On June 3, the San Jose City Council passed the controversial promoter ordinance that will regulate downtown nightlife by imposing fees and mandatory permits on event promoters and organizers. I don’t want to put too much on it, but the day after the ordinance passed, it was like someone had shot live entertainment in the head.
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Forrest Williams Condemns Former Pastor’s Remarks
Says He Has Looked To Rev. Jeremiah Wright For Political Advice, Not Statistical Guidance
San Jose City Councilman Forrest Williams on Wednesday denounced inflammatory remarks from his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who has railed against San Jose for being unsafe and not-large, and accused its leaders of supporting sprawl.
The Thicket of It
Quietly absorbing the short end of the Little Saigon stick are the Vietnamese-American candidates who are running for a seat on the San Jose City Council in the June 3 primary. Things got even stickier for them as the Vietnamese community last week officially launched their campaign to recall Councilmember Madison Nguyen.
Look at Me, I’m Singing!
Maybe what San Jose needs is a feel-good theme song to help put the city on the map. That’s what San Jose City Councilman Forrest Williams thinks, anyway. At last week’s council discussion, where the group was considering ways to promote the city’s best features to help draw business and visitors, Williams suggested the city write a song that will make San Jose well known across the globe, and even said he would consider taking it to the arts commission as a proposal.
SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!
San Jose’s Code of Conduct and the Constitution
Attached to every San Jose City Council agenda is a “Code of Conduct” for public meetings. The council wants to foster an atmosphere of “fairness, courtesy, and respect for differing points of view.” But are these suggestions/requirements Constitutional?
The New Plan for the Mexican Heritage Plaza
Tuesday the San Jose City Council voted 10-1 to approve the plan put forward by Mayor Reed and Councilmember Campos to rebuild and sustain the operation of the Mexican Heritage Plaza. As we stated in a recent e-mail to our Plaza friends, this decision is the right one and has been nearly ten years in the making. In that time, many different groups, committees, and policy makers have struggled to solve the structural and financial challenges inherent in operating the Plaza safely, making it available to meet the community’s needs and programming it with critically and popularly successful artistic and cultural events. Since the facility opened:
Profiles in Courage and Cowardice
Just about the only thing that the San Jose City Council assured on Tuesday is that they will have to deal with the Little Saigon issue again. The next time they vote on the matter, though, there will at least be a community consensus. Yeah, right. Dealing with the most thankless, no-win issue ever to come before this city council tested the character and political skills of each elected member, and it was good political theater to boot.
Saving Money and Keeping Promises
City Hall Diary
Last week the San Jose City Council discussed the issue of co-payments for retired city workers and their dependents. The recommendation from the city manager was to defer adding co-payments for one year to allow more time for this issue to be researched. Whatever the outcome, the decision will affect 3,000 retired city employees, including dependents, and the city budget.
Single Gal and New Year’s Resolutions
As I am making my own resolutions to lose weight, hit the gym more often and eat less carbs, I think that the San Jose City Council should make a few resolutions of their own in 2008. Here are some ways they could really improve our city this year.
Walgreens to Manage New Downtown Parking Program
Confusing Rules to be Sorted by Retailer’s Scanning Technology
Despite a high, six-figure settlement relating to allegations that its cash register scanning technology was overcharging customers, the San Jose City Council has decided to move forward with a multi-year contract for the Walgreens drugstore chain to manage its new downtown parking fee structure.
Lost Opportunities in Height
City Hall Diary
The San Jose City Council received a North San Jose Task Force update last week. North San Jose is a grand opportunity for the city. The prospects are endless: industrial land which adds revenue to the city budget, residential properties to allow people to live close to where they work and an abundance of land which can be used for open space and parks.
Ass-Mounted Officers to Replace Popular Horse Unit
Budget Cuts Force Donkey Patrol in Downtown
Faced with the grim task of choosing between fiscal responsibility and horses, the San Jose City Council, rather than suspend the police department’s popular horse-mounted unit, made the tough decision to retire the horses and substitute them with more financially efficient donkeys.
Reed’s Halo Effect
I had hoped it would happen and it did last night. After a dark decade of flawed land-use decisions and “pay to play” mentality at City Hall, Mayor Chuck Reed, aided by two or three thinking council members, got the San Jose City Council to finally jettison the shortsighted and ruinous policy of converting our job-rich tax base lands to housing. Perhaps, just perhaps, the rump members of the “old” discredited group of Gonzales holdovers will get the “halo” effect of sound planning and begin to live up to their fiduciary responsibilities to the people of San Jose. But, as was once said of second marriages, I am, perhaps, letting hope triumph over experience. There is much left to do.
Volunteers Come Out Smelling Like Roses
City Hall Diary
At the evening meeting last Tuesday night (Sept. 25), the San Jose City Council discussed prevailing wage and volunteers and how this relates to city jobs for parks.
I am sure most of you have volunteered your time at some point, whether in your children’s school, as a coach or to pick up trash, etc. Most of you did so because it made you feel good to do something that benefits something larger than yourself.
The $478,600 Coin Toss
When Kansen Chu left the Berryessa school board in June to take up his new position as the new San Jose City Council member for District 6, the school board went through a perfectly reasonable and open process to fill the vacancy. A list of 17 candidates was whittled down to five semifinalists and finally down to two very qualified people, Alkesh Desai and David Neighbors, that were considered by the four sitting members of the board. When the vote split two for each, rather than opting for a very expensive by-election to fill the spot which is up for regular election next year in November anyway, the board rightly agreed to abide by a coin toss to decide the winner—a completely legal and common method of settling the matter. The coin toss favored Desai who was considered duly elected and installed as the fifth member of the board. The board and Mr. Neighbors accepted the outcome, and there were no complaints from the public. Case closed? Not quite.
South Bay Gets Its Fourth Professional Sports Franchise
49ers to Santa Clara, A’s to Fremont, Warriors to Mexican Heritage Plaza
In a very complicated deal consummated late Thursday night, the San Jose City Council has decided that the best use for the beleaguered Mexican Heritage Plaza is to turn it into a sporting facility designed and equipped to house last year’s NBA Cinderella team, the Golden State Warriors.
