December 5, 2006

Jeanette Watson steps down after 21 years serving Campbell

Like Campbell, City Council is changing

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

Jeanette Watson has seen Campbell change from a sleepy little town with a one-way street through a rundown downtown to a thriving small city which boasts a lively downtown filled with restaurants, bars and boutiques. As she steps down after 21 years and five terms on the city council she is proud to speak of the many accomplishments she and her peers have achieved over the years.

The 1986 Campbell City Council showing the first year the first woman was elected. From the left are Council members Bill Podgorsek, Jeanette Watson and John Ashworth. Seated, left, are Mayor Mike Kotowski and Vice Mayor Ralph Doetsch, Sr.

“Downtown has been reborn,” she said, “and we’ve improved the parks we had and added more parks.” But, she is especially proud of the Campbell Community Center, Heritage Theatre and Ainsley House.

Cultural city
Campbell has become a city of culture with the Ainsley House, the renovated Heritage Theatre and the Campbell Historical Museum. “We have established ourselves as having one of the best community centers in the area,” she said, “with the Heritage Theatre as the crown jewel.”

Watson also noted that Campbell has become a gathering place for young adults, people in their 20s and 30s are meeting downtown or shopping there, she said. “I like to think I had a part in changing that culture and cleaning up our town.”

“With the addition of Home Depot and Fry’s, we’ve got more people coming to our city and more businesses that young people need,” she said.

When she first joined the City Council, Campbell was a bedroom community for San Jose. Now it’s come into its own, she said, with increased housing and retail establishments. The San Tomas area, in particular, is seeing an increase in expensive houses being built on large lots, which brings families who have the incomes to support the larger, more expensive homes.

Proudest accomplishments
Watson started her career as a volunteer in the Campbell Historical Museum. From there, she was asked to serve on a bond issue committee for the library and the city hall building. She then became chair of the Campbell Citizens for Beautification through the city council.

In 1972, when the city established the Civic Improvement Commission, Watson became its first chair. From there, she got involved with the Chamber of Commerce, becoming the first woman to serve as president.

In 1985, Watson was asked to run for City Council. She is the first woman to be elected to that office, and it’s been through her vision that the city has experienced much of its growth. But she never forgot her start on the Beautification Committee and has carried that through her tenure on the council.

“One thing happened, then another thing happened, and the changes just kept coming,” she said.

Watson says she finds it hard to pin down which accomplishments she is most proud of, but she cites seven as her most “wonderful” experiences.

Crown jewels
Probably the grand opening she’s proudest of is the Heritage Theatre, which she calls “the crown jewel” of the community center. “To be there to see the opening of the theater, to see how we as a city had renovated the former school auditorium into a beautiful theater is one my proudest moments,” she said

“Ainsley House was especially gratifying for me,” she said, “because we got to work with the Hicks-Bowen family, the granddaughters of J.C. Ainsley.” She said it was quite an experience to watch the house roll down the street from its former location at Hamilton and Bascom into Campbell.

The Ainsley House became a Campbell landmark during Watson’s first term as mayor and is now on the registry of historical places. It is currently decorated for the holidays and it offers teas and tours for those who want to go back in history.

The Campbell Historical Museum is another city feature that came to be during Watson’s tenure. The museum is a unique place that she said has developed into one of the finest small museums in the country.

It’s a special place for Campbell Union School District third graders who not only tour the museum, but get hands-on experience about living in the past, even in the not-too-distant past. For example, Watson explained that part of the children’s experience includes learning how to hang clothes on a clothesline. Many of us watched our mothers do this, she said, but how many people in this area have a clothesline today, and how many of our children have even seen clothespins?

Community Center success
Just before Watson joined the council, the city purchased the grounds for the community center, which was on the site of her former alma mater, Campbell High School. “Lots of planning went into the community center,” she said, “and it just came out beautifully.”

Today the center is constantly busy with programs, classes and athletic fields. There are activities for seniors, a track that’s in use daily, a well-used pool and fields for baseball, football and soccer. There are new tennis courts, rooms and activities for seniors, a variety of classes and community rooms that serve the public.

In 1989 Watson published a book entitled, “Campbell the Orchard City.” She wrote it on her own time and its sales provide income and benefits to the museum. “The book is a major history of the city,” she said.

Watson said she enjoyed her time on the council and she will miss serving the city “very much. I will especially miss the staff, they are wonderful.”

For now, she just plans to relax and visit with her three children and eight grandchildren who are scattered from Minnesota to Arizona to Northern California. It’s too bad, she said, that none of them chose to stay here in Campbell.

Watson made a statement last year, when she took on another term as mayor, “I know that when I leave, I will have left the city a better place.” That may be an understatement.