Council Talks City Hall Grand Jury Report

The City Council meeting Tuesday will open with a commendation ceremony for local Olympian Martilou “Marti” Malloy, who took bronze in Judo in London, and the Association of Former Vietnamese Political Prisoners for their 25 years of support of Vietnamese political prisoners. But once the council gets down to business Tuesday, the mayor and councilmembers will discuss a Grand Jury report that questions the city’s funding structure and transparency in building City Hall.

The Grand Jury report, which is entitled “San Jose’s City Hall - A Promise Kept or a Promise Broken,” details the history of San Jose’s City Hall locations and looks into a complaint that “raised concern over whether the new San Jose City Civic Center was constructed with a revenue scheme as prescribed by Measure.” THe report also wanted to see if City Hall is self-sustaining and in compliance with 2012 goals.

According to the Grand Jury’s conclusion: “The reported total cost to the City to build city hall was $510M. Measure I required that this cost would be paid by using the proceeds from the sale or lease of the old civic complex and other land, savings from the elimination of leased office space, and consolidation of city-facilities and services. The City spent the money but has not provided the taxpayers with the final accounting, or an interim accounting if the financial analysis period runs for 40 more years. The City has stated they do not intend to produce any future report. This determination to not report is important, because if taxpayers are to trust the City with future decisions of a similar matter, there is no credibility for the voters to grant the City that privilege in the future. Voters understand circumstances will change, but to avoid the conversation with taxpayers is disingenuous to the intent of the Measure.”

The city formed its own response to the report, and noted several misstatements of fact.

The rest of the meeting will include the following:

Council will discuss the acceptance of $642,500 in grants for the “Illuminating Downtown” project that will light up downtown San Jose with the help of the Silicon Valley’s Cultural Center. 

Council will also consider approving and repealing chapter ordinances in the municipal code to establish codes for permitted use of city streets, parks, paseos and plazas—excluding City Hall Plaza—for outdoor events. The proposed ordinance could define regulations and make the permitting process smoother.

Council will look at tying up loose ends in order to move forward with the Director of Transportation’s recommendation of designating up to 20 on-street and off-street parking spaces for exclusive parking privilege for participants in a Carshare Pilot Parking Program. The program would have an 18-month pilot period with a fee of $35 per vehicle and sign/marking fee of $225 per location. 

Click here to read the City Council Agenda for September 11, 2012.

4 Comments

  1. Of couse they will not issue another report because they know they lied to the voters on every level.  So much for transparency.

    We can no longer trust any of Chunks cronies.  Every time they open their mouths a lie comes out.

    Good to see 3 of Chucks goons now want to go after pot clubs for taxes.  Where was Big Pete?  On a paid sick time vacation?  Why have those not paying still being allowed to be open.

  2. How convenient! So the City will only bring to light Grand Jury Findings when when it suits their Cause , But when it questions or goes against the City of San Jose , further discussion will not be entertained. WOW!!!People if you cant see whats Happening now ……………………then you deserve what we get. People need to ask the hard questions , people need to Demand that elected officials be forthcoming , people need to demand that Elected officials be held accountable!

    • Exactly. The City took no time to correct the mistatements and incorrect factual findings of the Grand Jury Report on Public Safety—of which there were many.

      So much for sunshine and transparency. Why should the voters not get an accounting of all costs and expenses associated with the $510M City Hall which number grows exponentially when the annual debt service is added to it. Just outrageous.

  3. After reading the document, it is apparent that the measure I was clearly violated by mayor Rufus and the city council, along with the city attorney and city manager office. The Department of Justice should conduct an investigation. Seems to me, that people should go to jail for this.

    Old city hall should have been sold and the money would have gone to new city hall to pay off it’s debt. None of this happened.

    Channel 11, let’s start investigating.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *