San Jose Inside

A $250 campaign contribution from a Los Angeles lawyer to San Jose City Council candidate Magdalena Carrasco is drawing fire from District 5 Councilmember Nora Campos. Campos, whose brother Xavier Campos is running against Carrasco to represent San Jose’s East Side, suggests the money is evidence that Carrasco is somehow in cahoots with politicians from L.A.

Thomas Jefferson said, “Democracy is never a final achievement. It is a call to an untiring effort.” At a dinner party I attended on Saturday evening there was much thoughtful political discourse, a good democratic tradition. I wanted to know, from the bright and civic-minded guests, if they are optimistic about the future of America in the next 50 years.

My sampling size was small (n=5) but the result was illuminating—and very depressing.

I attended the first community meeting regarding the selection of the next San Jose Police Chief on Tuesday,  Aug. 24 at the Roosevelt Community Center.  Approximately 21 people attended. Attendees were divided into small groups to discuss five questions. I did not see any police officers however they may have been in attendance but remained anonymous.

For some reason, the Bay Area has recently been home to a number of violent and senseless tragedies.  In San Jose, on the night of August 17th, three people suffered injuries in two stabbings that the Mercury News reported may have been gang related. “In the first incident…three teenagers were standing near their vehicle in the parking lot…when they were jumped.”

Considering how hard she’s been pushing for Measures V and W, former vice mayor Pat Dando might be having second thoughts about her star turn, back in 2000, in some San Jose Fire Fighter’s Union promotional videos.

Team San Jose, the peculiar alliance of hoteliers, unions and city bureaucrats that runs the city’s entertainment and convention venues, is facing the biggest crisis in its short, contentious history.

Last Wednesday, finance chief Scott P. Johnson issued a report showing that the quasi-public entity overshot its budget by $750,000, and tangled its bookkeeping so badly that director Dan Fenton can’t even say exactly where the missing money went. Then on Monday, City Councilmember Sam Liccardo turned up the heat, asking city manager Deb Figone to dig into the hotel-tax-funded entity, which is run by Fenton and an executive committee including South Bay Labor Council boss Cindy Chavez.

The quest for SJPD Chief Rob Davis’s replacement kicks off tonight with the city’s first community outreach meeting.

Taking place at the Roosevelt Community Center, the event aims to have citizens weigh in on the type of person they think should be hired to lead San Jose’s Police Department. After tonight’s 6pm meeting, there will be four other opportunities for community engagement through Sept. 2.

“This is one of the most important positions in the city,” City Manager Deb Figone said when announcing the event at today’s city council meeting. “The information we gather at these meetings will help define the characteristics that we are looking for in our next police chief.”

“Egregious” and “contemptible” are two words that describe my reaction to the California School Boards’ recent announcement that their executive director, Scott Plotkin, was paid nearly $1 million dollars in compensation and bonuses the last two years. However, it does not end there.

Put aside the State’s raid of city funds for a moment and instead, lets be thankful for one of the best gifts cities have received from the state legislature…Assembly Bill 321 (AB321).

AB 321 allows cities the flexibility and discretion to lower speed limits on two-lane streets adjacent to public and private schools, which are currently posted at 25 miles per hour.  For example,  San Jose has many schools that are located in residential neighborhoods that have two lane roads with a 25mph speed.  These streets may have the speeds lowered to 20mph or 15mph by implementing AB321.  However,a school that is located on a four lane road would not be eligible, nor a school alongside a road that has a higher speed limit then 25 mph

Team San Jose, the quasi-public, hotel tax-funded labor-business coalition that that runs city-owned entertainment facilities, has lost its access to public money after overrunning its budget by more than $750,000.

This event is being held in loving memory of Vahid Hosseini and Officer Jeffrey Fontana. The purpose of this event is to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives due to a violent crime, fallen Police Officers, and Fire Fighters, and to support their loved ones.

Minh Duong, the pro-business, Chamber of Commerce–endorsed City Council candidate, has made his business experience the central theme of his campaign to oust District 7 Councilmember Madison Nguyen. He believes his knowledge of budgets and finance can help the economically-strapped city better manage its money.

Duong’s own business acumen, however, may not rise to the level his talking points suggest. The 31-year-old furniture store owner has defaulted on his home mortgage, incurred multiple property tax delinquencies, neglected to pay his garbage bills and been threatened with eviction on his business and foreclosure on his house. Last month, he was kicked off the San José Small Business Development Commission.

The city’s fearless and occasionally politically tone-deaf leader, Chuck Reed, was riding high after successfully placing pension reform and binding arbitration on the ballot with a carefully stitched-together coalition that seemed to spell the end of organized labor’s control of the San Jose City Council.

The afterglow was short-lived, however. Reed threw the new majority into chaos with his divisive endorsement of gay marriage opponent Larry Pegram for a council seat, just a day before a California court overturned Prop 8.

I was wondering…how many of you know who Jessica Ennis is? Jessica Ennis is an international track star. Earlier this Summer, she won the gold medal in the Heptathlon at the European Championships. Last year, she also took gold at the World Championships. Jessica Ennis is arguably the world’s greatest female athlete. This young woman can fly…and throw…and jump…etc. She’s Wonder Woman.

Sam Liccardo knows first hand the impact of traffic laws. The District 3 councilmember mentioned an unfortunate run in he had with a Caddy during a discussion today on reducing speed limits around Trace Elementary School.  “As somebody who’s been hit at 15 miles an hour, I can confirm that you don’t want to be hit at that, or at 25,” Liccardo said.