Rose Garden Resident

Cover Story

Archive photograph by Vicki Thompson

Coleman Improvements: Ken Yeager celebrates the groundbreaking of San Jose MarketCenter on Coleman Avenue with Mayor Ron Gonzales (left) and developer William Del Biaggio. The retail center was one of several redevelopment projects in the Rose Garden area during Yeager's term.

Yeager appreciated for people-oriented style

Councilman moves on to become supervisor

By Mary Gottschalk

Ken Yeager will celebrate his 54th birthday on Dec. 12 by resigning from his San Jose City Council District 6 seat and taking the oath of office for his Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 4 seat.

After serving the San Jose neighbors of Willow Glen and Rose Garden since 2000, Yeager says, "It was much harder than I thought it would be, but it was also more rewarding."

His effort and commitment during the last six years has not gone unnoticed by the community.

"Everywhere I go, there's always somebody who comes up to thank me for work someone in my office has done or a vote I've made," he says. "It always brings a smile to my face."

Yeager has been at the forefront of nearly every Rose Garden issue during his time in office, governing the neighborhood during an important period of community transition. He worked to put measures into place that would mitigate traffic and noise. He was vocal on housing developments, trails and the airport curfew. Neighbors say while Yeager is fair, he's been an advocate for the community.

Joe Bentley, president of the Shasta Hanchett Park Neighborhood Association, is among those who are aware of Yeager's work.

"Ken has been a phenomenal representative," Bentley says. "On more than one occasion I have emailed Ken while council is discussing an agenda item, like county pocket annexations, ballpark notifications and downtown core boundaries, and Ken has not only responded, but he used my words in making the motion or argument.

"That level of real-time responsiveness is unmatched at city hall.

"Of course, Ken is not always available to take calls, and so [his assistant] Megan Doyle really carries that responsiveness to the next level. Megan is like having a best friend in city hall."

Bentley says he is particularly grateful for Yeager's support of funding for the Rose Garden Farmers Market, the Rose Garden Library and the Los Gatos Creek Trail.

For resident Helen Solinski, protesting airport curfew violators in 2005 was a memorable experience. Protestors dressed in sleepwear to hammer home the lack of sleep due to the late night flights.

"Ken and I, and my pajamas," Solinski says with a laugh. "I was really passionate about the airport. I was really proud of what Ken did, saying we're not going to put up with it."

Most of all, though, neighbors credit Yeager for being a conduit to the city. Solinski said Yeager and his staff frequently organize meetings to help neighbors work through city bureaucracy.

Yeager and politics

Before Yeager began serving as District 6 councilman in 2000, he was hardly a political neophyte.

As a political science major at San José State University, where he still teaches one class each semester, Yeager worked on the campaigns and staffs of a variety of South Bay politicians. He served as a press relations aide in Washington, D.C., and later in San Jose for former congressman Don Edwards, and Susanne Wilson and Rod Diridon, during their county supervisor stints.

In 1984 Yeager and fellow SJSU professor Wiggsy Sivertsen formed the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee (BAYMEC), a political group that works to support gay and lesbian rights.

Now as Yeager prepares for the transition, he says the high points of his council tenure include chairing the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Ethics; the FAA approval of San Jose's airport curfew, giving the city authority to impose fines; and his service on the Caltrain board, where he is the current chairman.

"It was wonderful to roll out the new Baby Bullet service," he says.

Yeager's clout also helped save service to the College Park Station in April 2005 after closure was recommend as a cost-cutting measure.

Another high point, Yeager says, was the dedication of the new Rose Garden Library in February 2006.

"I'll never forget how thrilled so many people were with it," he says, adding he's looking forward to the Dec. 2 groundbreaking for the Willow Glen library.

Low points of his time on the council, Yeager says, were having to censor Mayor Ron Gonzales, asking Gonzales to resign and the Terry Gregory scandal.

"One of the reasons I'm interested in government is I believe I can do a lot of good, and I want to build more trust between residents and city hall. Those ethics scandals really tore that trust down," Yeager says.

In terms of accomplishments, it's not surprising Yeager points to his work on the county trails.

Yeager says when he first arrived on the council, the issue of trails "had been totally ignored. Now there's a new commitment to construct more."

Parks advocate Larry Ames praises Yeager for pushing the city to hire a trail program manager. "Before that, trails kind of fell in the cracks in the parks system," Ames says.

A strong proponent of physical fitness, Yeager's red Subaru has a personalized license plate that reads "KEYRUNS," which he does-- 5 miles, four times a week.

He's also well known around city hall for his preference for taking the stairs rather than the elevator to reach his18th floor office.

Yeager also spearheaded the move to require healthy food and drink options in San Jose vending machines.

A healthy lifestyle also extended directly into the District 6 neighborhoods.

Yeager is equally pleased with the dedication of new parks in his district, including Hummingbird, Fuller, River Glen, Buena Vista, Cahill and O'Connor parks.

Still, he says, "I wish we'd been able to acquire more parkland. District 6 is parkland-deficient. Land is so expensive, we can't purchase much.

"We haven't been able to purchase the abandoned Willow Glen railroad spur. We've allocated the money, but we haven't reached an agreement with Union Pacific on a purchase price."

Part of the problem, he says, is that many areas in District 6, particularly in the Rose Garden and Willow Glen, are older neighborhoods developed before the city required inclusion of parklands.

"We hope to create a large regional park around the old Del Monte cannery site," he says.

A disappointment, he says, has been his lack of success in finding a suitable location for a dog park in District 6, something he knows many constituents want.

Terming his experience frustrating, Yeager says it might be possible to incorporate a dog park into the Del Monte park plan.

But while dog parks stalled, his campaign to address illegal tree removals is standing tall.

The city approved a revised tree-removal ordinance in June. The amended ordinance strengthened the laws, more than doubling the fines for homeowners and tree-removal companies that illegally cut down a tree. It now provides steep fines of up to $6,000 for repeat offenders.

He says he's also pleased with improvements in some of the key business districts.

He points to improvements along Lincoln Avenue, including pedestrian safety, sidewalk cleaning, increasing parking and recruiting more businesses.

"I'm very sorry I won't be on the city council to dedicate the new Whole Foods on The Alameda, but it's wonderful it's coming," he says.

Gerda Weber, a past president of The Alameda Business Association and a mortgage loan specialist at Mortgage Magic, says Yeager has been supportive of local business concerns.

"Ken has a wonderful pulse on this district because he advocates not only for the businesses, but also the residents of his district," Weber says.

"Ken was real supportive of our farmers market, and Megan Doyle always came to represent him at our Alameda Business Association meetings.

"I've seen him at community meetings he's held, and he's well respected. What I've seen him do is really work with businesses and the residents.

"He will be missed," she says.

Next phase

As Yeager prepares to move from a city to a county office and see his constituency base rise from 90,000 to more than 300,000, it's clear he's been giving it a lot of thought.

"I want a better relationship between the cities of San Jose, Campbell and Santa Clara and the county," he says. "We need to work on joint projects and increase cooperation."

Signaling his intention, Yeager has asked San Jose Mayor-elect Chuck Reed to introduce him at his swearing-in ceremony.

"I hope that sends a signal that the two governments will have better communication," he says.

Yeager has also asked Catherine Gallagher, the incoming presiding judge for Santa Clara County Superior Court and the first woman to hold that post, to swear him in.

Looking forward, Yeager points out that about half his city council district is within the boundaries of his new supervisorial district.

"I'll also be representing the unincorporated areas within the geographical boundaries of District 6, such as parts of Cambrian and the Burbank neighborhood," he says.

As supervisor his priorities will include deciding what to do with the county fairgrounds, providing support for foster children and housing for the homeless, as well as boosting voter turnout.

Under current term limit laws, Yeager can serve up to three four-year terms as a county supervisor.

Yeager says that's his focus, and he won't speculate on his political plans beyond that.

"I've never lacked for energy," Yeager says. "I'd love to go back to teaching, and I'd like to write some books on what it's like to be in office and about others who have served.

"I believe I leave the district in better shape than when I was first elected, which is something I wanted to achieve.

"It's a great job and it has been a wonderful six years. I'm fortunate I can continue in public service."