San Jose Inside

Sunday’s San Jose Mercury News endorsement of Jerry Brown is getting a bit of traction, as might have been expected. The Brown campaign spread news of the endorsement today in an email blast headlined: “Meg’s Hometown Paper Backs Brown.”

Last week, I got a mailer from the No on V campaign railing against the decisions of past city councils about spending on the Hayes Mansion.  I was elated! I felt validated in my support for selling the Hayes Mansion to stop the annual bleeding of millions of dollars. I wrote about selling the Hayes Mansion two years ago on the Council and on this blog.

Voters must decide on eight state initiatives and referenda next month, all of which will have a deep impact on California politics and culture. These four ballot measures deal directly with how government does its business. Because they will produce structural change in Sacramento and Washington, they may be the most crucial questions state voters have confronted in years.

Last Wednesday, Father James Mifsud, Pastor of Queen of Apostles Church in San Jose, passed away. He was 75 years old.

A wise man once said that “Heroes create joy.” Father Jim created a lot of joy for a lot of people. He was a hero, mentor, guardian, and friend to many thousands of people. James Mifsud stood for the integrity of the individual and looked for the divine in every person.

At a City Council meeting yesterday, Bob Brownstein of Working Partnerships blasted an audit that found the city’s pension benefits program unsustainable, saying it was, “filled with flaws and inaccuracies.”  It was a testy exchange, and at one point, City Councilmember Pete Constant, who chaired the meeting, threatened to have Brownstein removed from the meeting.

This is to correct and clarify several points contained in your article “SBLC Helps Big Political Contributors Erase Their Tracks,” [Sept. 22]. Your article states: “Enforcement of city election laws falls on the Government Integrity Unit of the District Attorney’s Office.” That is inaccurate. Section 12.06.260, which prohibits contributions from card rooms to candidates or candidate controlled committees is found in the San Jose Municipal Code, Title 12. Enforcing violations of Title 12 fall within the jurisdiction of the City of San Jose and its Elections Commission. Title 12 lays out an entire regulatory framework for the investigation of Title 12 violations, including campaign contribution violations.

Measure V puts budget control back in the hands of the elected representatives of the people, which is where it should be. It’s our money, and we elect people that we think will spend it in the most productive way possible.

Measure W would allow the city to create new retirement programs for new hires that are in line with today’s employment landscape. It protects current employees’ pensions— nobody who works for the city will be affected by this change.

The unionized education hourglass has a few minutes of sand left before its upper glass chamber loses its last speck. Race to the Top and the Charter School movement have quickened the pace of the draining granules of sand. Unions can flip the hourglass to gain some time for dialogue, but only if they heed some advice.

County Assessor Larry Stone visited the San Jose City Council study session last week and gave an extensive lecture on the role of the County Assessor and a critique of Spectrum Economics. His comments were blunt, sparing only profanity about the economist hired by the RDA for $15,000. I wrote about this topic three weeks ago.

This is the only time that another elected official has spoken to the City Council at length during my tenure.

What should happen to the San Jose police officer who handcuffed the teenage boy after confronting him about contact with his step-daughter? I believe that the cop should be fired immediately.

When Mike Wasserman came to Metro’s offices for an interview back before the June primary, our editorial committee was unanimously impressed. Although we endorsed Teresa Alvarado in that race, we liked what we heard from Wasserman and feel strongly that he will make a good supervisor.

The following is the text of a letter that was hand delivered to California High Speed Rail Authority CEO Roelof van Ark following his Sept. 29, 2010 speech to the San Jose Rotary Club by San Jose Downtown Association Executive Director Scott Knies. In an unprecedented show of unity, the letter was signed by leaders of 10 central San Jose neighborhood associations and the heads of the city’s two leading business associations.

Neighborhood and business groups in central San Jose urge the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to include an underground option for San Jose in the project’s Environment Impact Report.

District 5 voters have a chance to restore balance to the San Jose City Council by electing Magdalena Carrasco, a talented and articulate neighborhood activist who began a grassroots campaign and now enjoys a wide base of support.

It feels like madness. China continues to fund our debt, launches major initiatives to improve their future—particularly in green technologies—and their education system is outsmarting us. Concurrently, with the rising drop-out rate and decreasing graduation rate of our 18 year olds, we are spending trillions of U.S. tax dollars nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 1970 the U.S. produced 30 percent of the world’s college graduates…today only 15 percent. This is madness. We need nation building here beginning with public education now.