Attack of the Squeegee Men

After a long Monday, we could discuss the Sharks’ win over Detroit (third game winners go on to win the series 70 percent of the time) or the strange vote at the San Jose City Council on the Evergreen development—where six members gave the okay to “study” the conversion of over 200 acres of job-creating land to housing—or even the boom in downtown high-rise housing with the optimism that springs from it.  No, I will resist all these issues, although it is tempting to ask why six council members wished to give away 200 acres of tax base for more traffic. Old habits—selling out the future—apparently die hard even in the new City Hall.

Instead, I want to speak to a failure of our city and our current social contract with one another: namely, the inability of a modern American city to keep our public restrooms clean and parks safe and usable. You wouldn’t think that that is not too much to expect, particularly in a vibrant new city at the center of Silicon Valley. Yet, our major downtown parks are a municipal disgrace.  They are devoid of toilet paper and towels and most are trashed beyond use. A mother and child at the carousel in Arena Green, a family in need of a rest stop at St. James and Ryland Parks, or visitors to John P. McEnery Park in the shadow of Adobe are in for a rude and unsightly shock. 

It does not have to be this way.

In New York, the “broken window” theory was played out horrendously in the recent past and dramatic action was finally taken by an energetic mayor and a fed-up populace.  They initiated a zero tolerance policy for panhandlers and the blackmail tactics of the notorious and ubiquitous “squeegee men” who stood on traffic islands and street corners intimidating and annoying people with their greasy rags and pleas for money. Of such small battles and hard-earned victories is the war for civilization won. It happened in New York; with many fewer urban nightmares, can we do any less?

We must demand that our downtown and neighborhood parks are fit to be used by our families. We must demand that they be clean and the restrooms usable. We don’t want to exclude the homeless. Their rights must be respected, but, really, when even the Starbuck’s downtown stores (the corporation that knows how to sell and market with the best—remember Howard Schultz’s mantra, “retail is detail”) close their restrooms to all, we have a problem. We cannot allow anyone to monopolize and destroy the pleasant environment of our parks, public spaces and river walk. It’s time to ensure this very basic need of our citizens. The Council should act now.

25 Comments

  1. The Council should act now to

    – be accountable to public for providing basic city service before any other tax spending which they had not done   Lack of clean public restrooms, poorly maintained parks, community centers closed pools are just few of 100‘s of city services not adequately funded

    – be fiscally responsible and plan for San Jose‘s future by retaining jobs and job creating land to pay for city services not giving developers or corporations millions in taxes to increase profits

    – should be honest with public on where San Jose spends hundreds of millions taxes for
    non city services – subsidies with no audited public paybacks or fake numbers – Grand Prix, Mexican Hertiage, REP – the list is in hundreds

    Much spending by Council on nice to have items while necessary spending on basic city services is lacking

    Hundreds millions in taxes for non city services, while city falls into disrepair and has poor services

    Look at San Jose Auditor for wasted tax money

    http://www.sanjoseca.gov/auditor/audrepor.asp

    San Jose has improved but continues to lack real honesty, fiscal responsibility and accountability for non basic city service tax spending

  2. The restrooms at Arena Green are probably the cleanest park restrooms in SJ and much nicer than Starbucks in San Pedro square.  This is because they are maintained by the Arena Authority and funded via the RDA, not by PRNS.  Maybe the answer is to declare the Rose Garden blighted and use RDA funds to build Lew‘s Soccer Stadium.

    Nice quote from The Tipping Point.  The NYC mayor‘s intolerance also led to worst police brutality incidents the city has ever seen.

  3. Tom, you’ve hit on San Jose’s biggest problem.

    You said it took an “energetic mayor” and “a fed up populace” in New York to spur action.  We have neither.  We have a “reformer” for a mayor who’s only interest is cleaning up the mess of city hall made by his predecessor.  Whatever else happens in the city on his watch is bonus.  And we lack a sufficiently “fed up populace”.  When we see a siutation like a poorly maintained downtown park, we don’t take action, we scurry back to our “safe” neighborhoods and turn our backs because it’s someone else’s problem.

    San Jose will never be a success without a sufficiently “fed up populace”.

  4. We’ll never have clean public restrooms, well-maintained parks, or non-third-world-country roads as long as the SJ city council spends money like the $200k being considered for outside consultants to teach Ms. Aviles how to run the Mexican Heritage Plaza.

    As stated in the Murky News, Ms. Aviles declares “the organization just needs more city money”.  There you have it, ladies and gents, yet another example of wasted taxpayer $$, and the chutzpah to ask for even more.  I suppose if it’s denied, someone will play the race card.  That $200k would be much better spent giving Mexican kids health care coverage than bailing out Blanca’s Folly.  Hell, even she quit in a huff, and it was partly her baby, as I recall.  And so now she’s coming back???

    The MHP Board spent too much time going to comped dinners @ the Fairmont to pat each other on the back, and too little time raising $$ to keep the sinking ship afloat.  You’d see photos of them all decked out in San Jose Magazine, but that’s just about all they ever did—just one giant circle jerk.

    Now, Ms. Aviles wants more than the $413k she gets from the city each year, wants past loans forgivien, a susidy bumped up to $1.3 million A YEAR, which is just more city $$ down the rathole.  To date, says the Murky News, the city has subsidized MHP to the tune of $7 MILLION. How much health care, or clean restrooms, or maintained city parks would that $7 million have bought?

    Memo to the city council—it’s time to do what we tell our kids in school to do—-JUST SAY NO.

    If MHP were a private organization with such limp fundraising abilities it would have died a quiet death long ago.

    The Murky News also reported that a report from the Wolf Organization predicted failure of the model even before ground was broken! I hope all the people who ignored that report and went ahead with the flawed model anyway have been termed out of office.

    Then there’s Dan Fenton’s sage comment:“I’m totally convinced we can do more.”  Really, Dan?  I don’t know how they could have done less.

  5. JMoC,

    Just to harp on Mr. Fenton a bit more with his quote:

    “We needed to have the right players in place. Now we are poised to put that team together.”

    Who are the new players?  It appears the same group that has driven the Plaza into the ground are still largely in control. 

    Looks like what we need is “a fed up populace” mentioned in #3 above to let our council members know we want maintained parks, a staffed police department, fixed pools, and open community centers before another massive bailout for the poorly conceived Mexican Heritage Plaza.

  6. Regarding the quote from The Tipping Point (#2),

    To allege, with any degree of responsibility, that the mayor’s “broken window” policies led to police brutality requires a level of proof substantially beyond the liberal media’s favored standard of, “this, then that.” Indeed, in order for the allegation to contain a modicum of accuracy, all of the following had to have occurred:

    —The mayor of New York issued an unlawful order, one for which he could be prosecuted at the federal level;

    —The police administration agreed to obey the unlawful order, again, risking federal prosecution in service to the mayor;

    —The unlawful order was endorsed down the chain of command, despite the risk;

    —Not a single person in the mayor’s office or police department leaked the order to the press or feds;

    —The officers on the street assumed the risk, followed the unlawful order, and when confronted with criminal prosecutions for their actions, refused to reveal the existence of the unlawful orders.

    Absent the Roadrunner cast as the mayor, and Wile E. Coyote playing the part of an accused police officer, clearly, an absurd, impossible scenario. Yet, it remains widely accepted.

    The reasons for police brutality are, like those for war crimes, complex, difficult to pinpoint, and far too easy to misuse for political purposes. Policing and soldiering are the work of human beings who are quite capable of fallibility at the individual, group, and organizational level. No unlawful directives required.

    But, of course, I realize that the chance to discredit, and keep from spreading, any policy that stresses civility and the enforcement of the law is just too important to let things like fairness or plausibility get in the way.

  7. Tom:

    When the comments to your post end, could you just forward this post and all the comments to the mayor and each councilperson?

    They need to know how skewed we believe past priorities were; that we don’t want another expensive set of consultants for the MHP like the bozos who did the closed pool study; and that most of us want government to provide ALL the basics before ANY of the frills.

    Thank you.

  8. JMO’C, with all due repect, the text of a political blog won’t have the same effect as a “fed up populace”.  Are we the voice of the majority?  Or is our city channeling Howard Beale in Paddy Chayefsky’s “Network”, as if to say ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.’?

    San Jose won’t advance until the major part of the population channels Howard Beale.

    “Well, I’m not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don’t want you to protest. I don’t want you to riot – I don’t want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you’ve got to get mad.  You’ve got to say, ‘I’m a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!’ So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 
    ‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’ I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell – ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Things have got to change. But first, you’ve gotta get mad!… You’ve got to say, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it:
    “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

  9. Good one, John Michael (#8)  …“Provide all the basics before any of the frills.”

    Now we understand with certainty why the Taj Mahal City Hall was (and is) a corrupt decision.  An average $23 million a year (for the next 28 years) will be spent to service the bonds that provided for the construction of an office tower that was built too small to serve the city’s needs.  Let’s be clear, the potential cuts outlined in today’s Mercury News are a direct result of having to pay for the new tower and the “Wonder Dome.”  (Why do they call the rotunda the “Wonder Dome?” ….Because people “wonder” why they built it!)

    Finally, I would like the people of San Jose to consider not using the 1-800 GOT JUNK company.  Over the past 6 months, I have tried to get the company to remove the many signs that have been posted illegally on telephone poles throughout West San Jose.  I have had no success.  I also tried calling Code Enforcement (but we all know what happens when you call San Jose’s Code Enforcement).  Anyway, please go out of your way to not patronize a company that demonstrates zero regard for the laws of our city.

    Pete campbell

  10. Why is Council and local media not asking knowledgable community groups or companies to help MHP and assist in providing training or free business and non profit consulting? 

    A few groups that could help if asked are

    – Silicon Valley Leadership Group http://www.svmg.org/

    – San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
    http://www.sjchamber.com/

    – Councill of Non Profits http://www.svcn.org/

    – SCORE http://www.score.org/

    – Hispanic Chamber Of Commerce Silicon Valley http://www.hccsv.org/http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/images/homePageComp1.jpg

    – Community Foundation Silicon Valley
    http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/

    – United Way Silicon Valley
    http://www.uwsv.org/

    – Rotary Club of San Jose
    http://www.sjrotary.org/

    There are many other possible community groups ( arts, entertainment, museum etc ) that have experienced people that could contribute assistance

    MHP’s need for training is an ideal opportunity for the Council to request needed community assistance and then spend the $200,000 on needed city government services or additional staff

  11. It’s difficult to understand the necessity for so many outside consulting contracts.  In contrast, private industry relies upon such services rarely.  It appears that, at almost every turn, one City agency or another is engaged in some sort of expensive contract.  That tells me one thing – the skills of our City employees are sadly lacking.

  12. I am just wondering…why would the city approve to add all of these parks/amenities and not budget for ongoing maintenance and services?  It was no secret this was going to be a problem when the Parks and Libraries bond was passed. 

    You can’t blame it all on Gonzales – I have never known San Jose to be strong in this area. 

    Isn’t this part of “the clean up” and restructuring Reed is going to be held responsible for?  It’s great PO is trying to address this issue but has not focused on the source of our problem.

  13. #12 – Greg:

    It is not difficult to understand why so many outside contracts are made.  Anyone in a position to make a decision is scared.  They don’t want to have the responsibility of making a decision.  Rather than make a decision and live with it and state educated and well-informed reasons for the decision, politicians from the mayor on down through the city counsel through all city workers prefer a consultant do a study.  That way, if things go wrong, they can claim “the consultant told me it would work”, “wasn’t my fault, I just relied on the consultant”, and any other myriad of excuses, all based on a study bought and paid for by the citizens.  If the decision makers had any skills, they would be making the decisions themselves and not need outside consulting contracts.

  14. #12, I feel that the number of outside consultants engaged in City business may not be a reflection of a lack of skill on the behalf of (all of) our city workers. It may be a reflexive action taken to protect themselves and their associated department from the thought of impropriety or favoritism. A good idea to one person, tasked to accomplish a goal, may in another’s view run afoul of fairness. I’m in no way stating that the number of subgroups and committees needed to decide upon a course of action necessary to the fulfillment of replacing a light bulb (compact florescent?) is at all reasonable to any forthright and honest person; merely a reflection of the current state of distrust that many have in regards to past administrations.

  15. Way off the current subject, but is anyone else here tired of the Mercury News DISRESPECTING of our Sharks at the hands of the Warriors?  “The Sharks are being trounced by the Warriors in terms of TV ratings…the vibe at HP Pavilion doesn’t come close to that of the Oracle Arena,” etc etc.  What gives?!  And this is supposed to be our hometown paper.  Are the Warriors San Jose’s team?  I think not!  Based on Charles Barkley’s war of words with San Francisco and Oakland, I’m now a firm believer that “Golden State” consists of the 415 and 510 only.  San Jose is merely an “outpost” of the Bay Area.  In closing, please Mr. McEnery and Mr. Oliverio, bring NBA to The Tank…AND GO SAN JOSE SHARKS!!

  16. JMO and F Fin Fan, and most everyone in fine form on Tom’s gripe. Many great ideas. But my favorite remedy is missing:ACCOUNTABILITY!
    period!. The inmates are running the asylum at CH. YEARS of no supervision at all while past politicos took care of friends and “careers” as “important” nobodies. Chuck and Sam are nice guys, even nicer than Pierluigi, and not into confrontation. But both, I think, are serious about reform. I trust their plan is to tell all the heads of depts. what a great job their doing, Brownie, and very shortly thereafter, ask for their evalution of everyone right down to the weed pickers and toilet cleaners. Of course Sam and Chuck’d be surprised when it was revealed there was no such evaluation available, nor even an evaluation form. None has ever been necessary. Shortly thereafter, should the reform guys keep it up, some activity would take place on the lowest skill level possible. That too could be received with a smile, and suggestions about making it meaningful. With deadlines set for each wave of requests, it all could be done in 6 months, with quite a few resignations along the way. Just a suggestion.
    Who cares if we all got mad and wouldn’t take it anymore. Sam and Chuck and Pierluigi and the new District 4 person, and maybe Cortese
    are the ones that make a difference when they get mad. Smart is better than mad. George Green

  17. Mr. Dominguez, the Merc will always say sensational things. If you read hockey forums, the Shark Tank is known around the league for having an atmosphere greater than most others. The fact that it’s the same in Oakland is merely an extension of Bay Area sports passion. The Merc would like you to see it as “us vs. them,” but don’t buy it. It’s a trash paper that wants to make it’s South Bay target audience feel segregated and thus keep reading the paper named for them.

    Also, don’t view the Bay by what Charles Barkley says. If the Warriors still played in Daly City, he wouldn’t even mention Oakland, either. Hell, he wouldn’t mention Daly City. That’s just how it is. We’re in the same boat at St. Paul, Minnesota and St. Petersburg, Florida. Oh well.

  18. RIP #9 said”JMO’C, with all due repect, the text of a political blog won’t have the same effect as a “fed up populace”. ”  True; but the added voice can’t hurt.

    GH#12—Right on!  A quarter mil on consultants on how to re-open the pools got us the advice that we should build Raging Waters-type places all over town.  I hope they stopped payment on the check.

    Local#13—it’s not just San Jose.  We have passed countless bond issues for land acquisition all over the state; but the parks never open, ‘cuz they have no $$ for rangers or maintenance.  Before a park is approved, it should require a realisitic maintenance budget

    MS #14 hit the nail on the head—“If the decision makers had any skills, they would be making the decisions themselves and not need outside consulting contracts.”

    #15—spoken like a true bureaucrat.

    Gil, our Blacksmith: you were involved in MHP from the git-go.  Speak up!!!

  19. Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years.  No one knows for sure how old he was,  since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn’t always fair; and Maybe it was my fault.

    Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).  His health began to deteriorate rapidly when
    well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

    Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Tylenol, sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

    Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

    Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

    Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents , Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

    He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I’m A Victim.

    Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

  20. #11.
    Go to the MHP web site and read the bio pieces of those on the board and exectutive staff. 

    What makes you think any one of them would be interested in a remedial course in basic accounting and fiduciary responsibility? 

    . . .  or some council members for that matter.

  21. RE: #23,
    The “Housing First” idea is predicated on the notion that is cheaper to simply provide housing to the homeless with no strings attached than it is to provide services to them for perpetuity. If you get the homeless off the streets and put them in a stable housing situation, many, though not all, will find their way out of their condition. That’s what all the academic literature and the top people in the field say. And honestly it’s better than continuing to spend money on the unworkable and ineffective “solutions” that we have now.

    Oh, by the way, the federal government is mandating the creation of 10 year programs to solve homelessness.

  22. Tom-

    The real question to ask is “Why our smaller neighboring cities like Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Campbell, and Cupertino have good well maintained parks with open relatively clean (albeit very spartan-[no pun intended]) bathrooms?”

    Their City Councils and City Staff are having to deal with some of the same constraints we have:

    -Shrinking General Fund Revenues
    -Ballooning Pensions
    -Civil Service Constraints
    -Prevailing Wage Requirements

    Chuck needs to start talking to his mayoral buddies at the Santa Clara County Cities Association to find out what they’re doing right?  Could it be that our City staff is “so smart” coming from “the Capital” that their pride won’t permit them to solicit information from backwater provinces like Santa Clara or Sunnyvale-gasp!!!  If they won’t do it maybe Les should get on the phone and talk directly to Robert Walker in Sunnyvale to find out what he was able to do right for their Parks for so many years as Parks Director before he moved to their City Manager’s Office.

    The other part of your post regarding the homeless problem needs to be highlighted.
    Currently, Chuck and Don Gage have formed a “Blue Ribbon Taskforce” to “End homelessness in 10-yrs and the affordable housing crisis in 20-yrs”.  While being overly ambitious, some of the concepts noted to address the homeless population do have some merit.  Unfortunately, the majority of the “strategies” created by LISC, the ultra-liberal social spending advocay consultant, avoids the issue of any personal responsiblity by the homeless to improve themselves.  The report buys into the “victim” of society mind set that is becoming so wide spread.  The group wants to provide homeless folks free housing with no strings for up to 18 months without any requirements to access mental health or drug dependency counseling.  The concept is called “Housing First” and it is being pushed by the directors of the SJ Housing Dept, County Office of Affordable Housing, Charities Development and LISC.  These folks and LISC want County taxpayers and residents to give a $4 Billion blank check to non-profits over the next 20 yrs in a flawed attempt to address the housing issue.  Some of the items being considered:  A transfer tax on real estate or another futile attempt for a half-cent sales tax. 

    If you thought trying to find a clean restroom in San Jose is bad now, wait until the Housing First folks get their hands on your wallet and try to rob the City’s General Fund.

  23. #24 DV-

    The SF Chronicle has a very extensive series on Housing First and SF’s real life experience with Gavin’s ultimate solution.  It has documented that there are still as many homeless in SF today than before Duh!!!Mayor decided to undertake this academic experiment with Housing First.  If you don’t believe me review their latest Homeless street Census. 

    Before you and the taskforce ask SJ residents to bank roll your academic theories show us a CA city that has adopted Housing First and has eliminated its chronic homeless problem.  Where is your evidence?  I don’t want academic “literature” and quotes from “top people”, who have a vested interest in selling the theory.  Show us a community in the US that has entirely eliminated its homeless problem by using Housing First as outlined by this blue ribbon taskforce’s recommendations.

    Additionally, What happens to a homeless person after 18 months in your free “no strings attached” housing if they refuse to participate in any counseling?  Aren’t they back on the street just the same and isn’t society still “paying for them in perpetuity?” just the same.  That’s what’s occuring in SF.

    In my view, all the blue ribbon taskforce’s version of the housing first model does is make a bunch of holier-than-thou liberals feel like they “did something” for the homeless for a brief period to alleviate their own guilty feelings for not being able to take a more active interest in the individual homeless people that they may see on the street.  Don’t foist your liberal guilt on the rest of us and ask us to pay for your ability to test your experimental academic theories.

    If you want to help the homeless, treat them like human beings and get involved with them on a personal level.  Attempt to talk to them as individuals. Find out how they ended up on the street.  Provide what assistance you can (physical, emotional, financial) and try to get them help if they want it.  The majority of the chronic homeless just want to be left alone.  Many are fighting inner demons like drug addiction and mental disability. The majority of these folks don’t want you anywhere near them.  And if that’s the case for the individual that you encounter that’s ok too because its their choice as a human being to be left alone.  That’s modern life in the society we live in.

    Housing First is just the Bush Administration’s excuse to cut the funding for other Federal entitlement programs.  The non-profits who assist the homeless will tell you candidly that they are only reluctantly trying to “revamp” their programs to fit this federal “flavor-of-the-month” definition just so they can qualify for the funding that is being shifted to housing first.  Ask the staff of Innvision or EHC, the operator of the Bocardo Reception Center (AKA the homeless shelter on Orchard) if they’ll be needed in 10-yrs to serve the homeless.

    Housing First will not work in the low density suburbs of San Jose! Philadelphia and New York which have been the only cities with any marginal measure of reducing their homeless populations, use rapid rehousing in high density former old hotels with on-site intensive support services like drug rehab, mental health, career/employment, and life skills counseling. 

    The version of “housing first” being peddled by LISC and the Homeless Collaborative to Santa Clara County does not even follow the structure of the programs in Philadelphia and New York. It is being attempted to be done “on the cheap” without the required intensive support services on-site and will not succeed.

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