has begun and
the results are positive. Back in March we reported that our tenth graders had
great success on the High School Exit Exam. They improved the language arts
passage rate by 11% (from 55% to 66%) and the math passage rate from 27% to 60%,
an impressive 33% increase.
The news is even better on the STAR tests taken by
all California high school ninth through eleventh graders every May. These tests
count most heavily toward each school’s Academic Performance Index (API). Each
school is given a target API that it must meet, and each year that target gets
higher.
Schools that do not meet their API for two
consecutive years are subject to becoming intervention schools. Once a school
becomes an intervention school and still does not meet its API, it is subject to
state sanctions. This is exactly what occurred at James Lick.
The
target API for James Lick for 2004 was 537, or a fourteen point increase over
the 2003 API. This year when the scores were reported in August, James Lick
had improved its API by an astounding 52 points, increasing to an API of
575. This was not just the highest improvement in the East
Side Union High School District, but it was the second largest for all schools
(K-12) in Santa Clara County. There is a lot of work yet to be done, but clearly
there is a new era at James Lick.
Click here to read a
Letter to the Editor from Jasmine Hatch, a 2004 Lick graduate, who has a new
plan to make James Lick proud of her.
Click here for last month's
article on New Realities at James Lick,
here to read our interview with Bill Rice and see his photo,
here for our interview with
Co-Director Joel Herrera and here
for our interview with Co-Director Richard Esparza. Use the Back button on
your Web browser to return to this edition.
Hospital Closure Creates Unexpected
Casualties – With More to Come
Carol Schultz in the news … again
Neighborhood Historian (and special NNV contributor) Carol Schultz was making
news herself the other day when she and one of her numerous photo albums were
pictured on the first page of The Valley section of the Mercury News. Seems that
the fallout from the impending closure of San Jose Medical Center includes the
loss of the hospital’s Family Health Center clinic which trains family practice
doctors.
Carol’s son, Michael, was a “regular” at the hospital-sponsored clinic
throughout the last two decades of his lifelong illness. He passed away two
years ago at age 47 from the effects of a rare immune-system disorder with which
he was born. Carol documented Michael’s care and interactions with his
outstanding caregivers with photos mounted in a small album. She tells NNV, “My
heart breaks for the fate of the residency program at Family Practice. Those
doctors that participated in the program were all from Stanford. The care Mike
received from them the last 22 years was simply terrific….the VOID their
departure leaves is incomprehensible….where will those patients go ???” Carol
says she gets “too emotional when the subject comes up, because I know how it
benefited Michael to be under their care.”
SJMC’s training program for family practice residents will not be the only
casualty of the announced December closure of the hospital and probable
relocation of many of its services to Regional Medical Center. Not only will
these residents lose their program, but hundreds of employees at the various
local HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) hospitals (San Jose Medical Center,
Good Samaritan Hospital and Regional Medical Center) will be laid off as the
staffs from three hospitals are blended and reformulated to fit into just two
hospitals.
The hastily changed plans of HCA to suddenly close SJMC with only a few
months’ notice (rather than the several-year-long evolution from SJMC to
Regional) have resulted in enormous uncertainty, animosity and panic. The loss
of Carol Schultz’ beloved Family Health Center is just the tip of the iceberg,
unfortunately. The writing’s on the wall - there will be an unprecedented amount
of teeth-gnashing, many heads will roll and boatloads of fur will fly before the
dust settles on San Jose’s hospital crisis.
Click here for our article on the
plans for expanding Regional Medial Center.
New Neighborhood Voice Founding Sponsors
Sobrato Hall Dedicated at National
Hispanic University
Dignitaries, Luminaries, Ordinary
Citizens flood the campus
Neighbors say, “Please turn down the lights!”
The dedication ceremony of its marvelous new learning center, Sobrato Hall,
brought out so many folks to National Hispanic University on the morning of
Friday, September 17th that parkers overflowed the campus lots and made even
broad Story Road look like a parking lot. It seemed like an ambitious stretch to
expect a crowd on a Friday, but there were hundreds of visitors out for a gander
at our community’s impressive new educational resource.
There were lots of official looking men in black suits and ladies dressed to
the nines. There were TV crews and interviews of luminaries going on in the
library. The 65,000 square foot building didn’t need much gussying up for the
event; it’s brand new and glossy as all get out. When NNV visited President Dr.
David Lopez in August, and went on a guided tour, there were still boxes of
books stacked in the library ready to be shelved. Not so on Friday; they were
ready!
It appeared that all 400 of NHU’s charter high school (Latino College Prep
Academy) students were on hand for the party. They were smartly dressed in white
shirts and black skirts or pants. The girls even wear shoes alike - black Mary
Jane style slippers.
At noon guests queued up for an elegant al fresco lunch served from silver
warmers. From noon until two, Open House prevailed. NNV hopes that many
neighborhood dwellers visited the campus to see the wonder that is growing up in
their midst. There is some grumbling about the inevitable changes which are
happening in that traditionally residential neighborhood - and there are more to
come.
According to the Mercury News of 9-18, the university plans eventually to
build another, mirror image, building to complement Sobrato Hall. The article
also mentioned that “the eleven acre (campus) has plenty of room for expansion.”
It seems that it’s incumbent on NHU and its neighbors to establish a friendly
relationship – obviously neither is going away anytime soon!
Click here for photos of Dedication
day.
NNV Note: We had occasion to speak recently to
a woman who lives several blocks from the campus and, even at that distance, she
says, the nighttime lights from the campus are so bright that she and her
neighbors can’t see the stars in the sky. If NHU is going to be a good neighbor,
it sounds like it needs to dim its brights!
San Jose Fire Station 2 – Part 2
What fire engines and trucks are at this station? What
can they do?
NNV Note: This is a continuation of our
articles on San Jose Fire Station 2 on Alum Rock Avenue, which started in last
month’s edition. Click here to read
that article and see the photos. This article includes links to other Web sites.
Use the Back button on your Web browser to return to this edition.
Today, Station 2 is the home for two fire companies: Engine Company 2 and
Truck Company 2 (yes, they are numbered for the fire station they are assigned
to). Each company has a captain, two engineers and two other firefighters for a
total of five firefighters on each shift. Generally, the captain and the
engineers drive the vehicles. Engineers operate the equipment and firefighters
put out fires or rescue people but everyone is trained to do a lot of different
tasks. Station 2 is also the headquarters for Battalion 2, which consists of
seven fire stations on this side of San Jose, so there is also a Battalion Chief
on each shift for a total of 11 people.
Engine Company 2
On the right side of Station 2 (as you face the station) is Engine Company 2
with three red vehicles. Jose Guerrero is the captain on Shift C and this is the
“Empire Engine Company.” The history of the Empire Engine Company goes back more
than 150 years but that’s another story for the next edition.
Engine Company 2 has three vehicles: Engine 2, Brush Patrol 2 and Water
Tender 2. They responded to over 4000 calls last year – that’s about 11-12 times
per day for EMS calls, less than once per day for fire calls and a little more
than once a day for other calls.
Engine 2 is a red Spartan “Gladiator Classic” chassis with
KME Fire Equipment
and a 1,500 gallon per minute pump. It carries 500 gallons of water, 600 feet of
5-inch hose to connect to fire hydrants or other sources of water and 1,200 feet
of 2 ½ and 3-inch hose to fight fires. It also carries a lot of fire fighting
and emergency equipment including a medication locker and a defibrillator. Look
for “E2” on the engine and “Empire Engine Company” on the front.
Brush Patrol 2 is a red Ford/Westate vehicle that carries 260 gallons of
water and 200 feet of hose. It’s at Station 2 because this is just the kind of
vehicle needed to fight wildfires in this area.
Water Tender 2 is a really big red
International Harvester Paystar 5000
vehicle with 3 axles and a big tank that holds 2,000 gallons of water (that’s
eight tons!). It also carries 300 feet of hose. This is the only
Water Tender on the east side of San Jose. And you can guess its purpose. Since
Engine 2 could empty its tank in about 20 seconds, Water Tender 2, if needed,
brings in a lot more water for use in areas where fire hydrants are not nearby.
Truck Company 2
On the left side of Station 2 (the section with the taller door) is Truck
Company 2 with two lime-green vehicles. Oscar Martinez is the captain of this
company on Shift C.
The color of the vehicles isn’t always a good way to tell them apart because,
as you will see in our photos, a red, replacement fire truck was at the station
on the day we took pictures because the regular lime-green fire truck was out
for maintenance. Chief Luna says, “Generally, engines carry water, hose
and a pump to extinguish the fire and truck companies are responsible for
search and rescue and carry the necessary equipment to get the job done (that
may mean a lot of specialized equipment with specialized training).”
Truck 2 is a lime-green “fire truck” with a pump, 65 foot ladder and an
especially short wheelbase which can negotiate tight switchback corners (we saw
a red American Lafrance “replacement truck” from the maintenance yard at
Montgomery and Park where all the maintenance is done).
Truck 2 also carries the “Jaws of Life” which can be used like a big can
opener to get into cars and other vehicles when doors can’t be opened after a
crash. Engineer Dan Gamban and Firefighter Felipe Ibarra demonstrated how these
tools work while we were there. The big pry bar (it can pry either open or closed) weighs 60 or
65 pounds and can pry open a door or whatever needs to be done to get access to
injured people in a car. There’s also a jack and a cutting unit with blades like
a really big, fat curved pair of tin snips. The engineer operates a hydraulic
pump unit which powers the tools. Click here
for the Jaws of Life photos.
Light Unit 2 is a lime-green vehicle that carries big floodlights and other
tools and equipment (we saw some big power saws and other equipment while we
were there). The purpose of this unit is to provide the lighting at crash sites
or a fire at night, especially when the firefighters have cut the utilities so a
building can be entered safely.
Battalion 2
Station 2 is also the headquarters for Battalion 2, which consists of seven fire
stations on this side of San Jose. The other stations in this battalion are
Station 11 on The Villages Parkway, Station 16 on South King Road, Station 19 on
Piedmont Road (just north of Penitencia Creek Road), Station 21 on Mt. Pleasant
Road, Station 24 on Aborn Road and Station 31on Ruby Avenue. Station 19 is
usually the first station that responds to fires in Alum Rock Park now that the
Alum Rock Avenue entrance to the Park is closed. Click
here to check the location of
these stations.
All of these stations are smaller than Station 2 and have one engine company
(numbered, of course, after the station) and four people on duty except Station
16, which also houses USAR 16 (Urban Search & Rescue) and has a total of nine
people per shift. There’s also an ambulance at Station 31.
|
SJFD Communications in this Area
Want to listen to the San Jose Fire Department with your scanner as they
and other fire departments coordinate their operations in this area?
The SJFD primary (dispatch) frequency is 155.0250 MHz. The command
frequencies used in this area are 153.9800 MHz. and 154.1150 MHz.
Click
here for other
frequencies used by the City of San Jose. |
So, how does Battalion Chief Jose Luna keep track of these nine companies with 20 vehicles
and 39 firefighters and engineers on his shift? He has a Chevrolet Suburban,
which looks like a little fire engine. See the sidebar for more on how fire
engines are dispatched and communicate and how they respond to a potentially
large fire below.
OK, how do they use all this stuff?
In the November, 2003, edition of NNV, Fire Captain Ralph Ortega’s described how
the SJFD responded to a wildfire that was starting east of San Jose, “I was at
Station 31 at Ruby and Aborn when the bell struck for a fire in the East
Foothills. Upon leaving the station the captain saw smoke in the hills and
immediately called for a Tier 1, then 2, then a Tier 3 response, and he
did this all before reaching the end of the street. Good call!”
“Tier 1
dispatches 3 engines, 2 brush patrols (BPs), 2 Battalion Chiefs and activates BP
groups, other stations move up to cover more area and we advise the California
Dept of Forestry (CDF) that a Tier incident is occurring.
Tier 2
dispatches 3 engines, 4 BPs, 1 water tanker, 1 Battalion Chief, 1 Duty Chief, 1
Safety Officer, 1 Wildland Officer, 1 Medical Officer, the Incident Dispatch
Team and advises CDF that SJFD can't send any mutual aid to assist them at this
time.
Tier 3
dispatches 2 engines, 3 BPs, 1 water tanker, a request for assistance to CDF, 1
Public Information Officer, 1 Mechanic, station move-ups and notifies Santa
Clara County Fire District of possible mutual aid requests.”
Since each “Tier” (Tactically Integrated Emergency Response) adds to the one before, this means
eight
fire engines from several stations were on the way to this fire before the first
engine reached the corner from Station 31 – plus nine brush
patrols, two water tenders and many other vehicles with three
Battalion Chiefs, five other officers and the Incident Dispatch
Team. You can see how the Mutual Aid works as the CDF planes and engines join
the group while engines and trucks from other SJFD stations and other fire
departments either come to this fire or move to back up stations that have
responded to this fire. Click here to
read more about the SJFD Incident Dispatch Team.
The plan is, of course, to respond to a potentially major fire with
overwhelming force just like a military operation. There’s always criticism if
the response is too little or too slow – but no one complains if there is an
engine standing by that is not needed to fight a fire!
Click here to read Ralph’s article
again, which we can all appreciate more now. Ralph is no longer the Wildland
Program Manager – that position was eliminated during one of the budget cuts
earlier this year. However, we have heard that the department hopes to restore
the position soon.
Click here for the Fire
Station 2 photos for this article. Click
here for the SJFD Web site.
Next time we’ll cover the history of Station 2 and the 150+ year-old history
of the Empire Engine Company from San Francisco which is now at Station 2.
Meanwhile, please don’t hesitate to take Chief Luna up on his invitation to
visit Station 2 and you might also take your kids to see the reproduction of the
Empire Engine House façade in Kelley Park's History Museum.
Click here for Section 2
of the October 3, 2004 Newsletter
(This newsletter is in two sections to reduce the
download time for this page)
--------------------------- Contact and Subscription Information
---------------------------------
Copyright© 2004 by Judy Thompson, 16174 Highland Drive, San Jose, CA
95127
Phone: (408) 272-7008, E-mail: JudyET@NNVESJ.org
Fax: (408) 272-4040
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Copyright© 2004-2005 by Judy Thompson. All rights reserved.
Updated 4/30/05.
