2024 Boundary Change Info

01/01/24

Dear Neighbors,

As we start a new year it is often a time of change. This year, that is true for the Doerr Neighborhood Association.  When I started the association in 2019, I created our boundaries based on a general map of areas provided by District 9. Our association included about 1800 homes – making us one of the larger neighborhood associations in San Jose. Most associations are in the range of 400-600 homes. Over the past few years, we have learned that trying to serve 1800 homes well while creating a sense of community is difficult.

Each year we apply for a BeautifySJ grant to fund activities that benefit our neighborhood and greater community (tree and flower bed plantings, dog poop bags, National Night Out, etc.) and we have been fortunate to receive those grant funds. However, this year, the City will be looking closely at neighborhoods to see where there is overlap in funding and has indicated they will not fund multiple groups within the same boundaries. We are aware that in the past, Hill Park Neighborhood Association and Kirkwood Neighbors on Watch both received BSJ grant funding even though they reside within the boundaries of Doerr Neighborhood Association. This has given us another reason to look at our boundaries and think about how we best serve our community.

Given this information and the challenges of such a large association, the Doerr NA board has decided to redefine our boundaries thereby reducing the number of homes we serve. Our reorganizing committee has determined that our new boundaries will include about 660 homes, reducing our association to about 1/3 the size. This will allow us and the other associations within our boundaries to continue to apply for BSJ funding and will provide a more manageable way for us to build our community. However, sadly, this means that many of you will no longer reside within our boundaries. We want to assure you that we will continue to advocate for the issues (like traffic and safety) that affect the entire Doerr area, and we would love to have volunteers from inside and outside our new boundaries as volunteers.

Note that an advantage of redefining our boundaries is that it provides the opportunity for the formation of new neighborhood associations. Many of you already organize special events on your street or with close neighbors. This is an opportunity to formalize that group and work to build your own association. And you will be eligible for grant funding, should you wish to pursue that.

To summarize what this means:

Doerr NA:

• Reorganized and adopted new boundaries and new bylaws (effective 1/1/24)

• Will be in a period of reorganization from now until 3/31/24

• Changed our fiscal year to align with the new BSJ fiscal year: April 1 – March 31

• Will apply for a BeautifySJ6 grant under the new bylaws and boundaries

  • • Will use that funding to continue beautification efforts at Doerr Park (dog bags, flower bed, tree watering) as well as outreach activities

• Will continue to have general meetings open to anyone

• Will continue with trash pick-up efforts throughout our neighborhood

• Will continue to advocate on behalf of the community for issues affecting the Doerr area

We want to thank everyone who has volunteered to work with us over the past several years for their efforts to improve our neighborhood. We hope that those efforts will continue, and we look forward to getting to know the people within our new boundaries better. Please send an email if you have any questions. I have attached a map of our new boundaries for your information.

With thanks,

Doerr Neighborhood Association

Rachel Daniels

Lynn Myers

Denise Leto

Al Pippert