San Jose Inside

Mayor Chuck Reed released his June Budget Message on Friday, and not much has changed since he first released his budget plan in March. Reed wants to open four libraries and the Bascom Community Center, add additional funds to the gang prevention task force, and tackle some of the city’s biggest infrastructure problems. While the budget will consume next week’s agendas, Tuesday’s City Council meeting will focus on other issues, including an update on Team San Jose’s performance, compensation for outside legal firms and selecting planning commissioners.

An explanation of how the ballot initiative process has affected the local political landscape—including a breakdown of four initiatives created in the last year—and an update on the $1 million check submitted by a developer to the city last week.

Campaign disclosure forms for “San Jose Fiscal Reforms, Yes on Measure B, Mayor Reed, Chamber PAC and Issues Mobilization PAC Proponents” show that while the first few months of the year in fundraising went well, fundraising during the last reporting period was excellent. Between March 18 and May 19, the PAC received $435,664 in contributions, bringing the total for the calendar year to $637,919. In just this latest filing period, the PAC spent $352,592.32. While we’ve already profiled some of the people and companies who have supported Measure B with contributions, here’s a look at the way the PAC has spent its money.

It happened first at the county Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, when one speaker compared the tactics of Mayor Reed, the Chamber of Commerce and other supporters of Measure B to those of the Nazis that he recalled from a visit to the Holocaust Museum. It happened again yesterday, when four councilmembers signed a memo asking Mayor Reed to sign a declaration with over 200 other U.S. mayors signaling our city’s support of same-sex marriage. A woman stood up at the Rules Committee meeting and compared the tactics of these councilmembers to those very same Nazis. Is this what we’ve come to in one of the most diverse and dynamic communities in the world?

It’s OK to pity Oakland, a beleaguered and maligned city whose greatest achievements were earned on the field by its World Championship sports teams. But now those storied franchises are fleeing like refugees from a war-torn nation.

A well attended Rules and Open Government Committee meeting Wednesday dealt with an uncommon topic at City Hall these days: love. Or, to be more precise, love between a couple that doesn’t consist of a man and a woman. After more than an hour of public comments where many people framed marriage as a civil rights issue and others called it a sacred religious institution, Mayor Chuck Reed, Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen and Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio unanimously agreed to delay any action on a memo from Councilmember Ash Kalra that wanted the City Council to form a resolution in support of gay marriage.

Three San Jose councilmembers want Mayor Chuck Reed to sign his name on the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry online petition. More than 200 mayors have done so, but Reed, who supports Prop 8, has thus far refused. This prompted councilmembers Ash Kalra, Don Rocha and Kansen Chu to bring the matter before the Rules Committee today with a “you’re not in Kansas anymore” resolution.

Last week Fly speculated on the potential demise of the Mercury News’ weekly political column, Internal Affairs. As it turns out, the column continues to run in print but wasn’t posting consistently online in May.

If “public” education were a patient in the hospital, it would be on life support with a team of expert doctors conversing about its next procedure. During this quadrennial presidential election year we once again have a unique opportunity to frame the issue in ways that demonstrate care for the struggling patient. The conversation on next steps must involve the two presidential contenders, Mitt Romney and President Obama.

On Wednesday, I was interviewed by CBS News to discuss runaways. The day before, Sheriff Laurie Smith held a press conference to announce the arrest of a suspect in the kidnapping and murder of Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar. During this press conference, Sheriff Smith stated that since January 2011, there were 43 reports of missing children (females) in Santa Clara County that were still open, and pondered, “You wonder if any of those were actually abductions also.” The sentence just hung in the air at the press conference, and no one asked her follow-up questions.

Linda Toeniskoetter is a yoga instructor, Kelley Rubino is a hair stylist, Kristina Campisi is a homemaker, and Lee Brandenburg is retired; but they’re all major contributors to local campaigns. Make no mistake, the contributions are legal and the contributors have every right to engage in the political system. But their listed occupations fail to connect them to interests that normally cause people to become major players in local politics.

The June 5 primary slugfest wages on for two more weeks, but that hasn’t stopped some people from putting out feelers for the 2014 election. Pete Furman, chief of staff for San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, was the first person we heard might be interested in running for the District 3 City Council seat, which will be left vacant by a termed-out Sam Liccardo. Many believe Liccardo plans to continue up the City Hall ladder in a bid for mayor. Furman isn’t alone in weighing a run for the downtown council seat.

Mayor Chuck Reed’s efforts to curb city employee retirement benefits will be his legacy, and despite some reservations with his clumsy bedside manner as well as Measure B’s wording on disability qualifiers for public safety officials, the “pension modification” measure should be approved by voters. Measure B is the best bet to start restoring vital city services that have been cut.

District 4 incumbent Kansen Chu has been a mostly ineffective member of the City Council. It’s time to give someone else a chance.

Robert Braunstein would bring real-world experience to the San Jose City Council District 10 seat, which we think is important because that provides a reality check to an ingrown political culture. City Hall needs an outsider’s perspective to pry loose from the current malaise.