San Jose Inside

Last week, the Council emerged out of closed session directing staff to communicate and negotiate with the unions regarding the possibility of a ballot measure and pension reform. The goal is to combine these two topics and create/work within a timeframe if possible.

After asking the city’s workforce to accept 10 percent cuts in compensation to help avoid a fiscal disaster, councilmembers Kansen Chu, Xavier Campos and Nancy Pyle voted Tuesday against docking their own pay.

The City Council, acting in its capacity as the Board of Directors of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, announced its decision to appoint Richard Keit to serve as Managing Director of the Agency. Keit is currently the Redevelopment Agency’s Director of Business Development and has held various positions in local government, including manager of the housing division, neighborhood business district coordinator and director of neighborhood and industrial development.

As the 2010-11 school year comes to its all too sudden end the California public and its government leaders have lots of very grave issues to ponder during this summer. In order to secure our social and economic future, significant action must be taken in the 2011-12 school year on several key educational issues.

UPDATED: When Alex Gurza gives an update on labor negotiations to the City Council on Tuesday, he’ll have some explaining to do about pension reform negotiations. City officials refused to discuss pension reform on Friday with unions so they could focus on language for a ballot measure. Union representatives responded by walking out. On Monday, Gurza said he was sorry and his office asked the unions to come back to the bargaining table.

On Friday, Mayor Chuck Reed released his June Budget Message, which included his final recommendations for closing the City of San Jose’s $115 million budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year and preliminary strategies designed to avoid further service cuts in 2012.

Last week I featured some of the budget memos I submitted to the mayor. Here are the rest that I submitted. Budget memos are only allowed to be signed by one councilmember. Doing things differently in some areas means we can spend more in other areas.

The City Council will meet Tuesday to discuss topics that include infrastructure improvement plans, pay cuts for Mayor Chuck Reed and councilmembers, and a settlement in an incident many considered to be police brutality.

Just when it looked like all hope was lost for the city and the police union to come to an agreement in negotiations over pay cuts and pension reform, a tentative deal was reached Thursday night.

The gloves have officially come off in labor negotiations between the city and public employee unions, and whispers of potential strikes are being heard in certain City Hall corners. On Tuesday, the City Council imposed 10 percent cuts in total compensation for four unions by an 8-3 vote. The cuts in pay and benefits will affect more than half of the city of San Jose’s employees.

It’s not that Debra Figone doesn’t trust the city council to spend money—it’s just that she doesn’t trust the city council to spend money wisely. Rather than let the council decide whether San Jose should accept a federal grant that could have saved 53 police officer jobs—and potentially put the city on the hook for millions it doesn’t have—the city manager chose to protect the council from itself.

Last week was the deadline for councilmembers to submit their input in writing to the mayor. Budget memos are only allowed to be signed by one councilmember. Here are some of the budget memos I submitted.

City Manager Debra Figone passed on applying for a grant that would have saved the jobs of more than a few dozen San Jose police officers but included some significant costs. Members of the Police Officers Association were surprised by the move, and they weren’t the only ones. It seems Figone did not consult the City Council on her decision to pass on applying for the largest possible grant.

As city staff studies a number of proposals on how to fix San Jose’s budget crisis, one idea in particular is likely to have some local business owners up in arms. Councilmember Nancy Pyle submitted a memo at Tuesday’s council meeting that recommends modifying the business tax for establishments that offer services. These businesses are taxed by the number of employees they have rather than sales.

“We must stop this death spiral of increasing pension costs and decreasing numbers of employees,” wrote Councilmembers Nguyen and Herrera in an op-ed published last week by the Mercury News. Nguyen and Herrera explained their reasons for supporting Mayor Reed’s push to confront the city’s runaway pension problem. In terms of the pension problem, the residents of San Jose also get it.