As I read the weekend paper, it was so apparent, once again, that those who do not remember history are condemned to see it repeated on the front page of the paper.  They will suffer the consequences of failing to act on known information.  Such is the case in the controversy over Watson Park, once the site of a garbage dump and a 125 foot incinerator that was in use until the 1930s. It is now the location of Empire Gardens School, a popular park,  soccer field, and community garden, and much is – or was – planned for this beautiful neighborhood at the end of Jackson and Empire Streets on Coyote Creek.

Roving Band of Conquistadors Celebrate Early Victory In Naming Rights Battle

On the heels of the NCAA’s ruling that bans the use of American Indian mascots by college sports teams, a tiny band of Spanish Conquistadors has filed an injunction in County Superior Court to keep San Jose from using the title “Capital of Silicon Valley.” 

Yesterday was the first meeting of the city council in the new chambers on East Santa Clara Street.  It was an historic day. The new building is one that evokes much thought.

This scandal doesn’t involve Ron Gonzales or Joe Guerra.  There’s no IT director or cost overruns or grand jury or even a garbage company in the story.  It’s hard to imagine, but yes it happened in San Jose.

Mosquitoes Face Total Annihilation Against “Smart” Swatters

After a 69% vote that overwhelmingly approved an increase in fees to fund the fight against mosquitoes that carry and spread the West Nile disease, Santa Clara County Vector Control launched its War on Itching by vowing to eradicate mosquitoes “cell by cell.”

There has been a good deal of discussion and debate in the community and on this site concerning the relative powers of the mayor and the meaning of the City Charter in the specific areas of Mayoral power.  Being intimately involved in the Measure J changes that the citizens adopted in 1986, two things are clear: people wanted a strong, effective leader in the mayor and, secondly, imperative in the proper functioning of the city was a strong and independent city manager.

A long, long time ago, the Mayor, City Council, and top city staff spent a day together discussing ethics.  It was January 27, 2005 – the neo Grand Jury Report era.

Mayor’s Aide Says NASA Is To Blame

In another startling revelation, Mayor Gonzales’s policy director, Joe Guerra, admitted that sometime during one of the mayor’s early crises, high level staffers in the administration reached out to NASA for help.

A few weeks ago I wrote that the current people at City Hall could not tell the difference between telling the truth and not getting caught in a lie.  I wonder what was going on in their minds as they savaged the grand jury’s report. Did they not know what they were risking?

Question:  The recent Gonzales administration scandal is serious because at its root is a felonious desire for:

A)  money
B)  sex
C)  power

City Officials Incensed Over “Attention Grabbing Scheme”

San Jose is again knee-deep in controversy, this time not because of a lapse of judgment at the highest levels of municipal government, but because of city officials, who made the bold accusation that San Diego is trying to grab headlines from San Jose by “perpetrating ethics violations that look a lot like ours.”

It’s new! It’s here! It’s ours.  The new City Hall is ready to take its place in the heart of the city.  Credit Frank Taylor first, who envisioned it, and Frank Fiscalini and David Pandori who got it on the ballot when everyone else was afraid.  Joe Guerra was also critical to the effort. Ron Gonzales stayed the course, for better and worse.  Jude Barry also deserves credit along with Rob and Goodie Steinberg, our local architects who gave Richard Meier the level of support a world-class architect demands and deserves. Thank them for the dome.

San Jose is great because you don’t have to drive far to see or do interesting things.  I don’t feel badly saying this on a site devoted to San Jose because of two reasons:  first, our convention and visitors bureau touts it (link); and second, it’s true.

Bones Found Under Ice Thought To Be Quetzalcoatl’s

Just as the NHL and hockey fans celebrated the end of the labor dispute, committed and passionate Shark fans received a blow as severe as a Scott Parker left cross to the chin; the Sharks would not skate in 2006.  HP Pavilion workers immediately stopped work on the ice after making a curious discovery - bones frozen under Nabakov’s crease.

Forget all the chest thumping about being the tenth largest city in America, we’re the third most fun city in America.  No kidding.  This is according to Cranium, Inc. (link)  They should know.  They make board games and their CEO’s title is Grand Poobah.  No kidding.  Here’s the top ten:

Before we go too far in looking at the many problems that San Jose is suffering from, let’s look back a mere twenty years or so.  There was a downtown in the making, but it was only on paper and in studies and reports, and, of course, in the hopes and dreams of many in the neighborhoods. 

There was no battle between the suburbs and downtown – quite the contrary, people in Evergreen and Willow Glen and Berryessa wanted our city to have museums, sports venues, parks, and historical assets.  They had faith that sooner or later we might get them, and voted for downtown development time and time again – up to and including the watershed win for the Arena in 1988. Some may whine or try and rewrite history, but the facts are simple.  There was no there, here.  We were embarrassed to host the few notables and events we had at that time in the Holiday Inn. This is not an insult to that establishment, but a criticism of the leaders of San Jose, political and business, who allowed us to become a laughing stock.