The Norcal Scandal’s namesake, the waste disposal company at the center of the controversy, has largely been left out of the discussion lately while the mayor’s part in the deal has taken center stage. However, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Norcal will have to answer the very serious charges made by the grand jury in court in due course, unless their past history with a similar incident guides us to a different conclusion.

It is clear from yesterday’s special meeting that the only thing the city council can do to the mayor in the wake of his indictment is whack him with a wet noodle, take away his gas allowance, and allow him only bread and water. There is no provision or process in the Charter to remove the mayor from office, and the council apparently cannot now pass an ordinance addressing impeachment and apply it retroactively without violating the mayor’s civil rights. What is also clear is that, if there was such an impeachment procedure in place, the council would now invoke it in light of the mayor’s refusal to resign, and he would be history.

When you come right down to it, $2.6 billion is a lot of money no matter how you cut it (except in Bush’s illegal Iraq war where it would last a mere 10 days). That’s the amount of the new fiscal year’s budget approved by the city council on Tuesday, not without disagreement from some members. LeZotte and Reed voted against accepting the mayor’s budget message, LeZotte and Cortese voted against the overall budget, and LeZotte, Reed and Cortese voted against extending the telephone line charges to fund 911 responders.

While we wait to see what changes are in store for the Mercury News—recently sold to Denver-based Media News, who take over this summer—we should also be concerned about the impact on local arts and culture in the wake of parent company Knight Ridder’s departure from San Jose. The absence of its $2 million annual expenditure, $750,000 of which is earmarked for arts and culture, will create a huge financial hole in the valley and bring hard times for some who have depended on its support. Unless others step in to help fill this philanthropic hole, the city-logo proclaimed “10th Largest U.S. City” has a big problem.

I can’t resist bringing up a few items in light of Election Day’s results. First and foremost: Where were you missing voters? I went to my downtown polling station at 3:30 p.m., where there are nearly 1300 voters registered, and I was voter number 88 for the day. The poll workers were bored stiff. Is there no sense of civic responsibility any more? I know that many voted “absentee,” but still—88 voters in more than eight hours of polling! According to the official Santa Clara County website, 229,172 voted out of 747,644 registered, including absentee. That’s a little higher than a 30 percent turnout throughout the county. 106,436 ballots were cast for mayor, somewhat less than 30 percent in the city. This is pathetic. Under the circumstances, do we get what we deserve?

With public dissatisfaction of local, state and national leadership running at levels of 60 percent (Schwarzenegger), 75 percent (Bush), 90 percent (Congress), and nearly 100 percent (Gonzales), this election brings voters a chance to effect real change in all aspects of government. We could hardly do worse, unless we enable more of the same. We must ensure that we eliminate those agents of our dissatisfaction from contention. This may be the overriding factor in making choices on Election Day.

Like other voters, I have received the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce hit piece on Cindy Chavez as well as the “Cindy Chavez stole my home” phone calls from the same Chamber political action committee, COMPAC. Unlike others, perhaps, I am not surprised by their tactics. After all, the Chamber is an organization of, by and for the local business community. They are empowered to look after the special interests of their members, representing a very small but vocal portion of the population of our city who seek a large influence at City Hall. It just so happens that these may not be the same interests of the vast majority of our citizens.

I have an admission to make: right now, I don’t give a damn who becomes the next mayor. OK, maybe I just got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or being a news junkie has finally caught up with me. But, given the candidates we have to choose from and the situation in our city, state and world, what does it matter who becomes mayor and why should I care?

Having just returned to my downtown lair from a week of hiking in the southern desert, it is easy for me to see and feel the positive effects of open spaces on the human psyche. Perhaps that is why I am finding it even more difficult than usual to tacitly swallow the Coyote Valley development boondoggle as inevitable. Apparently, given the facts presented in the new financial analysis of the planned community there, and the strong “go-slow” position taken by the Mercury News in a recent editorial, others feel the same way. However, I would describe my own attitude as more of a “no-go” for the development.

When the promoters of the San Jose Grand Prix went to the mayor and vice mayor for a $4 million public handout in August, the answer should have been a quick and simple “no.” Instead, according to information uncovered by the Mercury News this week, the city administration of Mayor Gonzales, aided and abetted by Cindy Chavez, acted surreptitiously behind the scenes to do a deal like thieves in the night, deliberately keeping their colleagues on the council and the citizens of San Jose in the dark.

Kudos to Sal Pizarro, writer for the Mercury News, for his Monday mention of the ECV Clampers “most satisfactory” plaque ceremony in Alviso. Sal’s mention is a bit of a surprise being that Clampers are wascally wabbits whose rough edges (they drink beer) might have sawed against the grain of the PC police at the Mercury News.

Right now it looks like the next few months of the campaign will be dominated with talk about the scandals at City Hall.  There’s certainly been a lot to talk about: the growth of City Hall lobbyists, decision-making going on behind closed doors, the garbage scandal with Norcal, City Hall cost over-runs, the Cisco phone contract at City Hall, gift giving, controversy about secret fundraising, and the censure and resignation of ex-councilman Terry Gregory and more.

The sale of Knight Ridder to McClatchy Newspapers (for $4.5 billion) is well documented this week in all the news media, including the Mercury News, which describes its own fate of being purchased on one day and then sold (by McClatchy) as soon as possible thereafter to the highest bidder. McClatchy is keeping some of the daily papers owned by Knight Ridder—the ones considered “cream of the crop”—and auctioning off the others—the ones that don’t make enough money (real money or the stock market kind).

Over a period of sixteen years, Cinequest, the San Jose film festival celebrating independent filmmaking, has quietly developed into the premier downtown cultural event. I say quietly because, unlike the current favorite of our evidently lowbrow city council, it doesn’t get a $4 million subsidy (although I am sure they would LOVE to have it), uproot trees and citizens, and disrupt downtown residents and workers for six weeks while they construct, then deconstruct, a racecourse and stands. And, unlike that other event calendar high point, Mardi Gras, it doesn’t attract even one single drunken, underage troublemaker bent on late-night destruction and mayhem.

The current issue of The Wave speaks of the impending doom of 16 palm trees on Park Avenue to provide a wider passing lane for the upcoming San Jose Grand Prix.  The relocation of the trees is not a done deal, but those opposed are being enslaved and relocated to Alviso to work on crawdad farms.

Mark the 25th of March on your calendar, PDA, or forearm. On that day, the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) will be in Alviso for a monument dedication, and everyone is invited, even Alvisophobes. The plaque will commemorate the port and town of Alviso. Yes, Alviso was a port, and though it was illegally subsumed into San Jose in 1968, it is for all practical purposes still a town, in appearance like a Mexican village (not counting a few rows of $700,000 townhouses).