How Do You Want Redevelopment Money to be Spent?

Posted by Pierluigi Oliverio on Monday, June 30, 2008

City Hall Diary

Last Tuesday, we considered whether to continue preliminary discussions with the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and three private property owners regarding San Pedro Square. The issue under consideration was should RDA spend money to do capital improvements like sidewalk widening, streetscapes and loans to rehab older buildings in the area.

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The 2008-2009 Budget

Posted by Pierluigi Oliverio on Monday, June 23, 2008

City Hall Diary

The city council spent 12 hours on “Budget Tuesday” last week.  Here are three of the topics we covered.

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Chamber and Labor Both Agree

Posted by Pierluigi Oliverio on Monday, June 16, 2008

City Hall Diary

Last week the city council unanimously approved a concession agreement for the new airport terminal.  Believe it or not, the Chamber of Commerce and the Working Partnerships Labor Union both agreed on the selection. Whew!  If only agreements like this could happen more often.

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What Would Happen if City Hall Contracted Out its Toilet Paper Delivery?

Posted by Pierluigi Oliverio on Monday, June 09, 2008

Did you know the city has a central warehouse that costs over $850,000 a year to operate?  (Yes, we do. We really shouldn’t be surprised; this is the same city that spends over $30 million on three public golf courses.) Back to the warehouse: It stocks items like toilet paper, batteries, landscaping materials and cleaning products. The $850,000 is the annual cost of the seven employees and running the warehouse, and does not include the cost of the actual inventory. 

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Disneyland Comes to Alviso

Posted by Pierluigi Oliverio on Monday, June 02, 2008

City Hall Diary

Disneyland in Alviso?  Not quite, but the comparisons are definitely there. Several months back, I accompanied Councilmembers Chu and Liccardo on a tour of the San Jose Water Pollution Control Plant.  We rode on electric carts that were linked together like those at an amusement park.  Our tour guide spouted off words like, “sewage back-up, micro-organisms, aeration, methane gas”—much different then “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

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