I reported for jury duty last week to the Santa Clara County Superior Courthouse on Hedding Street in San Jose. Once I checked in I was asked to report to Department 38. As I walked into the courtroom, I was brought back to a time when my job included monitoring a middle school dress code.

I sat there rather surprised by some of the attire worn to court by fellow prospective jurors. I felt similarly many times as a principal, when I had to reprimand students for inappropriate attire and ask them to change into something appropriate for class.

Do you ever wonder what it takes to move a bus stop?  Especially those that are located at busy intersections or located right in front of retail establishments? Well, if you have, you are not alone. My council office gets requests to move bus stops on occasion. Sometimes the request is moving a bus stop that has been in the same location for 30 years, after a the new adjacent homeowner wants it moved. Other times, the request involves genuine safety concerns with bus stops being to close to the intersection. 

For example, at the corner of Willow/Meridian, a bus will make a turn onto Willow and then stop, which backs up traffic into the intersection creating gridlock, or causes cars to swerve around the bus blindly.

SJI’s Rants & Raves has an open-door policy, especially in summertime: All opinions on any topic are welcome.

The 2nd Annual Rose, White and Blue Parade put on by the Alameda Business Association (ABA) with assistance from the Redevelopment Agency, was a fun-filled day for everyone on Saturday, July 4.  In 1896, The Alameda (one of San Jose’s historical streets, dubbed the “Beautiful Way”) was home to the Carnival of Roses, which continued with The Fiesta de Las Rosas Parade in the ‘20s. At that time, it was second to only Pasadena in it’s size. However, this tradition like the trolley car that used to roll down The Alameda and the historic Hanchett Park Pillars faded away.

Through the motivation of the ABA, the parade was reborn last year, with former San Jose mayors Susan Hammer and Janet Gray Hayes as the grand marshals.

Happy 4th of July from SJI’s Rants & Raves. Thoughts and comments on patriotism, citizenship, independence and (yes) fireworks are welcome, as are thoughts on any topic.

What a week it was, and I am not just talking about Michael Jackson’s tragic and sad death…A newly released Civil Grand Jury Report titled, “Who Really Benefits from Educational Dollars?” (Hint: It’s not the students), and the calculated demise of the 117-year-old school/district known as Montebello, were discussion points at weekend gatherings.

The consent calendar on the city council agenda comes after the City’s ceremonial items are completed. The difference between “consent” items and the rest of the agenda is that the consent items are suppose to be composed of “rubber stamp” issues like excused absences for councilmembers, final adoption of ordinances that were already voted on at previous council meetings, etc. As a result, all the consent items are voted on at once.  However, any councilmember or member of the public has the right to “pull” an item from the consent calendar which requires that the item be voted on separately than the rest.

It’s SJI’s open forum, and today’s topic is anything you want it to be. What’s on your mind?

Santa Clara County’s poet laureate Nils Peterson may not have written a word of it, but he was proud to announce that the county’s official poem has finally been completed. The poem, entitled “A Family Album; Santa Clara County 2009,” was composed by hundreds of local residents, each of whom contributed a line. Peterson then selected 100 lines and fashioned them into a poem, divided into such sections as Work, People, Our Lives, What Was Lost, What’s Here, and The Look of Our Place.

When it comes to schools and classrooms, the prevailing wisdom is smaller is better. When you ask parents, teachers, administrators or counselors whether 20 students in a classroom is better than 30 for the overall quality of education you usually get an emphatic “yes.”  Unfortunately, the latest California budget crisis has led San Jose Unified’s Board of Education to vote for the elimination of class size reduction in K-3 for most of its elementary schools, on Superintendent Iglesias’ reluctant recommendation.

The 2009-2010 budget passed with full support of the Council in part by draining the City’s reserves (the economic uncertainty reserve has only enough funds to cover 1.5 days of payroll now) and by the negotiated/voluntary salary freezes by two unions CAMP and MEF (thank you).

In the case of MEF the money saved can be used to avoid layoffs and retain library hours. This tradeoff is good for residents and good for those who would have been laid off, since they would face a job market that has the highest unemployment rate since 1941.

All opinions on any topic are welcome on SJI’s weekly open forum. What’s on your mind?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom delivered an optimistic message about California’s prospects to members of the San Jose Rotary Club Wednesday. With a Kennedy-esque call to “renew the spirit of imagination” that has defined the state, the candidate for governor called California “a state not just of dreamers, but of doers and entrepreneurs.”

What do Principal Ken Schlaff from Milpitas High School and Coach Stan Van Gundy of the Orlando Magic have in common?  For one thing both had the public on their case for the decisions each made this week.

Now that Cattelus Development has walked away from developing the Santa Clara Fairgrounds, I hope the County will consider something other than housing.  Perhaps a fee based sports complex or even…a horse track. Currently, the Fairgrounds is home to off-track betting for horseraces, an operation called San Jose Fair Downs. Since gambling already exists at the Fairgrounds, why then not consider a racetrack?

It’s rants vs. raves in this week’s episode of San Jose Inside’s open forum. All opinions on any topic are welcome.