January 13, 2005


Community spirit keeps District 10 thriving

New council member invites residents to swearing-in ceremony

By Nancy Pyle
District 10 council member

I am very grateful to have the honor and privilege to serve as council member for District 10. My goal is to serve you well, to get to know as many of you as possible and to help our district thrive. An open and inclusive government is so important to all of us and I’d like to begin by inviting you to my Community swearing-in on Jan. 19 at the Almaden Winery Community Center from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Office and staff
Our personnel consists of Chief of Staff Ana Maria Rosato and policy aide Lee Wilcox. As we finalize our staff, we will keep you informed. We moved into Pat Dando’s same District 10 office space over the holiday break and were ready to go on Jan. 3, our first official day of business.

Calendar activities to date
On Friday the 7th we met with every single department head and toured the city to familiarize ourselves with the current redevelopment projects in San Jose.

Prior to that I met with Mayor Gonzales, his staff, our City Attorney Rick Doyle and Jim Cunneen, CEO of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, Police Capt. Jack Farmer, the AYA executive team, an expert on coyote control, plus residents with other wildlife concerns. I visited the Almaden Senior Association, Le Mirador and the San Jose Police Department Association for their holiday gatherings. I attended meetings for the “Spot,” the Almaden Valley Community Association and the Coyote Valley Project, plus a luncheon with members of the Vietnamese community. I also interviewed with the Almaden Times and the Mercury News. One of our District 10 residents, Jeri Arstingstall, photographed me for the official photograph now displayed at City Hall.

An observation
We are indeed fortunate to have so many dedicated and talented individuals in our district. Many of you are so committed to making our neighborhoods the very best possible, often volunteering personal time to make things work. I look forward to attending all homeowners’ groups in the near future and working with you toward completion of your goals.

Community spirit and volunteerism at work
What a thrill it was to see so many examples of holiday spirit in the form of lovely lighted lawn decorations. One of the most spectacular examples was the 70-foot tree at the Deckers’ home, which needed an 80-foot crane to complete the addition of 1,250 lights, 600 ornaments and 1,350 feet of garland. The 4-foot by 4-foot star was designed, constructed and decorated by the Deckers as a symbol of their 10th anniversary in their home. In addition to an article in the Mercury News and other local papers, visitors to the tree also filled six bags of donations for city team and the 2nd Harvest Food Bank. Home- made cookies and cider were available to onlookers and one night Santa came by because he was so inspired. This is just one example of the many caring and creative ideas that abound in our district.

Let’s communicate
Let us know your concerns and problems—we are here to help. We also want to hear about other examples of community spirit. Please contact us if you are aware of individuals who are going above and beyond to make life a little richer for the rest of us. Our phone number is the same as Pat Dando’s (408-277-5251) and our e-mail is nancy.pyle@sanjoseca.gov. You can also fax us at 408-271-9807. We’d love to hear from you.

Good wishes to all for an exceptional year in San Jose and District 10.