San Jose Inside

Last week I attended two more community budget meetings to hear feedback from residents in District 9 and District 2. The District 9 meeting was a bit different from previous sessions, as there was no slide presentation. Instead, it included an overview and discussion to go over paper handouts on the Proposed Operating Budget with City Management.

Not much was shared on the cost of providing services to residents but rather, attendees were told: “Here are the proposed cuts.”

This week’s installment of San Jose Inside’s weekly open forum is open. Local issues are our main interest, but any comment on any topic is welcome.

Just because the majority of the Public Intoxication Task Force quit the group last night doesn’t mean they are giving up on their mission to revamp police practices in San Jose.

Mayor Chuck Reed today called on all City workers to accept a wage and salary freeze this year to avoid 150 layoffs in the face of the City’s $77.5 million budget shortfall.  “I’m calling for all our bargaining units to agree to true zeroes this year,” Reed said in a statement released this morning. He specified that this would mean “no wage increases, no step increases, no merit increases.”

The controversy-plagued Santa Clara Valley Water District board has finally selected a CEO—naming Beau Goldie, a longtime district employee, to the long-vacant post.

Some members of the San Jose Elections Commission are implying that Councilmember Nora Campos had something to do with the anonymous complaint field against Tom McEnery, which was brushed aside Friday after months of huffing and puffing by Campos and her allies. And staffers in Campos’s office are shocked. (Shocked!)

My family and I, along with 750 others, celebrated the life of Dan Lairon III on Saturday, May 2 at St. Martin’s Church.  The mass presided over by Father Bob Shinney S.J. was a commemoration of the good work and deeds of a distinguished former Marine and life-long educator.

In an effort to move the city out of the debacle of the IPA selection of Chris Constantin, the Mayor and several Councilmembers have been trading memos regarding the next attempt to hire an IPA, leading up to a potential Cinco de Mayo vote tomorrow. But rushing forward with another hiring process before a full investigation has been done on “IPA-gate” would do San Jose a disservice, and leave lingering suspicions.

Over a month ago I wrote about a budget meeting I led in District 6 with my own presentation on the deficit and alternative solutions. Since then, other council offices have scheduled their meetings. I was curious to hear the opinions from outside my district. So last week I attended the budget meetings in District 10, Almaden/Blossom Valley, and District 8, Evergreen. Both meetings were led by the city manager’s office with its own presentation.

San Jose Inside’s weekly open forum is open for business. All opinions are welcome.

Mayor Chuck Reed is proving that there are limits to his patience. Today, the mayor fired off an unfriendly letter to Councilwoman Nora Campos asking her to publicly apologize for drumming up drama over recent anonymous complaints against former Mayor Tom McEnery.

What do Inlaid Thermoplastic Asphalt Pavement Marking Systems have in common with bollard sleeves and Wilshire round planters? Easy. They’re all part of the SoFA District Year One Development Plan—a cosmetic redesign of South First Street between San Carlos and Reed Street.

The historic St. James Square neighborhood in downtown San Jose is now home to another worldwide center of creative exploits. ZER01, the organization that produces the 01SJ biennial festival of art and technology, officially opened its new permanent command center at St. James Place, 152 N. Third St., last week. Thanks to the donations of many entities, the new high-tech office occupies two floors and gives ZER01 a solid planning headquarters for year-round programming as well as a place to host visiting artists and a meeting space for its partners to gather and exchange ideas. The facility is slick.

Roy Avila, the community affairs guy at KICU, yesterday announced his campaign for State Assembly District 23. His letter follows:

Friends and Colleagues,
Through our work in the community together many of you have mentioned that I should run for office someday. Well, I have decided to take your advice: I am running for State Assembly in 2010 here in San Jose, the 23rd District.

More on the appointment / resignation of police auditor Chris Constantin. According to the Mercury News, “Campos and Councilman Ash were not informed of the potential conflict.”  “‘He never disclosed to me and to other council members before we took the vote,’ Campos said.”