Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show April 25, 2013

President JOHN thanked the many whose service today made this club run like clockwork. Greeters: CLYDE NOEL, PAUL SCHUTZ, TOM POWERS; pledge leader PP SAM PESNER; “sparkling” photographer RANDY GARD (though Randy suggested JOHN was actually referring to his shiny pate);KAREN OWEN for her Thought from the first non-European Pulitzer Prize winner who “awoke and discovered that service is joy!”; KATHY BERRY who sang with us “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie.

Members with guests included LINA BROYDO, SAM PESNER, GARY MAGGARD, VON PACKARD and BEVERLY TUCKER.

The next programs per PE JACK KELLY: May 2 – World Community Service update, May 9 – Partners for New Generations, May 16 – scholarships, May 23 –  Economics and the Judicial System by Daniel Newman.

Brief announcements with a warning from Pres JOHN, “I’ll be manning the hook”, though “hooking the man” was suggested instead at one table.

MARLIS MCALLISTER – Red Badge meeting May 2, 11am in Garden House.

PP BOB ADAMS – Challenge Team honors PP ROY LAVE at Michael’s Shoreline, May 8, $55 breakfast.

JEAN MORDO – Art Show raffle tickets sold @ $5 or 5 for $20 to benefit SOPUDEP school in Haiti.

BARBARA SMALL motivated sales with the challenge that two high school students have already sold over 30 ticket booklets.

JULIE ROSE invited all to hear Mayors GARY WALDECK and JARRETT FIHSPAW’s address at the Chamber’s State of the City gathering to recognize Dan Brunello, one of the first non-Rotarians to be so honored.

FRANK ELMER still needs a few Art Show volunteers (soft drink sales, for example) to sign up online.

CAROL GARSTEN needs a person to coordinate LARC’s new public relations table at the downtown Farmer’s Market, then needs 2 volunteers each week to man the table. CAROL invited Rotarians to meet the Young At Art winners with their parents and teachers that she’ll host at her Nature Gallery May 3 from 6-8 pm.

STEVE SHEPHERD wow’ed us with the hilarious video “Swing Baby Swing” produced by Honorary Rotarian NANCY TRAFICANTI about the 2004 LARC Golf and Poker classic. STEVE heads the largest LARC committee reportedly with 60 members. JERRY MOISON invites all to register at www.losaltosrotary.org for Golf Day Friday, June 7 at Shoreline Links. Registration opens at noon for $75 golf and lunch. Non-golfers can register for dinner $45 and poker $10.

Smiling Finemaster PP BOB ADAMS called for “a lineup” of MARK ROGGE, GARY WALDECK, FRANK VERLOT, GARY BROWN, TINA PIERCE, ANABEL PELHAM, JOE EYRE, TED SORENSEN. Under public scrutiny they learned they each had to sing “This Land is Your Land”, alone, to be judged by BOB’s personal applause meter. Winner was TED SORENSEN who bravely sang first, escaped the $20 fine. RON STEFANI was all smiles, for in this lineup he had found his future song leaders! The fine volunteers were JARRETT FISHPAW inviting us to the 4 pm ribbon cutting for the first electric car power station at Bus Barn Theatre. Other volunteers were CRYSTA KRAMES, GARY BROWN, and an announcement of “A Place Called Home” exhibit at the Los Altos History Museum.

PE JACK KELLY followed his introduction of Joe McNamara, San Jose’s former Police Chief, with raffling off a copy of McNamara’s book, “Love and Death in Silicon Valley” to high bidder VON PACKARD.

Joe McNamara, he looked like a nice, mild-mannered guy, but we learned he’s an expert in the Silicon Valley crime scene. Former San Jose Police Chief McNamara brought a little humor to the sobering facts about the drug cartel wars that touch our Peninsula.

Drawing from his experience, McNamara has written three best-selling crime novels, the latest of which is “Love and Death in Silicon Valley”. However, one woman on City Council admonished him to “stick to writing about things you know about, and leave out the sex,” which got a good laugh. One of his novels was recently auctioned off at a Bellarmine High School fundraiser for $50. At the same event, another book written by the descendant of a Brooklyn family notorious for their crimes was sold for $400. “I guess crime does pay,” joked one Rotarian. Not on McNamara’s watch.

After serving as police chief of Kansas City, McNamara was San Jose’s police chief of between 1976 – 1991 when he retired, an amazing tenure of 15 years when the average longevity in the chief’s position was just 2 ½ years. During the period he was police chief, San Jose became the safest large city in the US, despite having the fewest police per capita.

The drug sub-culture which has crossed the border from Mexico along with 80% of the illegal narcotics in the US has created a dangerous, violent environment in the Bay Area of which many living in more affluent areas are unaware, he warned. Some of the weapons used in drive-by shootings are so powerful they can even penetrate house walls, making victims of totally innocent people. Because over 60,000 people have been killed recently in Mexican drug wars, their President is forced to rely on the military instead of threatened police officers and public officials. Mexican cartels are even ordering hits against US police officers, advised McNamara.

Now a research fellow of the Hoover Institute after earning a BS from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a Criminal Justice Research Fellowship from Harvard Law School, and a doctorate in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, McNamara is well versed in criminal behavior. His lifetime study of gangs and drug wars have shown him that “There’s a difference between enforcing the law and justice.” He finds that the rules set by the Constitution and courts can make it difficult to fight the drug wars and collect evidence as needed. Police officers walk a thin line due to the conflict between doing their jobs professionally and really protecting the public.

The first question from the audience was “What’s your stand on gun control?” “It’s a very complex issue,” he began. In his 1985 speech at the Commonwealth Club he had predicted that the US would become “the scene of domestic terrorism like never seen before.” The fully automatic Uzi submachine gun, for example, fires 36 rounds in the same time police weapons can only fire 6 rounds. “Weapons for combat do not belong in civilized society,” he concluded, “and public opinion polls favor background checks to control ownership of guns.” This conclusion was greeted by a loud round of applause.

THIS THURSDAY'S PROGRAM:

Allan Varni and Frank Verlot - World Community Service Update