N'hood leaders refute bogus claims of Cinco de Mayo profiling
If it's Tuesday, it must be racism. Labor/left politicians and their stenographers in local media trotted out ridiculous charges of SJPD racism regarding successful traffic management over the 5.5 weekend. Neighborhood downtown leaders dismantle politicos' false claims in emails to State Senator Cortese, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, and CMs Torres & Ortiz.
Dear City Council Member Torres,
I suggest you choose your words much more carefully regarding “profiling.”
I'm including links to a sampling of videos that I've gathered from previous Cinco de Mayo activities.
So, tell me again, how is it “profiling” if a police department takes proactive measures to prevent this type of mayhem?
BTW - I have ZERO videos from my neighborhood from this year's Cinco de Mayo because it was quiet and peaceful.
Brief example of the "festivities" in front of my house, 2021
--From Jeff Levine, Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Ass'n
Senator Cortese and Assemblymember Kalra,
I found your joint press release regarding the public safety measures implemented by the City of San Jose and Caltrans for Cinco de Mayo weekend naïve and uninformed.
Are you really unaware that these measures have been undertaken for countless years now? So why the sudden indignity and outrage this year?
I feel that your statement dismisses my family’s and my neighborhood’s safety and quality of life. I have lived on the same block for 53 years, just one block off of E Santa Clara Street. I have seen, heard, and smelled it all. I have witnessed SJPD in full riot gear at Hwy 101 and Alum Rock Avenue when returning home from a family event in the San Joaquin Valley. That was a particularly bad year.
Run-of-the-mill years see bumper-to-bumper traffic, burnouts, donuts, public drinking and urination, pot smoking, and impromptu parties in the public right-of-way and in private parking lots along E Santa Clara and Alum Rock. Graffiti is scrawled everywhere along the corridor. Right now, there’s new 40-foot wide by 10-foot high graffiti belched by a fire extinguisher on the freeway wall at Hwy 101 and E Santa Clara. Lots of other tags on buildings and fences as well, some of which I have already abated on my family’s commercial properties. By the way, were you aware that the smell of burned rubber can permeate your home even with the doors and windows closed?
Oh, and there was the homicide on E Santa Clara across from Roosevelt Community Center two years ago on May 5. Still unsolved, from my understanding. Gang related.
Even with these public safety measures, revelers find their way into our residential neighborhoods along E Santa Clara and Alum Rock, racing up and down the normally quiet streets. Some do burn outs and others do donuts in residential intersections. Others park to drink and smoke pot in their vehicles, leaving behind proof of their revelry with vomit and empty bottles. Without these public safety measures, our lived experiences would be so much worse.
So please don’t scribble naïve and uninformed political missives without understanding their impact on all your constituents. Words matter And the words in your statement are divisive. They can only serve to stoke an already sensitive situation. It is my sincere hope that you will walk them back for all our sakes.
Regards, D3 Resident (name withheld)
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