Once again the familiar refrain is being heard about the type of city and downtown that we wish to have in San Jose.  There have been many opinions, studies and assumptions and all of them have eventually arrived at the conclusion that to have a community in the central city that is worthy of a real downtown, what is needed is a concentration of people, families and, ergo, a real set of neighborhoods.  It is simple and, so far in our time, elusive.

I spent the weekend running around doing errands, Christmas shopping and trying to get in the spirit of the season, and found myself driving up and down Santa Clara Street and The Alameda quite frequently.  I was struck by the potential of this area of town, and wondered if there might be any “master plan” to make this more of a destination than just an area to drive through. 

I know I have visited this topic before, but I think it merits more discussion.  Those that have traveled down Santa Clara Street from the Arena and made that right turn on the bend to The Alameda, probably don’t even notice what is to the right and left of them—but I do.

In a little less than a month, the new regime takes over at City Hall. It’s been a long time coming and all of us are anxious to see how the balance of power shifts with the new mayor and council members and find out what’s on Mayor-elect Reed’s agenda for his first few months in office. I know that we are all hoping for the best and feel that our city needs some big changes from the fiasco of the Gonzales years and that we need to strike out in a new direction.

Members Pair Up To Tackle Ambitious Timeline

Immediately after putting his mayoral transition team together, Mayor-elect Chuck Reed paired up the 67 participants into two-member teams on Thursday night, with the express understanding that they would each accomplish one Reed Reform before the end of January.

“This was genius, one of the reasons the voters chose to put Mr. Reed in office,” said Reed Chief of Staff Pete Furman.  “There are 34 of these damn things and we can use the help.”

I have been reading about the Evergreen development issue over the past week with mounting alarm. Here we go again, with the tail wagging the dog. The developers are trying to call the shots, demanding an immediate decision, and many on the council are going along. The issue was supposed to come to a vote next Tuesday but I have learned this morning that it has been delayed one week to December 12. What’s the hurry? It doesn’t take much imagination to answer that one.

The elections are over and the nastiness is gone.  The problems of Washington and Sacramento now seem far away as hope is blossoming for a new mayor.  The sun is shining and it’s Christmastime in San Jose.

If you ever had the feeling that downtown San Jose was a dubious investment, you only have to take a quick trip into the central core of our city in the next few weeks to be disabused of that notion.  I would suggest to all a leisurely visit to Downtown Ice among the palms or a stroll through the amusement rides that dot the Chavez Plaza area.  You might also catch a movie at the Tech Museum’s IMAX Theater or in Camera 12; you can always get the compliments of the season at American Musical Theatre’s “Christmas Dreamland” and “The Nutcracker” at the CPA.  If none of those tickle your fancy, there is the reliable Rep’s performance of “A Christmas Story.” I always enjoy seeing the young kid stick his tongue to a frozen lamppost and then be deserted by his friends as they run back to class; it so reminds me of the relationship between mayor and council, except it’s colder at City Hall.

You can’t turn a page in the paper without the subject of stadiums dominating the news.  The Oakland A’s to Fremont, the 49ers to Santa Clara—it doesn’t stop!  Not that I don’t like hearing of sports teams coming closer to San Jose.  I mean, we did pass Detroit in size, didn’t we?  So by default we deserve more sports teams! 

When Allied forces liberated the concentration camps in Nazi Germany as they marched toward Berlin, local civilian residents were taken to the camps and forced to face the terrible truth that had been in their midst. In the years since, the debate has raged over the level of culpability shared by the German people in accepting the horrors of these camps throughout the war and saying or doing nothing to stop the heinous crimes against humanity being perpetrated in their name right in their backyards.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday—as a change of pace from our regular critical analyses and discussions of problems—I thought we might have an open forum on what our bloggers like best about living in San Jose and Santa Clara County. In the heat of our political and ideological battles, we sometimes forget how fortunate we are to live in such a special place. I’ll go first to start things off.

As much as I wanted to write this week about Thanksgiving, the Notre Dame–USC game, or the new James Bond movie, Monday’s article in the Mercury News, concerning the Reed transition, contained one set of comments that I could not ignore.  They came from the mouth, if not the mind, of Ms. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, leader of the South Bay Labor Council.  In them, she decried the “divisiveness” that could creep into the Transition Committee of Mayor-elect Chuck Reed, and her fear that “old families” would return to hegemony in our city.  It would be easy to let this set of vacuous comments go unanswered but, somehow, the lecturing of a person who just had her agenda, her candidates and her attempts to control the city repudiated in a historic rout, called out for a response. (It was almost as if Rummy began to lecture us now on military tactics for our future success in Iraq, or Kissinger—ah, but that’s another blog.) Such advice from Ellis-Lamkins falls not from weight but from absurdity. 

I thought I would run a list of things I am thankful for before Thanksgiving.  Beside the obvious—family, friends, etc.—here are some San Jose items.

I am thankful for:

Say They Won’t Accept Jim Beall as Family

Several direct Neanderthal descendants have filed suit against a group of scientists that claim they have found DNA that proves there is a link between the extinct cavemen and Homo sapiens.

Yesterday’s news that the city had mistakenly overpaid employees who were reservists called up to active duty since 9/11 certainly presents the council with a dilemma and the citizens of San Jose with a not-too-rosy view of the city payroll accountants. Some of the soldiers returning from stints in Iraq have received letters demanding repayment of thousands of dollars. How did this happen and what is to be done about it?

Yesterday, I attended what many are calling a seminal event in the history of sports and business.  At the headquarters of Cisco in north San Jose, most of the northern California media assembled with CEO, John Chambers, and the owner of the Oakland Athletics in the person of Lew Wolff.  Also present were Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and A’s General Manager Billy Beane of “Money Ball” fame.  It was a quartet that few reporters could resist.  They didn’t and the cast did not disappoint.

So many things made me glad when our city’s election results started rolling in last Tuesday.  I am glad that I don’t have to pack up my things in disgust and move out of the country.  I am glad that honesty and independent thinking won out over sleaze and dishonesty.  I am glad that people rose to the occasion and voted for change in City Hall. I am glad the people didn’t listen to Bill Clinton’s phone message (even those who were called in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno). I am glad that people saw through the endorsements of the Democratic Party and voted based on who was best for the city, not the special interest labor unions. 

The Future of San Jose Inside

Last week’s elections may be over but here at San Jose Inside we will continue to provide an open forum for our readers to discuss the issues of the day in a local context. As we look towards the future, we would like to hear from you today about what subjects you would like to discuss and what new features you might like to see on our site.