The panel discussion after the showing of “The Search for the Captain” on Channel 54 Monday night did little to illuminate the matters of public interest directly presented or implied by the film. The panel members tiptoed around the political and selection-process issues related to the Fallon statue rather than confront them, and almost completely ignored the more important wider issues of public art in general. Everyone on the panel, as far as it went, was articulate and intelligent, but rationalizations for some attitudes taken seemed weak, based on faulty logic, or just plain wrongheaded.

In an environment bereft of courageous and selfless acts, the recent decision by our fire chief stands out in fascinating relief.  When Jeff Clet stepped down from his position so that he would not run afoul of the nepotism rules of San Jose, he clearly committed a principled and noteworthy act. He certainly deserves our praise.  The traditions of the San Jose Fire Department are hallowed and have served the city well; they have given many sons, and I hope more daughters, the ability to follow their fathers into a noble and invaluable profession. We need more of this type of service.

It tells you a lot about our society and the way we look at the justice system when, after reading the article on the Ron Gonzales case in the Mercury News on Monday, the first thing I think of is: “Oh God!  He’s going to get off!” The article reports that merely two of the seven, I repeat, seven charges can be disproved by documents already made public. Yet, the article was mostly about lawyers saying this is just the first step to a jury disbelieving the prosecution and the evidence they will present.  Because lawyers these days can find so many loopholes—giving guilty and greedy people the chance to go free because of them—panic rushes up my spine in thinking that Gonzales could get off

Dando and Baron Dealt to New York Red Bull Soccer Team

In a series of lightening quick deals, disgraced soccer superstar Zinedine Zidane, just days after his contract with Spanish soccer power Real Madrid expired, was acquired by the New York Red Bull franchise of Major League Soccer and immediately traded to the San Jose Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee.

One person’s work of art is another’s piece of junk. If you mix politics and public money with this “law” of subjective aesthetics in the production of a commemorative statue, the results can be explosive. The most visible case locally is certainly the controversy over the Fallon statue that was commissioned in 1987 but not put on display until recently. An excellent film on the years-long controversy, “The Search for the Captain,” which focuses on this very issue, will be shown on KTEH Channel 54 on Monday night, July 17, at 9 p.m., followed by a panel discussion at 10 p.m.

With the advent of the summer festival season of events in San Jose—the Grand Prix, Jazz Festival and Zero One Festival—we are indeed approaching a time of fun, enjoyment, and wonderment. Yet, it was not long ago when a visit to our city would be considered out of the question for many in the valley and Bay Area. Not any more.

Is it me or does anyone else feel that this mess with Ron Gonzales is starting to blow over?  Maybe it’s because we get our news on a 24-hour cycle and are so completely inundated with stories like Britney’s dysfunction as a mother and violence around the world, that local news of this caliber can get swept under the carpet and forgotten.  I am not saying people aren’t talking about it anymore, but I feel a sense that people are not as angry as I thought they would be, and that scares me.

Giant Pit Offers Rare Look Into Workings of Political Mind

Following closely on the plans to save the deep pit that allows the public rare glimpses into the bowels of the Hayward Fault in Fremont, several disparate groups in San Jose have come together and vowed to raise money to preserve the giant hole that has opened in Mayor Ron Gonzales’s head.

The Norcal Scandal’s namesake, the waste disposal company at the center of the controversy, has largely been left out of the discussion lately while the mayor’s part in the deal has taken center stage. However, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Norcal will have to answer the very serious charges made by the grand jury in court in due course, unless their past history with a similar incident guides us to a different conclusion.

(Editor’s Note: We are reprinting Tom McEnery’s piece that appeared in the Mercury News this past Sunday, July 2, in order to give our readers a chance to comment on it.)

The decision is in, conclusively. This mayor’s tenure has been a total failure and a badly flawed one. The human tragedy is sad; the public one, palpably painful. Remember the words of another official about another very public tragedy, a national one: “There is a cancer on the presidency.” This has been true of the mayor’s office for some time now. It has left an indelible stain on City Hall.

This summer could the busiest we have seen in a while in downtown San Jose, and that is good news for a city trying to become the cool, hip and fun place we all know it can be.  If you throw aside concerns about city subsidies and the way many events came to be here and just enjoy, this could be the summer where many people who never visited downtown San Jose before, come for the first time.  But, what will their impression be when they get here?

SUV Driven by Joe Guerra is Carrying Ron Gonzales

Several dozen CHP Officers have been involved in a low-speed car chase down Hwy 101 since early this morning, apparently trying to stop a city-issued, white Ford Bronco that is being driven by Joe Guerra and carrying Mayor Ron Gonzales.

It is clear from yesterday’s special meeting that the only thing the city council can do to the mayor in the wake of his indictment is whack him with a wet noodle, take away his gas allowance, and allow him only bread and water. There is no provision or process in the Charter to remove the mayor from office, and the council apparently cannot now pass an ordinance addressing impeachment and apply it retroactively without violating the mayor’s civil rights. What is also clear is that, if there was such an impeachment procedure in place, the council would now invoke it in light of the mayor’s refusal to resign, and he would be history.

The action is now largely finished and the captains, the kings and one mayor are ready to depart. It is time to look ahead. What lessons can we learn from the tragedy of Ron Gonzales and this painful era?  Some have suggested that it was preordained—we all carry the seeds of our own mistakes and tragedies within us—but the public portions of this episode did not have to be this way.

OH MY WORD!  Those are the only words to describe how surreal it was to hear that Ron Gonzales and Joe Guerra were actually arrested for their roles in the Norcal scandal.  I knew that things were corrupt at City Hall, as we have been hearing on this site and throughout the mayoral campaign, but I guess I never really thought that it would catch up to them this way. 

Although I wrote two satirical pieces for publication today, one before the indictment that dealt with moonlighting, and one after, which dealt with the arrests, neither of them felt right, nor appropriate, on this sad but inevitable day for San Jose.  Therefore, we will continue with this open thread throughout today and the weekend.