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Aug. 26th, 2002 02:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tugrikAs a geek, bachelor and generally laid-back person, I am about as uninvolved with city politics and buearocracy as possible. Concepts like neighborhood watches, attending city council meetings or fighting town hall over where a library or park is going to be settled are very foreign to me. They're the kinds of things you see on TV in small-town sitcoms or mentioned on the news. The extent of my contact is putting the trash out for city trash services, and going to the DMV every few years when I forget to renew my driver's license by mail.
The closest I came was when I spent a few months trying to figure out how to get up to the old Almaden Radar Station, more affectionately known as "the can". Perched on Mt. Umunhum, overlooking the entire southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area, I've seen The Can every commuting day for the last 8 years of living in this house. It's a landmark that's incredibly close and yet unvisitable, sequestered away behind private property gates and Tho Shalt Not barriers with official city logos on them. During my numerous visits to nearby Sierra Azul I've longed to get the rest of the way up to the top of the hill, but met a barrier each time. I even snuck past a few, only to find worse ones farther up, along with nasty 'Git Orf Mah Proh-pah-tay!' anti-humanity types prowling what look like public roads.
I finally got fed up with this and tried the official route. Some web-digging produced contact information for a group known as the "Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District," the reponsible party for management of places like Sierra Azul and Mt. Umnuhum. Those who had emails, I sent very polite letters to. Those who were snail-mail only, I crafted the first non-electronic letters I'd written in most of a decade. In those letters, I presented myself as an amateur photographer who wanted the opportunity to visit the site and document it in pictures. Months later, I got a snail-mail back, telling me I'd be contacted soon by a member of the MROSD about the 'status of my request'. A day after, the contact happened, in email.
I was informed that the reasons nobody was allowed up there were twofold: private propery crossings, and hazardous material. Evidently the road leading to the site crosses one person's acreage, and they're being terribly obstinate about the city letting the public travel upon it. Secondly, the old pre-WWII radar station was loaded with asbestos, lead and mecury. They stated that a clean-up will occur in the future, in hopes of making the site an eventual south bay landmark/vista, much like Mt. Hamilton and Mt. Diablo, in other parts of the Bay Area. They asked if I wanted to be put on the "Friends of the MROSD" list, for updates as time went on. I happily responded with a "Yes!".
That was over a year and a half ago.
Today, I get this in my email box:
Dear Friend of Mt. Umunhum and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District:
The Open Space District would like to invite you to a special (invitation
only) press luncheon and rally at the former Almaden Air Station atop Mt.
Umunhum.
This event is sponsored by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District,
with a lunch generously provided by neighbors and friends of Mt. Umunhum
Gary and Rebecca Ellis of San Jose.
Please join us!
Why: The purpose of this event is to thank Congressman Michael Honda and the
City of San Jose, led by Councilmember Patricia Dando, for their leadership
in seeking federal funding to clean up the toxins and unsafe buildings left
by the military at the former air station; to encourage the House and Senate
Conferees on Defense Appropriations, with Senators
Barbara Boxer's and Dianne Feinstein's help, to also support cleanup plans
to eventually enable public access and enjoyment of this spectacular site in
the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve.
Who: You and other friends of Mt. Umunhum and open space, including
Congressman Honda, San Jose City Councilmember Dando, and members of the
press.
When: ****
Where: Meet at **** for a "friends
of Mt. Umunhum" briefing, distribution of special vehicle permits, and a
coordinated "convoy" through all gates to the mountaintop.
(see attached map)
Note: Due to logistical challenges inherent in reaching Mt. Umunhum, late
arrival may prevent access. Please be punctual!
Attire: Cool 'n' casual - comfortable walking shoes and sun protection.
Kindly R.S.V.P. no later than 2:00 p.m. *** to MROSD Public
Affairs Specialist Kristi Webb at ****
Sincerely,
Kristi Webb
Public Affairs Specialist
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
www.openspace.org
(date/time info edited out, as this is a private invite)
Wow. Just wow. :)
Here I was, as a "friend" of the MROSD, being invited to a political and press event. Upon contacting the MROSD to confirm, I asked why I was selected and how many were going. It turns out I was picked out of a rather large list, in no small part due to my desire to photograph the site. Apparently sending a URL to my Hakone Gardens photo work in the letters helped get me on this invite list. They want publicity, and I'll be glad to give it to them!
This is the first time in decades any members of the public will be up there. This will be the last time, most likely, for a number of years. Even if they do manage to convince the state and Defense Appropriations conferences to fund making into a public vista, that will take years of politicing and then construction. I'm allowed to take one guest, but this was very short notice -- so the folks I know who'd like such things aren't available. There is one who is, but he's unsure if he can attend; I'll know tomorrow. I'll be glad to attend in any case, with or without a friend. I'm utterly jazzed about this. If all goes well and I get the pictures taken, I'll jot an LJ post with an URL to them.
Thinking back over this, I'm mostly just surprised at myself that (a) I got involved, even if only to a tiny degree, and (b) something good came of it. Instead of just lamenting my lack of access to the site, I used normal channels to try and rectify it, and I'm being rewarded. Maybe being involved with local city things isn't that bad after all... :)
The closest I came was when I spent a few months trying to figure out how to get up to the old Almaden Radar Station, more affectionately known as "the can". Perched on Mt. Umunhum, overlooking the entire southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area, I've seen The Can every commuting day for the last 8 years of living in this house. It's a landmark that's incredibly close and yet unvisitable, sequestered away behind private property gates and Tho Shalt Not barriers with official city logos on them. During my numerous visits to nearby Sierra Azul I've longed to get the rest of the way up to the top of the hill, but met a barrier each time. I even snuck past a few, only to find worse ones farther up, along with nasty 'Git Orf Mah Proh-pah-tay!' anti-humanity types prowling what look like public roads.
I finally got fed up with this and tried the official route. Some web-digging produced contact information for a group known as the "Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District," the reponsible party for management of places like Sierra Azul and Mt. Umnuhum. Those who had emails, I sent very polite letters to. Those who were snail-mail only, I crafted the first non-electronic letters I'd written in most of a decade. In those letters, I presented myself as an amateur photographer who wanted the opportunity to visit the site and document it in pictures. Months later, I got a snail-mail back, telling me I'd be contacted soon by a member of the MROSD about the 'status of my request'. A day after, the contact happened, in email.
I was informed that the reasons nobody was allowed up there were twofold: private propery crossings, and hazardous material. Evidently the road leading to the site crosses one person's acreage, and they're being terribly obstinate about the city letting the public travel upon it. Secondly, the old pre-WWII radar station was loaded with asbestos, lead and mecury. They stated that a clean-up will occur in the future, in hopes of making the site an eventual south bay landmark/vista, much like Mt. Hamilton and Mt. Diablo, in other parts of the Bay Area. They asked if I wanted to be put on the "Friends of the MROSD" list, for updates as time went on. I happily responded with a "Yes!".
That was over a year and a half ago.
Today, I get this in my email box:
Dear Friend of Mt. Umunhum and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District:
The Open Space District would like to invite you to a special (invitation
only) press luncheon and rally at the former Almaden Air Station atop Mt.
Umunhum.
This event is sponsored by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District,
with a lunch generously provided by neighbors and friends of Mt. Umunhum
Gary and Rebecca Ellis of San Jose.
Please join us!
Why: The purpose of this event is to thank Congressman Michael Honda and the
City of San Jose, led by Councilmember Patricia Dando, for their leadership
in seeking federal funding to clean up the toxins and unsafe buildings left
by the military at the former air station; to encourage the House and Senate
Conferees on Defense Appropriations, with Senators
Barbara Boxer's and Dianne Feinstein's help, to also support cleanup plans
to eventually enable public access and enjoyment of this spectacular site in
the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve.
Who: You and other friends of Mt. Umunhum and open space, including
Congressman Honda, San Jose City Councilmember Dando, and members of the
press.
When: ****
Where: Meet at **** for a "friends
of Mt. Umunhum" briefing, distribution of special vehicle permits, and a
coordinated "convoy" through all gates to the mountaintop.
(see attached map)
Note: Due to logistical challenges inherent in reaching Mt. Umunhum, late
arrival may prevent access. Please be punctual!
Attire: Cool 'n' casual - comfortable walking shoes and sun protection.
Kindly R.S.V.P. no later than 2:00 p.m. *** to MROSD Public
Affairs Specialist Kristi Webb at ****
Sincerely,
Kristi Webb
Public Affairs Specialist
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
www.openspace.org
(date/time info edited out, as this is a private invite)
Wow. Just wow. :)
Here I was, as a "friend" of the MROSD, being invited to a political and press event. Upon contacting the MROSD to confirm, I asked why I was selected and how many were going. It turns out I was picked out of a rather large list, in no small part due to my desire to photograph the site. Apparently sending a URL to my Hakone Gardens photo work in the letters helped get me on this invite list. They want publicity, and I'll be glad to give it to them!
This is the first time in decades any members of the public will be up there. This will be the last time, most likely, for a number of years. Even if they do manage to convince the state and Defense Appropriations conferences to fund making into a public vista, that will take years of politicing and then construction. I'm allowed to take one guest, but this was very short notice -- so the folks I know who'd like such things aren't available. There is one who is, but he's unsure if he can attend; I'll know tomorrow. I'll be glad to attend in any case, with or without a friend. I'm utterly jazzed about this. If all goes well and I get the pictures taken, I'll jot an LJ post with an URL to them.
Thinking back over this, I'm mostly just surprised at myself that (a) I got involved, even if only to a tiny degree, and (b) something good came of it. Instead of just lamenting my lack of access to the site, I used normal channels to try and rectify it, and I'm being rewarded. Maybe being involved with local city things isn't that bad after all... :)
