December 22, 2005

A challenging year

Nancy Pyle gives year-end report on District 10 work

Goals include communication with constituents, fiscal responsibility and accountability

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

After a shaky beginning, including replacing her chief of staff, Nancy Pyle seems positioned to better connect with District 10 voters throughout the rest of her four-year term on the San Jose City Council.

This year, Councilmember Nancy Pyle has organized various neighborhood cleanups and improved the Almaden Art and Wine Festival by offering the public a booth with resources to better connect with city services, which included the attendance of the San Jose Police Department’s crime prevention unit. Photo by Julie Davis Berry

In a year-end report, the 67-year-old councilwoman said she will successfully represent the voters who sent her to City Hall by better communicating with them, managing city finances and improving government accountability.

“Accountability and transparency are so important,” Pyle said during an interview with the Almaden Times Weekly this week in her 18th floor office at City Hall. “And sticking with what you said you were going to do. I want all the voters in District 10 to know that I wasn’t paying lip service to some ideas.”

Community activist Carol Hallett, who serves as volunteer on various neighborhood groups, including the Almaden Valley Community Association, praised Pyle for rolling up her sleeves immediately after being elected and getting to work to represent the estimated 100,000 people who live in District 10.

“The thing I appreciate about Nancy is that whenever I’ve had a question, comment or suggestion she’s had her ears wide open. I’m not sure I feel that way about the other council members,” Hallett said. “She’s pulled together a great staff. A great leader collects great people around her. I really applaud her for bringing together a group
that really works well together.”

San Jose State University political scientist Terry Christensen, who closely watches city government, said Pyle has gotten up to speed fairly quickly on complicated municipal issues.

“Nancy has coped and adapted really well,” Christensen said. “She’s hired some good staff that’s giving her support and that’s very important.”

Christensen also noted that Pyle is selective about when she speaks and what she says during council meetings.

“She’s not one of the frequent speakers that feels obliged to talk about every single issue. When she does speak it’s clear that she’s thought out what she’s going to say and her remarks are clear, articulate and succinct and for those of us who sit through many long meetings at City Hall we appreciate that.”

He also indicated Pyle has aligned herself with the council’s majority. “She’s been pretty careful during her first year and it will be interesting to watch her develop in the next couple of years as the council begins to change and she becomes more senior and gains a greater depth of knowledge about the issues.”

Almaden resident Alex Fraser, who also serves on various neighborhood groups in Almaden Valley, said he’s pleased with Pyle’s performance during a controversial political year at City Hall.

“She stepped into the middle of a forest fire of events. It’s been a very challenging first year for her … but it’s also been a year of learning,” he said. “Reaching out to District 10 has been a huge accomplishment. She’s spent an enormous amount of time trying to get to know the community and listening carefully to what it has to say.”

District communication
Pyle touted her electronic newsletter, titled “Nancy’s News,” as an example of her efforts to reach District 10 residents. Launched in August, her office has published five issues so far. They always include a message from Pyle, various community announcements, information about city events, news about the city’s neighborhood center and other helpful information.

Her staff members, who include Lee Wilcox, chief of staff; Linda Alexander, executive assistant; Daniella Pollar, community relations coordinator and Eric T. Crane, communications aide, are working hard to build the newsletter’s distribution list.

District 10 is only one of a handful of city council offices that prepares a monthly newsletter.

In October Pyle also began holding monthly “discussion and dessert” meetings at the Almaden Winery Center on Chambertin Drive to talk about various issues affecting her constituents, such as the development of Coyote Valley and emergency preparedness. She’s planning others next year to give the public an update on the Almaden Community Center and Library—which is now slated to be completed in April—and one on crime prevention.

She also reported increased District 10 presence and outreach to the many homeowner, neighborhood and community associations in the valley. Pyle also reported organizing various neighborhood cleanups, improving the Almaden Art and Wine Festival by getting Parks and Recreation more involved and offering the public a booth with resources to better connect with city services and which included the attendance of the San Jose Police Department’s crime prevention unit. She has also worked with Santa Clara County Supervisor Donald Gage to form an alliance between city and county government and expedite district projects.

Fiscal responsibility
During one of the most difficult budget periods the city has encountered, Pyle worked hard to close a $58 million deficit. She led the charge to keep libraries open on Mondays, fought to keep the police department’s crime prevention unit and preserved the homework centers.

Pyle has also been attending every meeting of the Almaden Business Association, which, in partnership with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, is helping businesses in Almaden and Blossom Valley grow and serve the community.

Accountability
Recently, in the midst of the Norcal Waste Systems scandal which could bring criminal charges against San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, Pyle said she voted to hire special investigator Chris Scott Graham to look into a Santa Clara County Grand Jury investigation last June which revealed the mayor and his top budget aide, Joe Guerra, had “duped” the council into agreeing to a garbage rate increase and a contract amendment.

She also voted to censure Gonzales after Graham’s investigation confirmed the grand jury’s conclusions.

“This incident has been more sobering than anything else that has happened so far,” Pyle said about the mayor’s censure and the other controversies that have rattled City Hall during the past year. “It’s unfortunate we’ve all been smeared with this.”

Pyle admits putting in an average of 50-plus hours a week on the job. If weekend assignments require her to be available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., she’s sometimes exhausted, but due to her high energy level, she’s seems to manage well, according to her staffers.

“It’s very seldom that I have much less than a 12-hour day,” she said.

Asked what she thinks of the district now as an elected official, she added: “It’s a whole lot different and I realize there are more needs.”

Pyle recently went on a City Hall tour, acting as a customer, to learn more about what new business owners go through with the permit process, which allows residents to open businesses in the community.

“City Hall takes time. We have to meet somewhere in the middle. It’s up to me to keep pushing, pushing and pushing, especially in reference to planning and in some of the departments where my constituents aren’t served as quickly,” Pyle said.

“I want people to come up to my standards and I don’t want to bend down to those standards that I know are not totally up to par,” she said. “Everything that one does as a council member can have a ripple effect on others in positive and negative ways. You have to always be mindful of what you’re doing.

“You also have to check how well are you’re doing. We’re constantly asking as a team, ‘How could we have done better?’ ”

Other accomplishments
The dangerous traffic situation along the Camden Avenue bridge, near Queenswood Way, that threatened pedestrians, bicyclists and equestrians was improved when Pyle alerted city transportation officials about the problem. The bridge intersects with several walking trails.

The city’s trails manager is working with transportation officials to find resources for a possible realignment of striping and trail/on-street signage to enhance user safety.

In the Hoffman/Via Monte Strong Neighborhood, Pyle has increased her office’s outreach to residents and neighborhood leaders. She’s working on several programs to benefit its residents.

Pyle also reported supporting the San Jose Unified School District’s Parent Leadership Institute by raising awareness about its goals and acting as a liaison between the city and the district.

She also conducted a District 10 job fair for students at Leland, Pioneer and Gunderson high schools to help students find work during the summer. During the two-day event workshop employees from Silicon Valley Workforce Investment Network taught students how to interview, write resumes and dress for success.

For more information on District 10, 200 E. Santa Clara Street, 18th floor, San Jose, Calif., 95113, call (408) 535-4910, or log onto www.sanjoseca.gov/district10.