Murdock Neighborhood Association General Meeting -- "Be Prepared!"

April 26, 2006

The meeting was called to order by President Bob Fanjoy at 7:20 p.m.

Announcements by President Fanjoy

• There will be a Council District One candidate forum at the Moreland-West San Jose Community Center, 1850 Fallbrook Avenue (on Castro Middle School campus).
• The annual MNA picnic is scheduled for Saturday, June 24.
• Use our website – www.murdockna.org.
• Tuesday, August 1 will be our next general meeting. It will be National Night Out at Murdock Park.
• Please renew your membership, or join us for the first time.
• We need volunteers! Sign up with Jennifer Lee at the table near the door. In particular we need distributors for flyers and newsletters.
• Now is the time for a West Nile virus alert -- check our website – and get rid of any standing water on your property.
• The Traffic Committee reports that the city's study to determine whether we qualify for crossing guards is now complete. Only the Wunderlich/Ora crossing qualified, and at such a low rating that it is not likely we will receive a paid guard. Volunteer guards are possible, and the city does offer training.

Open Forum

• Mori Mandis requested that any member who is nominated for a board position should be listed on the ballot, not just the slate selected by the nominating committee. M/S Mandis/Gomez. Discussion: Last year several members were nominated but not selected for the slate by the nominating committee. Only the slate names appeared on the ballot. Details about the offices and the nomination procedure are in the by-laws, available on the website. Since several board members will be leaving at the end of this year, we will definitely be looking for volunteers. Candidates must be paid members as of the August 1 meeting to be eligible for nomination. Voice vote – passed unanimously.
• Neighborhood Watch: Can we just do one big meeting for the neighborhood? Some of us want the information, but not enough people on our street are interested to qualify for a meeting. Fanjoy response: We have asked, and the response from the city is no. Perhaps you could attend one of the other meetings.
• Lorraine Daugherty: Can we annex Lynbrook HS to the city? It is in the County. Her issue is the setback from the road that leads to the teacher parking lot – too close to her home. Johnson response: The school is in the city limits, but city standards for setbacks do not apply to schools. As an entity of the state, schools do not have to follow local ordinances.
• Can we get some phone numbers on the website – school districts, for example? Illes response: Look in the reference section of the site – many phone numbers there, including school districts.
• Daugherty: Why is there no community center for this area? Rainbow Park should have one. The governments in this area don't cooperate (San Jose, two school districts). Johnson response: Each council district generally gets one community center, and some have senior centers. District One has two partial centers – Moreland/West San Jose just off Campbell Avenue near Westgate and the new center, which is a combination community center and police center, on the corner of Boynton and Williams.
• There is a new Lowe's store on Lawrence Expressway.

Neighborhood Watch

• Charles Jones encouraged residents of each street to organize meetings. If over 60% of the street attend, there is a street sign. If 10 or more homes are represented, each receives a window sign.
• Meetings can be at a neutral location like the school.
• You can attend a meeting that is not on your street, but the real purpose of the meeting is to connect neighbors in close proximity so they can watch out for each other.
• Contact Crime Prevention Specialist Rosanna Carrasco at 277-4133 or 219-6663. It takes 2 – 3 weeks to schedule.
• The meeting lasts 2 hours. If a beat officer is available, he/she comes at the end of the meeting.

Program – Be Prepared

Stephen West of ADT home security systems discussed alarm systems. Some highlights from his presentation:

• Alarms monitored by a company are better, since many people are not home during the day to hear an alarm and call the police.
• San Jose is relatively safe with few incidents, but if you are hit, the odds of recovering stolen goods are very low. Even with a system, best protection is to lock doors and windows.
• You need fire and burglar alarms. Alarms can be battery, wireless, or wired.
• Get what you can afford. Most systems cost between $800 - $1,500. The service ranges from $25 - $35/month.
• Make sure you get a data sheet and know what you are getting.

Bob Steinberg from the Office of Emergency Services, City of San Jose discussed the San Jose Prepared program and disasters in general. Highlights:

• San Jose Prepared meets the federal standard for CERT (Community Emergency Response Team).
• Why should you prepare? There are hazards:
  • Earthquakes: Chimneys are vulnerable – consider strengthening. We have a 60% chance of a 6.0 or greater quake by 2030. San Jose is between the San Andreas, Calaveras and Hayward faults – and the latter is predicted to be the next big location. Nearby ocean faults can cause a tidal wave.
  • Floods: We have many streams, and it will be years before the Water District can complete protection measures.
  • Hazardous materials: They are everywhere, including in your home. An earthquake can cause problems. These materials are flammable, toxic, reactive, acidic, and/or oxidizing.
  • Transportation accidents can result in hazardous spills.
  • Dam Failures: our dams should hold in an earthquake, but they could have spillovers.
  • Terrorism hazards: chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosive.
• Why should you prepare? Help will be limited.
  • SJ has 4 firefighters for every 20,000 residents and only 197 police offers per shift.
  • Normal resources (stores, gas stations, hospitals, power, sewers, water) could be interrupted.
• So PLAN ahead and PREPARE.
  • Mitigation (reduce the damage and injury)
  • Preparation (prepare to survive)
  • Response ( put your plan into action)
  • Recovery (when it's over)
• Planning includes:
  • Secure and properly store items at home
  • Know where to meet
  • Know who to call out of the state or area
  • Know how and when to shut off utilities
  • Have disaster supplies at home, work, and in car
  • Learn basic skills such as CPR and fire suppression
• San Jose Prepared will prepare you for at least the first 72 hours after disaster strikes. The five modules (each a Saturday class) are:
  • Home preparation and organization
  • Fire suppression and hazardous materials
  • Disaster medicine and psychology
  • Light search and rescue
  • Terrorism awareness
• The city has a city-wide emergency plan and an operations center, programs and information, training and exercises, and response capabilities, but needs residents to do their part.
• Call San Jose Prepared at 277-4598. Classes start quarterly. If there are 12 or more in your group, they will come to your location.

President Fanjoy concluded the meeting at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Trixie Johnson, Secretary