Reader offers to pay for slain SJ Safeway worker’s permanent memorial: Roadshow

Q: I’m sending you the response I wish I could have sent directly to Robert Flanagan (featured in Roadshow on March 17). I lived in the Bay Area for over 50 years. This made me so sad. I would pay for the memorial outside Safeway on Hamilton Avenue.

Lisa Johnson, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

A: And her follow-up…

Q: Dear Robert, What an inconvenience to you and neighbors for what you think is an unsightly memorial. You didn’t elaborate on why the site is problematic, just that neighbors are tired of it. I’m pretty sure the parents, family, and friends of 24-year-old Manny Huizar, whose precious life was cut short trying to stop a shoplifter at the store, are not.

What about a kind gesture from you and your neighbors, offering to work with Safeway to establish a plaque, plant, or something that honors Manny’s life in his community, in place of the site? If you and your Silicon Valley neighbors can’t afford it, I’ll pay for it.

Lisa Johnson

A: Here is what Colin-a-San Jose-spokesman said, “We’re looking into options. There’s no precedent or policy for a permanent memorial. The family is asking if there’s a way they can place a tree, bench, or some other plaque-bearing object near that site. We’re sensitive to their grief and the extraordinary circumstances of Manuel’s death. We’re talking among ourselves and with other departments to see what would be feasible in terms of both policy and resources. I’ll let our deputy director know there’s someone offering to chip in and follow up with you if we find a path forward. Please share our thanks with the willing reader.”

Q: Please know that not all the “surrounding neighbors” were tired of the memorial at that Safeway. The essential workers there helped many of us get through the pandemic. If Manny’s friends and family needed that memorial to process his loss, we need to respect that.

David Pollak, San Jose

A: And…