In a prior column, I wrote about taking advantage of the great San Jose weather by having events at City Hall Plaza or at the Circle of Palms. At last week’s city council meeting, there was an item that pertained to sidewalk cafes at night. I support outside settings and made a motion at the meeting proposing to extend hours at sidewalk cafes until 2 a.m. A majority of the council supported the motion.
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One Hand Slapping
Watergate started as a simple burglary when a night watchman spotted a taped doorjamb at the Watergate apartment complex. The discovery led to a trail of dirty tricks that tracked to the Nixon White House. Was Eric Hernandez’s break-in of email accounts at City Hall the tape on the door, linked to a Nixonian effort to dredge dirt about the personal lives of politicians, journalists and business leaders critical of SBLC’s political initiatives and post it to the Web?
San Jose Promoter Ordinance
San Jose’s beleaguered entertainment community, already reeling from a multi-agency crackdown on downtown San Jose clubs, now faces a new threat in the form of a well-intentioned ordinance to bring promoters under the umbrella of the City of San Jose’s regulatory apparatus. Currently, promoters escape many of the requirements that club operators face in bringing entertainment to the public, so not everyone thinks it’s a bad idea to have these pied pipers show some accountability.
Protest No More and Coyote Farewell?
The protestors have left for the time being and quiet has returned to the plaza of the smoking fountains at San Jose City Hall. How long the peace will last is an open question. It is far too early to discern the answer. But one thing is clear: the primary heroes in the enterprise are evident to all. First and foremost is Sam Liccardo, the District 3 council member who seized the reins and achieved a resolution, snatching stalemate from the jaws of defeat. Then there is Mayor Chuck Reed, who dug the cement out from around the feet of many in City Hall and gave his approval to the agreement that ended the hunger strike of the redoubtable Ly Tong. Vice Mayor Dave Cortese is one who clearly knew that ending this protest, for whatever reason, was the correct course.
The Best Defense
From “The Fly,” Metro Silicon Valley, March 5, 2008
Accused City Hall hacker Eric Hernandez showed up for his arraignment on Friday before Judge Jerry Nadler, represented by one of the valley’s most expensive criminal attorneys. Attorney Benjamin Williams appeared—and dropped the bombshell that Hernandez had retained his boss, superstar lawyer Steve Manchester, to handle the case.
Profiles in Courage and Cowardice
Just about the only thing that the San Jose City Council assured on Tuesday is that they will have to deal with the Little Saigon issue again. The next time they vote on the matter, though, there will at least be a community consensus. Yeah, right. Dealing with the most thankless, no-win issue ever to come before this city council tested the character and political skills of each elected member, and it was good political theater to boot.
A Stroll by City Hall
I attended a luncheon at City Hall yesterday honoring one of San Jose’s most notable citizens: playwright and film maker Luis Valdez. It was a wonderful and inspiring time, as all sessions with Luis and his wife Lupe are. However, it had one other element to it. Supervisor Blanca Alvarado asked Valdez a question that focused on the Plumed Serpent—Quetzalcoatl—and the meaning of art.
Single Gal and Sleazy San Jose Politics
I understand that being in the public eye makes you a target, but the news that Sam Liccardo’s former intern, Eric Hernandez, was arrested for hacking into the City Hall e-mail system still caught me by surprise. However, as I read the story, it was clear that something just didn’t add up. Why would an 18-year-old be so angry with his former boss—Liccardo Chief of Staff Jessica Garcia-Kohl—that he would intend to hurt her and expose her relationship with Sam Liccardo? Just because she denied him access to a few rooms? Why would that make Hernandez fly off the handle? That doesn’t seem logical.
Saving Old Fire Station One
Old Fire Station One is located in downtown San Jose at Market Street and St. James Street, right next to new Fire Station One which opened in 2000. Old Fire Station One sits on .46 acre. It was in service from 1951 until 2000. Today it is owned by the City of San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency.
The San Jose Fire Museum (SJFM) is a non-profit organization created to provide service to the San Jose Fire Department (SJFD) and the City of San Jose while preserving the history of the SJFD. The SJFM started in the early 1970’s and was originally called the San Jose Muster Team. In 2002, we changed our name to the SJFM, became incorporated and received a 510 (c) 3 non-profit status from the State of California.
The New Old City Council
While I was glad to see the back of the last mayor and council, I am beginning to worry about the effects of the old guard members on the new council. Why is it that decisions that seem obvious to the rest of us require months of delays and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on consultants? And while, like the rest of the country, our infrastructure is crumbling, why does the Redevelopment Agency want to spend nearly a million bucks to bring a circus downtown? To top it all off, why has the council voted unanimously to unreasonably abridge the public’s freedom to speak in public meetings and limit the citizens’ ability to “petition the government for a redress of grievances” as per the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution?
San Jose’s General Plan Update Task Force
City Hall Diary
One issue that everyone who is paying attention to San Jose politics agrees with is that the City of San Jose’s General Plan is outdated and is in need of revamping.
At the August 7 city council meeting, all of Mayor Reed’s recommendations for the General Plan Update Task Force (which included Councilmembers Liccardo and Chirco and me) were supported by the council. The task force is a diverse group of people representing environmentalists, developers, unions and community members, among others.
Make It a Real General Plan
The tumult and the shouting have ceased, the fools and conmen have departed (well, at least some of them), and now it is time to do the people’s work. A new General Plan Committee has been established, consisting of 37 good and true citizens. Unlike the Coyote Planning group which had all the independent thought of the shills at Bay 101, this one has hope. Although there are very many development interests on it, and few genuine neighborhood advocates in the tradition of former Councilmember Nancy Ianni, I have high hopes for it. The development advocates will not have the mayor’s thumb on the scale; they will not have the unbridled arrogance of the past regime. This will be a fair, “let the facts determine the outcome” group.
Reed Sets the Agenda
“Part of being a leader is to figure out how to get those six votes,” Chuck Reed said recently. What he did not say was that being a leader also entails being worthy enough to be followed. Reed is figuring out the leadership issues and he is doing very well getting the votes when he needs them. He is admired—not feared—and respected.
Taking Stock on the Fourth of July
Happy Fourth of July to all of our readers and partners. We are all in this together and we appreciate your support and participation.
It is a good time to take stock of where we are as a city as the birthday of our country is celebrated. There is a new mayor, a new city manager, four new and interesting council members, and a very new spirit in the management of our city. Reform is now the watchword of all and good planning is the hallmark of this regime. While we are not swimming in the greatest competence in some areas of the administration (when has that been true), there is much to be positive about. It is up to the council and city manager to get the most out of the employees and put the best and most ethical of managers in the correct positions of power. There is every reason to believe that this is occurring.
Coyote Ad Nauseam
The Freddy Krueger of land use issues is again the talk of the town as the Coyote Valley über-city of Xanadu is once more before the city council. Growth has alternately made, destroyed, bedeviled, bewitched and dazzled councils for forty years. It has made a few people mayor and destroyed the candidacies of others. It has been the Holy Grail to some and the third rail for the careless. It never seems to leave us. It is the constant specter that haunts our sleep in this city. It is the stuff that dreams are made of.
Five Dollar Parking Fee for Downtown City Garages
The San Jose City Council voted unanimously to end free downtown parking in city garages and impose a $5 charge after 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday nights from July 1. This comes in the wake of the widespread use and abuse of the garages for partying and mayhem at night as we have been discussing here on SJI. The projected $400,000 of revenue raised by this fee will be used to pay for city parking garage policing and clean-up.
