Minutes

1. Call to Order and Attendance
   The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm. In attendance were David Sanchez, Steve Pollock, Len Ramirez, Elizabeth Driedger, Monica Nuñez of Our City Forest, Andrea Flores-Shelton, Diane Wilkerson, Ryan Ford (Policy Aide to Councilperson Nora Campos), Mario Tavares, Melinda Bettencourt, and Ken Yoshimoto.

2. Community Announcements
   1. Welcoming Reception for new James Lick High School Principal, Glenn Vanderzee will be held Thursday, June 21st at ARNC President David Sanchez house. David asked ARNC members to please bring appetizers.
   2. David announced that there will be a City of San Jose Streets and Infrastructure Meeting will be held at the Alum Rock Branch library at 6pm on May 21st for anyone living in San Jose jurisdiction to talk about their wants and needs for neighborhood streets.
   3. James Lick Neighborhood Network is hosting a reception for its neighbors and local area neighborhood associations to meet and greet as well as hear a presentation about the proposed upcoming San Jose Neighborhood Commission Thursday, May 31st at 6pm.
   4. David announced that ARNC members Alice Sanchez, Steve Pollack, Elizabeth Driedger, Darcie Green and himself attended an open public forum ‘Working Group” Meeting regarding the proposed San Jose Neighborhood Commission. The proposed new commission would be composed of 3 representatives per each of the 10 council districts in San Jose that would communicate directly to the city council regarding policy affecting neighborhoods. Election of the representatives would be carried out via a “caucus” process where candidates are nominated by city recognized neighborhood associations.
   5. ARNC is looking for a back up volunteer for the Secretary position. Anyone interested can contact David Sanchez at ncvl3615@yahoo.com.
3. Community Interest Resources

1. David provided the following list of community resources:
   1. San Jose Redevelopment Agency, www.sjredevelopment.org where you can find the SJ Neighborhood Retail E-Letter
   2. San Jose Retail website, www.sanjoseretail.com
   3. Alum Rock Neighborhood Coalition, www.arnc.org
   4. The Neighborhood View, www.eastfoothills.blogspot.com, by Len Ramirez
   5. Silicon Valley History Online, www.siliconvalleyhistory.org
   6. Trulia Real Estate Guide, www.trulia.com
   7. Zillow Real Estate Guide, www.zillow.com
   8. United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara Valley, www.unscc.org
   9. SJRDA(San Jose Redevelopment Agency) Community Meetings List
4. Alum Rock Village
1. Village Business Updates – Unfortunately Bud LoMonaco was not able to attend and the update is scheduled for a future meeting.
2. Alum Rock Village Cleanup Day – As Elizabeth indicated that she does not have the time to organize this event Steve Pollack volunteered to lead putting it together, David volunteered to contact the Boy Scouts, and Len agreed to see about getting Starbucks to donate coffee. A date was decided for July 7 at 9am to hold the Litter Pick-Up Day.
5. Neighborhood Beautification
   1. Our City Forest Presentation:
      1. Our City Forest (www.ourcityforest.org) presentation by Monica Nuñez was very informative and detailed. She explained that residents of the city of San Jose can send in an application to Our City Forest (OCF) to receive a free tree and assistance with its planting. Also, residents in unincorporated pockets can also get assistance through OCF to get a tree planted in unincorporated pockets although it is more difficult to navigate getting the approval from the county authority.
      2. Other information given trees are provided in 15 gallon container and at 6 feet height, OCF can provide a list of recommended trees for climate, trees are planted in roadside right of way, if no parkstrip is not available then trees can be planted 10ft within property line. Recipient of trees sign an agreement to provide water to the tree for the first 3 years.
      3. OCF is always looking for volunteers which they call “Tree Amigos”. They can be contacted at the number provided on an informational flyer Monica handed out, 408-99-TREES.
      4. Andrea suggested that ARNC break up in to groups to go door to door passing out OCF flyers to residents in the area.
   2. Report on Abandoned Shopping Carts: Andrea updated that Mendoza’s Cart Service, 408-469-6030, is the best bet in town for abandoned shopping cart pick-up.
   3. Report on City and County Graffiti: Andrea Flores-Shelton
      1. City of San Jose Anti Graffiti Program: 408-277-4528
      2. Santa Clara County Graffiti Abatement Program for Unincorporated Areas, call Lisa Rose: 408-282-3166.
      3. Illegal Signage: David reported that since having brought up the problem of illegal signage in Alum Rock he hasn’t seen the problem come back so it is tentatively closed.
   4. Neighborhood Updates:
      1. Fleming: Planning for a new pocket park.
      2. Dale Drive: TBD
      3. James Lick Neighborhood: Know Your Neighbor Reception, 5/31, 6:30pm at AR Library
      4. Kensington Park(Staples/N. Cragmont): TBD
      5. East Hills Corridor: TBD
   5. Old Albertson’s: Andrea wanted to see if we could follow up on the surveys from Nora Campos’ office regarding the vacant Albertson’s site in Capitol Square to find out about the possibility of getting Trader Joe’s to move in.
6. Building Community
   1. Develop an Alum Rock Identity (common flower or?): This will be brought back to discuss at a future meeting.
   2. James Lick Flea Market: This will be brought back to discuss at a future meeting.
   3. ARYC (Alum Rock Youth Center) June Comedy Fund Raiser: Diane Wilkerson who is on the ARYC Advisory Board reported that it is still in the process of organizing.
   4. Alum Rock Neighborhood Resource Fair: David suggested bringing tabling this item to a future meeting.
   5. ARNC Mixer: David and Bud LoMonaco’s Idea (on hold until summer)
7. Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm.