As Bobby Lopez Lawyers Up,  LaDoris Cordell Plays Down IPA Spy Saga

Jul 14, 2010, by Jessica Fromm Politics Comments (23)

LaDoris Cordell, who took over as San Jose’s Independent Police Auditor in May, landed in a firestorm involving the former head of the police union.

Sgt. Bobby Lopez, the former San Jose police union president, ignited a firestorm last month when reports surfaced that he boasted of having a spy in the Independent Police Auditor’s (IPA) Office. Now he has hired an attorney and won’t talk.

Two weeks ago, the usually loquacious Lopez announced that he would run for his old job as president of the San José Police Officers Association (POA). Lopez said he believes George Beattie, his media-shy predecessor, is a weak leader.

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Should the City of San Jose Merge With Santa Clara County?

Jul 14, 2010, by Pete Campbell Politics Comments (34)

In an article published by the Mercury News, San Jose State Professor Larry Gerston advanced the argument that huge costs savings could be realized if the county’s many school districts were consolidated.  Great gains could also be achieved if police and fire services were re-aligned countywide.

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Please Contribute to the Trace Fund

Jul 13, 2010, by Joseph DiSalvo Politics Comments (14)

By Joseph DiSalvo and Pierluigi Oliverio

We are asking San Jose Inside’s readers and bloggers for your generosity.

The devastating fire on July 5 at Trace Elementary School in the San Jose Unified School District has created an extraordinary outpouring of support and giving from across the City of San Jose. According to Karen Fuqua, Director of Public Relations for the district, the citizens of San Jose should be very proud of their contributions to Trace. It is, she says, overwhelming and heartening at the same time.

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Time to Outsource Police?

Jul 12, 2010, by Pierluigi Oliverio Politics Comments (77)

From time to time I have talked about outsourcing certain city services to save money—so the city can use the money saved on core services we provide to the community. When I first introduced a pilot program for outsourcing park maintenance at the Rose Garden Park in 2007, the council (except for Mayor Reed) shrugged off my idea.  Now, the topic of how to provide services to San Jose residents with limited revenue is being discussed. For example, the city was able to open some of the pools that were due to be closed because the city outsourced to private organizations which are less costly.

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Blogging in Vietnamese

Jul 07, 2010, by The Fly Politics Comments (12)

The robust Vietnamese press in Silicon Valley has always played by its own rules, and a post on the blog Little Saigon Inside provided a particularly salacious example recently.

The author, Vinh Nguyen, points out that the Vietnam Daily Newspaper went after District 7 City Council candidate Minh Duong before the June primary with articles that accused him of being pro-Communist while boosting long-shot candidate Patrick Phu Le with headlines like “Phu Le Has a Very Great Chance of Being in the Run-off” (Le captured 17.11 percent of the vote to Duong’s 24.07 percent).

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Meet the Glickmans

Jul 07, 2010, by The Fly Politics Comments (3)

Judy Glickman, wife of former Los Gatos Councilman Steve Glickman, may be mounting a run of her own this November.  She has been hitting up local political consultants, shopping for somebody to help her in a race for her husband’s old seat on the clubby Los Gatos Town Council.

Her hubby was often a lone-wolf on the council, battling an otherwise unanimous body on topics ranging from a skatepark (which he favored) to a new public library (which he opposed). After deciding to step down rather than seek a third term last summer, Glickman circulated two 11th-hour initiatives—one to halt the new library project and another to institute term limits on his former colleagues. Both failed

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