The patio of San Jose’s Mezcal restaurant was chock full of local public officials and other political celebs last Friday evening for Sam Liccardo’s 40th birthday bash/campaign kick-off party. US Rep. Zoe Lofgren, recently named as a possible candidate to replace Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, made a surprise appearance—no word as to whether she ate any of the restaurant’s famous fried grasshoppers.
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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Last Wednesday night, the Public Safety committee held a special meeting regarding our police officers. The city manager began by sharing the amount of effort and outreach that has transpired the last few months with city initiatives with regards to our police department.
For the last two years, certain individuals have been lambasting our police force with charges of racial profiling and excessive force. Our police force has more than 400,000 engagements a year with San Jose residents and 99.8 percent of those have no complaints
Chamber Endorses Carrasco for District 5
The San Jose Silicon Valley ChamberPAC has just announced they are endorsing Magdalena Carrasco for the District 5 city council seat.
“In this time of economic uncertainty, San Jose needs independent, common sense leaders like Magdalena Carrasco at City Hall,” said incoming ChamberPAC chairperson Joshua Howard in a statement. “Her commitment to neighborhood business and job creation will be a welcome addition to the council.”
A relative outsider to the local political scene, Carrasco beat out other East Side candidates Xavier Campos, Aaron Resendez and J. Manuel Herrera for the chamber’s backing.
Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell Named IPA
After the ousting of Barbara Attard two years ago, a false-start with City Auditor Chris Constantin and a prolonged “interim” period with Shivaun Nurre, the city of San Jose finally has a new independent police auditor—LaDoris Cordell, a retired Santa Clara County superior court judge and former Palo Alto city councilmember. UPDATED 7pm.
A Dollar Borrowed is a Dollar Earned
Last week, I attended budget meetings in council districts 9 and 10 as well as the labor unions’ budget meeting at the Tully library. The people that attended this meeting were mostly union members and city council staff. It was admitted at the meeting that significant layoffs were inevitable since the deficit is enormous.
Ideas were presented on what money-saving measures could be implemented and what new sources of revenue could be found to balance the $118 million budget gap. Ideas ranged from replacing natural lawns in parks with artificial turf (lower ongoing maintenance costs, but more costly upfront) to turning down the air conditioning at city hall during the summer.
Accounting Error Responsible for Deficit
City Manager Debra Figone held a press conference late last night to announce that the San Jose budget deficit, long estimated at $116 million, is the result of an accounting error and a misplaced decimal point. The real deficit is one order of magnitude smaller—just $11.6 million. Figone attributed to the error to the furloughs imposed on city employees: “With fewer employees and less time, no one has gone over the figures until now. It really does make a difference where you put the decimal point in your Excel spreadsheet.”
Reed Agrees to Back Pot Club Ordinance
Mayor Chuck Reed had originally wanted to wait until November to consider a proposal to regulate medicinal cannabis collectives. Before yesterday’s vote, Reed said he wanted to see if voters would approve a state initiative that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. But after the proposal’s author, Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, agreed to include some flexibility on zoning, taxes and the timing of the final City Council vote on the matter, Reed agreed to support it.
Start-Up Education
I am so proud to be a resident of San Jose. With all the draconian budget cuts, layoffs in government and education it is easy to be depressed. Yet, San Jose is a shining example of a city that can still think strategically in down times while inspiring hope for a better future for all. This municipal strength is thanks in large measure to the organizing skills of People Acting In Community Together.
Here Come the Cuts
The City Manager will release the list of proposed cuts to balance the city budget today (March 29). These cuts are based on no concessions from any of the labor unions nor savings gained through outsourcing of janitorial services (among others) to save money.
Money saved from outsourcing could help pay for library hours or the aquatics program, for example. The question of concessions has been out there for months and could be included in the budget. Agreement would need to be reached in early April since layoff notices would start going out April 19. If concessions are made then some of these cuts could be avoided but in lieu of an agreement in hand here are some of the proposed/likely cuts.
Carrasco Ahead in District 5 Fundraising
In a surprising turn of events, newbie San Jose District 5 candidate Magdalena Carrasco has proven herself a contender by pulling impressive fundraising numbers since February.
Carrasco reported yesterday that she’s raised $20,647 thus far in the race, $3,925 more this quarter than her closest competitor for Nora Campos’ soon-to-be vacant seat on city council.
3%—100%? 250%!
City Hall DiaryMonday: No Impact Man Film at City Hall
Nearly 300 San Jose residents attended to watch this documentary, which portrays a family that adopts environmentally friendly choices over the course of a year. For example, they bike instead of driving, buy only locally produced food and give up their television. The main point of the evening was that we do not have to wait for government to mandate behaviors that help the environment but that collectively we as residents can choose to compost, use less electricity, bike vs. drive today, etc..
Is Reed Challenging Unions?
Mayor Chuck Reed had some grim news for City Council yesterday. “Although this is the ninth year we’ve faced a significant budget shortfall, this year is by far the worst.” He went on to warn that the city’s expenses are expected to exceed its revenues for many years to come. The only solution, he suggested, is to cut services to community centers and libraries, and to reduce pay and/or benefits to municipal employees.
Karaoke King of D9
Former councilman-turned-evangelical Larry Pegram is getting a lot of attention in the District 9 council race, while the candidacy of Robert Cortese, the second cousin of County Supervisor Dave Cortese, has not been getting much press. Which is somewhat surprising, since the 37-year-old Cortese is a nationwide star on the U.S. karaoke circuit.
What Would Cesar Chavez Do?
Below are a few observations from last week.
Monday: Council study session on Airport
Overwhelming majority of Council thought outsourcing of janitorial to save $3 million was a bad idea so it looks like we will lay people off and consider getting rid of the night time curfew in the future.
Monday Night: General Plan 2040 Task Force Meeting
Although the General Plan board members were informed that the City’s budget problems are partially due to most of our land being dedicated to housing instead of jobs, the Task Force voted in favor of adding 300,000 people with a 14-11 vote. The two options were 200,000 or 300,000 new residents. Several task force members shared that they voted no because they wanted to see higher growth of 500,000 more residents to San Jose! I voted for the option that added 200,000 people by 2040.
Report Set to Clear SJPD
A sea of blue surged around the Fairmont Hotel last week as the California Police Chiefs’ Association gathered for its annual training symposium. The keynote was a talk on racially-biased policing from Dr. Phil Goff, lead researcher on the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity (CPLE), the very same expert brought in by the city council last year to see if San Jose police are, in fact, engaged in racially-biased policing).
Keep the Airport Curfew
This afternoon at 1:30 the Council will gather for a special meeting to discuss the City’s airport. The expansion was voted favorably by the council in 1997 with then-Councilmember David Pandori casting the only vote against. The airport, with the hands artwork that is visible driving on Highway 87, was approved in 2005. Through the selling of bonds (borrowing) the city of San Jose has spent $1.3 billion on the renovation.
