August 19, 2004

ValleyViewpoints

Parcel tax is not vital to San Jose libraries

Editor,
The library, like a business, seeks growth by expanding its “product line.” The libraries of old now offer written materials in numerous languages, Internet service, and audio and video entertainment—and it wants property owners to pay for all of it. After convincing voters to that property owners should foot the bill, with a “small” fixed “parcel tax,” the library now seeks to introduce a new concept of inflation adjusted property tax. This new plea comes at a time when voters are being asked to have property owners also pay parcel taxes to bail out the failing public school schools.

We need to revaluate the library’s basic function and funding source. The library should get back to basics, which excludes competing with video rental stores. It should also consider user fees, similar to a Costco. If you use it, then you pay for it. Imagine the money that could be raised by having a user pay a $25/year fee, instead of the property owner.

Lastly, as was pointed out by the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, library dedicated funds should NOT be used to fund city hall construction cost overruns.

Jerry Mungai
Fall River Drive

Response to letters criticizing public art process

Editor,
Readers posed several questions in a recent issue of the Almaden Times Weekly about San Jose’s Public Art Program. I am happy to address them, and to invite everyone interested in the program to get involved.

Like most major American cities, San Jose prescribes that a certain percentage of construction costs be set aside for public art. Two percent of eligible city capital improvement project budgets, and 1 percent of certain private development budgets must be set aside for the commission, purchase, and installation of artworks. The Office of Cultural Affairs, a division of the City’s Conventions, Arts, and Entertainment Department, administers the Public Art Program. Public art projects ultimately are approved by the City Council or city manager (for projects less $100,000), after a recommendation of the Arts Commission, an advisory body appointed by the Council.

San Jose’s Public Art Program recently was recognized by the Americans for the Arts as “one of the premiere public art projects in the United States for 2004,” and it is prominently featured in Garrison Roots’ recent book, “Designing the World’s Best Public Art.” The public art process focuses on selecting artists, not specific artworks or artifacts, so that each installation is unique and specifically designed for the site.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the Public Art Program is extensive community involvement in every phase of a project. Before an artist is selected, the community in which the artwork will be installed is consulted to define broad goals for the project. Selected artists, who initially are recommended by community-based panels, then meet several times with community members while developing a design in order to understand the community’s goals and to get feedback. Artist selection and the final design are reviewed by the Arts Commission’s Public Art Committee (and its advisory panel comprised of prominent local artists, designers and architects), and then by the Commission itself before going to the City Council or city manager for final action. All meetings are open, and community comment is solicited and encouraged.

Please look around the next time you walk into the Martin Luther King Library, or into any recently constructed or remodeled community center, library, or park facility, and experience the excitement and sense of wonder that public art brings. You might see the work of internationally renowned artists like Mel Chin, Red Grooms, Anna Murch, or Andrew Leicester, or you might see the work of San Jose school children (in the Spirit Gate at Hester School) or of community members (in the tiles at the Mexican Heritage Plaza).

We want community members to be involved in the Public Art Program. Although some public art projects involve citywide input (for example, the library, civic center and airport), most of the more than 40 current projects are at local parks, libraries, and community centers. When the community does not get involved, misconceptions like those in a recent Almaden Times letter to the editor by Louise Cates gain credence. Although there have been 18 community outreach meetings attended by more than 400 persons on the airport project since the start of the year, and although the airport public art budget was discussed at each of these meetings, the writer declared authoritatively that the city would be “spending $58,000,000 for one public art project.” In fact, the public art budget for the airport’s north concourse will be $3.89 million. The public art budget for the entire 10-year project is estimated at $10 million and will involve many artists and many installations in many locations in and around the airport.

To learn more about the Public Art Program, please visit the Office of Cultural Affairs Web site at www.sanjoseculture.org and click on “Public Art.” There you will find a more complete description of the program, including current projects, completed projects, and a calendar of community meetings. We hope you will join us.

Ben Miyaji
Chair, City of San Jose
Arts Commission

Greece exterminated stray dogs and cats to get ready for the Olympics

Editor,
As the host to the 2004 Olympics, Athens, Greece has decided to rid its streets of packs of roaming dogs in an effort to appear civilized and clean for tourists. Home to thousands of stray dogs and cats, officials made plans to poison an estimated 30-50,000 strays before the games. According to Welfare for Animals in Greece, a NYC advocacy and lobby group that just traveled to Greece to investigate, 80 percent of the abandoned street dogs of Athens and the greater Attika area, including the Olympic sites have already been exterminated.

Despite that poisoning animals is a criminal offense in Greece; it is a traditional method of controlling the stray population. Local authorities turn a blind eye to the use of poisons on the dogs, such as strychnine, rat poison, and farm pesticides. As long as animals die slow, painful deaths to clean up the city, I will not go to the games, nor will I watch them on television. I cannot understand how a progressive country in the 21st century can allow these acts of brutality to continue! I believe that all newspapers should be speaking out and condemning this practice!

Cyn Rymer
Paso Los Cerritos

Have an opinion?

Let the Almaden Times hear from you. In order to be considered, letters must be signed by the author or come with the full name, address, and a phone number (which will not be printed). Send letters to julie@timesmediainc.com, or via mail to:

The Almaden Times Weekly,
1310 Tully Road, Ste. 107,
San Jose, CA 95122