Even during this weekend of gratitude and joy, there is plenty to rant & rave about. And this is the place to do it.

Food for Thought

While you would be forgiven for thinking the national situation is looking pretty dark on Thanksgiving Day 2008, consider the bleak view President Lincoln must have had from the White House when he declared the national holiday on October 3, 1863.

After a period where it looked like the Union would not be spared, Lincoln finally had a few victories to celebrate, but at a terrible price. A year before, the worst single battle casualties in American history had been suffered at Antietam. The Union forces prevailed and Lee’s army was pushed out of Maryland. It gave Lincoln the strength and political will to issue the Emancipation Proclamation the following week on September 22, 1862.

Every time the economy tanks, police departments warn people to be on guard against the inevitable uptick in crime. The logic is simple: the more desperate people get for work and money, the more they turn to lives of crime to bring in some extra cash. Fly got a firsthand view of the phenomenon last Wednesday when we found ourselves right in the middle of a bust.

When I was mayor, I bought my cars locally at Lon Normandin’s or Don Lucas’s, I shopped at Ed Mosher’s in the Fairmont, Teel’s jewelry there too, Navelet’s, and Valley Fair, but never crossed the Maginot Line that separated San Jose and Santa Clara, and therefore consciously made my decisions to provide the most sales tax to our city, San Jose, which was trying to sustain services like libraries and parks. It seemed the sensible thing to do, and after all, I thought, if you can’t find it in San Jose, it isn’t worth having.

A Historic Window of Opportunity is Open to Improve Police and Community Relations in San Jose

The November 18, 2008 public hearing regarding the suspiciously high and racially disproportionate drunk in public arrest rate was revealing, heart-breaking and inspiring. Anytime City Hall becomes converted into a place for everyday people to bear witness, to pull out their crumpled hand written notes that described stories that were before only shared over kitchen tables, to give testimonials that show how distant policy can be cut through by the deeply personal, San Jose becomes a more considered and inclusive place.

On Thanksgiving, it’s always a good time to think about what we are thankful for. Sometimes we race by in life and don’t ever take that time to ponder.  So please add what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving.

In the past, the San Jose City Government has been able to balance its budget every year without actually laying off workers.  The city would often cut costs by not filling open staff positions.  Apparently, those days are over.  The City Manager recently announced that staff cuts will need to take place in the future to help offset the city’s budget deficit.

How and where should the City of San Jose cut staff and reduce expenses? Here are a few suggestions.

Last week, the City Council voted to direct planning staff to explore how San Jose could build more housing in North San Jose (possibly even exceeding the cap which would go against the incremental plan laid about by the North San Jose vision). The vision for North San Jose has included some housing next to jobs so we could allow the opportunity for people to live close to their work while allowing for intensification of commercial and industrial that would allow San Jose to acquire more jobs which equal more revenues to pay for our core city services.

The forum is open for another opportunity to do what we do best here on SJI.

Fresh from a pummeling in the media and at a public hearing for disproportionately arresting drunk Latinos (memo to Rob Davis: bust more random Anglos, like your predecessor Bill Landsdowne), the SJPD is fending off a new controversy over a macho training video that will no doubt have local liberal pantywaists up in arms over its violent imagery.  CBS 5 News aired a segment Friday on the video Friday and SJPD webmasters promptly pulled down the video link, though we managed to track down a copy.

Wayward Sea-Terrorists Strand Speed Boats in Shallow Waters

Several Somali speedboats were grounded at the confluence of the Guadalupe and Los Gatos rivers on Thursday as dozens of Coast Guardsmen quickly arrived on the scene to impound the boats, seize the cargo of weapons and arrest their crews of armed pirates.

During an impromptu press conference in front of HP Pavilion, with the Somalis propped up and chained to the merry-go-round animals as a backdrop, a Coast Guard spokesman explained the advanced methods that lead to the swift and stunning capture.

LAST week’s Veterans Day parade provided an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus, Mountain Charlie Chapter No. 1850. The Clampers, as they call themselves, are a men’s drinking fraternity of the absurd that doubles as a historical preservation society. They sport Old West duds and install historical plaques at various locales throughout California, swilling drinks in the process. The Mountain Charley chapter, our local faction, is named after “Mountain Charlie” McKiernan, the legendary Santa Cruz Mountain trailblazer and grizzly fighter.

Food for Thought

If there is one important lesson to be learned from the last election it is that the referendum process in California is broken and being abused. There is something wrong when any individual or group with unlimited funds to flood the airwaves with propaganda and the malls and grocery store parking lots of the state with petition signature gatherers paid on commission can attempt to either legislate morality based on religion or enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayers. More to the point, many such measures violate both the spirit and letter of the fundamental documents of our democracy, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, as well as the structure and process of government in a federal republic. Let’s take three cases in point.

Well, just when you thought it was over. Measure B—BART, has surged into the lead, with over 600,000 votes cast, at the astonishing percent of 66.67: Amazing does not come close to defining it. And remember, there are still 9,800 votes to count. In my grandfather’s day, a report from the Calvary Cemetery precinct would seal the win—ah, for the good old days.

This victory, if such it is, is as remarkable as any in the history of the valley. It sealed in my mind the undying resolution of our citizens to always vote for the future, to reach for the dream of a better city and valley, even in the face of frightening times.

It has been discussed here before many times about how to make San Jose a cooler, hipper, more “it” place to be, but it seems as if Campbell may have cornered the market on “it.” Whenever you seem to meet a nice, young person in the South Bay, if they don’t commute back and forth from San Francisco, inevitably, if you ask them where they live or where they spend most of their time, it’s Campbell

Thoughts, comments and judgments on local, national or global culture, politics or trivia—including even BART—all are welcome here today.