San Jose Inside

In the last election there were 153 congressional and legislative districts on the ballot. The results were 153-0 in favor of the incumbent Democrat or Republican. This was certainly not the system that our founders had in mind. As John McCain has said, “You have more of a chance of being replaced in the Politburo in Havana than the United States Congress.”

By Guest Blogger Rich Robinson

Why do local politicians run for office?  It is a thankless job.  Mediocre pay, high stress, long hours and a seemingly ungrateful constituency combine to make a job at NorCal picking-up garbage seem uncommonly pleasant.

OK, I am sorry!  I take it all back!  What did I mean when I said that downtown has cool places to go and no one to go there?  After the Sharks game on Saturday night, some friends and I decided to go out downtown for some drinks.  One friend said he wanted a place where we could sit down, talk and have a cocktail - not a place with loud music and shouting.  (I swear, he’s not 80).  So we decided to head to The Loft, a new, hip restaurant/bar on Second Street.  But as they say, getting there is half the adventure.  I have never seen more cars on Santa Clara Street in my life.  It was a parking lot. But the question that kept reverberating in my head was “Where are these people going?”

Art, Antiques, and Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Found in Break Room

Just days after councilwoman Nora Campos’ chief of staff turned herself in to authorities in connection with the disappearance of a briefcase, FBI agents made a routine inspection of all city hall offices and found several million dollars worth of stolen booty.

With the San Jose Sharks opening their home schedule this week, downtown is alive at night again. Not to imply that it’s been dead for the last year while the NHL shut down, but let’s be serious there’s nothing quite like the buzz that a Sharks home game generates.

Most of the time we can forget the madcap antics of our legislature in Sacramento and just do our work, live our lives, and take care of our families.  Yet it is imperative that we always remember the importance of the actions that they take in our Capitol; once in a while they are absolutely devastating in the damage that they do to us.  Such is the case in their recent actions regarding sex offenders in our midst.

After serving as Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, Leon Panetta taught a course at Santa Clara University, his alma mater, about the White House.  In early 1999, I met with Panetta to get his advice on how to organize an executive level political operation since I was running a mayor’s office.  He told me something I never quite fully understood then:  he never used e-mail.

So I decided that instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself,  maybe I should come up with ideas for San Jose to make it better.  It seems that it doesn’t matter if you are living in a married or single hell-of-your-own-making, we all generally want the same thing: a cool, hip city that gives us plenty to do and to be proud of. And let’s face it, just thinking about a cool idea would give me a leg up on most people at City Hall.

Move Seen as First Step in Winning Back City Hall

Following the successful city council vote in Oakland limiting the amount of dogs allowed in a household, the San Jose City Council sent a strong signal on Tuesday night when they voted unanimously to limit the number of elected officials that individual lobbyists could own.

According to the Fly in Metro, things sometimes aren’t so great either downtown or at Santana Row.  Some downtown club owners feel like they’re the victims of over-zealous enforcement by police.  And Santana Row seems to have been a poor choice for the Italian Family Festa.

Once again our neighbor to the north has an intriguing proposal by the mayor of San Francisco. Stealing a march on San Jose, the true epicenter of innovation, Gavin Newsom has positioned this new program as a way to offer universal and affordable broadband Internet access to the city’s residents and businesses.  Google has responded in a big way, promising free wireless Internet service. The Mountain View company has a pile of cash and is thirsting to make a big impact.  This is important because it is unique and ground breaking.

Observant San Jose Inside readers, of which there are legions, will have noticed that we link to a variety of other websites. (link)  For those of you who haven’t observed this, do not be ashamed.  Not even our duly elected leaders catch all the details all the time, like the fine print in garbage contracts or signs at press conferences.

Ok, well, yes, dammit!  I am single.  I am SINGLE.  It’s bad enough that I have to answer the question of “how is your love life?”  500 times at family functions.  Or that I always give the same answer, “Non-existent, thank you.”  I don’t tell you this so you can feel sorry for me, but I tell you this because I hope that I can bring you a little bit closer to the sheer hell that is being a single gal in the city, in our city.

Move Necessary to Offset Spike in Gas Prices Decimating City Budget

One of the lesser casualties of hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been the spike in fuel prices that have decimated municipal budgets due to city supplied cars and gas allowances, prompting the federal government to move in and implement President Bush’s plan for oil exploration in the Alviso Slough.

That’s what we’re all hoping to be able to do, but it looks like we won’t get the chance.  Barry Witt has a story in the Mercury News about the fate of the documents.