San Jose Inside

Has the Mercury News changed?

That was the September 8 headline on San Jose Inside. At last count, there were nearly 90 posts in answer to that question, though in truth about half of them seemed to be from two people arguing over who was more hateful and who was more racist.

I certainly have no intention of diving into that well. But I was struck by some of what I read about the paper, and, as the Mercury News’ executive editor, I’d like to address it. I appreciate the invitation from the editor of San Jose Inside to write a guest column to do so.

When you’ve worked at newspapers for 25-plus years, it’s probably unavoidable that you develop a thick skin about what people say about what you do. And at a large paper like ours—with more than 680,000 readers on weekdays, and some 740,000 on Sundays—you hear a lot, some of it positive but, given human nature, more of it not.

The way the major corporations have been acting the past few years, you would think that they believe themselves to be above the Constitution. Right here in Silicon Valley, the latest corporate scandal—where members of the HP board and Chairwoman Patricia Dunn have apparently been caught red-handed spying on their employees and on journalists—adds a nice new euphemism, “pretexting,” for a couple of common crimes, endemic in American corporate culture, to the list of white-collar conspiratorial activities. Dunn excuses her decision to order the spying by saying she did not know that pretexting (an Orwellian construct if there ever was one) meant any laws would be broken when she hired a firm of investigators to obtain the personal information of the company’s targets. That’s hilarious, given that the defined action of pretexting combines the crimes of fraud and identity theft in a very creative manner. Call it what you want, it’s still a felony and Dunn and anyone else involved should be accorded the prescribed punishment under the law if they are found guilty. As we all know from high school civics, “ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

It is an axiom that some things that sound so very good can sometimes be so horribly bad. So it is with the current vision of our twenty-four–hour downtown; the result of the so-called “wonderful” activity of nightclubs and revelers often comes closer to a nightmare.  Someone attending an event at HP Pavilion and wanting to have a post game drink at the Tied House or a bowl of pasta at Original Joe’s, faces the equivalent of a trip from the UN Green Zone to the Baghdad airport. Few would have the temerity to attempt the short drive to either.  They just go home. The same goes for anyone getting off the freeway at Santa Clara Street on a weekend.  And those who live in our downtown, either in the new housing in the core or in the immediate neighborhoods, are unable to enjoy the peace and tranquility that we all need when we come home after a long day of work or play.  Cruisers, youth in full-party mode, and an annoying array of troublemakers from other cities are filling up our downtown in the late-night and early-morning hours.

What’s the solution?  Blame the police.

Have you ever heard the expression that someone “looks good on paper?”  When it comes to our current, soon-to-be-official lame-duck mayor, Ron Gonzales, he looked quite good on paper when he first started his career as a politician.  He served in the private sector working with schools; he was a smart businessman, a devoted husband, well-educated and the first Hispanic mayor in San Jose since 1850.  But, after years in office, his career and life have taken a turn and he is now one of those politicians that look very bad on paper. Hmmm, let’s see—censured by the city council, arrested and charged with felonies, an affair with his 25-year-old intern and, now, a laughing stock.  Need I kick the guy more while he’s down?

Many people have asked me about the land grants dating from the Pueblo de San Jose era. Most people refer to them as the “Spanish Land Grants.” In fact, the grants were nearly all Mexican grants as the Spanish king’s land was only given to retired soldiers for their military service. Of the 44 land grants in Santa Clara County, only three were Spanish while 41 were Mexican. To receive a Mexican Grant, an individual only had to petition the governor, file a crude map of the area, and submit a fee of about twelve dollars. The petition could be for a city house lot or a 50,000 acre rancho. In addition, one had to be a Mexican citizen and of the Catholic faith. To become a Mexican citizen, an individual merely had to pledge allegiance to Mexico.

While John McEnery IV is vacationing on the beaches of Tahiti this week with his harem and entourage of personal attendants, we thought we would give our bloggers an opportunity to sound off about the San Jose Mercury News. Has anyone noticed anything different as the paper has gone through the changes of ownership? How are they doing covering local issues? Does the paper seem biased in any way in how they present stories or write headlines? What about the quality of the writing? Is there anything you would like to see them do that they are not doing? And what about the ownership’s performance so far in supporting community arts and events, especially in comparison to Knight Ridder?

When I was a kid growing up in the mountains of southern California in the 1960s, one of the most magnificent sights, then common, was to see a full-grown California condor soaring overhead. My father, a professional pilot, and I used to fly alongside the giant birds at 8,000 feet where they would soar in thermals for hours without flapping their wings once. We wondered how they learned to do that. Then, all of a sudden, the condors disappeared—victims of the huge influx of humans greedy for space and resources. It happened so fast. Now, forty years later, these amazing birds are making a very slow return and our state is all the better for it. The unfortunate thing is that the condor’s long-term trip to the nearly-extinct species list didn’t have to happen.

Well, the glass seems half empty—way empty. Lew Wolff will not bring the A’s to downtown (hey, Rick, gambling here in Casablanca!).  The Rep is in perilous condition and other groups are crying “help” and lining up to get a bit of succor.  The city leadership is looking like the interim government in Baghdad.  Our grand prix took a beating on the P.R. front not seen since Nixon’s final days.  Phew—what a few months! Look for a plague of locusts on the horizon.

Just as our discussion about the possible public bailout of the Rep Theater was catching steam, it appears other arts groups in the city realized that this may be their chance to catch a break and get some help themselves.  The discussion about what organizations and businesses are eligible for public funds each year, and which ones are not, needs to continue here and at City Hall.  If the city continues to pour money into arts groups and public events that they feel add to our quality of life, but who don’t have solid business plans and only hope to be successful on their own some day, we could repeat the fate of the San Jose Symphony.

To get back to Paul and Faith Davies and the McKenzie sisters, I’ll relate a story as told by Faith to my wife Naomi. The Davies wanted to entertain the sisters and invited them over for cocktails. Faith warned Paul that these were elderly ladies and to make their drinks very weak. Paul mixed the cocktails with a minimum of bourbon and served them. One sister barely touched her cocktail and Faith apologized, feeling that she had offended them by serving liquor. She offered to get the sisters a non-alcoholic drink to which one of the sisters replied, “Oh, please do—but this time put some whiskey in it.” Faith had not realized that the sisters were of Scottish heritage!

Supervisors Welcome the Challenge to Revitalize the Theater

In an attempt to put a positive spin on the County’s defeated music hall proposal, the supervisors lauded the city after a unanimous council vote effectively turned the management of the beleaguered San Jose Repertory Theater over to the county.

If the above title sounds like one of Juan Miro’s paintings, you get my drift. Surrealism became tangible in San Jose this week with multiple manifestations. At least the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors came to their senses and stopped the concert hall project for the fairgrounds. I guess they finally realized that Kevin Costner’s “if you build it, they will come” rationale to spend himself into bankruptcy in the movie wasn’t a good idea in (sur)real life. The intentions may have been good, but the pie-in-the-sky entertainment-center vision and financial plan were fatally flawed. The unfortunate results, had the concert venue gone ahead per the county’s plans, would have made the problems at the Rep Theater seem like a piece of cake by comparison.

It is said that in war, truth is the first casualty. I have often felt that it is the same in political campaigns—where the stakes are lower and the attention slimmer.  We will see how much this axiom holds true in the currently forming battle for mayor of San Jose.  The result will determine a lot: most everything about our evolution as a city and region, our national reputation, our ethics, and the wellbeing of future generations yet unborn.  Now, that is raising the stakes a trifle.

The news this weekend, that the San Jose Repertory Theatre is looking for a $1 million bailout, brings up a lot of issues for debate and questions that need to be answered.  Is the city constantly putting money into things that they don’t monitor?  Why the shock and surprise of the city council on the financial problems of the theatre, one of the premier performing companies in the country? Has there really not been any improvement in communications with and within City Hall? Norcal redux, anyone?

Down on the corner of Morse and Fremont lived Fred Reynolds. Fred was a railroad engineer for the South Pacific Coast Railroad that ran from the ferry slip at Alameda to San Jose, and continued on to Los Gatos, Wrights Station and Santa Cruz. Originally a narrow gauge railroad, it was later absorbed by the Southern Pacific Railroad. Fred Reynolds was the engineer one day when the train approached the empty ferry slip in Alameda. The brakes failed and he drove the engine into San Francisco Bay. Fortunately, no lives were lost. Fred also had a problem at his home at 603 Morse. He was driving his auto into the garage, something again failed and he drove right through the back wall. Knowledgeable neighbors gave Fred great leeway on the road.