This blog post is based on a CCA email exchange between a couple of neighbors who have witnessed decades of neighborhood evolution.

April

Everything this community has accomplished happened because the neighbors did the work. The ordinances that were proposed were written and researched by volunteer attorneys who lived here, the traffic studies were initiated and implemented by local neighbors, the down-zoning and increased Code Enforcement were accomplished by residents working together.

Thank you to all our volunteers who still monitor problem areas and pick up other people’s trash.

Thanks to creek monitors, BART monitors, homeless volunteers, beautification and many, many others.

Jeff

And I wanted to salute the unique effort of the neighbors who came together in the early 1990s to oppose the unilateral closing of San Carlos Street through the SJSU Campus. The “deal” had been struck between then-Councilwoman Susan Hammer and then-SLSU President Gail Fullerton: the City would abandon the stretch of San Carlos Street between 4th and 10th Streets. The CCA leadership at the time had signed off on it – three of the officers worked at or for SJSU. 

So, we formed the Naglee Park Neighborhood Association, rallied the neighbors to oppose the deal, and got outgoing Mayor Tom McHenry to agree to set up a Task Force as Susan Hammer, who had been elected Mayor, assumed her office. David Pandori, newly elected District Three Councilmember, was appointed by Mayor Hammer to head up the Task Force. It consisted of a number of neighbors, University representatives, Downtown San Jose business owners, and City staff. It met for 2 1/2 years – 59 meetings — and initiated a list of 19 improvements that the State had to fund in exchange for abandoning the City-owned street, including the development of the Pedestrian Mall you now see, planting some 600 street trees, reconfiguration of the three parking garages, added signalized intersections, as well as to landscape 9th Street, which had been previously given to the University but never landscaped as intended 

From this effort grew the Town & Gown Committee, which met quarterly for a number of years, and culminated in the cooperative effort leading to the construction of the Martin Luther King Library – the first joint University/City library in the country. Some of the Task Force/Town & Gown neighbors would go on to serve on the SJSU Greek Life Task Force, which established an on-campus program to support – and regulate- the Greek houses. One of the Greek Houses – the Pikes — ended up adopting the small park at 6th and William Street as their project, and would serve on the United Neighborhood Association that was formed and led by our very own Ken Podgorsek.  

Through all of this, Carl and Marianne Salas played a pivotal role in creating and promoting the East San Carlos Street commercial center, which culminated in the successful House of Bagels and The Garage.  (The formation of the Town & Gown Committee was Marianne’s idea).

While I’m at it, I would be remiss if I didn’t do a major shout-out to Candice Stein, whose skills, leadership, and years of personal effort resulted in the planting of the dozens of trees that line San Carlos Street today, the landscaping of the corner, and eventually the inspiration for the Median Buddies.