San Jose Inside

Nine Events that Changed San Jose and Environs

From “the day the mayor killed the music” to the banning of parrots at art and wine festivals… read the list of events that changed the city.

There are many things that must be done to change the ethical culture in City Hall.  The mayor alone cannot make the changes necessary.  It will take a collaborative effort between the mayor, the council and the professional staff. 

I think we have to be concerned when the only major grocery store in the downtown core closes. Albertson’s is now gone.  It comes hot on the heels of the closing of San Jose Hospital. The proper question is: what is going on?

Friday night ended up being “Girls Night Out,” so we decided to go grab dinner and drinks in Santana Row for a change.  And, I gotta say, it’s always a big change.  Every time I visit Santana Row I wonder: what is it about this suburban mini-mall that has the secret formula that downtown cannot figure out?

In more than two hundred years of San Jose’s history, who changed the city the most?  Actually there were two politicians, each of whom had a profound effect and each of whom I have been privileged to call friend.  One increased the population from a small town of 95,000 people and an area of 17 square miles to a metropolis of over 500,000 people and a city sprawled over 137 square miles.

Gonzales Vows to Get Rid of Unnecessary Cops

After much criticism from the Mercury News over his unusual number and frequency of security detail for political and business trips, Mayor Gonzales has pledged to cut back on his taxpayer supported “posse” by hiring a single bodyguard—Kevin Costner.

Have your say…

Even though I am in Boston trying to concentrate on watching Joe Thornton (briefly) and the Sharks make a triumphant return to Beantown,  the council’s recent comments on the censure of the mayor were quite incredible and his action to remove “himself” even more bizarre. The council members seem not to understand the gravity of the issue by the tone of their comments, or in some of their cases, non-comments; Mr. Gonzales does.

Saturday night I was reminded of one of the great things about San Jose, a good ole Irish pub with the catchphrase slogan of “You’re But a Stranger Here Once,” O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub in San Pedro Square.  It is what I call my favorite “local” bar. It is great for many reasons, including the comfy environment, friendly bartenders and authentic feel, but mainly because it stands in direct contrast to the places that have gone terribly wrong in downtown San Jose. 

I want to tell you a different side of the story about one of San Jose’s most interesting characters, Sarah Winchester.

“This guy is the King Kong of lobbyists,” says Jerry Strangis

After several months of negotiations, San Jose lobbyist Jerry Strangis of Strangis Properties has pledged his influence and power, as well as his access and client list, to recently convicted super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff in order to form San Jose’s first lobbying “superfirm.”

Like the city planning document in “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe” that was kept in a locked basement and guarded by a leopard, some monuments in San Jose are hard to get at—or find. Within a half-mile radius of Plaza de Cesar E. Chavez Park is a giant bronze rendition of Tony Ridder’s running shoes, a statue of William McKinley, a memorial forum honoring Robert F. Kennedy, the actual cornerstone of the 1887 San Jose City Hall, and a Brobdingnagian statue of Thomas Fallon and the horse he rode in on.

As many know, the number one spectator sport in America is not a sport at all—it’s politics.  The year ahead should prove most interesting for such aficionados. There has been so much focus on Ron Gonzales that it is time to take a break and comment on the general, instead of any specific problems in this area; the others are now with the grand jury, the DA, and the most important court of all, the court of public opinion.

I celebrated the New Year with a wedding.  No, I didn’t fly off to Vegas on a whim, or watch “Wedding Story” on the TLC network. But I attended the wedding of a good friend to ring in 2006.

This is a week-long year-end discussion.
Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher/ emperor, said late in life that
no matter how old he got, the people that he greeted along the Appian
Way always remained the same, about twenty-five and seemly.  Well,
unlike his subjects, we all “do” change, and at Christmas and the dawn
of new year, we all have hopes and dreams for ourselves and our City. 
Let’s share our best Christmas memories and thoughts for San Jose.