Tuesday morning my electronic mail and social media began popping with folks asking if I had seen that removing of the Fallon statue had begun in downtown San Jose. Lastly, I believed, our lengthy civic nightmare is over.
However the nightmare I used to be pondering of wasn’t the Fallon statue itself. It was having to speak about it for the previous 35 years. With the statue’s impending removing from Julian Avenue, San Jose residents will lastly get to place this concern to relaxation.
I additionally was shocked by what I used to be listening to from folks concerning the removing, together with loads of assumptions that have been simply plain inaccurate. Some argued that taking the statue down was like demolishing a historic constructing, which isn’t the case in any respect. Whereas the statue depicted a key second in San Jose historical past — the elevating of the U.S. flag within the metropolis in the course of the Mexican-American Battle in 1846 — the statue itself wasn’t a historic artifact. The piece by sculptor Robert Glen, a wonderful sculpture if checked out with out its baggage, was commissioned in 1988 beneath then-Mayor Tom McEnery. It’s not at the same time as outdated as present Mayor Matt Mahan.
The statue of Thomas Fallon — an adventurer and soldier who served a 12 months as mayor within the 1850s — and an unidentified companion on horseback making ready to hoist the flag was hidden away as a result of some Mexican-People mentioned it glorified a navy conquest and different residents complained concerning the lack of public enter. An arts committee — which included a number of the statue’s detractors — was fashioned and determined it wouldn’t be positioned on the park now generally known as Plaza de Cesar Chavez. As a substitute, it will be locked away till the town had put in public artwork that acknowledged San Jose’s pre-statehood inhabitants, its Mexican-American inhabitants and its agricultural historical past.
That occurred, so in 2002, San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales presided over the revealing of the statue close to Pellier Park, which was attended by protesters. For the following twenty years, the furor over the statue — which was moved about 100 toes in 2016 when Julian Avenue was realigned — principally simmered till the summer time of 2020 when the statue was repeatedly vandalized as racial tensions grew throughout the nation within the wake of the homicide of George Floyd. Then-Mayor Sam Liccardo convened a group assembly to debate the controversial artwork and finally known as for its removing. Town council voted to take action in 2021, and the work — anticipated to be accomplished earlier than Could 4 — acquired underway Tuesday.
So what can we learn about Fallon? Though some have claimed he was liable for homicide and genocide, nobody’s ever offered proof of that. However there’s additionally by no means been a powerful case he was consequential sufficient to warrant a statue. The legacy of his spouse, Carmel Castro Lodge, who divorced him after catching him with the maid, ended up being extra vital. However he did increase the U.S. flag in San Jose, an act that occurred throughout California in 1846. (An identical scene from 1847 is depicted within the Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial Wall in Los Angeles, which was restored in 2018.)
The statue’s steel worth is about $6,000 however it couldn’t be melted down as a result of that requires permission of the artist beneath a 1979 California regulation, and Glen mentioned no. He additionally didn’t need to purchase again the statue. Shifting it to Historical past Park wasn’t an choice as a result of Historical past San Jose declined a proposal partially as a result of it will be a goal for vandalism.
As a substitute, it’ll be locked away once more in an nameless warehouse just like the Ark of the Covenant in “Raiders of the Misplaced Ark.” Possibly in 50 years or so, some curious soul will dare to peek contained in the crate solely to be warned off by a word that claims “Do Not Open. Nonetheless Radioactive.”
REMEMBERING A SANTA CLARAN: Few folks can say they formed a metropolis the way in which Santa Clara was guided by Don Von Raesfeld, the longtime metropolis supervisor who died at age 96 throughout Easter Mass on April 9 at St. Clare Church in Santa Clara.
Von Raesfeld was Santa Clara’s metropolis supervisor from 1960 to 1985 and likewise served a time period on the town council from 1988-92. The Mission Metropolis grew to become a key a part of Silicon Valley throughout his tenure because it grew to become dwelling to Intel, Nationwide Semiconductor, Utilized Supplies and AMD.
He acquired the town into the amusement park recreation with the creation of Nice America within the Seventies, constructed the Worldwide Swim Heart and helped lure the 49ers into bringing their coaching facility to Santa Clara. The large energy plant operated by Silicon Valley Energy, Santa Clara’s municipal utility, is called after him due to his main function in making Santa Clara power self-sufficient.
A service will happen at St. Clare Church at 11 a.m. April 26, adopted by a reception at Fiorillo’s restaurant on El Camino Actual.
BIKING BONANZA: Menlo Park residents are flexing their muscle mass — at the least their biking muscle mass — by outclassing the sphere of greater than 30 communities within the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition’s Pedal Energy Cities Problem. Meaning a much bigger proportion of Menlo Parkers have pledged to journey throughout subsequent month’s Bike to Wherever Days, Could 18-20.
As of this week, Mountain View had bumped Los Altos for second place, with Palo Alto and Santa Clara rounding out the highest 5. The place’s San Jose, you may surprise? Nowhere within the prime 15, however there are nonetheless just a few weeks to alter these numbers by pledging to journey at www.bikesiliconvalley.org.
POETIC LICENSE: The sixteenth annual Legacy of Poetry Pageant is wrapping up at San Jose State College this week, with some massive names — U.S. Poet Laureate Emeritus Juan Felipe Herrera, California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick and playwright Luis Valdez — among the many the audio system on the April 28-30 fest. The lineup additionally contains Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Tshaka Campbell, former county laureates Sally Ashton and Arlene Biala and nationally acclaimed poet Yosimar Reyes.
Hosted by San Jose state’s Poets and Writers Coalition, this 12 months’s pageant is themed “Feeding Our Starvation” and is devoted to preventing meals insecurity on and off campus. It’s all free and open to the general public on the Diaz Compean Scholar Union Theater however can also be being livestreamed. Go to www.sjsu.edu/legacyofpoetry to get extra particulars and register.