San Jose Inside

If, as the old strategist suggested, politics is war by other means, then we are seeing something new in the epic battle between the reformers and the fixers in San Jose; namely, the introduction of legal assaults to buttress the crumbing coalition of lobbyists, developers and labor that has ruled and nearly ruined our city in the past decade. You wonder how gullible, or actually, how dumb these people feel the rest of us are.

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.

It’s all over in the District 4 race and it has proven to be a resounding victory for Kansen Chu. The candidacy of Hon Lien was stillborn. How and why that occurred is a rather simple matter: namely, a well-equipped and prepared candidate bested an ill-prepared one.  Hon Lien was clearly not ready for prime time, or even late night reruns. Usually in small elections, the best candidate wins.

City Hall Diary

Did you ever borrow a friend’s toy as a kid because you didn’t have one of your own? I did.  I would borrow my friend’s Big Wheel.  My parents advised me to be happy with what I had and warned me about becoming dependent on borrowing my friend’s toy for fulfillment.  Well, I didn’t listen to my parents’ sound advice.  Instead, I wanted to ride the Big Wheel more and more.  So, I gave the owner Twinkies and cupcakes in exchange for riding the Big Wheel. 

Eye-Hand Coordination Screening Rejected

In a test case that has the eyes of the nation focused on California, a newly formed state oversight committee has mandated that all elected officials undergo neurological testing as a result of the ping-pong match State Senator Carole Migden was having with her car, the Highway 12 guardrail and other vehicles for no apparent reason.

My first post on San Jose Inside spoke about the lack of maintenance the San Jose parks were receiving, particularly the historic Municipal Rose Garden Park.

As I mentioned then, I met with city staff and residents to do an initial walkthrough of the park and I saw firsthand the disarray of the park. Shortly thereafter, I submitted a memo asking the council to consider a “pilot program” for outsourcing maintenance at the park.  My pilot proposal was heard on May 15 during the evening meeting. 

I was fascinated to read in the Mercury News on Monday about the Willow Glen house that was deemed a “junkyard” and how the owners are being taken to court on charges of “blight.” When I read it was in Willow Glen, I wondered if this house was really as bad as it was made out to be, or if it was the work of the Willow Glenites—the same ones that put their PierreLuigi signs in the exact same spot on their lawns a la The Stepford Wives. Would this be happening in any other neighborhood in San Jose?

A’s Owner Given Mitchell Block, Iraq, and Rights to Develop Synthetic Life Forms in Exchange

In a brilliant move that will get Supervisor Blanca Alvarado’s long-stalled and litigious legacy project at the county fairgrounds back on track, A’s owner and real estate magnate Lew Wolff has agreed to tackle the deteriorating morass in exchange for a vacant block of downtown property, a war-ravaged country and the potential to own a new species.

There was a strange and bizarre convergence of issues at the San Jose City Council this week. On the one hand, there was the 1stACT Silicon Valley presentation of proposals for downtown—large and small items that included expanding the Convention Center, building a baseball stadium and 21st century light tower, and creating more Guadalupe River trails, as well as fountains and quiet spots that are a treasure to any city.  They accurately presented them as big projects and “small wonders.” A key man behind this was the Adobe CEO, Bruce Chizen, as good a friend as downtown dreamers have had in a long while, and the main presenter was Connie Martinez of the Children’s Discovery Museum. The finances were unspoken, but the vision was impressive.  It is a wonderful look at what might be.

With all the negativity of Mardi Gras and the way it was handled in the city, I thought I would give you a positive view: how I actually spent my Mardi Gras.

While most professionals were scared away from downtown (for good reason), my friend talked me into grabbing dinner at the Poor House Bistro on Autumn Street.  Being that it is a New Orleans-style restaurant, we thought they would probably celebrate the holiday the authentic way—and we were spot on with that assessment.

Vacant High-Rise Proves Perfect Bearing for Emergency Routes

An agreement was reached early Thursday morning when airport officials met with several downtown representatives to hammer out a deal to protect building heights while allowing for the safest emergency route over the city’s center; their solution: aim at the Sobrato building.

Claim Lieber’s “Thinly-Veiled” Legislation Targets Recreational Flogging

Just hours after Assembly Member Sally Lieber went public with her no-spanking legislation, the pornography industry responded in kind with their anti-no-spanking campaign to try and defeat a law that they claim will eventually lead to a total ban of all kinds of flogging.

The Truth Behind San Jose’s New City Hall

The new City Hall complex at Fourth and Santa Clara was built with the promise that it would save the city money.  But the truth is, much more money could have been saved if an honest and intelligent approach had been applied to the process.

“If I Misappropriated Public Funds”—A Hypothetical Conspiracy Confession

The embattled former book publisher, Judith Regan, has been rehired by Harper Collins to publish outgoing mayor Ron Gonzales’s hypothetical conspiracy confession, “If I Misappropriated Public Funds.”

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 spent the weekend running around doing errands, Christmas shopping and trying to get in the spirit of the season, and found myself driving up and down Santa Clara Street and The Alameda quite frequently.  I was struck by the potential of this area of town, and wondered if there might be any “master plan” to make this more of a destination than just an area to drive through. 

I know I have visited this topic before, but I think it merits more discussion.  Those that have traveled down Santa Clara Street from the Arena and made that right turn on the bend to The Alameda, probably don’t even notice what is to the right and left of them—but I do.