San Jose Inside

By Guest Blogger Carl Guardino

Humility is not a word often associated with Silicon Valley.

But it is a vital word to add to our vocabulary, if we are to revitalize our region.

Councilman Wanders Aimlessly Around City Hall Plaza Encouraging Visitors to Kick His Ass

In a rare show of solidarity, and just moments after a heated debate over the mayor’s official grand jury response regarding Garbagegate, the council voted overwhelmingly to place a “Kick Me” sign on Councilman Forrest Williams for his refusal to abandon the Titanic of local government that is Mayor Gonzales’ administration.

San Jose history.  That’s what we had on Tuesday, as Madison Nguyen became the first Vietnamese-American to win an election for San Jose City Council.  Rodney Foo and Truong Phuoc Khánh write up the victory and what went on in the race that pitted two Vietnamese-American women against each other for the Distrct 7 seat vacated by Terry Gregory’s resignation earlier this year.

The actions of the City Council are moving from mysterious to indecipherable.  A majority refused to send the Ron Gonzales-backed response on the garbage scandal to the Grand Jury; they opted to wait.  This is, of course, the Council who according to the Grand Jury report of early summer was “duped” by Gonzales while he made a side agreement with Norcal, the garbage service provider.  Cindy Chavez, Judy Chirco and Nancy Pyle joined the early critics Dave Cortese, Chuck Reed and Linda Lezotte in refusing to rubber stamp the document authored by Gonzales with the city’s Manager and Attorney. Also, the ethically tardy Ken Yeager has refused to sign on to the report while telling confidants that he is fearful of the Gonzales’ reaction to his late blossoming of concern on this issue.  Of such stuff is San Jose’s “Profiles in Courage” made.

Mayors can’t hide, especially when there’s a crisis.  New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin may not emerge from Katrina’s wake on a first name basis with America, ala Rudy.  But he did the best with what he had – mostly his mouth.

By Guest Blogger Chuck Reed

The official City response to the Grand Jury Report on the Norcal garbage contract needs a lot of work before the Council approves it.  The initial draft is too long on denial and too short on facts.

Residents Immediately Lose Driving Privileges

During his visit to San Jose on Wednesday, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, in his speech to the Commonwealth Club, dropped a bomb on the residents of San Jose by not only telling them they would never get their own baseball team, but that they were also living illegally in San Jose.

DeCinzo has a good cartoon this week.

This week’s quote was a bit unusual in that it comes from the redoubtable Scarlett O’Hara, but how else to emphasize the incredible stupidity of the former Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency, Susan Schick? I remember how several members of the Rotary Club suggested that I was too tough on her when I criticized her plan in 2001 to seize over fifty pieces of private property, our citizens’ “land,”  in an astonishing, wrong-headed and aggressive plan invoking eminent domain in San Jose.

Mark Baldasarre of the Public Policy Institute of California has written a thoughtful report about California’s future. (link)  He raises lots of questions about our challenges.  But he also puts answers on the table – some controversial.

For the Labor Day holiday, we’re taking a break from posting.  Enjoy the holiday and we’ll resume our regular schedule tomorrow.

Breadth of Experience Tips Scales to Despot

Immediately following the controversial appointment of City Manager Del Borgsdorf as Chairman of the Board of United Way Silicon Valley, the Board made what headhunters are calling a “coup” by hiring former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, as president.

The big news of the day, as reported by Deborah Lohse and Barry Witt in this morning’s Mercury News, is that Carl Mosher has resigned as the city’s envronmental services director to take a job with the County of Sacramento.  His new boss asked the reporters “Should I know about that?” when asked about the Norcal investigation.

I have a modest suggestion for our city manager.  (No, not that one. That one should come from his bosses on the San Jose City Council.)  This one is genuinely intended to help rectify some of the immediate problems at City Hall. It is comprised of four words: concentrate on your job.

I’m the proud father of a fourth grader and first grader.  Yesterday, I took both of them to school.  As they are just beginning their educational journey, I think it appropriate that I share the things I’ve learned about the importance of a good education.  It might be helpful to San Jose Inside readers, too.