July 1, 2008

Council Report

San Jose wraps up the 2008-09 budget

By Councilmember Judy Chirco
Special to the Times

The City Council is not only charged with adopting a balanced budget, but doing it in a balanced way. I am pleased to announce that Mayor Chuck Reed accepted my proposal to fund needed renovations at the Kirk Senior Center.

In addition, the Mayor's June Budget Message includes my proposal to fund the Children's Health Mobile. I am thrilled that my requests were included in the Mayor's budget message, and were adopted by the council at the June 24 meeting. 

Summer time
The youth center at the Camden Community Center is on their summer schedule. The Den is open Monday through Friday from 3-8 p.m. This is a supervised drop-in center with plenty of activities to fight off summer boredom. Activities at the Den include a water sponge fight on July 2, Skate Park Field trip on July 12 as well as archery practice, volleyball, movies, Frisbee golf, lacrosse and basketball.

The late night gym is open from 8-10 p.m. (closed July 4) and is free.

Some of the Summer Camps offered at the Camden Community Center are still available. They include Eco Camp, Camp CORE and Lacrosse. Camps that are full include Lego's Robotic Camp, Extreme Teens, Archery and Leaders-in-Training.

National Night Out
The 25th annual National Night Out will be Tuesday, Aug. 5. It is a time to celebrate neighborhood unity and promote crime prevention and police-community partnerships.

Last year, more than 100 neighborhoods in San Jose participated in National Night Out. It isn’t too late to plan a gathering for your block.

In addition to several neighborhoods in District 9 that host small gatherings, the District 9 celebration will be held at Butcher Park on Camden Avenue between Lancaster Drive and Oakwood Avenue from 4:30 to 8 p.m. with rafts, facepainting, balloon animals and a jumpy house to entertain the children. A BBQ will be provided for all to enjoy.

San Jose’s Camden Communi-ty Center, Neighborhood Development Center, Cambrian Library and Safe Schools program will be hosting the event. If your neighborhood has an event planned, please let me know by calling my office. I would enjoy stopping by to say hello.

For further information, event ideas and to register your neighborhood celebration go on-line to www.sjpd.org and click on the National Night Out icon or call (408) 277-4133.

Pearl Library Branch grand opening
Save the date for the grand opening of the Pearl Avenue Branch Library on Saturday, Aug. 9. This new library is double the size of the old library and includes many new features such as a group study room, storytelling area and a community room with 60 parking spaces.

A donor preview reception will be held earlier in the week for those donating $100 or more. To donate to the Pearl Avenue Library please contact the San Jose Public Library Foundation at (408) 808-2081.

If you wish to receive periodic e-mails from my office, please visit the District 9 Web site at www.sanjoseca.gov/district9 and click on “Join Judy’s e-mail list.” As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact our office at District9@sanjoseca.gov or (408) 535-4909.