At the upcoming Aug. 7 City Council meeting, the discussion will focus on how to prioritize city spending IF revenues increase. So, in the example below, if revenues increase by $10 million—either by revenue growth or tax increase—this is how I think it should be spent by percentage.
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The Councilmember as an Observer
As a councilmember, I interact with many different people on a regular basis and have a chance to observe the different stages of life. One day I might meet a newly engaged couple and, behold, they are married with kids who attend the local elementary school. Or it could be a young family and the next thing I know I am shaking their son or daughter’s hand at a high school graduation ceremony.
New Soccer Fields Will Relieve Pressure on City’s Existing Parks
Last week, the City Council spent nearly two hours discussing the development of four new recreational soccer fields that would be located next to the new San Jose Earthquakes soccer stadium by Lowe’s and In & Out Burger on Coleman Avenue. The soccer fields were a specific line item under Measure P, which voters passed in November 2000.
City Transitioning Homeless into Housing
The city of San Jose recently cleared three areas with prominent homeless encampments. Along with clearing debris, the goal was to enter many of these homeless people into housing programs.
Council to Hold Last Meeting of 2011-12
The last City Council meeting of the fiscal year Tuesday will feature a loaded agenda. Last week, the council unanimously approved next year’s budget, moved past its stalemate on lower benefits for new employees to approve a second tier, and paved the way for paid time off for many city contractors. Here are some of the critical items up for the last meeting of 2011-12.
Councilmembers Don’t Want to Play Ball
The territory war between San Jose and the San Francisco Giants got a bit more heated Thursday, with the minor league Giants caught in the fray. San Jose councilmembers Sam Liccardo and Pete Constant said in a memo that before the city spends $85,000 on maintenance for the San Jose Giants’ stadium, they would like to know how much Giants owners are spending to sue the city over land being saved for a potential move to San Jose by the Oakland A’s.
The Once and Future San Jose
High above, I looked down on a sea of deep blue. With my last few frenetic days back in Cambridge, Mass., done, I was a minute or so away from touching down at Mineta. It was Saturday, May 26, and only at that point did I make the connection that the mass of indigo I was witnessing was Bellarmine’s graduation ceremony, where five years earlier I had proudly walked across that stage. The San Jose I’ve came home to, however, seems remarkably different from the San Jose I remember leaving.
False Information from City Officials Kills Save San Jose Libraries Initiative
In one of the biggest blunders in recent local politics, city officials admitted this week that they provided false information to organizers of the Save San Jose Libraries initiative regarding the number of signatures needed to place a measure on the November ballot. As a result, the initiative—an effort that has been in the works for more than year—is unlikely to make it to voters.
City Changes Policy on Homeless Camps
A slap shot from HP Pavilion, through Guadalupe Park and into the neighboring creek bed, a rooster makes its home. He lives among shopping carts, deflated tire tubes and toilet paper rolls, empty beer cans and coolers, a Negro Modelo sign lodged in the fresh mud and a half-dozen people who spend their nights sleeping in tents. Karen Ellfson is one of these people. She lives here with her husband. At 30 years old, a month shy of her next birthday, the Morgan Hill native knows that in two weeks she’ll need to find a new home. She’s one of several dozen homeless people with targets on their backs.
Council to Appoint Planning Commissioners
Mayor Chuck Reed released his June Budget Message on Friday, and not much has changed since he first released his budget plan in March. Reed wants to open four libraries and the Bascom Community Center, add additional funds to the gang prevention task force, and tackle some of the city’s biggest infrastructure problems. While the budget will consume next week’s agendas, Tuesday’s City Council meeting will focus on other issues, including an update on Team San Jose’s performance, compensation for outside legal firms and selecting planning commissioners.
Minimum Wage Goes to Council
Update: The San Jose City Council voted unanimously to send a minimum wage proposal to voters after it failed to be adopted by San Jose City Council Tuesday night. The motion to immediately adopt a higher minimum wage than surrounding cities failed on an 8-3 vote. The proposal will raise the minimum hourly wage in San Jose from $8 to $10, if passed by voters.
City Could Partner on Park Renovation
Tuesday’s City Council agenda includes discussions about entering into an a park renovation project, continuing to suspend bonus payments to retirees, and the city’s revolving door policy.
City Concealed Street Closure Docs
Despite the city’s stated commitment to sunshine and open government, city officials and proponents of a proposal to permanently close a block of South First Street concealed critical documents from affected parties for a year—until the eve of a council vote. Promoters of the “pavement to plaza” conversion say a $500,000 grant from ArtPlace requires the street’s full closure. San Jose will contribute $98,000 in park and economic development funds, under the plan, which goes to the City Council at today’s 1:30pm meeting.
Planning Commission Wants Council to Crack Down on Payday Lending
Payday lending offices offer immediate financial relief to many of San Jose’s most cash-strapped citizens, but the high interest rates can leads to crippling debt when more loans are required to pay off the first. It’s a vicious cycle that brings interest rates to as high as 460 percent in some cases. This week the city’s planning commission made new recommendations on how to curb the proliferation of offices that many view as predatory lenders.
What San Jose Can Learn from 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers broke ground Thursday on their new stadium in Santa Clara and threw a tremendous party replete with football royalty, current players, politicians and, most importantly, volunteers from the Measure J campaign that made the day possible. The model used by Santa Clara and the Niners should be replicated in San Jose for the new A’s stadium.
City Council to Host an American Idol
In addition to discussing its top five economic priorities for the rest of the fiscal year, the City Council goes Hollywood on Tuesday—or at least brings little Hollywood home—when former American Idol contestant and San Jose native DeAndre Brackensick will receive a commendation. Other matters going before the council Tuesday include a ban on city departments purchasing expanded polystyrene, the Independent Police Auditor’s annual report and continuing to suspend certain pension payments. Now that we’ve fulfilled our agenda obligations, feel free to comment on which councilmember you would vote off this season’s cast.
