I support Bill de Blasio for mayor. Too bad he lives in New York and not San Jose. He gets it. After his primary rival conceded, de Blasio officially became the Democratic candidate for mayor of America’s most populous city. He’s practically a shoe-in to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg. This is a very good thing for the children, families and teachers who live in New York. If only San Jose had such a candidate for its upcoming mayoral race.
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Mayor, Councilman Liccardo’s Police Department Plan Flawed from the Start
Last week, Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmember Sam Liccardo submitted a proposal to bolster our public safety capacity by focusing on San Jose’s inability to retain police officers. The gist of the Reed-Liccardo proposal was to hire 200 police officers by restoring wages by 10 percent within the next four years. On the surface, this sounds like a reasonable idea. However, because this proposal was more about timely politics than about meaningful policy, I could not support the plan.
Leadership Transition Continues with City Manager Debra Figone’s Retirement
San Jose City Manager Debra Figone announced this week she will retire after overseeing city operations for six years. Her tenure, which will come to an end in December, has marked some of the most difficult years in the city’s history, as the City Council enacted layoffs and pay cuts to cope with historic budget deficits. Her departure will likely leave the city with an interim city manager, police chief and fire chief, all while the 2014 mayoral race is in full swing.
Beall Bill Could Extend Protections for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse
A bill landed on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk Friday that would give victims of childhood sexual abuse a longer window to sue private organizations that employed their abusers. Senate Bill 131, authored by State Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose), passed the Assembly Wednesday and then the state Senate with a 21-8 vote Friday. Brown has less than a month to sign the bill into law.
How Bay Area Members of Congress Should Approach the Syria Conflict
Our local congressional delegation should vote against President Obama’s proposed strike in Syria. The administration’s policy does not provide a solution to the stated problem. It will hurt our image around the world, strengthen our enemies and it is antithetical to our purpose: weakening the Assad government. Most importantly, military action will result in many innocent lives lost.
Cuts to Head Start Education Set a Course for Economic Suicide
I recently voted to use $1.2 million of the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s budget to keep 170 low-income children in Head Start programs this school year. The program had been cut due to the federal sequestration. Each dollar put into quality early learning experiences returns at least $7 to society through increased productivity, while also reducing the need for federal assistance and fewer teens/adults entering the criminal justice system.
Study Session to Focus on Tax Measures, Police Department
City officials will hold a study session Tuesday on how to restore public services lost in the past decade of budget cuts, namely by considering a couple tax increases for the 2014 ballot. Police pay and staffing is a top priority, according to several memos.
Evan Low and the Latest Civil Rights Fight
Evan Low, mayor of Campbell, was recently asked by the Red Cross to host a blood drive in his city. The problem? Low is a gay, and gay men are banned from donating blood. The ban is an antiquated policy implemented in 1985 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But Low is having none of it.
Got Milk? Maybe Not in San Jose.
UPDATE: The proposed “soda ban” did not make it out of committee Wednesday.—Editor
What’s the most pressing issue facing the City of San Jose? Is it following through on pension reform to reduce unsustainable sky-high pension liabilities? Paving our streets? Hiring more police officers? Restoring library hours? Unfortunately, some at City Hall believe that telling you what you can and can’t drink trumps all of these other pressing concerns. Today a City Council committee will discuss a proposed ban on “sugary drinks” at all city properties and all city events. Just what is classified as a “sugary drink,” you ask? The answer may surprise you.
An Open Letter to President Barack Obama
Joseph Di Salvo, a county Board of Education trustee, implores President Obama to rededicate the country to meeting its education goals when he speaks at the 50th anniversary celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s most important speech.
Diverse Voices Need to Come Together
A little more than a week ago my wife and I attended Outside Lands, the three-day concert at Golden Gate Park headlined by Sir Paul McCartney. Even though we were at the upper age bracket of those assembled, we felt no discrimination. The 65,000 attendees each day were exceedingly respectful and well-behaved. Like Outside Lands does for music, I thought, Silicon Valley’s diverse voices come together on common goals relating to education.
Voter Turnout in Supervisor Election Shows Democracy is Failing
As a former civics teacher and principal who championed the role of student government, the lack of voter turnout in last week’s Board of Supervisors election concerns me. The race was well covered by the media and more than $1 million was spent to reach voters. And yet, only 20.77 percent of registered voters in District 2 participated in the election.
Councilman Sam Liccardo Says Gold Club Will Hurt Downtown Development
After voting to raise taxes on pot clubs earlier this year, San Jose Councilman Sam Liccardo has found a new vice to tackle: nudie bars. Spurred by the imminent opening of a gentlemen’s club in downtown, Liccardo has asked the city to impose more restrictions on San Jose’s adult establishments. The city already bans nudity in downtown businesses, which leaves us to presume that the Gold Club, slated to open up Aug. 8 in the historic 81 W. Santa Clara St. building, will operate as a bikini bar.
Questions for Cindy
Judge Arthur Weisbrodt asked about corruption, dishonesty and backroom deals in a candidate’s debate two weeks ago. Oddly, he posed the question to Teresa Alvarado for not “taking on Cindy Chavez aggressively,” rather than ask Chavez directly. Debates with timed answers are too superficial to probe questions about complex financial relationships. So with one newspaper with its head in the sand, the other unable to get answers and an election opponent who avoided confrontation, the public has remained in the dark. Here are just a few of the questions that should have been asked.
Alvarado, Chavez Make Final Push for Tuesday’s County Supervisor Election
Voters in Santa Clara County’s District 2 will choose a new county supervisor Tuesday, when Teresa Alvarado and Cindy Chavez face off in a special election. The two Democrats are vying to replace the seat vacated by George Shirakawa, Jr., who resigned amid scandal in March.
LA Prosecutors Try to Pass off Serial Rapist to Santa Clara County
A convicted serial rapist may get released in Santa Clara County, should a judge agree to a writ objecting to his relocation to Los Angeles County, where he was born and raised. SoCal native Christopher Evans Hubbart, 62, has admitted to raping 40 women in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties between 1971 and 1982, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Due to more lenient laws in the past, Hubbart likely avoided prison terms that would have kept him incarcerated for life.
