The City Auditor is at it again, finding ways to save San Jose money while cutting back services only minimally. This week’s target is the SJPD, which has already suffered from severe budget cuts.
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Tax Base Erosion Night
It is that time of year again, with lobbyists circling City Hall in preparation for the General Plan hearings.
With the leadership of Mayor Reed, modifications to our General Plan (GP) have been reduced to once a year, for the most part. At the GP hearings, applicants make their case as to why current land-use designations should be changed to allow for the applicant to build what they want, regardless of how the land is currently zoned.
Ford and Bonilla Sue Rosenthal Over Website Prank
A visit to the website fordandbonilla.com is not as entertaining as it once was. For a few weeks this summer, visitors to the site were redirected to a cell-phone video capturing a heated exchange between San Jose political consultant Ryan Ford and council candidate Aaron Resendez, who was then running against Xavier Campos, the brother of Ford’s then-boss, Nora Campos. (Whew!)
The vid was blurry and the sound was bad, and it would have made no sense to any potential client shopping for services from Ford and his partner, Rolando Bonilla. But local insiders got a kick out of it—that was the point. The redirect was a prank pulled by another political consultant, Jay Rosenthal, who had registered the URL when he found out Ford and Bonilla were launching their enterprise.
High Speed Rail Under Attack
Longtime local pol-turned-mass-transit-fanboy Rod Diridon suddenly has a fight on his hands. His pet project, the California High Speed Rail Authority, has come under attack from U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis, soon-to-be head of the House Appropriations Committee. It’s not that Lewis doesn’t like trains—this is purely political gamesmanship.
Signgate 2 in District 7
Like most people paying attention to the District 7 council race, Fly was surprised that the runoff between councilmember Madison Nguyen and Republican furniture-store owner Minh Duong ended up being a squeaker. After the revelations about the Chamber-endorsed Duong’s pile of bad debts and financial screwups, Fly was expecting that District 7 residents would re-elect the increasingly independent Nguyen by a landslide. Not so.
Julie Constant Takes Up Politics
Julie Constant, the wife of San Jose City Councilmember Pete Constant, officially entered the realm of local politics when she won a spot on the Campbell Union School District Board earlier this month. And already Fly is hearing rumblings that this could be a sign that the mother of five has aspirations for the District 1 seat that is now occupied by her husband’s newly slender derrière.
Cogan Moving On
In the last few weeks, San Jose City Hall fixture and failed District 9 candidate Jim Cogan‘s Facebook posts have jumped from the occasional cryptic message about being “tired of being sick and sick of being tired,” to a recent barrage of updates referencing ‘90s pop culture.
From Homer Simpson quotes to ruminations on “Reality Bites” and updates on changing his default ring tone to Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping,” it seemed that JimCo suddenly had a lot of free time on his hands. Turns out that he does.
Carrasco Camp Claims Fraud
While Xavier Campos seemed to recover from his scandal-induced loss of the ability to speak this week, all but announcing victory in his tight race Magdalena Carrasco on Tuesday, the Carrasco camp is claiming voter fraud in the Eastside San Jose City Council race. Kevin de León, the LA state assembly member (and Carrasco’s ex), says he’s been hearing from eyewitnesses who claim to have spotted some shenanigans by members of the South Bay Labor Council (SBLC) in District 5.
End Anti-Gay Bullying in Schools
The odds that San Francisco Giants would become World Champions were about as good as those of Jerry Brown being once again elected Governor, Gavin Newsom as Lieutenant Governor, and Larry Aceves as Superintendent of Public Instruction. I proudly advocated through money and mouth in all four of these potentially historic events.
Now I want to turn my attention to building support for an anti-gay bullying policy, while strengthening all anti-bullying efforts in Santa Clara County.
Political Parties: Election Night 2010
Blue skies and 75-degree temperatures were good news for Democrats, who generally lose a couple of points in bad weather, academic researchers concluded in a recent study.
Still, we have to ask the question, “What were voters smoking?” The state voted not to legalize pot, but in 420-friendly San Jose, we voted to tax it anyway, by a 4-to-1 margin. And we re-elected that crazy ole Jerry Brown over the eBay scold who got confused. “Election?” Meg Whitman must have been saying. “I thought you said auction.” No Meg, high bids don’t win. Maybe someday democracy will come with a blue “Buy It Now” button.
Chamber Members Broke with ChamberPAC for Pro-Pegram Committee
Many old-guard members of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee (ChamberPAC) were disgruntled with the group’s decision to withold an endorsement from evangelical activist Larry Pegram in the race for the District 9 seat on the City Council. So a month ago, Republican Councilman Pete Constant spearheaded the creation of an independent expenditure committee, the “San Jose Taxpayers for Reform 2010: Support Pegram/Oppose Rocha.”
Endorsement: Yes on Measure B
San Jose voters face several difficult and contentious decisions tomorrow—this is not one of them. Measure B will create a $10-per-vehicle annual fee to repair San Jose’s neighborhood streets and thoroughfares. The countywide initiative would provide $14 million per year, every year, to transportation Authority—more than $5 million to San Jose. It’s necessary because San Jose has the worst roads of any big city in the nation.
Endorsement: Yes on Measure U
Measure U would do three good and important things. First, while it would not explicitly legalize San Jose’s medical marijuana dispensaries, it would no doubt offer them a powerful degree of legitimacy, and make it easier for them to provide services to their patients, it would protect. Second, it would begin the process of creating a regulatory framework under which medi-pot clubs and collectives operate. Third, it would create a potentially significant new revenue stream for the city.
Arbitrator: Retired Judge or Out-of-Town Labor Lawyer?
At first glance, modifying binding arbitration back in July was not my first choice over new pensions for new employees. I support the Mayor on fiscal issues, so voting in favor of Measure V and giving residents the opportunity to support this measure is consistent with my line of thinking.
In a nutshell, Measure V would put limits on outside arbitrators. During the course of the campaign I have become more and more supportive of this measure. There are two primary reasons why it is important, neither of which are getting much publicity. One, the passage of Measure V will mandate that binding arbitration for public safety unions would be held as public meetings.
Measure V & W Opponents Confront Councilman Over Campaign Sign Removal
Members of the San Jose Fire Department and San Jose Police Department confronted Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio at his Willow Glen home after a political consultant spotted the council member removing signs. Oliverio says the signs were illegally posted and that he removed them consistent with city ordinances.
A Letter from District Attorney Dolores Carr
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.
