San Jose Inside

Gonzales Vows to Get Rid of Unnecessary Cops

After much criticism from the Mercury News over his unusual number and frequency of security detail for political and business trips, Mayor Gonzales has pledged to cut back on his taxpayer supported “posse” by hiring a single bodyguard—Kevin Costner.

Even though I am in Boston trying to concentrate on watching Joe Thornton (briefly) and the Sharks make a triumphant return to Beantown,  the council’s recent comments on the censure of the mayor were quite incredible and his action to remove “himself” even more bizarre. The council members seem not to understand the gravity of the issue by the tone of their comments, or in some of their cases, non-comments; Mr. Gonzales does.

As many know, the number one spectator sport in America is not a sport at all—it’s politics.  The year ahead should prove most interesting for such aficionados. There has been so much focus on Ron Gonzales that it is time to take a break and comment on the general, instead of any specific problems in this area; the others are now with the grand jury, the DA, and the most important court of all, the court of public opinion.

They just fired “Archibald Cox.”

I thought that headline would never be seen anywhere again, let alone in San Jose.  It happened yesterday when Chris Scott Graham was “fired.” The independent investigator was basically told that it was time to move on from the Norcal scandal and the crises in confidence with the mayor.  Healing was the mantra of a solid majority of the council.

The report of the Special Investigator is now complete for its initial phase.  It is very, very damning in its conclusions regarding Mayor Ron Gonzales and others. The Grand Jury and our own worse fears have been confirmed.  Our Council is now faced with another moment of truth.  I do not know what the majority of this group will do. It is a time for sober reflection and candor; it is a time for courage and leadership.  Silence will not do at such a critical time in our city’s history.  We are providing a link to the editorial in today’s San Jose Mercury News.  Please read and comment…Ultimately, the citizens of San Jose will be heard on this issue.  Their judgment is the most important.

I really wanted to leave this nightclub and crime issue and turn to some other topics this week. Yet, quite easily, they pull me back into the fray.

First there is a thoughtful blog by David Hickey on the bad old days of prostitutes, crime and drugs on every corner in the Sofa area of downtown (before it had that name) in the late seventies. It was a very bad scene.

Sometimes you get a moment of clarifying light in a public meeting. It is rare but not impossible. Such was the case in last week’s meeting between Police Chief Rob Davis and many residents and business owners.  There were three council members present: Cindy Chavez, Dave Cortese, and Chuck Reed.

The presence of police downtown is becoming more and more of an issue after the recent shootings.  Most people who live or work in central San Jose consider the presence of police officers in their neighborhoods to be an unmitigated positive. They are disciplined, courteous, respectful, and a deterrent to unpleasant occurrences—all in all, something that law-abiding citizens desire.

This week’s quote was a bit unusual in that it comes from the redoubtable Scarlett O’Hara, but how else to emphasize the incredible stupidity of the former Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency, Susan Schick? I remember how several members of the Rotary Club suggested that I was too tough on her when I criticized her plan in 2001 to seize over fifty pieces of private property, our citizens’ “land,”  in an astonishing, wrong-headed and aggressive plan invoking eminent domain in San Jose.

I’m the proud father of a fourth grader and first grader.  Yesterday, I took both of them to school.  As they are just beginning their educational journey, I think it appropriate that I share the things I’ve learned about the importance of a good education.  It might be helpful to San Jose Inside readers, too.

As I read the weekend paper, it was so apparent, once again, that those who do not remember history are condemned to see it repeated on the front page of the paper.  They will suffer the consequences of failing to act on known information.  Such is the case in the controversy over Watson Park, once the site of a garbage dump and a 125 foot incinerator that was in use until the 1930s. It is now the location of Empire Gardens School, a popular park,  soccer field, and community garden, and much is – or was – planned for this beautiful neighborhood at the end of Jackson and Empire Streets on Coyote Creek.

Yesterday was the first meeting of the city council in the new chambers on East Santa Clara Street.  It was an historic day. The new building is one that evokes much thought.