Food for Thought

When I look at the map showing the more than 1,000 wildfires burning in California right now, it seems the whole state is going up in a firestorm. I have spoken to firemen who have told me that, in fact, given the ultra-dry conditions, the stretched-out fire departments, and meteorological circumstances, a huge catastrophic firestorm is possible in large wooded and suburban city areas. It would be devastating to both humans and wildlife (the Big Sur fires already threaten endangered condors). So why are fireworks sales and traditional Fourth of July fireworks celebrations going ahead here in Santa Clara County and around the state as if none of this is happening?

You can only wonder when the sins of the last decade will stop visiting themselves on the people of San Jose. We saw it again late last week when a jury awarded $851,000 to the three businessmen who were injured in a notorious email that originated from then-Mayor Ron Gonzales’ office in the middle of the failed attempt to take over the Tropicana Shopping Center some six years ago.

We have heard this story many times before. My friend sells downtown real estate and has lived in San Jose his entire life, so he is familiar with an area that many don’t visit much.  He and his lady friend, who wanted to get a taste of what it would be like if she lived downtown, just toured the Axis, 88SJ and other high rise homes there. Then they decided to visit downtown San Jose on a Saturday night and go to dinner and a comedy show.

City Hall Diary

Last Tuesday, we considered whether to continue preliminary discussions with the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and three private property owners regarding San Pedro Square. The issue under consideration was should RDA spend money to do capital improvements like sidewalk widening, streetscapes and loans to rehab older buildings in the area.

Here is the weekly open forum. You can be funny if you want.

City Awards Former Mayor Hard-to-Find Electronic Games

The city council on Tuesday took the unusual step of pledging $6 million in cash to former Mayor Tom McEnery to “do as he saw fit.”

SO MUCH for urgency ordinances. Last week, the San Jose Redevelopment Agency recommended deferring until August a specific urgency ordinance originally slated to be railroaded through Council on June 17. The ordinance was to place a “moratorium on the installation and relocation of freestanding news racks within the downtown core and the Civic Plaza Redevelopment project area; and to establish a consolidated pedestal mounted news rack zone pilot program within those same project areas.”

Food for Thought

Anyone who lives or works around San Jose Airport (SJC) is used to seeing the constant stream of jets arriving and departing. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that in between the usual airline company planes, there are just as many, if not more, unmarked jets of various sizes. These are the rides of the wealthy elite of the corporate plutocracy. You know, the ones who own (George Carlin RIP) this country and are much too important to stand in security lines and sit in Ken-and-Barbie-size coach seats like the rest of us; the one percent at the top who got there and stay there by taking what they can from the 99 percent of the rest of us.

The last San Jose City Council meeting before the summer break has occurred and it was a very long one.  Many things happened in that session and there was an equally long list of items that seemed innocuous (some even incomprehensible), but progress was served. Yet, there were a few items that really should be highlighted.

One of the most nerve-racking experiences a worker can have on the job is announcing to their manager that they want a union. Doing so can be a quick way to lose your job, and lamenting about ineffective labor laws doesn’t pay the bills while looking through classifieds on your couch.  It is, by all measure, a dangerous gamble, but one that can pay off in the long run with higher wages, benefits, and a mechanism for airing grievances.

I am used to hearing about grass fires throughout the Bay Area each summer, but this year the number of fires burning across our neck of the woods and the state are just alarming. The fires in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin and Santa Cruz make you wonder what we are doing to help create this, and if nature is trying to tell us something. But beyond that, and strictly having to do with dollars and cents, who is paying for all of this—literally?

Councilmember’s Tough Week

In politics, timing is everything.  Some might say that Councilmember Nora Campos picked the wrong time to play politics.

City Hall Diary

The city council spent 12 hours on “Budget Tuesday” last week.  Here are three of the topics we covered.

This week’s open forum where you can write about anything you like.

High School Science Students Copycat Latest British Columbian Body-Part Crime

In a copycat crime, several high school science students were arrested late Wednesday when they were accused of using a ripe ape carcass they stole from their biology lab, dressing it in a suit, adding grey hair, and passing it off as Pete McHugh during several county board meetings.

Silicon Alleys

IT SEEMS like the San Jose McEnery Convention Center just can’t get enough attention these days, and the brutal paradoxes keep on coming.