San Jose Inside

The Bucks Should Stop Here

Last week in an opinion piece for the Mercury News, Councilmember Nancy Pyle and Silicon Valley Chamber President Pat Dando called for the residents of San Jose to make a concerted effort to “Buy in San Jose.” By encouraging San Joseans to shop within their city’s limits, more tax receipts would go to help offset the city’s growing budget deficit.

In a prior column, I wrote about taking advantage of the great San Jose weather by having events at City Hall Plaza or at the Circle of Palms. At last week’s city council meeting, there was an item that pertained to sidewalk cafes at night. I support outside settings and made a motion at the meeting proposing to extend hours at sidewalk cafes until 2 a.m. A majority of the council supported the motion.

Says He Has Looked To Rev. Jeremiah Wright For Political Advice, Not Statistical Guidance

San Jose City Councilman Forrest Williams on Wednesday denounced inflammatory remarks from his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who has railed against San Jose for being unsafe and not-large, and accused its leaders of supporting sprawl.

THE SAN JOSE Earthquakes soccer home opener is this Sunday, while at the same time, the latest round of the Little Saigon sideshow is coming soon to a theater near 200 E. Santa Clara St. And leave it to yours truly to suggest a sick and perverse connection between the two. Here we go:

Every day, 110 million gallons of water makes its way through miles of pipes to the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant, on the shores of the Bay in Alviso. This is the water that we flush down toilets, run through dishwashers and washing machines, and every other drop that enters the sanitary sewer system in a 300-square-mile area that includes San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and Monte Sereno.

Quietly absorbing the short end of the Little Saigon stick are the Vietnamese-American candidates who are running for a seat on the San Jose City Council in the June 3 primary. Things got even stickier for them as the Vietnamese community last week officially launched their campaign to recall Councilmember Madison Nguyen.

We have traveled a long and winding road in the last fifty years—a very long way—and we are now on the verge of becoming a city of one million people. Wow! But does the size of San Jose really matter?

The gym at Alum Rock Youth Center on the Eastside was filled near capacity last Thursday evening when Mayor Chuck Reed held the first of four open forums on gang violence in San Jose and how to spend an additional $1 million towards the issue. While a cynic might say that the event was mere political theater—an attempt by the city leaders to quell growing frustrations about violence on the streets—it is undeniable that the forum did tap into the community’s authentic call to be included in the conversation of allocation of resources. The gathering was probably the first time I saw the city council, SJPD, parents, youth advocates, former gang members, and religious groups, all brainstorming from a position of collective problem-solving, rather than fighting over limited funding.

For all the talk on this site, much of it frequently seems to come back to this topic: How do we “fix” downtown and make it better?  Everyone thinks they know what needs to be done, or people make kneejerk reactions that just mask the problems. So, how do we really make the changes that need to be made in order for San Jose to become a cross between the 24-hour city and the nice place to live that it already is? 

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.