San Jose Inside

Police officers are entrusted by the public with an awesome responsibility: the power of life and death. In a city of one million it is inevitable that officers will use weapons in the course of their duties. It’s part of the job and something that is accepted by the citizens whose laws are enforced by the police in their name. Any time an individual officer decides to use any weapon—whether gun, baton, Taser, fists, boots, or karate—that results in death, the act must be just and justified. It seems to me that the best way to assure the public that their law enforcement representatives are making correct decisions in applying lethal force according to the circumstances, and are operating within the law in doing so, is an automatic oversight enquiry by an independent auditor who reports to our elected representatives.

Cite Dignity, Embarrassment, Shame and Stupidity

In a move without precedent in the city’s history, San Jose City Council Members Pyle, Campos, Williams and Chirco, have decided to relinquish their posts rather than suffer the humiliation of professional ridicule, personal disparagement and possible public stoning.

Much to nobody’s surprise, the San Jose Grand Prix is dead. Apparently, it committed suicide. The laughably dubious reason given by the organizers for its demise is that downtown development is happening at such a scorching pace that the property where one of the main grandstands is located is going to be built on and there isn’t another location for the race’s premium seating structure. The Grand Prix directors say that they have always been aware that the construction on the property would happen. If they had done their homework, then they must have also known that it would mean the end of the race. Did they keep this fact to themselves? 

While I was glad to see the back of the last mayor and council, I am beginning to worry about the effects of the old guard members on the new council. Why is it that decisions that seem obvious to the rest of us require months of delays and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on consultants? And while, like the rest of the country, our infrastructure is crumbling, why does the Redevelopment Agency want to spend nearly a million bucks to bring a circus downtown? To top it all off, why has the council voted unanimously to unreasonably abridge the public’s freedom to speak in public meetings and limit the citizens’ ability to “petition the government for a redress of grievances” as per the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution?

Council Decides Against “Probably Won’t Have Violence Perpetrated Against You” Big City

The San Jose City Council has decided to get proactive over the city’s probable loss of its coveted “Safest Big City” title by choosing the most marketable name left in the field of monikers: “Relatively Safe Big City in America.”

City Hall Diary

One issue that everyone who is paying attention to San Jose politics agrees with is that the City of San Jose’s General Plan is outdated and is in need of revamping. 

At the August 7 city council meeting, all of Mayor Reed’s recommendations for the General Plan Update Task Force (which included Councilmembers Liccardo and Chirco and me) were supported by the council. The task force is a diverse group of people representing environmentalists, developers, unions and community members, among others.

Feared to Be in the Hands of Gadflies and Former Politicians and in Denny’s Chili

According to a scathing report from San Jose’s Government Accountability Office (GAO), the city has lost track of approximately 190,000 Keys to the City.

The Key to the City is an award used by municipalities in which an ornamental key is given to honor esteemed visitors, local residents, or organizations of note in a ceremonial presentation. The award carries no formal privileges or distinctions but symbolizes honor, power and the ability to break certain rules without fear of humiliation or prosecution. Former Mayor Gonzales is rumored to have hundreds of them.

Complaints of Monopoly Flood in After Latest City Hall Retail Debacle

The U.S. Justice Department is looking into practices by the South Bay Labor Council to determine whether their control of San Jose has violated any antitrust laws in the wake of a failed City Hall retail leasing effort.

There are plenty of proposals for poorly planned, wanton residential developments in the city. Coyote Valley and Evergreen come to mind, but now there are cracks beginning to show in the showpiece North San Jose development. Namely, the lack of proper planning has resulted in insufficient schools for the children of new residents, necessitating going quite a distance to get to one, and the area’s existing schools are rapidly becoming overcrowded, especially in the crucial lower grades. There has even been a spillover into nearby Santa Clara which is upsetting their educational apple cart.

Wall of Taco Trucks to Keep Aggressive Builders From Skirting Triggers

The City’s confidence in protecting Coyote Valley from evil housing developers has desperately degenerated to a point where Team San Jose has been hired to design and manage a protective barrier around the perimeter of the undeveloped Mecca of Santa Clara Valley.

Bay Bridge, Hwy. 101, Leaves of Absence Keep Tiny Office Out of Top Ten

Employees of the tiny San Jose City Auditor’s office were told on Tuesday by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) that their daily trip to the sexually-charged workplace known as the “Auditor’s Den” was not among the top ten dreaded commutes.

The San Jose City Council voted unanimously to end free downtown parking in city garages and impose a $5 charge after 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday nights from July 1. This comes in the wake of the widespread use and abuse of the garages for partying and mayhem at night as we have been discussing here on SJI. The projected $400,000 of revenue raised by this fee will be used to pay for city parking garage policing and clean-up.

City Hall Diary

As I have mentioned before in a few of my posts, my parents taught me the importance of saving my money and using it prudently at a very young age. I think my parents taught me well; they practiced what they preached and I learned by example.

The San Jose City Council voted on Tuesday to hire two consultants for the Mexican Heritage Corporation (MHC) at a cost to the taxpayers of $100,000, compounding the errors in judgment they have already made on this issue. One of the consultants will be hired to “help” the MHC develop a business plan and fundraising capabilities. The other will take the pulse of the community and advise the MHC on how better to serve the public.

Research Agency Says Medical Waste Valuable

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently announced its plans to build a $1 billion state-of-the-art research facility in San Jose after the city’s Guadalupe landfill was identified as the nation’s tenth largest repository for untreated medical waste.

City Hall Diary

San Jose has opportunities to build tall buildings in North San Jose and create large parks at the same time.  I am hopeful that we will take advantage of these opportunities so that we can create great places and huge parks.

Currently in North San Jose, we are in the midst of a “build up” for commercial office and transit village housing. I support this for many reasons: jobs, tax base, light rail, and the Guadalupe River Park Trail, among others.  Industry leads housing development; thus, I believe we should move forward with land use incrementally.