The City Council meeting Tuesday will open with a commendation ceremony for local Olympian Martilou “Marti” Malloy, who took bronze in Judo in London, and the Association of Former Vietnamese Political Prisoners for their 25 years of support of Vietnamese political prisoners. But once the council gets down to business Tuesday, the mayor and councilmembers will discuss a Grand Jury report that questions the city’s funding structure and transparency in building City Hall.
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Endorsement: Braunstein, Herrera for Council
In the June primary we endorsed Rose Herrera and Robert Braunstein for San Jose City Council seats because they stood out from a field of candidates. As both races moved to runoffs, two surprise second-place finishers emerged: Johnny Khamis in District 10 and Jimmy Nguyen in District 8. We wanted to take a closer look at the second-place finishers before issuing our general election endorsements, and that opportunity came last month at the San Jose Downtown Association’s debate.
Constant Skipped Council Meeting for RNC
The City Clerk plans to retroactively mark Councilmember Pete Constant down as an unexcused absence for last week’s City Council meeting. Unbeknownst to almost anyone, Constant, who was out of the office almost all of August after back surgery, was attending the Repubican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.
Council Looks at Bike Lanes, The Row
The City Council meets Tuesday to discuss the installation of new bike lanes, fees for events at a downtown park and the expansion of corporate office space at Santana Row, amongst other items. Not on the agenda, according to city spokesman David Vossbrink, is a report expected to come out Tuesday morning from the office of State Auditor Elaine Howle, who took a closer look at Mayor Chuck Reed’s use of the number $650 million in regards to the city’s worst-case unfunded liability scenario.
San Jose’s New Recycling Plant
Last week, Mayor Reed and the majority of the City Council attended the opening of the world’s largest material processing facility in San Jose. After the ceremonial acknowledgments, I stayed to tour of the facility, which is located on Dixon Landing Road, an area near Milpitas that was annexed to San Jose. I was amazed at the size and amount of material coming down several lines at the facility. The tour certainly gave me pause on what we collectively throw away and where it is processed.
Council to Discuss Landfill, WPCP
The waste hits the fan at City Hall on Tuesday, when two of the leading issues going before the City Council involve a pungent landfill that wants to expand and an outsourcing contract for the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP).
Council Meeting Focuses on Ballot Initiatives
The first City Council meeting of the 2012-13 fiscal year Tuesday will feature votes on approving language for three major ballot initiatives for November: a sales and use tax increase, a proposal to raise the city’s minimum wage, and an increase in the number of card tables at the city’s two casinos.
The Importance of Santana Row
Santana Row will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year. It has provided a new destination for Bay Area residents as well as additional tax revenue for San Jose. On Tuesday, the City Council will consider approving a large office building at Santana Row instead of housing. This new 240,000 square foot office building will provide an attractive option to companies locating in San Jose.
Prioritizing Future City Spending
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.
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.
