This is to correct and clarify several points contained in your article “SBLC Helps Big Political Contributors Erase Their Tracks,” [Sept. 22]. Your article states: “Enforcement of city election laws falls on the Government Integrity Unit of the District Attorney’s Office.” That is inaccurate. Section 12.06.260, which prohibits contributions from card rooms to candidates or candidate controlled committees is found in the San Jose Municipal Code, Title 12. Enforcing violations of Title 12 fall within the jurisdiction of the City of San Jose and its Elections Commission. Title 12 lays out an entire regulatory framework for the investigation of Title 12 violations, including campaign contribution violations.
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City Didn’t Follow the Team San Jose Money Trail
Like an underwater homeowner on an adjustable-rate mortgage in late 2008, Team San Jose was unfazed by money issues in the months leading up to its being slapped with a default notice. And like a feckless federal regulator, the city official charged with overseeing the local business-union-municipal alliance was upbeat—right up until the report that $750,000 had fallen off the truck.
Team San Jose in Crisis
Team San Jose, the peculiar alliance of hoteliers, unions and city bureaucrats that runs the city’s entertainment and convention venues, is facing the biggest crisis in its short, contentious history.
Last Wednesday, finance chief Scott P. Johnson issued a report showing that the quasi-public entity overshot its budget by $750,000, and tangled its bookkeeping so badly that director Dan Fenton can’t even say exactly where the missing money went. Then on Monday, City Councilmember Sam Liccardo turned up the heat, asking city manager Deb Figone to dig into the hotel-tax-funded entity, which is run by Fenton and an executive committee including South Bay Labor Council boss Cindy Chavez.
Curse of Reed
The city’s fearless and occasionally politically tone-deaf leader, Chuck Reed, was riding high after successfully placing pension reform and binding arbitration on the ballot with a carefully stitched-together coalition that seemed to spell the end of organized labor’s control of the San Jose City Council.
The afterglow was short-lived, however. Reed threw the new majority into chaos with his divisive endorsement of gay marriage opponent Larry Pegram for a council seat, just a day before a California court overturned Prop 8.
Council Slows Traffic Around Trace Elementary
Sam Liccardo knows first hand the impact of traffic laws. The District 3 councilmember mentioned an unfortunate run in he had with a Caddy during a discussion today on reducing speed limits around Trace Elementary School. “As somebody who’s been hit at 15 miles an hour, I can confirm that you don’t want to be hit at that, or at 25,” Liccardo said.
City Council Approves Mayor’s Budget
Thirty minutes before the San Jose City Council went into closed session to decide whether to impose a 10 percent pay cut on public employees, Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio addressed the large group of union members and other citizens gathered for the meeting.
“If you’re angry, it’s ok to be angry,” Oliverio said, “because the system is all screwed up.”
Last Tuesday, the City Council decided to delay its vote on the 10 percent wage cut for city employees, after five unions provided a counter-offer that they claimed would be the equivalent of the proposed cut.
However, after studying the offer, City Manager Debra Figone and City Attorney Richard Doyle determined that it was unacceptable. Figone recommended the city impose the cuts and implement the Mayor’s budget proposal.
The motion passed on an 8 to 3 vote, with council members Pyle, Kalra and Campos opposing. The Council deferred action on wage and benefit concessions with the five labor unions until the Council meeting of Tuesday, June 22.
Reed, Unions Headed for Showdown Over Binding Arbitration Clause
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed seems to be headed for a showdown with the city’s unions over the way union pay negotiations are settled. In a May 5 San Jose Rotary Club speech, Reed called publicly for a revision of the City Charter in an audacious move to wrest power away from the unions representing the city’s firefighters and police force. Harking back to his days as a labor lawyer, Reed pointed to a clause in the Charter that forces the city into binding arbitration if and when negotiations with the unions break down.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren Endorses Jeff Rosen
In a rare move, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren announced this morning that she is throwing her support to Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rosen in his bid to defeat sitting DA Dolores Carr. “It’s true, I don’t get involved in local races very often,” she said after making a statement in front of the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice.
City Council: Sharing the Pain?
Things seemed pretty rosy back in 2007. Sure, the city was running a deficit, but the economy seemed solid enough for City Councilmembers to vote themselves a 20 percent raise, upping their salary from $75,000 to $90,000. After all, many city employees were earning more than them. Then came the crash. Then came the overwhelming deficit. Then came the pink slips and the pink slips and the pink slips—1,300 of them this month alone.
The Mayor has already asked city employees to take a 10 percent, across the board pay cut, noting that the average salary for city workers is now $88,000 (yes, average), just slightly less than City Councilmembers make.
The Center of our City Center
Last week I attended evening budget meetings in Districts 3 and 5. The center of our city (District 3) had a high turnout from residents who find great value in community centers. Particularly, the Gardner and Washington Community Centers. Both facilities provide a place to go and where residents can be positively impacted. Classmates and friends of mine from Willow Glen High grew up in the Gardner area, formerly known as “Barrio Horseshoe.” It was a problematic neighborhood with many gang issues.
Carr Talk with Cindy Chavez
An odd alliance seems to have been forged between the left-leaning South Bay Labor Council boss Cindy Chavez and gang-bashing Republican crime-fighter Dolores Carr. Chavez last month made an impassioned plea to SBLC members for endorsing the district attorney, which reportedly surprised many of the executive board members and union delegates in attendance. According to a source who was present, Chavez stood and railed against challenger Jeff Rosen. Rosen, Chavez reasoned, is endorsed by Sam Liccardo, who is linked to former mayor Tom McEnery and Deputy District Attorney David Pandori.
Chamber Endorses Carrasco for District 5
The San Jose Silicon Valley ChamberPAC has just announced they are endorsing Magdalena Carrasco for the District 5 city council seat.
“In this time of economic uncertainty, San Jose needs independent, common sense leaders like Magdalena Carrasco at City Hall,” said incoming ChamberPAC chairperson Joshua Howard in a statement. “Her commitment to neighborhood business and job creation will be a welcome addition to the council.”
A relative outsider to the local political scene, Carrasco beat out other East Side candidates Xavier Campos, Aaron Resendez and J. Manuel Herrera for the chamber’s backing.
Mayor Goes Nuts
With all the problems he’s had with Rob Davis, police auditors and police-community relations during his term, the last thing San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed would seem to be equipped to do is weigh in on the management of another law enforcement agency. But that’s exactly what he did this week. Reed has endorsed long-shot Sheriff candidate Richard Calderon, becoming the first mayor anyone can remember to endorse the challenger to a sitting sheriff. Which has left everyone scratching their heads.
Reed Agrees to Back Pot Club Ordinance
Mayor Chuck Reed had originally wanted to wait until November to consider a proposal to regulate medicinal cannabis collectives. Before yesterday’s vote, Reed said he wanted to see if voters would approve a state initiative that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. But after the proposal’s author, Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, agreed to include some flexibility on zoning, taxes and the timing of the final City Council vote on the matter, Reed agreed to support it.
Budgeting Parks in Difficult Times
While we slash services like park maintenance, the City has millions of dollars in park fees, sitting in reserves. Under state law, we charge developers fees to enable us to build parks, pools and community centers whenever they build a new housing project. For over a decade, we have been building community-serving amenities that we cannot pay to maintain or operate. It would be irresponsible to continue on this course.
What’s in the Cards for San Jose Budget?
With a record budget deficit approaching $100 million and the limited sources of income dwindling in the recession, San Jose’s City Council is looking for creative ways to raise income. According to City Councilmember Nora Campos, “the only one of the items that even polled fair and that we may have an opportunity to receive some revenues” is the expansion of San Jose’s licensed card tables. According to Mayor Chuck Reed, the resulting tax revenues could be as much as $2-3 million per year.
