San Jose Inside

City Hall Diary

Last Tuesday, the city council had two agenda items to vote on that would allow for applicants to sell alcohol: one for a Whole Foods grocery store and the other for a gas station.

Marking Will Raise Awareness and Legitimize Worldwide Concern

Following the dubious and controversial path set by fashion designer Mark Ecko when he purchased Barry Bonds’s home run baseball, conducted an online public poll, and ultimately branded the Cooperstown-bound ball with an asterisk, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has bowed to public pressure and decided to place an asterisk on the Olympic torch.

City Hall Diary

The end of March marked my first anniversary as an elected official. As I reflect on my first year in public office, I am amazed at all the different topics I have been involved in as a councilmember. I am pleased that employees who work at companies like Cisco and Adobe are now allowed to volunteer in our parks and that the Rose Garden was adopted by volunteers. I am ecstatic that Coyote Valley has been shelved—for now. I am feeling positive about the evolution of residential towers downtown and saving our city money on technology.  The council is making progress with balancing the budget and I enjoyed being part of the efforts of updating the traffic calming policy.

A month ago I drafted a memo that would expand the city’s ordinance to allow Community Benefit Improvement Districts (CBID). This is not an original idea, nor is it cutting edge. In fact, it’s embarrassing that the City of San Jose didn’t jump on this opportunity sooner.

The council meeting last Tuesday evening lasted until almost midnight. The council discussed and voted on the Mayor’s Budget Message, San Jose Medical Center and Mexican Heritage Plaza. I was happy to see the budget discussed at night so more people were able to attend.

Bernanke says $2 billion not a “bailout”

Hoping to avoid a systematic meltdown in cultural institutions in San Jose, the Federal Reserve on Sunday approved a $2 billion credit line for the beleaguered Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke vowed that the money was not a bailout but a “friendly loan” that he fully expects the cultural institution to pay back once the venue is running in the black.

The protestors have left for the time being and quiet has returned to the plaza of the smoking fountains at San Jose City Hall. How long the peace will last is an open question. It is far too early to discern the answer. But one thing is clear: the primary heroes in the enterprise are evident to all. First and foremost is Sam Liccardo, the District 3 council member who seized the reins and achieved a resolution, snatching stalemate from the jaws of defeat. Then there is Mayor Chuck Reed, who dug the cement out from around the feet of many in City Hall and gave his approval to the agreement that ended the hunger strike of the redoubtable Ly Tong. Vice Mayor Dave Cortese is one who clearly knew that ending this protest, for whatever reason, was the correct course.

As I have watched the controversy over the naming of the Story Road business district unfold over the past few months, it has brought up many interesting issues about cultural sensitivities, political correctness, memories and what names can mean and represent. At first, as I watched this firestorm brew, it reminded me of the Fallon statue and the controversy that erupted over a symbol of what some called American imperialism and others called a piece of history. But in this case, it is a name that has lit a fire under many Vietnamese residents—so much so that I can’t remember any other issue in our city that has been this heated for a long time.

Controversial Land to Become Terrorist Training Camps

Continuing their fire sale of San Jose properties, Divco West, the real estate investment and asset management company that made millions in San Jose on a scorched earth and people policy, sold their large and controversial land holdings in Coyote Valley to a branch of the Islamic Liberation Front (ILF) for an undisclosed sum.

San Jose does not have to be like every other place. We are unique and we are blessed. The corruption and sleaziness of politics in the national, state, and other cities’ elections does not have to be tolerated here.

This was brought to mind by the recent arrest of a former young intern who worked for a councilman and a defeated candidate for mayor, and the heavy suspicions that he was encouraged, instructed, and/or “bribed” by certain people to engage in the type of political espionage that makes most citizens hate politics and despise politicians. It does not have to be this way in San Jose.

Under the city charter, the city auditor has independent authority to carry out examination of finances, documents and operations of any city department, other than the office of any elected official (too bad about that exception). A well run and honest city auditor’s department, as we have in San Jose, is the citizens’ best guard against corruption and financial malfeasance as well as overspending and misspending of public money by civil servants. To be effective, the auditor must remain separate from political control and be able to “strike at will,” something that is recognized in the mandate of the city charter.

City Hall Diary

This week at council we discussed the upcoming 2008-2009 budget process. 
 
The budget for San Jose is a year-round process tracking the revenue that comes into the city, like sales tax and construction and conveyance tax (C and C), and expenditures that come from the General Fund (non-restricted money), or capital expenditures (restricted money) like building new libraries.