Hope your Fourth of July holiday was fantastic. On June 29, prior to the holiday the Council made the final vote for a balanced budget. More than 20 people spoke at the Council meeting and all but one advocated that the Council not outsource janitorial services but rather keep the janitorial staff employed, since they provide an incredibly valuable service. You would have thought janitorial was listed in the city charter by the speakers’ comments.

By the time this article hits the streets, there likely won’t be a place in the valley to buy a bottle of kombucha tea. Nob Hill on Santa Teresa Boulevard had a few last Friday; Cosentino’s Market on Bascom Avenue had a couple more. Even over the hill in Santa Cruz, grocers expected to run out by the end of the weekend.

It started quietly, about two weeks ago. First, megastore Whole Foods announced it would join roughly a dozen suppliers in stopping sales of all unpasteurized kombucha tea products. The issue: concerns that the fizzy, fermented elixirs may contain more alcohol than the “trace amounts” listed on the label.

Lately, San Jose’s political rhetoric has been hotter than its weather. Here are a few samples of comments by San Jose residents that were published by the Mercury News in recent days:

“With the resulting layoffs of 230 police and fire personnel looming, their (the unions’) motto needs to be revisited. Perhaps it should be modified to read, ‘To protect and preserve union power at the expense of public safety.’”

“Public and private workers increasingly live in separate economies…public employee unions have had a stranglehold on state and local elected officials for decades.  This has to end, as the taxpayers are fed up and tapped out.”

Should your son or daughter earn a college degree? I know college is not for everyone.

However, if you want a future for your children that equals the opportunity you had in your life, an undergraduate college degree is nearly imperative. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 4.7 percent of those with college degrees are unemployed in 2010.

The 2010 high school graduation season is now just a memory. Even though we celebrate the accomplishment of commencement from high school with gifts and praise, it is not the ticket to life’s success it once was.

The final-final vote for the budget is tomorrow, to enact appropriations. Much work goes on behind the scenes with our budget office. Each time a change is made it is an arduous effort to balance the books and calculate the impact on the budget.

If there is a compensation cut in a private sector, it is simply a reduction off the top of base pay — that is easy to calculate. However, when we have unique requests from labor unions that require municipal code changes or legal interpretations of the city charter, it gets complicated.

Perhaps you’ve seen the advertisements that have appeared in the newspapers inviting San Jose residents to attend the “Community Open House” at the “new” Mineta San Jose Airport.  If you have seen the ads, perhaps you noticed that several words and letters were highlighted in the text of the headline to spell out the words, “NEW ICON.”  Is the new airport really an icon?

Lithium and crude oil are essential resources to bolster our global economy. Some even speculate we are in two wars because of their importance to our nation. Whatever the truth is about Afghanistan with its lithium deposits and Iraq with its oil reserves we cannot lose focus on the undeclared war of educating all children adequately. A quality education for all children must be a guaranteed fundamental right of all governments, but particularly for the wealthiest nation on the planet.

The two city council meetings held last week regarding the budget and labor negotiations demonstrated the need to make all labor negotiations public. If you are interested, you can click on this link and see for yourself the drama and trauma that took place that still does not have closure. This week’s meeting, June 22, will hopefully close this chapter.

Hard to believe that California’s Republicans selected Carly Fiorina over Tom Campbell to run against Barbara Boxer in the Fall.  Campbell had polled much better than Fiorina in a theoretical contest with Boxer.  Campbell was/is one of the very few California Republican politicians who has appeal among Democrats and Independents.  Tens of thousands of Democrats and Independents would likely have voted for Tom Campbell.  How many Democrats are going to vote for Carly Fiorina…twelve?

Are we crazy or what? It costs the state of California more than $225,000 to incarcerate one youth in the Department of Juvenile Justice system per year, yet we are only compensating school districts about $7,000 per year to educate a student.

Monday: Medical Cannabis Outreach Meeting
The first outreach meeting regarding medical cannabis collectives was held Monday night at City Hall. Even though the meeting was held late in the process, it was well attended with over 150 people. There were two main groups present: residents and collective patients. Not one person spoke against compassionate use of medical marijuana in San Jose, however, both groups agreed that the locations should be away from schools, parks, daycare centers, etc. Last October, when I initially brought this issue to the Rules Committee, I advocated that we restrict where collectives can locate and include setbacks from locations like schools, etc.

Should San Jose have its own Navy to protect and defend Alviso? Ask that question to most people and they would respond, “Of course not,” and add, “Are you crazy?” 

Most people would agree that the City of San Jose doesn’t need a Navy, but what about having our own State Department? We could be like Berkeley, and issue policy declarations for the rest of the world to follow and obey.

The San Jose City Council’s unilateral call to boycott the State of Arizona over the immigration issue is a bit like one principality declaring economic war over another. Give me a break.

Sitting in section 101 at the Oracle Arena on Saturday night, I was struck by something rock star Tom Petty said during his song “Mystic Eyes.” He came to the microphone and said “wouldn’t it be great if, for one moment, everything was all right.” I shouted in agreement then.

Twelve hours later, however, I found myself wondering what that statement would really mean to most baby-boomers filling that sold-out concert. I am certain we would not get unanimity on any issue, but the subject of this column might have the most agreement.

It is the City of San Jose’s process that City Manager Debra Figone puts forth a budget proposal in May. Then, after that is released, councilmembers make their budget proposals to Mayor Chuck Reed.

When the Councilmembers make written suggestions of their “budget wants,” they also need to include what funding source within the city will be affected (some written suggestions from councilmembers are done in collaboration with labor unions).

Then, the Mayor takes into consideration the City Manager’s budget proposal and the Councilmember’s suggestions, and comes up with a final budget. 

Of course, a mayor could put together their own budget without this input, but it is customary that the mayor takes other perspectives into consideration. 

“Values Fade In Face Of Budget Cuts.” So read the title of a recent column by the Mercury News’ Patty Fisher. “What do we value?” she asked, soon after Governor Schwarzenegger’s office released its revised budget outline replete with cuts to social programs.

“With a $19 billion gap to close, obviously the governor had tough choices to make.  But there was a pattern to his choices. He chose to eliminate welfare altogether and cut childcare for low-income families, in-home supportive services, Medi-Cal and mental health. Programs established to help the neediest among us: the poor, the sick, the elderly.”

San Jose will take up its fight against Autism through two upcoming events. This Saturday, June 5, there will be a “Walk Now For Autism Speaks” event at History Park. In addition to the fundraising walk there will be activities for kids, resources for families, light refreshments, and entertainment. Registration for the event starts at 9am, and the walk begins at 10am. History San Jose is at Kelley Park, 1650 Senter Road.