San Jose Inside

John Mitchell shows me a photo of the San Jose Museum of Art building as it was about 105 years ago—back when it was the post office and back when it still had the clock tower. “You could show that picture to everybody in San Jose today and about fifty percent of them wouldn’t even know what it was,” he explains. “‘We have a clock tower?’ they would ask. ‘San Jose has a clock tower?’ They wouldn’t even know about this.” I added that those fifty percent probably don’t even know where downtown is to begin with.

More “Facts” and “Figures” on the Soccer Stadium Deal

On page one of the “Fiscal and Economic Impact Major League Soccer Stadium Proposal Report” we read:

The City of San Jose is currently reviewing a request by the Oakland Athletics to develop a Major League Soccer Stadium for the San Jose Earthquakes as part of a new mixed-use development at the Airport West site. It is anticipated that the Stadium will be owned by the City and leased to the Oakland Athletics.  While this arrangement will not generate property tax revenue to the City’s General Fund, the lessee will be required to pay possessory interest tax to the City.

QUESTION:  Why are the Oakland A’s involved here?

City Hall Diary

Berkeley and Santa Cruz have a reputation of voting on proclamations or supporting causes that are outside their domains, such as the independence of Tibet, the genocide in Darfur, and federal issues like immigration or going to war. Topics like these are worthy of discussion on a blog, in person, or for our elected officials in Washington DC. However, is it the best use of time dealing with these at a level where you have limited influence instead of spending time on what you can really make an impact on? Like the “City” Council meetings?

Lender Literally Takes Back Property in Bankruptcy Proceedings

In another sign of a weakening economy, Divco West, the owner of downtown’s controversial boutique-style Montgomery Hotel, has turned the property over to its mortgage holder, Gramercy Capital. The lender plans to roll the historic building down to Los Angeles and relocate it near the company’s California headquarters.

IF YOU’RE one of the thousands who’ve trudged their way through the knee-high piles of bike parts in the yard of Faber’s Cyclery over the years, you will be blown away by how clean and orderly the place is these days. Located at the corner of South First Street and Margaret, Faber’s is one of the oldest buildings in the South Bay and it soaks in over a century of history. The place was a corner saloon in 1884 and has been a bicycle business since 1921.

When I read that nonprofit developer Neighborhood Housing Services was having trouble selling the 17 condos of their new development just south of downtown, I can’t say I was surprised, given the worsening national mortgage crisis. The main selling point is that these units are considered “affordable housing” for buyers that have a low enough income to qualify for borrower assistance (less than $84,900 for a family of four). Originally offered at $535,000, the two-bedroom condos are now priced at $450,000 and still aren’t selling. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see how anyone could consider $535,000 or $450,000 homes to be affordable on an average family income, even with the incentives.

Maybe what San Jose needs is a feel-good theme song to help put the city on the map. That’s what San Jose City Councilman Forrest Williams thinks, anyway. At last week’s council discussion, where the group was considering ways to promote the city’s best features to help draw business and visitors, Williams suggested the city write a song that will make San Jose well known across the globe, and even said he would consider taking it to the arts commission as a proposal.

When you think of San Jose and its financial ability, its real strength, I wonder what comes to mind: downtown, and places like the TECH Museum, the beautiful Fairmont Hotel, or perhaps the Arena? I imagine it might be any of those. It might also be another place, that is, more a state of mind than a physical location, namely, Silicon Valley. But if those or similar sites leap to mind, I have one other location to conjure: North San Jose. Sometimes known as the “Golden Triangle,” it is one of the largest and richest pieces of real estate in the world. There are big plans for it still. These plans call for adding 83,000 jobs and 32,000 homes in the area north and west of Interstate 880 and south of Highway 237. About 8,000 residences are currently planned for this very special area.

Are Foundations In Tune with Democratic Process?

Last week I saw a glimpse into the future of California philanthropy: big money and big commitments, the kind of which could literally change the course of how some California communities develop over the next decade.

This weekend I had a garage sale, which was an enlightening experience for me in more ways than one. Well, maybe enlightening isn’t the best use of words, but it was interesting to say the least. The whole concept of the garage sale is really a strange one when you take the time to think about it. OK, so let me see: I will take all my unwanted junk, used clothes and useless things and lay it all out on my grass so that others can come, rummage through it, and buy items for a fraction of their original cost.

Last week, the Mercury News reported that San Jose city officials and a team of developers had come to an agreement on a $132 million deal that “sets the stage for a major league soccer stadium near the airport as early as 2010.”  The Mercury News article failed to address a number of important questions surrounding the project.

City Hall Diary

Recently, I attended the San Jose Elections Commission where Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) was on the agenda. (By the way, there are two unfilled seats waiting for SJ residents on this commission.) IRV was discussed, but the commission deferred the item for one year.  The main reason for deferral was that to implement IRV would require a vote of the people to change the city charter. This in itself was not a worry; however, the cost for the city to put it on the ballot was viewed as bad timing, considering our current budget deficit.

Without Public Scrutiny or Accountability, Lavish Spending Insured

In 1944, Sig Sanchez was appointed to the Santa Clara Valley Water Board. Months later he was dismissed, but only after he had disappeared into the jungles of the Philippines, perhaps forgotten by all except Assemblyman Ira Ruskin. For almost 25 years, Mr. Sanchez, believing himself to be a member in good standing, has been voting remotely and regularly, casting his rogue votes without public scrutiny or accountability.

Your birth is a mistake you’ll spend your whole life trying to correct.
—Chuck Palahniuk

PART OF being a respectable columnist is to exhibit a strong degree of self-confidence and integrity when admitting one’s mistakes. Since I have committed more than my share of embarrassing howlers over the years, I feel the time is right to do just that. So here are a few to get us started.