Your City At Work (Sort Of)

QUESTION:  How many San Jose city employees does it take to remove illegal signs?  ANSWER: Zero—they don’t do this sort of thing.

City Hall Diary

After finishing lunch at Pollo Loco on Winchester Blvd., Councilmember Pete Constant took me on a District 1 tour.  District 6 and District 1 share a long border along Winchester. Recently, both of our council offices have been working with the RDA and small businesses to help build a larger business district for Winchester.

This is an open forum so tell us what’s on your mind this week.

Extra-nest Affairs and Eagle Envy Cited as Grounds

The wife of star falcon Carlos the Peregrine has filed for divorce in a Santa Clara County court on Thursday, citing alleged “extra-nest affairs” and “eagle envy” by her husband.

Silicon Alleys

SAN JOSE’S own Joey Chestnut once again won the world-renowned Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest this last July Fourth, and his “bib sheet” on the International Federation of Competitive Eating’s website rattles off an impressive list of his gluttonous conquests—records like 8.8 pounds of deep-fried asparagus spears in 10 minutes or 56 sausage-and-cheese kolaches in eight minutes. Advocates of clogged arteries from coast to coast are hailing the dude as a true hero and a national treasure. He’s as American as apple pie.

Food for Thought

Over the past few years I have taken to driving the speed limit or less, especially on my long distance trips, mainly to LA and Sacramento. Let me tell you, it’s a lonely place to be, over on the right doing 60-65. You get passed by everybody as if you are standing still. I have found it’s often better to do “blue highway” driving whenever I can, avoiding the freeways and taking the two-lane blacktop scenic routes where the speed limit is 55, traffic is minimal (except for nuts on hopped-up motorcycles) and you get to see a bit of the countryside that most people miss.

Last week there was a very interesting report on spending in the last mayoral election.  In it, consultants to the San Jose Elections Commission reported that independent spending in the election totaled over $3 million. Of the six groups that were mentioned, five were associated with the Democratic Party and organized labor (including the police and fire unions). The fifth, and perhaps most controversial and effective, was the Chamber of Commerce’s PAC that leveled some particularly pointed shots at the Cindy Chavez candidacy.  By far the largest spender was the Santa Clara County Democratic Campaign, who spent over $1.7 million, ostensibly in support of Chavez’s failed campaign.

When Linda came to our office two Sundays ago, she was supposed to be escorted by her 25-year-old son Jerry. Jerry has just finished doing five months in prison on a parole violation. He was drunk and asleep at his girlfriend’s family house and her family (who doesn’t like him because he is a parolee) called the cops. When the police came, Jerry ran because he was on parole, and he ended up with a couple of misdemeanors—he was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. He was regretful and embarrassed, but they said it was a parole violation, so he had to serve time at San Quentin.

I know that Mayor Reed has not been in office for very long, but when will we start to see his impact?  It’s true that he has brought back a lot of respect, integrity and honesty to the position of mayor, but as a lifelong resident who feels that watching our local politicians make decisions is like watching paint dry, I want to see some vision—now!

The California High Speed Rail Authority voted to make San Jose one of the stops on the proposed High Speed Train Line. This November, the citizens of California will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to approve the initial round of funding for the project.  Bonds worth $9.9 billion will be needed to get the project going, with an additional $30 billion required in the future.

City Hall Diary

It is the latest City of San Jose acronym. GFSDEPSG stands for the three-year General Fund Structural Deficit Elimination Plan Stakeholder Group. Whew! Try saying that fast even once.

Welcome to everyone’s favorite free-for-all. What’s driving you crazy or making you happy this week?

Intense Immersion Period Planned For Summer Recess

California education officials set a high bar Wednesday for elected state officials:  All California state legislators will be required to pass a standard test for efficiency in English at an 8th grade level in order to serve.

Silicon Alleys

THEY SAY anniversaries are about celebrating the joys of today, the memories of yesterday and the hopes of tomorrow. As you read this, Gordon Biersch is in the middle of a 20th anniversary weeklong sequence of ticketed brewer’s dinners and beer hoedowns that will culminate with a Dionysian blowout this Saturday at the company’s original San Jose brewery and bottling facility on Taylor Street.

Food for Thought

Alcoholism is an insidious disease that knows no boundaries of age, sex, race, economic class, religion, or occupation. It is one of the most destructive forces in our society, not only harming the alcoholic, but everyone around them: spouses, children, family, friends, business partners and co-workers. Like most people, I have seen it and have felt its effects—in my case, a severely alcoholic friend, and my beloved late grandfather. I know firsthand that alcoholics will drive drunk, lie, cheat, steal, and commit fraud and other crimes, and even injure those who love them most, just to get a drink when they “need” one.

Looking Back to 1988

It was another time when I first became mayor in 1983. There were no first run movie theatres. The finest hotel was the Holiday Inn. The DeAnza and Sainte Claire were shuttered. No shopping, no sports, no pleasant river walks. The parks were seedy and unused. Needless to say, there was no real reason to come downtown except the noble arts groups, a few hardy pioneers like Camera 3 and Eulipia, and our nascent San Jose Museum of Art, gallantly fighting a Dunkirk-like battle, trying to stay alive to win a war.