San Jose Inside

A thicket of extended TV truck antennas crowded the paseo between the two Fairmont towers, so we pulled up and asked the doorman which millionaire had rented the ballroom. Meg Whitman?

Steve Poizner? Actually, former Congressman Tom Campbell had secured a small room off the alley to put the best face possible on his noble but doomed U.S. Senate bid. As Carly Fiorina pulled ahead in the early returns, we asked Campbell about the influence of money in politics this year.

Madison Nguyen’s election-night party wasn’t exactly hard to find. Blue-and-white “Re-elect Madison Nguyen” fliers appeared with increasing regularity as Metro neared M Cafe on Burdette Drive in San Jose, a hip Asian joint that serves coffee while showing sports on TVs.

Apparently, the Nguyen campaign had more posters and fliers than it knew what to do with, because the inside of the large room was stuffed with banners and campaign materials.

The South Bay Labor Council and its legions were out in full force in the lobby of the swank California Theater for political siblings Xavier and Nora Campos. Familiar faces sampled the fancy spread of sesame chicken, quiche, brie and fruit while watching results roll in around a large computer screen mounted by the entrance.

At 10:30pm, the mood was celebratory, despite the fact that what once seemed like a safe dynastic succession had turned into a November runoff and some candidates, like Forest Williams, fared worse than expected.

The big action of the night was downtown at Agenda, where a packed house celebrated Jeff Rosen’s thin lead in the District Attorney’s race.

Around 11pm, Rosen mercifully decided to cut up and pass out his victory cake, even though it would be a few hours or more before anyone could claim victory.

If Rosen pulled it out, and it looked like he would, it would become the first time in almost a century that a challenger had toppled an incumbent DA.

Our timing was impeccable as we strolled into Judge-elect Vanessa Zecher’s bash at the Brit, where the bar crowd was transfixed by the Lakers-Celtics game.

We interrupted a well-known senior judge to ask what he thought about the DA’s race. “We were just talking about that,” he said, calling it too close to call. “If she [Carr] wins, she’ll have a tough row to hoe.”

Larry Pegram’s supporters cheered at the Cambrian Round Table Pizza when the first results popped up, even though the San Jose City Council District 9 candidate trailed Donald Rocha by more than 1,500 votes.

“Anytime you’re in the money, it’s good,” said Pegram with a grin. Volunteers flipped around the channels on the flat-screen TVs looking for a news broadcast.

We sped to Los Gatos, where they keep the Christmas tree lights up year round, declining Democratic Central Committee candidate Oliverio’s offer to race us in his Saturn.

We knew this was one race Pierluigi would lose, even as our trusted assistant checked election results from a mobile laptop passenger side.

Over at District Attorney Dolores Carr’s re-election party at the Britannia Arms on Almaden, it was nearly impossible to distinguish Carr backers from the juiced-up Celtics-Lakers game watchers.

Waiters jostled through the crowd with pitchers and canapés while Carr’s husband, John, checked polls on an iPad.

Down Highway 85, at the Summit Steakhouse, Teresa Alvarado’s roughly 50 guests had swamped the bar area and practically cleaned out steam trays of what looked like enchiladas.

Alvarado herself stood at the center of a crowd of people in the middle of the dimly lit room. “It’s going really good,” said Alvarado, as someone handed her a seltzer water. “We’ve done our best.”

We made it to the Gordon Biersch brewing facility on Taylor Street, where we parked alongside some beer pallets and wended our way through a labyrinth of bottling machinery to Sheriff Laurie Smith’s rooftop shindig.

The atmosphere was festive and the food top flight, so we washed down some penne and salad with a sturdy ale. San Jose Councilman Oliverio arrived seconds behind us and revealed that he was locked in a tight race for one of six seats on the Democratic Central Committee.

As 8pm rolled around at O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub on San Pedro Square, where the Sam Liccardo’s victory party was taking place, Tim Hennessey, Liccardo’s Republican opponent, walked by the crowded pub. The former Johnny V’s bouncer-turned-candidate approached Kyra Kazantzis, a local lawyer and Liccardo campaign volunteer, as she was strolling into the party.

“He asked me, ‘Is that Sam Liccardo’s party?’” she said. When she responded yes, “He said, ‘I’m Sam’s running mate, Tim Hennessey.’” He then bid adieu and walked away in his immaculate suit.

Sitting in section 101 at the Oracle Arena on Saturday night, I was struck by something rock star Tom Petty said during his song “Mystic Eyes.” He came to the microphone and said “wouldn’t it be great if, for one moment, everything was all right.” I shouted in agreement then.

Twelve hours later, however, I found myself wondering what that statement would really mean to most baby-boomers filling that sold-out concert. I am certain we would not get unanimity on any issue, but the subject of this column might have the most agreement.

It is the City of San Jose’s process that City Manager Debra Figone puts forth a budget proposal in May. Then, after that is released, councilmembers make their budget proposals to Mayor Chuck Reed.

When the Councilmembers make written suggestions of their “budget wants,” they also need to include what funding source within the city will be affected (some written suggestions from councilmembers are done in collaboration with labor unions).

Then, the Mayor takes into consideration the City Manager’s budget proposal and the Councilmember’s suggestions, and comes up with a final budget. 

Of course, a mayor could put together their own budget without this input, but it is customary that the mayor takes other perspectives into consideration. 

“Values Fade In Face Of Budget Cuts.” So read the title of a recent column by the Mercury News’ Patty Fisher. “What do we value?” she asked, soon after Governor Schwarzenegger’s office released its revised budget outline replete with cuts to social programs.

“With a $19 billion gap to close, obviously the governor had tough choices to make.  But there was a pattern to his choices. He chose to eliminate welfare altogether and cut childcare for low-income families, in-home supportive services, Medi-Cal and mental health. Programs established to help the neediest among us: the poor, the sick, the elderly.”