San Jose Inside

Silicon Alleys

THEY SAY anniversaries are about celebrating the joys of today, the memories of yesterday and the hopes of tomorrow. As you read this, Gordon Biersch is in the middle of a 20th anniversary weeklong sequence of ticketed brewer’s dinners and beer hoedowns that will culminate with a Dionysian blowout this Saturday at the company’s original San Jose brewery and bottling facility on Taylor Street.

Food for Thought

Alcoholism is an insidious disease that knows no boundaries of age, sex, race, economic class, religion, or occupation. It is one of the most destructive forces in our society, not only harming the alcoholic, but everyone around them: spouses, children, family, friends, business partners and co-workers. Like most people, I have seen it and have felt its effects—in my case, a severely alcoholic friend, and my beloved late grandfather. I know firsthand that alcoholics will drive drunk, lie, cheat, steal, and commit fraud and other crimes, and even injure those who love them most, just to get a drink when they “need” one.

The Little Saigon debacle seemed mostly resolved when Mayor Chuck Reed signed a peace deal with protesters in the Vietnamese community that promised that banners displaying the “Little Saigon” name could be flown to officially recognize the Vietnamese retail area. But what wasn’t spelled out was how many banners could go up.

Looking Back to 1988

It was another time when I first became mayor in 1983. There were no first run movie theatres. The finest hotel was the Holiday Inn. The DeAnza and Sainte Claire were shuttered. No shopping, no sports, no pleasant river walks. The parks were seedy and unused. Needless to say, there was no real reason to come downtown except the noble arts groups, a few hardy pioneers like Camera 3 and Eulipia, and our nascent San Jose Museum of Art, gallantly fighting a Dunkirk-like battle, trying to stay alive to win a war.

Pop’s Mini-Mart, at the corner of King and Ocala on the eastside, is getting a facelift. But it isn’t just a cosmetic change; it’s the kind that can change the history and lives of a community that surrounds it. Frank “Poncho” Torres, an accomplished muralist whose work is all over the eastside, has steadily been crafting a masterpiece for the past seven months or so—a wall-sized mural that is a call to end gang violence and to locate this community in a larger cultural moment.

No, I am not going to attempt to rewrite the famous novel (even I am not that full of myself), but rather, start a discussion on something that needs to be discussed: how two cities, San Jose and Los Gatos, can both hold the same type of event, but with drastically different outcomes. 

The other day, on KLIV Radio, they called Joey “Dumbnut” (not his real name), “The Pride of San Jose.”  Mr. Dumbnut is a former winner of that stupid hot dog eating contest that is held every Fourth of July.  I can’t stand those contests.  I think that they are disgusting, and promote a very bad image for American society.

City Hall Diary

A while ago I wrote that I wanted to tour each council district. Well, I got my wish. I have been touring San Jose over the past few months and last Friday I spent the morning with my colleague, Nancy Pyle, who represents District 10.

The 232nd anniversary of the signing of the Declaraion of Independence has got to be a good time for ranting and raving. Let ‘er rip!

LAST YEAR, when my alter ego, the urban blight exploration junkie, decided to prowl around the industrial wastelands of Stockton Avenue in San Jose, fans of San Jose underbelly came roaring out of the woodwork to laud the elegant monstrosity of urban decay sitting at the corner of Julian and Stockton—that decrepit falling-to-pieces old Westinghouse warehouse. The building is famous, and several folks who appreciate the artistic value of urban blight photography have shot the place for their collections. Metro photographer Felipe Buitrago brilliantly captured it in the July 25, 2007, issue of Metro.

Food for Thought

When I look at the map showing the more than 1,000 wildfires burning in California right now, it seems the whole state is going up in a firestorm. I have spoken to firemen who have told me that, in fact, given the ultra-dry conditions, the stretched-out fire departments, and meteorological circumstances, a huge catastrophic firestorm is possible in large wooded and suburban city areas. It would be devastating to both humans and wildlife (the Big Sur fires already threaten endangered condors). So why are fireworks sales and traditional Fourth of July fireworks celebrations going ahead here in Santa Clara County and around the state as if none of this is happening?

Back when he was mayor, spearheading the renovation of a then-decrepit downtown, Tom McEnery had to fend off charges that his vision of a thriving retail-and-entertainment district was rooted in a desire to enrich himself and his family, which owns a significant chunk of downtown real estate. Twenty years later, those charges have re-emerged, following a 9-1 City Council decision last week to consider a request for $6 million in redevelopment money for the San Pedro Square neighborhood where the McEnerys do business.

You can only wonder when the sins of the last decade will stop visiting themselves on the people of San Jose. We saw it again late last week when a jury awarded $851,000 to the three businessmen who were injured in a notorious email that originated from then-Mayor Ron Gonzales’ office in the middle of the failed attempt to take over the Tropicana Shopping Center some six years ago.