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Show of Hands

The artist Christian Moeller has created numerous public-art pieces, including this installation in Pasadena

A few weeks ago, the San Jose City Council approved preliminary plans to build a huge mural at the airport. As reported by the Mercury News, a 76,000-square-foot mural, designed by German artist Christian Moeller, will be installed on one of the walls of the new rental car garage currently under construction at the airport. The project will cost $1.1 million, stand over 60 feet tall, and stretch as long as 1,200 feet!

Sell the Hayes Mansion

Last week the San Jose City Council discussed the Hayes Mansion, a historic 100-year-old south San Jose estate. The City of San Jose bought this property about 10 years ago. The story of “why” the City purchased the property is long…and depending on whom you ask, the reasoning can change. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, I will skip the reason why the City owns the 214-room hotel with two restaurants and twenty five conference rooms.

Much Ado About Zoso

After a recent trip to Chicago, San Jose City Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio warmly posed this question at the end of a blog entry: “What cities have you visited that you feel San Jose could learn from and/or adopt best practices from?”

Well, I’ll begin my answer to that question with, “San Francisco,” and mention an upcoming soirée that author and pal Erik Davis is hosting on Nov. 1 at Artists Television Access (ATA) in the Mission District. Davis will lecture and present an evening of obscure films exploring the influence of philosopher, poet and mountain climber Aleister Crowley on 20th/21st-century subcultures, including the music of Led Zeppelin.

Evite Wars

San Jose City Councilman Pete Constant isn’t happy with the Police Officers Association for trying to ruin his weekend barbecue. According to Constant, the POA, frustrated by the lack of a union contract, attempted to “pressure” the San Jose Police and Firefighters Retirees Association to back out of their commitment to barbecue at his District 1 event this past weekend.

Keep on Taxin’

City Raises Business License Fee

I received my business tax renewal notice from the San Jose City Finance Department the other day. It seems that the San Jose City Council “adopted” a new Business Tax Administrative Fee of $22, effective July 1, 2008. Small business owners and sole proprietors are now charged a minimum $172 for the privilege of doing business in San Jose. What is interesting about the increase is the explanation printed on the renewal notice. It reads:

Tips for the Mercury News

Last week, the San Jose City Council voted to demolish the old library building. Did you read about it in the paper? Neither did I. Where will the city move all of the city employees who work in the building? How much will it all cost? This is a story that should have received coverage.

Pay the Man

If the San Jose City Council think their pay sucks, they have only themselves to blame. They’ve been too afraid to give themselves a raise over the years—and who can blame them? It’s kind of awkward—not to mention usually unpopular—for public employees to give themselves a salary boost. That’s why the council wants to revamp the way things are done when it comes to council compensation

Certified Crazy

It wasn’t your average Election Day in Santa Clara County. For starters, voters elected a San Jose City Council member who wasn’t a candidate.

Promoter Ordinance Opposition Group May Change Downtown Vision

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.

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.