On Nov. 3 at the city council meeting, I removed an item from the consent calendar. The agenda item was asking for council approval to spend $286,700 for software. This particular software would help the housing department manage its loan program. Several years ago the Housing Department purchased software to manage this data, however, it never worked and we ended up going through litigation for eight years.
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Feedback From RDA Survey is Beneficial
A couple of weeks ago I put together my own web based Redevelopment Budget survey. I shared financial information in bullet point form in the introduction and then gave information throughout the survey. In some cases I would state the dollar amount given to a particular program and then ask a question. More than 600 people completed the survey, which required that each question be answered. The survey could not be taken twice.
As with most issues that involve money, the feedback to my survey was mixed
Goodbye San Jose
This is my last post for San Jose Inside. I’m looking to start my own site in a couple of months (please stay tuned). A quick note of thanks to Jack Van Zandt and to Eric Johnson. I hope that you enjoy my final post.
When I was a kid growing up in San Jose, the neighborhood park was constantly tended to. Every Summer, there was a recreational leader who organized activities and coached the park’s baseball team. Fast forward to today, where you’ll find the park restrooms closed on weekdays, and you’re lucky if the City sends someone to mow the weeds once a month. In his letter to shareholders, Google co-founder Sergey Brin wrote, “I am optimistic about the future, because I believe that scarcity breeds clarity.” I hope that the scarcity that we all now face will finally bring clarity to San Jose.
Two Americas Come Together
Last week Michael Phelps taught me about championship perseverance, Rudy Giuliani schooled me down on never letting terrorists win, Colin Powell explained how American might can defeat all, and Steve Forbes showed me that despite what all the losers say, “there is nothing wrong with the fundamentals of our economy.”
Billed as the “Super Bowl of Success,” the day-long seminar held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose was named simply “Get Motivated,” and drew more than 10,000 people. Sitting in the penthouse suite my friends and I snuck into, I couldn’t help but feel that in spite of the pyrotechnics, the famous people, and the massive energy, which (I assume) can only be matched by a mega-church revival, this was a funeral for an old American way of thinking. It was a celebration of the rock-solid institutions of an American identity that once was—unbridled capitalism, Jesus, and winning—in the face of a new, changing, and confusing America. Phelps, Giuliani, Powell, Forbes and the rest of us came together for once last hoorah.
Mercury News Discovers Puberty
The Mercury News devoted the majority of its front page today to an in-depth look at the hormonal changes that occur in adolescents. Under the large, all caps headline “PUBERTY,” Silicon Valley’s only daily newspaper, winner of several Pulitzer prizes under its previous ownership, breathlessly revealed that humans between the ages of 10 and 16 begin paying attention to members of the opposite sex — and leave clothes on the floors of their rooms.
ETech in the Valley
Last week saw the Silicon Valley return of ETech, the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, where programmers and philosophers pool resources with fringe technologists, CEOs, hackers, artists, marketers, urban planners, statisticians, garage software engineers and geeks from every part of the spectrum—all with the future in mind. It took place at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, and here are just a few of the things this tech nomad experienced during his traversal of the landscape.
Good Cop, Bad Cop
Since it’s fun to shadow distinguished writers who put San Jose locales in their novels, and since the San Jose Police Department just can’t get enough attention these days, here we go again with another epic endorsement of Menlo Park author Barry Eisler.
Old School High Tech
I can’t think of any better reason to lurk in the Imperial Ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Jose than to listen to a keynote address titled “Jackhammers, Polymers and Diamonds: New Applications in Explosives.” Given by Dr. Christa Hockensmith, the speech will be one of 10 highlighting ETech, the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, taking place March 9–12 at the Fairmont.
Living History
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” a father tells his son while standing outside the cyclone fences being erected for the inaugural. He was, of course, talking about tickets. And if you know a congressperson, you had a chance of getting the Ticket of the Century.
Tough Talk From New Yahoo Boss
Carol Bartz, Yahoo’s brand-new CEO, is promising to bring some passion to the job. On a conference call with analysts and reporters this morning, Bartz said she planned to help Yahoo get “some friggin’ breathing room” so the company can “kick some butt.”
Searching for Goog
Last week, Apple announced that next year’s MacWorld would be its last. In a related article, the SF Chronicle reported that several other large trade shows have been cancelled, and that the city would take a direct financial hit as a consequence. The article offered a quote from an industry expert who declared the days of large-scale trade shows to be over.
Meanwhile, San Jose continues to make plans for a $300 million expansion of the convention center. Rather than spending $300 million on the expansion, why not entice Google to buy the Sobrato Tower (now owned by Oracle) with a $100 million subsidy? Think about it…a Google move to the downtown would be a huge (and permanent) financial shot in the arm for the hotels, restaurants, and merchants.
‘Tis a Bit of a Mystery
Ruminations on the Enigma Variations
I’m still a bit wound up from the election, Luis Valdez’s magnificent performance at the Mexican Heritage Plaza recently, and the afterglow of our wonderful mariachi festival. The election has definitely captured a mood of optimism and the determination to keep our hand on the plow and fix the mess we’re in.
Lately, I’ve been in a writing mood, which only became more insistent after I turned on the car radio the other night and found myself listening to English composer Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. On the long drives home from San Jose, especially after evening gigs where I have to be the host and “on” for the evening, I always turn on the radio for the drive back and listen either to the classical station or show tunes or Sinatra. If I’m lucky, I get to hear something new that catches my imagination, which helps me to stay alert.
Disrupt the Vote
Nancy Pelosi talks tech in Mountain View
At Google headquarters, as elsewhere in Silicon Valley, the term “disrupter” is commonly used to describe technological innovations or companies that force evolution. Nancy Pelosi found a novel way to repurpose the word during a visit to the search-engine giant’s Mountain View campus Monday.
“Our founders were disrupters,” Pelosi said. “They disrupted the status quo.”
Media is the New Community Organizing Tool
Yesterday, I attended a roundtable discussion at Google, hosted by the Knight Commission, which was about “Meeting the Public’s Information Needs.” It was very interesting brainstorming, and was the first time I had seen different parts of the media and community landscape in the same room—from managing editors of the Mercury News to folks who had just started neighborhood news websites.
Shirakawa Campaign Tied to Lobbyist Vicki Iseman
Presumptive Favorite Claims Relationship Not Romantic
A bombshell story yesterday coming out of La Oferta, San Jose’s Hispanic newspaper, linked county supervisor hopeful George Shirakawa, Jr. with former McCain lover/lobbyist Vicki Iseman, in what might be the only thing stopping a Shirakawa coronation in his race to succeed Blanca Alvarado in District 2.
The Viewing of Pornography in Public Libraries is a Problem
Over a year ago, an ABC 7 News I-Team report exposed San José’s failure to protect children from pornography and those who would openly view pornographic material in their presence. The investigation revealed that there have been a number of individuals arrested for viewing child pornography in libraries, and still others have been arrested for performing lewd acts such as masturbating in public while viewing pornographic material. Please take the time to see the reports here and here.
