The city of San Jose recently completed a scientific poll of 902 residents. This poll cost $50,000. As I mentioned in a prior blog, I took many of the poll questions and posted them on the District 6 website (the district I represent) and here, on San Jose Inside. I entered the questions and three of my own into a web-based survey solution which costs $20 a year. The survey closed yesterday with 839 completing the 15 page survey (973 respondents completed part of the survey). Unlike past surveys where District 6 residents were 90 percent of the respondents, only 43.9 percent of the respondents were from District 6 this time
Your search for infrastructure returned 525 results
Planting the Seeds of San Jose’s Economic Resurgence
As this week brings news of our local unemployment rate just beginning to taper downward, local businesses are peering out from their frozen dens for the first signs of Spring. That’s of little solace to thousands of our families still losing their homes and jobs, but it does raise a crucial question as we try to get people back to work: how can we best communicate to businesses that they should make San José the place to grow?
Prioritizing City Services
The City of San José is facing yet another year of budget deficits. The projected deficit for FY 2010-2011 is over $100 million. We have cut the fat out of our budget and have laid off City and Redevelopment Agency employees. Our situation has been further exacerbated by the terrible job the state legislature did of closing their deficit by taking funding from local municipalities. Unfortunately for the City, we cannot do the same. We must make difficult decisions and have the courage to change our approach to budgeting.
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
Do Things Differently
Last week, the council had a special meeting to discuss the upcoming $96 million budget shortfall. $96 million is the equivalent of eliminating all library, park and community center positions citywide. My fellow councilmembers and I gave the city manager direction on how best we think the budget gap could be closed.
Last Week Stunk
Last week, I toured the City of San Jose’s sanitary sewer system along with Public Works staff. For those of you who may not be aware, sewers in San Jose stretch out for 2,200 miles and range anywhere from 100 years old to brand new. The “sewer freeway” is at Zanker Road, where four large- diameter lines converge towards Alviso. They run side by side in different sizes and during the dry season we turn two of them off since the flow is slower without rainfall. This gives a rest to the other lines so they can be inspected and also helps move solid materials (grit) through the pipes.
We Need an Education Governor
In a few weeks it will be 20 years since the Loma Prieta earthquake that rocked the Bay Area at 5:04 P.M. on Oct. 17, 1989. Tragically sixty-three people were killed on that fateful day, however the infrastructure damage done by the shaking has been repaired, even better than before
Land Banking Without Public Money
Last week, at the Council meeting, there was a contentious land use item. A housing developer is asking the council to approve a rezoning of land to allow a 117-unit affordable Shared Room Occupancy (SRO).
Currently, there are business owners, adjacent property owners, and residents who do not support this project. I have been a councilmember for more than two years and I have never seen each of these groups on the same page. Ninety-five percent of the adjacent property owners are against the rezoning. They took the time to file and get their signatures notarized for a zoning protest application and therefore it requires eight council votes to approve the project instead of six.
Downtown is a Neighborhood, Too
Guest column by Jack Wimberly
Neighborhood associations typically come with a uniqueness all their own but most share a common thread of yards and single-family dwellings, with a dash of charm. Downtown San Jose, an area playing host to many domiciles, lacks that thread on a sizeable scale. Her neighborhoods consist of busy thoroughfares, mass transportation, and transients—transient workers, transient travelers and transient residents.
City Council Passes Budget
Jennifer Maguire, San Jose’s budget director, has worked for the city for for 18 years, and says she has never seen anything this bad. And she is not hopeful that things will improve fast. “Most economists are predicting a slow recovery,” she said ruefully.
Maguire addressed the City Council as it prepared to vote on the 2009-2010 budget. Within the hour, the Council would unanimously approve Mayor Chuck Reed’s Budget Message, as well as the Operating and Capital Budgets. But leading up to the unanimous decision, which closed an $84.2 million shortfall, Maguire was one of many local leaders who adopted a solemn tone while making dire predictions.
High Speed Derail
By Diane Solomon
Last November, Californians approved a $9.95 billion down payment for the first electric-powered steel-wheel-on-steel-rail high-speed train system in the nation. They voted yes to an artist’s rendition of sleek tubular trains invisibly zooming through their neighborhoods, connecting California’s major cities and taking them from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and a new green future, in less than 2.5 hours.
Watch Dog’s Morning Roundup
By Watch Dog Silicon Valley
Sam Liccardo’s downtown compromise; Valley Medical’s day off; and raves for both the federal stimulus package and the state budget.
India Needs to Hear from ‘the Cousins’
The voice of experience, and a word of temperance, in the wake of India’s 9/11
For three days, South Asian Americans sat transfixed to their televisions, watching in horror as the bodies of innocent men, women and children lay bullet-ridden and burned in hotels and community centers in Mumbai. Many are calling these events “India’s 9/11,” and in that framing, South Asian Americans have a unique viewpoint that can inform India’s reaction to terror.
State Props 3 & 4
Rants & Raves is taking a sabbatical this weekend to make room for discussion of two specific questions: one about children’s hospitals and the other about abortion. This is the second installment of a two-week pre-election marathon, during which SJI is presenting endorsements of the state propositions and local measures appearing on the Nov. 4 ballot. The pieces were written by Metro editorialists, and are presented to inspire discussion and debate.
Numbers Don’t Lie
Food for Thought
What number is 10,217,023,029,529? No, it’s not the largest known prime number recently discovered by mathematicians using powerful computers. It was the amount of the gross national debt at the moment I wrote the number and in the meantime it has grown by almost $10 million. If you are like me and have been trying to make sense of all the big numbers being thrown around these days, it’s nearly impossible. Thanks to my good friend Gray Maxwell, a senior US Senate staffer on Capitol Hill, I have a way to bring the enormity of the situation home by casting the numbers in terms of our city and as individual citizens and thinking about what we could buy with that money.
Notes From Chicago
Last week I went on my first City to City trip organized by the Chamber of Commerce. The delegation was comprised of 80 “San Jose Cheerleaders,” including Mayor Reed, four councilmembers (besides myself), City Manager, Police Chief, high-tech representatives, affordable housing developers, attorneys,etc. Interestingly enough, about 20 percent of the group lives in District 6.
