BUENA VISTA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION Minutes of the Meeting Tuesday, May 22, 2012 At Buena Vista Park
Meeting called to order at 7:15 PM
PRESENT: [13 people present] Members: Brian Habekoss (President) John Leyba (Vice President and NAC Representative) Loui Tucker (Secretary)
Sabine Zappe (Treasurer) Jose Gonzalez (Director) Shelby Palms (Director)
INTRODUCTIONS
Avi Gingold (speaker about Identify Theft Prevention) Beth Kramer Amy Rincon
Melrose Cacal representing Pierluigi Oliverio’s office
Avi Gingold introduced himself. He will be speaking about identity theft later in the meeting. Amy Rincon introduced herself, said that she and her husband recently bought the house at 479 Menker Avenue and moved from their South San Jose apartment. They are busy fixing it and we were invited to tour it after the meeting and see what they have accomplished.
THE MINUTES
The minutes of the April 24, 2012, meeting were posted on the website and the yahoo group files section. One correction was made: it is “Cory” Elementary School - not “Torrey.” The minutes were approved as corrected.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The current balance is $1097.34 of which $534 is CAP Grant. The newsletter will use the bulk of the CAP grant.
IDENTIFY THEFT
Avi spoke about identify theft. He believes the media is under-educating the public about identity theft.
1. Drivers License. If someone steals and uses your drivers license, and gets tickets or a DUI and the does not pay the fees or show up for court, a bench warrant for your arrest. 2. Social Security. If someone needs to get a job or hide from paying child support and uses your Social Security number -- guess who gets the tax bill?
3. Medical Identity Theft. If someone steals and uses your medical insurance card, that person’s medical records could become yours. If you are in a traffic accident, and the hospital looks up what they think are your medical records, they could give you a transfusion of the wrong blood type based on the medical records. And the hospital bill could wind up being your responsibility.
4. Character/Criminal identify theft. You could lose your job based on what someone thinks is your criminal record. 5. Financial. The is the most publicized form of identity theft and is actually the least likely to occur.
Avi then talked about various products (forms of insurance) that can be purchased to protect you against possible identity theft.
NEWSLETTER
We don’t have funds to print and distribute more than four pages. Most of the articles are still in, but had to be shortened. There was no room for photos. Jose then offered a lower-cost alternative: four pages that are 11"X17". Jose will reformat and try to include some photos of the litter pick-up and the park. The plan is to get it out before the end of June.
Minutes of BVNA General Meeting 5-22-2012 Page 2
THE PARK AND THE BVNA ICE CREAM SOCIAL
The ice cream social in Buena Vista Park is now on for Saturday, June 30, at 3:00 PM.
John provided Amy (a new Buena Vista resident) with a review of Buena Vista Park, the current situation, and a bit of the history. The San Jose Parks Foundation is raising money to help with maintenance going forward. The browning grass, the report of bees in the trees, the broken handle, and the clogged drain have all been reported via email to City Parks Department. We are not, at this point, responsible for maintenance, just clean-up.
The City wants us to log our volunteer hours. They have said we must post 60 hours before they can officially recognize the group as a volunteer organization.
NEIGHBORHOOD CLEANUP
The monthly neighborhood clean-up was once again successful. Three Adopt-A-Highway bags of trash were filled. This litter pickup is in conjunction with the Adopt-A-Highway litter pickups. Our hope is that, in the long run, we can build community support for the clean-ups and get more volunteers involved. There is a desire to clean up the area and we need to be visible. It takes very little effort once a month, it makes a difference that people can see, and we have an opportunity to educate. Residents want their streets to be cleaner, but need to see how to make that happen.
Loui talked discussed the San Jose Clean phone smart application that allows residents to report graffiti. Contrary to recent rumors, it is still functioning and is fully funded. As more and more people start using the application, the workers who have been hired have more and more to do, so the turn- around is going up. Instead of 24 hours, it is now taking 36-48 hours for graffiti to get covered. They are also working to make the app better and to give users the ability to see the progress of their reports.
CANDIDATE FORUM
There was a candidate forum at San Jose City College sponsored by Burbank, San Jose City College, the BVNA, and Sherman Oaks NA. Steve Kline, Bill Chu, and Pierluigi Oliverio were present. At that time it was stated that the palm trees on West San Carlos are not being neglected to death! They will be maintained, but not as well as before. There are plans, however, to put a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line along West San Carlos so the palm trees will probably be taken out at that time.
BRT
Bus Rapid Transit is scheduled for West San Carlos. This is the second most popular bus route in the City (second to Alum Rock-Santa Clara) and is a prime candidate for a BRT line. We should try to push to get a Buena Vista stop, perhaps at Leigh, along with stops at Meridian and Bascom, to help our local bus riders. New landscaping will be added in the next 20 years.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
On the last Tuesday (which is a fifth Tuesday this month) there will be a meeting of the District 6 Leadership Group at the Hoover Community Center at 6:30.
The June BVNA membership meeting will be at John Leyba’s house. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM.