San Jose Inside

POSTED APRIL 14; UPDATED APRIL 17: IPA appointee’s brother is a San Jose Police officer, a fact not revealed at the time of his appointment. More inside.

San Jose City Council unanimously voted to appoint city hall insider Chris Constantin as the city’s new Independent Police Auditor. Constantin currently serves as the Senior Program Performance Auditor in San Jose’s City Auditor’s Office, where he’s overseen recent reviews of police and other public safety programs.

Weighing in on the huge payouts for unused sick leave that the City of San Jose has been paying to some public employees, the Mercury News Editorial Board argued that the expenditures are “a public employee luxury that taxpayers should not have to bankroll.” And, the editorial board rightly placed the blame where it belongs. 

By Diane Solomon

I had no idea that President Obama switched us to socialism. The signs at San Jose’s April 15th anti tax tea party at Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park told me this. Among the 1,000 mostly middle aged and white demonstrators wearing American flag regalia were lots of homemade signs saying, “Socialism Kills,” “Revolt Against Socialism,” “Capitalism is Being Undermined” and more personalized messages.

San Jose City Councilmember Sam Liccardo sent this letter in response to last week’s Metro cover story about SJPD Chief Rob Davis, which was excerpted on SJI.

Perhaps due to space constraints, last week’s story about San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis (“Can Davis Survive?”) incorporated only one aspect—the most negative—of the views that I expressed about the chief’s performance.

Grading is the bane of most educators’ lives, in elementary through university institutions. In fact, giving accurate feedback to a student when it comes time for evaluations is a dreaded task in most cases. Yet evaluators who give specific and accurate feedback are providing an important service to students. The more accurate and specific the feedback, the more a student can adjust and move forward in executing a particular skill, procedure or knowledge area…hopefully to relevant, real-world situations.

An entire generation has grown up with colorful pyrotechnics painting the skies each Fourth of July above downtown’s Discovery Meadow park. Now, after 18 years, the anniversary of America’s independence will be a dark night in San Jose. Belt-tightening by sponsors, shrinking city grants and mushrooming costs for city services all conspired to douse the fireworks. “It’s a business decision,” says Fil Maresca of Filco Events.

...I did not actually eat breakfast with members of the Chamber of Commerce last week, but I met with them early in the morning—which is a challenge for me since I normally go to bed at 1am. The Chamber, as many of you know, is an interest group that advocates on behalf of small and large businesses. They invited me to attend their meeting for some Q-and-A.

The Chamber, like labor unions, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, or the League of Conservation Voters, typically endorses candidates running for political office. Endorsements carry clout with some voters, but more importantly, endorsements come with monetary donations, plus independent expenditures for political mail to voters, and volunteers to walk door-to-door on your behalf. In my Council election, the Chamber endorsed my opponent and as a result, they did four independent expenditures on his behalf in addition to donating money to his campaign.

This is San Jose Inside’s user-driven open forum, where regular bloggers and / or casual visitors set the agenda. What’s on your mind?

“City officials…are allowed free use of a special box at Sharks games.” (Mercury News, April 7). Why? And, why do members of the San Jose City Council get a car allowance?  Do you get a car allowance from your employer? I don’t.

(POSTED APRIL 7; UPDATED APRIL 8) In the past six months, Rob Davis has lost support, becoming the most controversial San Jose police chief since the department became a modern urban force under Harvard-educated reformer Joseph McNamara three decades ago.

The affable chief is typically comfortable in the public eye, but these days, Davis is discovering that he cannot talk his way out of trouble. His critics include not only traditional police watchdogs like the ACLU, the NAACP and Latino community groups but also city officials, business owners and law enforcement leaders.

Jude Barry, the ultimate San Jose Insider and longtime statewide political player, posted a cool piece this week on CalBuzz—the new blog hosted by former Merc politics editor Phil Trounstine and former Chron editor Jerry Roberts.

The folks at Psycho Donuts in downtown Campbell have pretty good imaginations—their signature comestible is a donut topped with pretzels, chocolate, marshmallow and chili powder (tastes better than it sounds). But there’s no way they could have dreamed this up.

NOTE: San Jose City Council member Sam Liccardo is circulating this letter in response to allegations that he illegally accepted tickets to a Sharks game.

Dear Friends,
I ran for office on a platform of open government and honest communication with my constituents. That means acknowledging when I am wrong, as well as standing up for what I believe is right. Since taking office in January 2007, I have relied on this newsletter to provide information to neighbors about what is happening at City Hall and how that affects each of you. Today, however, I write to provide background about a story that has been in the media over the past week, regarding my improper acceptance of free admission to two hockey games.

The City of San Jose and the County of Santa Clara annually allocate hundreds of millions of dollars for public safety. We all benefit significantly from well-thought-out police, sheriff and firefighter planning.  When a new plan is envisioned, experts and ordinary people are invited to contribute. When planning efforts are shortsighted, hurried, or do not include all stakeholder groups, a less- than-desirable outcome is reached. Safety is compromised.

Education is not necessarily thought of as a public safety investment. But it emphatically is.

Our County Assessor was quoted on Friday as saying the downturn in real estate values is “worse than expected,” and that more than 90,000 residential parcels will be valued at less then their purchase price. We are living through historic times, with unprecedented negative growth in real estate. That has happened in Santa Clara County only a handful of times: in 1932,1933 and1936, and again in 1978 (after Prop 13) was passed. So what does that mean, other than many depressed homeowners? Well, it means that the City of San Jose’s deficit just catapulted to $77 million.

The City Manager announced Friday that we will have an additional shortfall of $14.3M due to lower property tax revenues on top of the sales tax decline which added another $3M to the deficit. I believe we will also see a sharp fall in our TOT (hotel tax) this quarter. This means less city services starting July 1, 2009 for you. But there is more…