Pool Hours: Main Pool is CLOSED FOR THE SEASON

• Club Officer's
  • President - Tyrone Chew
  • Secretary - John Sheffield
  • Treasurer - Donald McRoberts
  • "Ghost" position - Vice President - Mecca Conaulty
  
  
• Committee Chairpersons
  • Recreation - Christine Alves
  • Social Activities Committee - Angie Cardoza
  • Public Relations, Emergency Preparedness & Neighborhood Beautification - Mecca Conaulty
  • By-laws, Nominations & Elections - Josephine Livingstone
  • Finance - Donald McRoberts
  • Maintenance - John Sheffield

My sincerest THANKS, from JOSEPHINE LIVINGSTONE, (your new Board Member) to all who took the time to vote in the Sept. Board Election; and to all who helped to elect me. ‘YOU MADE A WISE CHOICE.” The following are the THINGS I WISH TO ACCOMPLISH DURING THE YEAR I HAVE TO SERVE YOU: And with your help WE CAN DO IT!!!!

1. Set up a committee to help decide the future of our Club.
2. Set up a committee to help clarify our Election procedures and handling of our Ballots and Envelopes, Election Committees etc.
3. Also I’ll be looking for interested volunteers to help work on the Newsletter staff with me; to form an interesting Newsletter.
4. A committee to review our procedures regarding a yearly Audit of our Books.
5. A committee to review our By-laws to make sure all corrections have been made. (By-laws printed since 1993 are in error.)

Also (FOOD FOR THOUGHT) out of 761 homes Approx. 275 households voted in our last Board Election, and that is considered a high turnout. However, there are approx. 486 Homes that didn't even respond. If you are one of those and you are reading this, PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT IT IS I CAN DO FOR YOU, to help you get more interested in the Club!! Is there a Committee you would like to serve on? Or, just offer your comments. Call me..ask for JOSEPHINE I'LL DO WHAT I CAN TO REPRESENT YOUR WISHES.

November is here and the holidays are ready to begin. We are ending the camping year with two backpacking campouts. Backpacking means that you carry everything in packs on your back as opposed to car camping where you can drive to camp and bring in heavier tents, regular cooking gear, fresh meats and veggies, etc. Backpacking requires things that are light yet wholesome. Dehydrated foods and wholesome snacks are on menu for these outing. It’s a different way of thinking and lots of fun.

In October, we went to Castle Rock State Park, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In November we are backpacking into Henry Coe State Park. Both camp outs require approximately a three mile hike into camp. Even the youngest scout can handle this without difficulty. We do not camp in December, that’s reserved for our annual Christmas party and for school vacation.

Over the last two months, we welcomed three new scouts into the troop. We are always looking for new scouts. We have an exciting program which promises to be filled with fun and adventure, as well as learning life skills and good citizenship. Scouting is committed to provide a safe, wholesome environment for boys. Troop 227 meets at the club on Thursday evenings form 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Appropriately, our November theme is Hiking/Packing. Methods and techniques will be taught. We encourage boys between the ages of 11 (10 1/2 if bridging from Cub Scouts) and 17 to visit during a meeting and see what we’re all about.

1. It minimizes the amount of materials that can blow away onto your neighbor's property.
2. If trimmings begin to scatter, collection becomes more difficult and can cause more residue to be left behind.
3. Trimmings are less likely to get blown into storm drains, which need to be kept clean.
4. Most residents prefer their neighborhood street to look clean and free of debris during the week.
5. It ensures that street sweepers will not have to drive around yard trimmings.

City ordinance requires that residents set out recycles and garbage no earlier than 24 hours prior to collection, or a citation may be issued.
Code Enforcement: 277-4528

FELLOW CLUB MEMBERS,

This last month has been fairly active for those in the community involved in the Calpine siting. The South San Jose Action Committee has a very successful community workshop, filling the Martin Murphy gym with a standing-room only crowd. The workshop not only succeeded in informing many of us in the area, but also saw the attendance of all three candidates for the District 2 Supervisor post being vacated by Charlotte Powers next year, Forrest Williams, Kathy Chavez Napoli, and Maria Y. Ferrer. We, as the Committee, held short informative and introductory meetings with each of them at the time. In addition, both Charlotte Powers and the CEC have held several public meetings to hear the community’s voice.

Our committee has contributed our efforts to the issue by focusing on the impact on housing and quality of life in our area. It is clear that this plant will be a disaster to our area in several respects, most importantly to our air quality (this plant will be the number 1 single-source polluter in San Jose) and to our housing values. We have obtained relevant impartial documentation (publicly-funded studies by academic professionals) that state in general, power plants in non-industrial settings cause a significant loss in property values. Depending on the proximity to the plant, as much as 10% of the total value of a home can be lost forever. Since this is total value, not equity, the effect is much greater, i.e., a loss of 10% of the value of your home can translate into 100% of your equity if you bought your home recently. To oppose this plant siting on the issue alone should be justifiable, but take into consideration the additional pollution, noise, potential danger of the catastrophic leak of the 28,000 pounds of ammonia to be stored there, and the case could be made that to let the certification process even get this far is a failure of out political leaders to represent our best interests. This latter point is a point that is being driven home to our leaders at every meeting I’ve attended. Nevertheless, this committee has shared with them all of our information, and will shortly be engaging these individuals in face-to-face meetings in order to drive our issues home to them. Once again we have made it our mission to engage with the San Jose Planning Commission and the City Council in order to prevent the re-zoning of the site necessary to accommodate the power plant. We anticipate more discussions with these individuals within the coming month.

In the meantime, I repeat our request for volunteers to help with meeting attendance (usually one evening), expertise, or in any other way you may be able to contribute by leaving your name and telephone number at the office (with Jackie). At the very least talk to your neighbors and ask the question: “Have you heard about the power plant in our neighborhood?” It’s no secret that many of our members are not aware of this important issue. Those of you who read this newsletter can play a big role just by talking to them about it and spreading the work. Thank you.

RST Committee on the Calpine/Metcalf Siting 11/99