San Jose Inside

It seems like we have a battle over art again in San Jose. Not over what type of art, but, rather, whether to have it in the new police substation.  I, for one, am happy not to discuss the recall in District 7 or the loss of our esteemed title of the “Safest Big City” in this yuletide season and get to the real issues that determine our future.

The tumult and the shouting have died and “Little Saigon” is now a political battle, not an alternate name to an important area of small businesses. Or is it?  A recall is in the offing if cooler and more focused minds do not prevail. I hope they do. It would be bad for the city, District 7, and the Vietnamese community. While it is difficult to understand why Madison Nguyen was so blind-sided by the somewhat predictable events of the last few weeks (and the strong feelings behind them), the council supported her down the line.  One day we may see it more clearly.

It is now firmly established that we no longer enjoy the title of “Safest City in America.”  I am glad that it’s over because now we can continue the effort to make our city as secure in all its parts—each and every neighborhood—as any city can be in twenty-first century America. The title, awarded by some group in Washington D.C. (nobody can remember who; okay, who was it, wise guys?), now rests on the sun-kissed head of Honolulu. However, the real question is still the same: are people in San Jose safe in their homes and blissfully free of crime? The answer, as always, is a big “no.” But the struggle endures.

A simple fact that is often forgotten—though it should not be so—is that we have the finest police department in the nation. Such things do not just happen. We have worked hard to keep that description. Chief Rob Davis has continued a tradition of excellence and community relations that began with Joe McNamara in the seventies. This is a succession of competence that needs to be recognized.

As mayor, you have the responsibility to make changes, provide vision and get things done. Rarely have we had a mayor of this city who could claim to have all three of those qualities. And, yes, the small things like fixing potholes, listening to the neighborhood associations, and being an accessible mayor are all important too. However, at the end of the day, it’s the “big things” that you will be remembered for.

There have been a number of recent articles in national publications about the brave new city of the west, San Jose. The Wall Street Journal stated its view of our city as the center of innovation and entrepreneurship. There is a strong effort to reap the benefits of locating the new and exciting clean-tech areas of the new economy here to join eBay, Cisco Systems and Adobe. We are trying very hard and the ability to try hard is a virtue in a person and an asset in the development of the city.

Hypocritical actions are in full bloom in San Jose.  In this case, it is a recommendation to the Sunshine Task Force by one of its members who is exhibiting that most unfortunate characteristic. Labor representative Bob Brownstein is suggesting that the city be required to detail all costs anytime a significant public subsidy is required. The wages of any jobs, impact on neighborhoods, return in taxes, and anything that could reasonably be assumed to be a pertinent part of a project, would have to be expeditiously disclosed. This is just like the joke about not being able to run a two-car funeral. In recent municipal lore, it is known as not being able to give away retail space to Starbuck’s. That’s some business sense—and some funeral.

The results are in and the sound and fury are subsiding: the Mexican Heritage Plaza is still in the red, the San Jose Police Department arrests more minorities than their ratio in the population, and people are still skeptical of sports facilities. And, in a news flash from Monte Sereno, neighbors are fighting over a fence. There does not seem to be much else of excitement in the paper these days.

This past weekend, I took a trip with some girlfriends to the one and only “Sin City.” After getting up from a blackjack table, thinking about the $200 I essentially spent on three drinks, I had a few thoughts about if San Jose was more like Las Vegas.

“If I Misappropriated Public Funds”—A Hypothetical Conspiracy Confession

The embattled former book publisher, Judith Regan, has been rehired by Harper Collins to publish outgoing mayor Ron Gonzales’s hypothetical conspiracy confession, “If I Misappropriated Public Funds.”

When Allied forces liberated the concentration camps in Nazi Germany as they marched toward Berlin, local civilian residents were taken to the camps and forced to face the terrible truth that had been in their midst. In the years since, the debate has raged over the level of culpability shared by the German people in accepting the horrors of these camps throughout the war and saying or doing nothing to stop the heinous crimes against humanity being perpetrated in their name right in their backyards.

I thought I would run a list of things I am thankful for before Thanksgiving.  Beside the obvious—family, friends, etc.—here are some San Jose items.

I am thankful for:

Gangs Sent to New York to “Solve” Problem

The San Jose City Council has decided to rededicate itself to bringing home the title of “Safest Big City in America” by allocating several million dollars to send dozens of convicted gang members to New York City by bus to commit crimes.

Once again, the ugly head of gambling is raised in San Jose politics. It has been seen before.  In the eighties, in the wake of destroyed families, ruined lives, and rising crime rates, a number of people were indicted and sent to jail. Grand jury investigations were the staple of the daily news. On every level it was a tragedy. A decade ago, the “win at any cost” leaders of the Democratic Party laundered money from the Bay 101 card club into a number of local races. Two years later, the State Fair Political Practices Commission found them guilty of a number of infractions, including late reporting. In other words, the leaders of the local Democratic Party did not want the voters to know who was funding these campaigns. Secrecy was their tactic and it worked then. They never seem to learn and they have seldom been called to task for these illegal and unethical actions. Now, it is happening again—big time!

This is the time of year when satirists rejoice, pundits celebrate and citizens head for their local vomitoriums.  It is the final weeks before election, the “silly season”—that most frightening time of year when the airways crackle with attack ads, mailboxes overflow with disturbing missives, editorial writers pontificate, and parents shield their children’s ears from such trash. On a few rare occasions, it descends into farce.

Mark Twain once said that when people start talking about religion, he always grabbed a firm hold on his wallet. So, too, it is with some discussions of “constitutionality.” I was very sorry to see that a federal judge threw out San Jose’s law concerning limits on independent expenditures. It can only mean more money and more sleaze in local campaigns. The Chamber of Commerce should feel more than a hint of shame at its disingenuous primary assault on Cindy Chavez and the subsequent censure by the Ethics Board, San Jose Mercury, just about every other politician running for office, and many of the Democratic establishment lemmings who are so fearful of Chuck Reed and any other independent voice that might crack their hold on power. Why didn’t the chamber just fall back on the truth and call it what it was? For the time being, the chamber avoided being indicted by the Hague War Crimes Tribunal. Of such small victories, are our municipal values formed.