Some rules are made to be ignored, and we’re lucky the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors had the sense to disregard one of its own.
On Tuesday, the board unanimously approved naming the Alamitos Creek Bridge in Almaden Quicksilver County Park after Kathleen “Kitty” Monahan, a teacher, preservationist and historian who was a driving force behind the creation of the 4,000-acre San Jose park in the 1970s — as well as many other parks-related projects in the area over the decades. Monahan died in July at age 89, leaving Santa Clara County with one less strong voice to advocate for its open space.
Supervisor Joe Simitian proposed renaming the bridge on Alamitos Road, just south of Bertram Road, in her memory after a New Almaden resident contacted his office with the idea. He first ran the plan past Monahan’s brother, Richard, who told him the idea was wonderful because “Kitty bridged so many things. Alamitos Creek can be another one.”
There was only one small snag on the way to this perfect tribute and that was a board policy that didn’t allow naming something after a private individual unless that person contributed a majority of the funding for the facility or to acquire the land it’s on. Simitian wondered if it would even apply to a bridge and suggested that if it did, his fellow supervisors should override the rule in this case.
“Setting aside that lack of clarity, this situation is unique,” he wrote in a supporting memo. “This is a bridge in the public right of way, over a creek that is a community asset, located within the Almaden Quicksilver County Park; Ms. Monahan was pivotal in the effort to establish that park.”
Almaden Quicksilver County Park was always going to be part of Kitty Monahan’s legacy. But now this bridge named after her is a concrete expression of gratitude by the county.
GIFT-GIVING SEASON: “Stuff the Bus” returns to Christmas in the Park on Saturday, as the U.S. Marine Reserves Toys for Tots program will be taking donations of new, unwrapped toys from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and trying to fill at least one VTA bus. There’s even a drop-off lane on northbound Market Street for anyone who isn’t sticking around.
And Mike Hennessy says Hot San Jose Nights’ fifth annual toy and food drive is a go for Sunday at the Cambrian Park Plaza shopping center at Union and Camden avenues. They’ll take donations of new, unwrapped toys and non-perishable food — no glass containers — from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. that’ll be delivered to the Lord’s Pantry off White Road. TSP Motorsports President Mike Mak has a similar drive running at his shop at 2705 Lafayette St. in Santa Clara from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There should be some great cars on display at both venues, too.
CAROLING ALONG: Bass-baritone Marques Jerrell Ruff will add his voice to the Symphony San Jose Chorale for the “Carols in the California” program this Saturday night at the California Theatre. As always, the show will include traditional sing-alongs, along with the always popular “Twelve Days of San Jose Christmas,” a gift from conductor Elena Sharkova that never stops giving. Tickets to the 7 p.m. show are available for $36 ($26 for anyone 26 or younger) at www.symphonysanjose.org.
Join the Conversation
We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.