Portside

Juristac Planning Commission Public Comment

By Amy Meier

Say the Juristac in South Santa Clara County

is scarred by 3 open pit quarries dug hundreds of feet deep,

say 8600 gallons of water in a historic time of drought

are used each day to run a sand and gravel pit operation

for 30 years, land scarred like this can never be restored.

Say the local deer, elk, coyote, and other

native animals will be unable to travel their last open

corridor between Santa Cruz and Mt. Diablo 

once the fences are erected and the digging begins.

Say the Ohlone Amuh Mutsun Tribal Band

living in intimate respectful stewardship

of the land and all life on it for 1000 generations,

knowledgeable about controlled burns, erosion prevention,

balance of predators and prey, values land and life above profit

and opposes the approval of this sand and gravel mine.

We who are not native are newcomers to this land,

ninth or first generation, we don’t have history here,

the Juristac is not our most sacred ceremonial land, or

our ancestral burial ground, not like the Amuh Mutsun

but we want the same protection for the land.

We know new roads and new housing are important too,

projects that maintain open animal corridors not open pits.

Planning Commissioners you are the current stewards,

Say you will protect this piece of land and its inhabitants

Say you will vote no to this project that benefits a few

and harms the rest of us, our children, your children,

and their children down through the generations.

Say planning for 7 generations is a wisdom we can learn.

 Amy Meier grew up in New York City and now lives in San Jose, CA. In 2015 Amy founded Veterans of Life Write, based at San Jose State University Dr. Martin Luther King Library, currently meeting once a month on Zoom. She has been published in Caesura, Porter Gulch Review, and online in Portside and has been featured reader at various venues in the local Bay area.