2006 through the present
| Date of Meeting | Speaker(s) | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| October 8, 2018 | Local experts, pro and con | One county and four city ballot measures:
|
| September 10, 2018 | League of Women Voters | Statewide propositions:
|
| August 13, 2018 | City of San Jose Housing Department | Housing and Homelessness in San Jose |
| July 9, 2018 | Dan Greely, Yves Szutty, City of San Jose Parks Dept. | Parks and trails in Almaden Valley and other parks issues of interest. |
| June 11, 2018 | Mike Boulland, Docent Almaden Quicksilver Museum |
History of New Almaden Mining and Casa Grande, plus news of a Chinese ting (pavillion) to be built. |
| May 14, 2018 | Various | Voters Forum on June 5 Ballot Issues
|
| April 9, 2018 |
Kip Harkness Deputy City Manager City of San Jose |
Turning San Jose into a Smart City |
| March 12, 2018 | Anna Eshoo Congress Member |
Summary of the Situation in Congress and Question and Answer Session |
| February 12, 2018 | Matt Hammer, Founder and CEO Innovate Public Schools |
New Developments in Public Education; How Parents Can Advocate and Improve their Schools and Raise Student Achievement. |
| January 8, 2018 | Bill Sherman, Member "Water Rate Advocates for Transparency, Equity and Sustainability" |
Overcharges ($13M) from San Jose Water Company . . . and more. |
| December 11, 2017 | Ray Riordan, Director San Jose Office of Emergency Management |
Emergency Preparedness: Next Flood, Wild Fire in Almaden, and City as a Whole |
| November 13, 2017 | James Gibbons-Shapiro, Assistant District Attorney Santa Clara County |
Prison Reform and Crime in California: 1977-2017 |
| October 16, 2017 | Meeting cancelled | Representative Anna Eshoo was scheduled |
| September 11, 2017 | Capt. Johnson Fong, SJPD Jose Salcido, D10 Council Assistant |
Crime in Almaden Valley Laura's Law and Homelessness |
| August 14, 2017 | Johnny Khamis Council Member for District 10 |
Town Hall Meeting on San Jose City Government |
| July 10. 2017 | Lee Pauser Citizen Scientist |
The Birds of Almaden Valley |
| June 12, 2017 | Larry Stone Assessor, Santa Clara County |
Economic Health of Santa Clara County |
| May 8, 2017 | Peter Allen, Public Information Officer San Jose Unified School District |
What's Happening in SJUSD Peter's Slides |
| April 10, 2017 | Al Banuelos, M. D. Physician Peggy O'Brien-Strain, Ph. D. Economist |
Obamacare! Trumpcare! What Matters? Whats Next? |
| March 13, 2017 | Kimberly Meek, Trustee San Jose Unified School District |
"The Future of Almaden Valley Schools - Your Ideas and Mine" Kimberly's Slides Errata:
|
| February 13, 2017 | Emily Sloan, et alii, PG&E Bob Strain, AVCA |
PG&E Plans to Remove Trees for Gas Pipeline Safety Information on VTA Plans to Terminate Transit |
| January 9, 2017 | Shane Patrick Connolly, D10 Chief of Staff Randi Kinman, MTC Policy Advisory Board |
ABAG & MTC 101 WHO ARE THEY AND WHY DO THEY MATTER? |
| December 12, 2016 | Victor Gomez and Eddie Truong. San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber
of Commerce Johnny Khamis, D10 Councilmember |
Chamber of
Commerce Election Efforts Chamber of Commerce Strive Program Business Development in San Jose |
| November 14, 2016 | Scott Herhold San Jose Mercury News Columnist |
Election's Over; Now What? |
| October
10, 2016 (Voters' Forum) |
Chris Wilder FOR, Mark Hinkle - AGAINST | Measure A: $950 M in Affordable Housing Bonds |
| Chris O'Connor FOR Gladwyn d'Souza AGAINST | Measure B: Sales Tax for VTA Transportation Projects | |
| Johnny Khamis FOR, Pete Constant AGAINST | Measure F: Revision of City Pensions | |
| Sandy Engel FOR Thomas Holford AGAINST | Measure Y: Parcel Tax for San Jose Unified Education Programs | |
| Wendy Ho FOR Shane Patrick Connolly AGAINST | Measure X: $748 M in Bonds for Community College Facilities | |
| Jesse Stout FOR Gabrielle Antolovich RISKS | Proposition 64: Legalization of Recreational Marijuana Sales | |
| September 12, 2016 | Lee Wilcox, Director of
Budget and Finance Jerry Stangis, Developer's Representative David Poeschel, Sierra Club |
How
Does San Jose Get Its Money Alter the General Plan and Gain a Park (6100 Winfield Blvd.) Not Such a Good Idea (6100 Winfield Blvd.) |
| August 8, 2016 | Ryan Broughton Director, San Jose Office of Emergency Services |
Overview of San Jose's Office of Emergency Services |
| July 11, 2016 | Eddie Garcia Chief, San Jose Police Department |
Meet Today's San Jose Police Department |
| June 13, 2016 | Don Weden Principal Planner (retired) Santa Clara County |
CHANGE, GROWTH &
PLANNING Envisioning Santa Clara County 3.0 |
| May 23, 2016 | Johnny Khamis, Mike
Sodergren Jeffery Cardenas, Mark Hinkle, Sybil Vasche, Susan Ellenberg, Rose Herrera, Pierluigi Oliverio |
Forum for D10 City Council
Primary Measures AA, C and B on June 7, 2016 ballot |
| May 9, 2016 | Jim Beall, Anthony Macias, Chuck Page, Nicholas Sclavos | Candidates' Forum for State Legislative Primaries |
| April 11, 2016 | Karen Addato, Executive
Director, Breakthough Network Scott Nessel, Teen Challenge, South Bay |
Innovative
Solutions for Homelessness Holistic Rescue for Addicts |
| March 14, 2016 | Mike Wasserman, Santa Clara County Supervisor | Update on County Issues |
| February 8, 2016 | Jeff Rosen, Santa Clara County District Attorney | DA's Office and Criminal Justice Reform |
| January 11, 2016 | Deke Hunter, President, Hunter Properties | The Future of Almaden Ranch Shopping Center |
| Jon Kim, Radio Coordinator | Almaden Neighborhood Watch Radio Net | |
| December 14, 2015 | Margaret Bruce, Environmental Consultant | Community Choice Energy |
| Gary Kremen, Board Chair, Santa Clara Valley Water District | The Water Pendulum | |
| November 9, 2015 | Jim Ortbal, interium Director of Transportation for San Jose | Streets and Other Transportation in Almaden Valley |
| September 14, 2015 | Edesa Bitbadal, Planning Commisioner for San Jose | City Planning as it Affects Almaden Valley |
| August 10, 2015 | Rina Shah, San Jose City Planning Department Leah Hernikl, Planning Consultant for T-Mobile |
SP15-006 - A Cell Phone Tower at the head of Webb Canyon |
| Kim Gaddis, Crime Prevention Unit, San Jose Police Dept. | Neighborhood Watch and Crime in Almaden Valley | |
| July 13, 2015 | Rachel Gibson, Santa Clara County Water District Kurt Elvert, San Jose Water Company |
Presentation: "Providing Safe, Clean Water During a Historic
Drought" Presentation: "Water Supply and Conservation" |
| June 8, 2015 | Rachel Gibson, Santa Clara County Water District Tony Tully, Office of Ratepayer Advocacy, CPUC |
Critical Water Shortage and Mandatory Reductions |
| May 11, 2015 | Sandy Engel, District 5 Trustee, San Jose Unified School Dist. Stephen McMahon, Chief Business Officer, SJUSD |
Questions on "Every Child Achieves Act," math enrichment, Common Core, math & science projects and more. |
| April 13, 2015 | Sam Liccardo, Mayor of the City of San Jose | Update on progress to date, and an open forum for our questions |
| March 9, 2015 | Mike Wasserman, Santa Clara County Supervisor | What occurred in 2014 and what will occur in 2015 |
| February 9, 2015 | Sharon Winslow Erickson, San Jose City Auditor | City Auditor responsibilities & FY 2014-2015 audit results |
| January 12, 2015 | Scott Herhold | 2014 Election and San Jose's New Political Scene |
| December 8, 2014 | John Ristow, Director of Planning
& Program Development, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority |
Transportation projects around Almaden
Valley with a detailed presentation on the State Route 85 Express Lanes Project |
| November 10, 2014 | Dr. Alfonso Banuelos, former Chief
Medical Officer at Valley Medical Center and former Clinical Professor of Medicine for Stanford |
"Viruses Among Us" |
| October 20, 2014 | State Senator Jim Beall | State Senate Priorities, Q&A |
| September 8, 2014 | Robert Sapien, Jr., Deputy Chief of
Operations, San Jose Fire Department |
San Jose Fire Department issues: slow response times, fire vs. medical emergencies, three or more firefighters for fire or medical calls. |
| August 11, 2014 | Stephen McMahon, Chief Business
Officer of San Jose Unified School District |
Almaden Valley Schools, overcrowding,
and other concerns. |
| July 14, 2014 | No guest speaker. Two-hour board meeting. | Discussion: topics of local importance. |
| June 9, 2014 | Robert (Bob) Kieve, President, Empire
Broadcasting Corp., radio commentator of KLIV and KRTY in San Jose |
How We Can Improve San Jose Downtown |
| May 12, 2014 | Carol Myers, Former San Jose Unified
School District Board of Education Trustee; and Vera Hampton, Admissions Counselor & Recruiter at San Jose State University |
High School Graduation Requirements
and College Readiness: Impact of Changes in SJUSD Graduation Requirements, and San Jose State University's Admissions Requirements and Essential Elements for a Student to Succeed at SJSU |
| April 14, 2014 | Hans Larsen, Director, San Jose Department of Transportation | Streets in San Jose, focusing on Almaden Valley, the AVCA Streets Survey from last fall, Almaden Valley projects for 2014-15, the 5-year Capital Improvement Program, and other transportation issues. |
| March 10, 2014 | Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility --
Doug Keller, President; Dave Fadness, Vice President; and Dave Truslow, Board Member |
Make San Jose Function Better;
promoting financial sustainability through common sense government |
| February 10, 2014 | Dan Collen, Deputy Director of
Infrastructure Development, County of Santa Clara Roads & Airports Department |
Almaden Expressway - planning to 2025
& 2040 - attendees' concerns and desires for improvement |
| January 13, 2014 | Jackie Zeller, SJUSD Director of
Curriculum & Instruction and Ze'ev Wurman, Visiting Scholar, Hoover Institution |
How Common Core is good for our kids and How Common Core will fail our kids |
| December 9, 2013 | No speaker | |
| November 25, 2013 | Mark Stone, California Assemblymember for District 29 | Update on California Politics |
| October 21, 2013 | Chuck Reed, Mayor of San Jose | Update on San Jose: Fiscal Reform, Pension Reform, Restoring Services |
| September 9, 2013 | Evan Low, District Director for Paul Fong, District 28 CA Assemblyman | Update on activities in California Assembly |
| August 12, 2013 | Mike Wasserman, District 1, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors | His accomplishments since taking Board seat in 2011, and current projects |
| July 8, 2013 | Scott Haywood, Policy and Community Relations Manager at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency | Transportation issues affecting Almaden Valley |
| June 10, 2013 | Terri Andersen, Water Supply
Operations Planning and Analysis Manager at the Santa Clara Valley
Water District and Richard Rauschmeier, Lead Analyst at the Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) overseeing the San Jose Water Company General Rate Case |
Santa Clara Valley water supply
portfolio and its future. and The issues, positions, and status of the current San Jose Water Company General Rate Case. |
| May 13, 2013 | Basim Jaber,
Historian/Archivist, Almaden Air Force Station, Mount Umunhum, and Sam Drake, President of the Umunhum Conservancy |
History of the Almaden Air Force
Station atop Mount Umunhum and the Tower Restoration project; plus the non-profit corporation raising funds for the tower.. |
| April 8, 2013 | Sandy Engel, SJUSD
Board
Member Web Page, Board Member of the San Jose Unified School District |
The Status of Schools in Almaden
Valley. Common Core State Standards are being adopted in California schools. Common Core Works details about the new program. |
| March 11, 2013 | Teresa Alvarado, Manager of CEO
Support and Communications, Santa Clara Valley Water District, and Directors Linda LeZotte and Brian Schmidt |
Almaden Lake Project - Alternatives to address the methylmercury and other problems at the lake. Almaden Lake Project |
| February 11, 2013 | Judge LaDoris Cordell (Ret.), San Jose's Independent Police Auditor |
The Role of the Independent Police
Auditor and Recent Developments in Police Policy |
| January 14, 2013 | Johnny Khamis, incoming City
Councilmember for San Jose District 10 |
His thoughts on San Jose, the City
Council, and financial considerations. Answers to questions asked during this evening's speech by Johnny Khamis. |
| December 10, 2012 | James Reber, Founding Executive
Director, San Jose Parks Foundation |
SJ Parks Foundation working together with AVCA to improve our area's parks, trails, and recreation programs. |
| November 19, 2012 | Scott Herhold, Columnist, San Jose Mercury News | The state of local politics: a look back at the 2012 election and a perspective on the 2014 mayor's race. |
| October 15, 2012 | AVCA Business Meeting - no speaker | Final Planning for the October 18 Election Forum |
| September 10, 2012 | AVCA Business Meeting - no speaker | Final Planning for the September 13 Election Forum |
| August 13, 2012 | Mike Wasserman, Santa Clara County Supervisor, District 1 | County Highlights of the Past Year |
| July 9, 2012 | AVCA Business Meeting - no speakers | Planning AVCA Election Forums in Sept. & Oct. |
| June 11, 2012 | Larry Stone, Santa Clara County Assessor | Property Tax Assessment in Almaden Valley |
| May 14, 2012 | Pete Constant (pro) & Bob Brownstein (con) | Pension Modification measure on June 5 ballot |
| Apr. 9, 2012 | AVCA Business Meeting - no speaker | Planning for District 10 City Council Forum |
| Mar. 12, 2012 | Trent Engler, SJFD Fire Captain | Fire & Safety Presentation |
| Feb. 14, 2012 | AVCA Business Meeting - no speaker | Planning for 2012 Election Forums |
| Jan. 9, 2012 | Gerald De Young, President of Ruth and Going, Inc. | Updates to Almaden Ranch Retail Center
design and new/updated EIR sections |
| Dec. 12, 2011 | Lt. Rob Millard, Southern Division of
the San Jose Police Department |
Public safety in San Jose, particularly in Almaden Valley |
| Nov. 14, 2011 | Jacky Morales-Ferrand, Assistant
Director of Housing, City of San Jose |
Housing in San Jose, particularly affordable housing |
| Oct. 17, 2011 | Jim Kuhl, resident in the Almaden
Country Club neighborhood, and Tom Victorine, Director of Operations, San Jose Water Company. NOTE: Representative expected from T-Mobile did not attend. The evening included a presentation by Jim Kuhl; the San Jose Water Company position explained by Tom Victorine; and discussion, questions, and answers amongst the speakers and community members. |
Cell phone tower proposed by T-Mobile to be installed in the Almaden Country Club area. It was learned only after the meeting that no T-Mobile representative attended the meeting because their permit application for the cell tower had been withdrawn. |
| Sept. 12, 2011 | Brian Schmidt, Director, District 7,
of the Santa Clara Valley Water District |
Santa Clara Valley Water District, redistricting splits of Almaden Valley and mercury in local streams and lake |
| Aug. 8, 2011 | Assemblyman Richard Gordon, 21st Calif. Assembly District | The State Budget Crisis |
| July 11, 2011 | Sam Pandey, AVCA Parks and Recreation Committee Chairman | City and Neighborhood Issues |
| June 13, 2011 | David Vossbrink, Communications
Director of the Mineta San Josι International Airport; and Meghan Horrigan, Director of Communications, Team San Jose |
Coordinated mutual effort to promote the San Jose Airport and the San Jose Convention Center |
| May 10, 2011 | Mike Wasserman, Santa Clara County Supervisor | County Budget and other County Issues |
| Apr. 12, 2011 | Dave Fadness, District 10's
representative on the Envision San Josι 2040 General Plan Task
Force; and Michael Brilliot, Senior Planner, Planning Department, City of San Jose |
Envision San Jose 2040 General
Plan. The details of General Plan 2040 will be released to the public in the late spring or summer of 2010 for review and comments. Slide show about General Plan 2040 |
| Mar. 14, 2011 | Gerald De Young, President of Ruth and
Going, Inc.; and Manual Pineda, Acting Deputy Director, Department of Transportation, City of San Jose; and Dan Collen, Deputy Director, Infrastructure Development, County of Santa Clara Roads and Airports Department |
Almaden Ranch Retail Center, proposed
for 45 acres east of Almaden Expressway between Highway 85 and
Safeway. The speakers' topics included a description of the
retail center, the project impacts on area traffic, options for
new road connections across the Guadalupe River, the upcoming
improvements to Almaden Expressway, and the possible impacts of
the retail center on Almaden Expressway. Article about the project. Google map of the area |
| Feb. 14, 2011 | no guest speaker | AVCA business meeting only. |
| Jan. 10, 2011 | San Jose Police Lt. George Beattie and
Sergeant Jim Unland, President and Vice President, respectively, of the San Jose Police Officers' Association (SJPOA) |
Their perspective on public safety
issues and how public safety is affected by the City of San Jose's continuing budget deficits (including a question and answer period). |
| Dec. 13, 2010 | Hans Larsen, Acting Director of San Jose's Department of Transportation | State of San Jose's Transportation System (question and answer). |
| Nov. 12, 2010 | Meredith Manning, Senior Planner with the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District | Planning for the Public Use Alternatives for Mt. Umunhum. |
| Oct. 12, 2010 | Chuck Reed, Mayor of San Jose | Three major challenges facing San Jose now: balance budget, fiscal reforms, and facilitate job creation. |
| Sept. 13, 2010 | Ira Ruskin, State Assembly | A review of his time in office. Mr. Ruskin is terming out this year. |
| July 12, 2010 | Mr. Balagso, head of San Jose's Parks & Recs. | The impact of fiscal woes on his department's operations in general and for the Almaden parks specifically. |
| June 14, 2010 | Harry Mavrogenes, San Jose Redevelopment Agency | How the RDA works and copes during challenging financial times |
| May 10, 2010 | Kim Walesh, Chief Strategist, City of San Jose | Changing Forces, Changing City |
| Mar. 8, 2010 | Chief Rob Davis, Chief of Police, City of San Jose | Budget Cuts in the Police Department |
| Feb. 8, 2010 | Pat Sausedo, Vice President of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce | Public Policy and Communications |
| Jan. 11, 2010 | Dolores Carr, Santa Clara County District Attorney | Interaction and Affect of the Office of the District Attorney on the Almaden Valley |
| Dec. 14, 2009 | Leslie Reynolds, San Jose Unified School District Board of Education President & Ann Jones, SJUSD Chief Business Officer | Schools in the Almaden Valley area: SJUSD, private, and charter schools, school funding, Questions & Answers |
| Nov. 9, 2009 | Thomas Ferguson (& Monica Delgado), San Jose Department of Transportation | Maintenance Manager of Landscape, Trees, and Sweeping Service |
| Oct. 5, 2009 | Don Gage, Santa Clara County Supervisor, representing Almaden Valley | Budget, Parks, Transportation, Questions & Answers |
| Sept. 14, 2009 | Nancy Pyle, District 10 City Councilmember, representing Almaden Valley | San Jose Economy, Budget, Transportation |
| Aug. 10, 2009 | Zoe Lofgren, Representative in US Congress, representing Almaden Valley | US Economy, Climate Change, Health Care Legislation, Immigration, Questions & Answers |
| July 13, 2009 | John Weiss, San Jose Assistant Development Director & Leland Wilcox, City Manager's office | Diridon Station & planned developments in the area: BART extension, High Speed Rail, and a possible "major league" ballpark |
| June 8, 2009 | Laurel Prevetti | City of San Jose's Lang Range Plans |
| May 11, 2009 | no guest speaker | |
| April 13, 2009 | Carol Lathrop, Sandy Mory, and Martha Beattie from League of Women Voters | Propositions 1A through 1F on the upcoming ballot |
| March 9, 2009 | no guest speaker | |
| Feb. 9, 2009 | Ira Ruskin, Member of the California
State Assembly, representing Almaden Valley & Nancy Pyle, San Jose City Councilmember, representing Almaden Valley, & Emy Mendoza, Zero Waste Planner, San Jose Environmental Services Department |
California budget, cuts to education,
Questions & Answers San Jose's Proposed Fees on Plastic and Paper Bags |
| Jan. 12, 2009 | Kitty Monahan, member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee of the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority & Bern Smith, South Bay Area Ridge Trails Council Staff Member | East Bay, Mid Peninsula, and Santa Clara County park and trails systems (Kitty) & Bay Area Ridge Trail (Bern) |
| May-Dec. 2008 | Minutes are missing on Web site | |
| April 14, 2008 | Nancy Pyle, San Jose City Councilmember & Don Gage, Santa Clara County Supervisor | SAVUR (South Almaden Valley Urban Reserve), Traffic on Graystone Lane, Boulder Ridge Event Tent request, Questions & Answers |
| March 10, 2008 | Stan Ketchum, San Jose City Planner & Bill Shoe, Santa Clara County Planner |
SAVUR (South Almaden Valley Urban
Reserve), San Vicente Development County planning for homes in Almaden county area.. if San Jose informed, etc. Questions & Answers |
| Feb. 11, 2008 | Dave Fadness, engineer, volunteer in
San Jose planning & Jerry Strangis, real estate agent, lobbyist, owner of a real estate company |
How to go about planning for a city's
general plan, sustainable city SAVUR development, Questions & Answers |
| Jan. 14, 2008 | Beth Shafran-Nukai, Strong Neighborhoods Initiative Project | San Jose's proposed Neighborhood Commission: mission, how members to be chosen, timeline |
| Dec. 10, 2007 | no guest speaker | |
| May-Nov. 2007 | Minutes are missing on Web site | |
| April 9, 2007 | Don Gage, Santa Clara County
Supervisor, representing Almaden Valley & Dan Collen, Santa Clara County, Deputy Director, County Roads |
Don Gage: Questions &
Answers & Dan Collen: Monitoring of Expressways |
| March 12, 2007 | Rich Dressler, San Jose International
Airport Public Information Officer & Joanne Sanfillippo, San Jose Airport Ombudsman |
San Jose Airport's Expansion Plans |
| Feb. 12, 2007 | Rene Cordero, Manager of Project Development, City of San Jose's Department of Transportation | How to address project ideas along Camden Ave. and Trinidad Drive/Crown Blvd. corner |
| Jan. 8, 2007 | Len Remilo, San Jose Department of Transportation, Traffic Management Division, Traffic Calming | Questions & Answers about several areas in Almaden Valley, traffic calming, possible stop signs and U-turn permissions |
| Dec. 11, 2006 | Don Gage, Santa Clara County Supervisor, responsible for Almaden Valley | Mt. Umunhum, Coyote Valley, Quicksilver Park entrance, etc., Questions & Answers |
| Nov. 13, 2006 | Michele Young, City of San Jose's Environmental Services Department | Garbage collection, street sweeping. New trash collection companies. |
| Oct. 16, 2006 | Judge Dolores Carr and Chief Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu | Santa Clara Valley District Attorney Forum |
| Sept. 11, 2006 | Sally Zarnowitz, San Jose Historic Preservation Officer | How City Landmarks are determined and who may apply for landmark status |
| Aug. 14, 2006 | Detective Robert Dillon, ICAC Task Force, Child Exploitation Detail | Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) |
| July 10, 2006 | speaker cancelled too late to schedule another speaker | |
| June 12, 2006 | Kim Bomar, Board Member of Stanford Campus Residential Leaseholders (SCRL) | Santa Clara County Historical Preservation Ordinance |
| May 8, 2006 | no guest speaker |