Residents of District 7 will be the biggest losers if Madison Nguyen is recalled from office. Only one of its past three representatives, George Shirakawa, Jr., was able to serve out his term. Shirakawa’s father died in office. Terry Gregory’s term was cut short by a gift scandal. Now, if Nguyen loses her seat in a recall, District 7 residents will for the third time be penalized with a mid-term transition. As a diverse community with issues to solve and a larger development pipeline than other council districts, the area does not need to bring a new councilmember up to speed.

Allow me to quack poetic about the efforts of a local team of artists from San Jose State University who collaborated behind the scenes on an installation for last year’s 01SJ Global Festival of Art on the Edge in downtown San Jose. Just last month, the project Tantalum Memorial took home first prize at transmediale.09, an international festival for contemporary art and digital culture in Berlin.

Guest Column

By Steve Borkenhagen

Downtown San Jose has suffered for decades from a severe lack of retail activity. We have a number of entertainment venues, museums, restaurants, bars, offices and (more recently) housing, but we have not had a vibrant retail area in the heart of our city since the 1960s. Generations of South Bay residents have never experienced retail excitement in Downtown San Jose. The San Jose Public Market has the potential to change this.

This past Tuesday, members of the San Jose City Council, city executives, and city staff got together to try and arrive at some about possible solutions for San Jose’s budget mess. They found none. According to the Mercury News, some of the “solutions” that were kicked around included keeping libraries open for only three days, closing some park restrooms on weekdays, and raising all kinds of fines and fees for expected city services.

But rather than cutting city departments evenly across the board, why doesn’t the council and the city manager’s office re-examine just what city departments are essential to the workings of a major, modern American city. In other words, should some city departments be eliminated alltogether?

Guest Column

By John Conway

As a founding member of the San Jose Restaurant and Entertainment Association, I want to bring you up to speed on developments regarding the public-private partnership that is evolving to share the fair costs of a new policing model for our downtown Entertainment Zone.

The last we heard from Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, executive director of the South Bay Labor Council and Working Partnerships, she was on her way to Washington, D.C., to assist President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team. That’s when former SJ vice-mayor (and failed mayoral candidate) Cindy Chavez resurfaced in the political scene, stepping up to represent the labor camp on the 18th Floor of City Hall—as a temporary contractor. But Ellis-Lamkins has been virtually absent at City Hall since then, which has raised the questions of whether she is stepping down for good—or already has.

Captain Sullenberger flies an airplane and Superintendent Skelly leads a school district, both potentially perilous professions. Captain Sully became a hero and Superintendent Skelly became a goat.  What is the difference that led to these two men being characterized so differently by the media?

State Sen. Abel Maldonado, who is playing the lead role in this week’s chapter of the California budget fiasco, laid out a four-item “wish list” Monday, as the governor and Democratic leaders courted his vote.

Last week at the Rules committee, there was a standing- room-only crowd to support our request to use $1.9 million to fund the citywide school crossing guard program on a temporary basis (three fiscal years) out of the $9 million the City receives from the tobacco settlement monies.

It’s rants vs. raves in this week’s episode of San Jose Inside’s open forum. All opinions on any issue are welcome.

The Transport Politic blog reports today that California’s High Speed Rail project will get a huge boost from the federal stimulus bill. According to the story, HSR is in line to receive $8 billion, “the largest single expenditure on rail in United States history.”

By Watch Dog Silicon Valley

Sam Liccardo’s downtown compromise; Valley Medical’s day off; and raves for both the federal stimulus package and the state budget.

During the Feb. 5 edition of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” the host offered the following: “[Dick Cheney] has caused far more terror in this country in the last seven years than any terrorist.”

After introducing Gavin Newsom to an adoring crowd last night, Chuck Reed split early. He had a date in DC, where he will join Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaragosa and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders in an effort to bring some federal money to California. Newsom skipped the trip, choosing to raise some campaign money for his gubernatorial bid while his colleagues are doing the state’s business.

Chuck Reed could be the first San Jose mayor in two decades to face a serious reelection challenge if Assemblyman Joe Coto decides to run for the city’s top post. Team Coto has been putting out feelers to see if there’s enough interest in their man, who will be termed out of representing the 23rd Assembly District in 2010. Officially, Coto’s not interested in taking on Reed. He established an officeholder account in November for a state Senate run. Question is, would genial Joe undertake a bruising battle to shorten his commute?