San Jose Inside

Well, the committee that has been debating the future of downtown’s nightclub culture and, in the truest sense, the “future” of downtown itself, seems to have figured it out. Unfortunately, I fear that they have it very, very wrong.

The San Jose Mercury News editorial and article on Sunday about the state of our downtown brought up more issues that will inspire further debate about what kind of downtown we all want.

The main issue of the article was the policing of downtown—something we have discussed at great length on San Jose Inside—which doesn’t have a simple solution.  But, the money the city is spending on police being downtown is not just the city’s responsibility. Those that cause the conditions that warrant extra policemen should definitely bear some of the financial responsibility for it. Fly-by-night promoters and nightclub owners would think twice about opening a sleazy club for a quick buck if they knew they had to shell out some money from their own pockets for police protection of those exposed to their clubs and patrons. It is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed.

What did city officials not know, and when did they not know it?

The 1996 Measure I Initiative called for the “relocation and consolidation of civic offices in the downtown.”  But the new City Hall complex at Fourth and E. Santa Clara St. was not built large enough to provide the consolidation of city offices called for in the ballot measure.

He appeared at City Hall the other day. He came like an avenging developmental angel, spewing bile and insults in his wake. He referenced a Broadway play, “Wicked,” and said “no good deed goes unpunished.” He rocked ‘em and he socked ‘em in a singularly awesome performance. All in the room were transfixed.

Meet Carl Berg.

Few of us have given much thought to Joyce Kilmer, fine “woman” that he was, since we were forced to memorize his poems in grammar school, forever immortalizing the basic “tree.”  I think we would have agreed then that very few poems we were forced to learn by rote are as beautiful as the green, wavy creatures that we see every day around us.  When we found out later that Kilmer died in the muddy fields of France in 1918, it made him a bit more interesting—the tragic poet. Yet, that damn poem rang out in our minds, at least one line anyway. 

I would like to start by taking a different direction in the budget debate and bring up the matter of saving money at City Hall through conservation and converting San Jose into a green city fit for the 21st century. With a $3 billion budget, even a fragment of 1 percent saved would be a lot of money that could be used for other purposes. I know that steps have been taken in this direction, but a lot more could be done. Every city function should be regularly reviewed and monitored to reach and maintain maximum efficiency. I see lots of gas-guzzling SUVs and pickups with the city logo driving around. They should be replaced by hybrids or other alternative fuel vehicles as they wear out. All city buildings, works and public transportation should be converted to take advantage of modern technological innovations in cleaner, alternative power. The airport takes a huge portion of our budget and it should lead the way in conservation and green conversion. San Jose should actively set an example for our citizens and other cities around the country. This is the center of world technology. Let’s use it and show what it can do! 

It seems that on this week of a great man’s birthday, we should remember the wonderful quote that reminds us that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.” It is particularly pertinent to our situation now in San Jose.

This week, we thought we would focus in on what the priorities of our city government should be, given its limited resources. We daily columnists will all be weighing in on our regular days with some thoughts of our own. To get the ball rolling, we want to give our bloggers an open forum to express their views first. So we hope that you will take the opportunity to tell us what you think today.

It is a fact of life for downtown residents that Friday and Saturday nights are extremely noisy, especially if you live on or near Santa Clara Street. The constant stream of slow-cruising, high-volume subwoofer-armed cars is bad enough, but the loud music from the clubs and the groups of shouting, laughing merrymakers after midnight are just as bad. The only thing that makes it tolerable for those of us over 40 who live downtown is the fact that the police clear the streets at 2 a.m., and by 2:15, all is quiet. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t get any sleep on the weekends.

Just like the man falling off the high rise and yelling at the 89th floor, “so far, so good,” I am happy to report that the Reed Transition is going very well.  The sky is the limit as far as the expectations of many on the multi-faceted committee representing the richness of our city.  From the Environment subcommittee with Judy Stabile and Janet Gray Hayes, to the Public Safety area with Jose Salcido of the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association and Bobby Lopez of the Police Officers’ Association, there is no shortage of ideas and energy. When the Education subcommittee gets the benefit of the county’s Superintendent, Colleen Wilcox, and also Jennifer Andeluz, the co-founder of Downtown College Prep, as well as Barbara Hansen of PACT, it’s a wonderful collision of concepts, spiced with practical knowledge.

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:

The writer John Reed once said, rather infamously, “I have seen the future and it works.”  Fortunately, he was not correct about his prediction.  In San Jose, though, I think we are able to say that the future now has a very good chance to work. I saw it last night.  The victory of Chuck Reed was a remarkable achievement against the forces of the Democratic establishment who had Bill Clinton in the van, a two to one edge in money, and everyone from the dog catcher to Kofi Annan in Chavez’s corner. Reed absorbed all the hits and kept going. 

One of the hallmarks of fair and responsible campaigns in our city has always been the limits on the amount of dollars that could be contributed to a candidate for mayor. Many times, the special interests and mendacious politicians (not always a given) tried to get the limits raised above the five hundred dollars per person cap and were consistently rebuffed. Raising campaign money should be hard. There should be no bundling or bag men in the guise of lobbyists doing the dirty work.  These forces tried it twenty years ago when I was mayor and more recently with little success; the limits held.

It is an axiom that some things that sound so very good can sometimes be so horribly bad. So it is with the current vision of our twenty-four–hour downtown; the result of the so-called “wonderful” activity of nightclubs and revelers often comes closer to a nightmare.  Someone attending an event at HP Pavilion and wanting to have a post game drink at the Tied House or a bowl of pasta at Original Joe’s, faces the equivalent of a trip from the UN Green Zone to the Baghdad airport. Few would have the temerity to attempt the short drive to either.  They just go home. The same goes for anyone getting off the freeway at Santa Clara Street on a weekend.  And those who live in our downtown, either in the new housing in the core or in the immediate neighborhoods, are unable to enjoy the peace and tranquility that we all need when we come home after a long day of work or play.  Cruisers, youth in full-party mode, and an annoying array of troublemakers from other cities are filling up our downtown in the late-night and early-morning hours.

What’s the solution?  Blame the police.