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Neighborhoods Send Message to High Speed Rail Authority: Put the Trains Underground

The following is the text of a letter that was hand delivered to California High Speed Rail Authority CEO Roelof van Ark following his Sept. 29, 2010 speech to the San Jose Rotary Club by San Jose Downtown Association Executive Director Scott Knies. In an unprecedented show of unity, the letter was signed by leaders of 10 central San Jose neighborhood associations and the heads of the city’s two leading business associations.

Neighborhood and business groups in central San Jose urge the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to include an underground option for San Jose in the project’s Environment Impact Report.

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SJPD Policy on Immigration Law Enforcement

On Sept. 2, the San Jose Police Department issued a press release that explained the department’s policy on enforcing immigration laws. “Much discussion is taking place across the country concerning what responsibility local police departments have to ensure compliance with immigration laws,” it reads. “While the San Jose Police Department stands ready to work with any law enforcement agency to pursue violent suspects, regardless of a suspect’s immigration status, the Department has a longstanding policy of not arresting persons based solely upon their failure to comply with Federal immigration laws.

Reed Endorses Pegram

Mayor Chuck Reed officially endorsed District 9 candidate Larry Pegram today. “Larry does not shy away from standing up for the residents of the district over special interests,” Reed is quoted as saying in a campaign press release that came out this morning. “I need his help at City Hall in the difficult budget years ahead.”

In the endorsement, Reed made a point to mention that he believes Pegram’s history as Christian conservative leader and head of the Values Advocacy Council would not be a factor if he is elected to San Jose City Hall.

Democrats for Wasserman

On the morning of July 8, County Assessor Larry Stone met District 1 Supervisor candidate Mike Wasserman at Bill’s Café on the Alameda. By the end of breakfast, Stone, a lifelong Democrat, offered Republican Wasserman his endorsement in the upcoming November election.

“I knew going into the meeting that if in fact our values were comparable that I was prepared to endorse him,” Stone says. “I called Forrest [Williams]. I guess I wanted him to hear my decision, not find out from the press. It was a very short but cordial conversation.”

Pot Clubs Tap a Vein to Help Red Cross

The American Red Cross and Harborside Health Center of San Jose are teaming up for the first ever pot club blood drive. Next Tuesday, June 15, Harborside will host a blood donation event at its 2106 Ringwood Ave. location from noon to 6pm.

Naveen Aggarwal, the community outreach coordinator for Harborside San Jose, says that this event marks the first time ever that the Red Cross has partnered with a medical cannabis collective.

“This is completely the first time,” Aggarwal says. “I’ve heard of it attempted in L.A. a while ago. But that didn’t have much success as far as having a lot of donors, and this is definitely the first thing of its kind with the involvement of Red Cross.”

Forgetting Saigon

Madison Nguyen’s election-night party wasn’t exactly hard to find. Blue-and-white “Re-elect Madison Nguyen” fliers appeared with increasing regularity as Metro neared M Cafe on Burdette Drive in San Jose, a hip Asian joint that serves coffee while showing sports on TVs.

Apparently, the Nguyen campaign had more posters and fliers than it knew what to do with, because the inside of the large room was stuffed with banners and campaign materials.

Support Our Mayor

It is the City of San Jose’s process that City Manager Debra Figone puts forth a budget proposal in May. Then, after that is released, councilmembers make their budget proposals to Mayor Chuck Reed.

When the Councilmembers make written suggestions of their “budget wants,” they also need to include what funding source within the city will be affected (some written suggestions from councilmembers are done in collaboration with labor unions).

Then, the Mayor takes into consideration the City Manager’s budget proposal and the Councilmember’s suggestions, and comes up with a final budget. 

Of course, a mayor could put together their own budget without this input, but it is customary that the mayor takes other perspectives into consideration. 

Rep. Zoe Lofgren Endorses Jeff Rosen

In a rare move, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren announced this morning that she is throwing her support to Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rosen in his bid to defeat sitting DA Dolores Carr. “It’s true, I don’t get involved in local races very often,” she said after making a statement in front of the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice.

Onetime District 8 Candidate Minh Duong Vies For Dist. 7 Seat

Minh Duong, a 31-year-old furniture store owner vying to oust City Councilmember Madison Nguyen from her seat representing District 7, got a huge boost last month when the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce gave him its endorsement.

Duong says that winning the ChamberPAC’s support was a huge shock, even to him. Before this election season, the ChamberPAC consistently supported Nguyen, even backing her in her 2009 recall campaign.

Budgeting Parks in Difficult Times

While we slash services like park maintenance, the City has millions of dollars in park fees, sitting in reserves.  Under state law, we charge developers fees to enable us to build parks, pools and community centers whenever they build a new housing project. For over a decade, we have been building community-serving amenities that we cannot pay to maintain or operate. It would be irresponsible to continue on this course.

Lew Wolff Unveils Earthquakes Soccer Stadium Plans

San Jose Earthquakes owner Lew Wolff was the keynote speaker at the Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SSVCF) annual dinner at the Fairmont Hotel Saturday night. At a highly anticipated event, Wolff showed a 10-minute video presentation that included architectural designs of what the proposed soccer stadium across Coleman Avenue from the Mineta San Jose International Airport will look like, once corporate sponsorships are finally secured. SSVCF is a not a booster club—they are not technically affiliated with the Earthquakes.

Politics in the Age of the iPod

I was recently downloading classic songs on my iTunes from the late ‘70s, two of which were Bob Welch’s “Ebony Eyes,” and Player’s “Baby Come Back.” iTunes is great because I can choose the specific songs I like rather than having to purchase the entire album. While downloading my songs, I was thinking about how we choose our politicians. Unfortunately, we don’t get to pick politicians the way we do music, although I bet most of us would like to. It would be great to choose the top characteristics of the best candidates in a race and then take those skill sets and create our own politician.

Elections Commission Looks at Instant Runoffs

The San Jose Elections Commission is considering changing the way citizen’s vote for city officials in an effort to save both money and time. At its June 10 meeting, the commission is set to discuss the possibility of San Jose becoming the most populous jurisdiction in the United States to implement Instant-Runoff Voting when casting ballots for city office holders

IPA: He Said / She Said

More on the appointment / resignation of police auditor Chris Constantin. According to the Mercury News, “Campos and Councilman Ash were not informed of the potential conflict.”  “‘He never disclosed to me and to other council members before we took the vote,’ Campos said.”