Although it is struggling with a four-year $250 million deficit, BART may yet reach San Jose. The California Transportation Commission will be voting today whether to extend the service. To date, some $400 million has already been allocated to the project, which would add 16.1 miles of track to the line. Today’s vote is for another $40 million, the first installment of an expected $240 million. The total cost is expected to hover around $6.1 billion, much of which will come from federal funding. Santa Clara County voters narrowly approved a 1/8-cent sales tax to help pay for the extension in November.
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SBLC Hires Attorney with Legal Troubles
Santa Clara County Prosecutor Ben Field announced yesterday that he would be leaving the District Attorney’s Office to work for the South Bay Labor Council. The announcement comes after a State Bar judge issued a harshly worded report recommending that Field be suspended for four years for ethical misconduct. Charges included withholding evidence from defense attorneys and disobeying a judge’s orders.
Coroner’s Report: Meth, not Tasers, Killed Richard Lua
The Santa Clara County coroner’s office reports that an “astronomical” amount of methamphetamine killed a man who died in February following a violent fight with San Jose Police. When Richard Lua, 28, died following the altercation, suspicion immediately fell on the Tasers that members of the SJPD were forced to use to subdue him. Officers reported that Lua was attempting to evade arrest, and tried to grab an officer’s gun before he was stunned.
Pete Constant: Mayor, Sheriff or…What?
Speculation has run thick that San Jose will one day see a political showdown between Council rivals Sam Liccardo and Pete Constant in a race for mayor. Perhaps that’s just wishful thinking among people who can’t wait to watch the two pols go at it. But here’s a new twist. Fly just caught wind that Constant is entertaining the idea of running for Santa Clara County Sheriff instead.
San Jose Cuts Off Legal Aid
By Diane Solomon
Sylvia Soledades looks like many women you might see waiting at bus stops, serving people at fast-food counters and walking on city streets with children in strollers. Thirtysomething, her long dark hair is pulled back into a bun; she wears a loose gray sweater over jeans and neat white sneakers. She credits the Legal Aid Society of Santa Clara County for helping keep a roof over her head.
Anti-Gang Billboards Unveiled
San Jose and Santa Clara County officials today rolled out a $60,000 campaign to focus attention on the persistent gang problem in this area.
Worse Than Expected
Our County Assessor was quoted on Friday as saying the downturn in real estate values is “worse than expected,” and that more than 90,000 residential parcels will be valued at less then their purchase price. We are living through historic times, with unprecedented negative growth in real estate. That has happened in Santa Clara County only a handful of times: in 1932,1933 and1936, and again in 1978 (after Prop 13) was passed. So what does that mean, other than many depressed homeowners? Well, it means that the City of San Jose’s deficit just catapulted to $77 million.
The City Manager announced Friday that we will have an additional shortfall of $14.3M due to lower property tax revenues on top of the sales tax decline which added another $3M to the deficit. I believe we will also see a sharp fall in our TOT (hotel tax) this quarter. This means less city services starting July 1, 2009 for you. But there is more…
Moms to Tots: ‘You’re Fired!’
By Jessica Lussenhop
Families all over Santa Clara County are reportedly laying off their children in an effort to trim household expenses. An estimated 220 local kids have been laid off from their families just within the last three months, according to county reports, and more layoffs are likely on the way.
On Deck
Now that the City of Fremont has struck out, it’s San Jose’s turn at bat to try and lure the Oakland A’s to town. Or is it? Last week, A’s owner Lew Wolff asked San Jose city officials to essentially calm down, and refrain from contacting Major League Baseball about moving the A’s to San Jose. “Such contacts are not recommended,” Wolff wrote in an e-mail to San Jose’s mayor.
As everyone probably knows, the San Francisco Giants’ territorial rights to Santa Clara County stand in the way of an A’s move to San Jose. But…everyone has their price. How much do you suppose it would take for the Giants to relinquish their claim to Santa Clara County?
Democracy and Education
Are Santa Clara County School districts violating the California Voting Rights Act by holding at-large school board elections? The prima fascia answer is yes. In September, 2008 Madera County Superior Court James Oakley invalidated, in advance, the results of the November 4, 2008 Madera Unified School Board election.
Paper or Plastic? That’ll Cost You a Quarter.
Last week, I attended in the Santa Clara County Cities Association. This association has a representative from every city in Santa Clara County. In my view, a good portion of the time is spent uniting all the cities to advocate state and federal policy- makers on policies or bills that help Santa Clara county cities. At this meeting, the Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission (RWRC) of Santa Clara County presented the concept of banning plastic bags.
Measure B BART Ballot Count Continues
Will the Measure B sales tax approval for BART completion go down the tubes, like the convention center expansion did in 2002, leaving San Jose with a blue striped circus tent instead of a real building? Both measures were approved by a majority of voters, but failed to capture the two-thirds approval needed for tax measures.
This time, the margin’s even closer: four-tenths of a percent shy of the magic number at 66.27 percent, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. (2002’s Measure F won 64.8 percent of the vote.)
Measure Why?
Measure A and Measure B got me thinking…why can’t ballot measures ask voters more than one question? Think about it…why aren’t California voters presented with choices?
Measure A asks voters to approve $840 million in bonds to “prevent a state mandated shutdown of one-half of Valley Medical Center’s beds…” Santa Clara County voters are asked to spend money to bring Valley Med up to state required seismic standards. Why not dedicate the $840 million to the construction of an additional medical facility at another site?
Quality not Quantity
City Hall Diary
San Jose’s population has grown by leaps and bounds and the city has provided more housing—including both market rate and affordable housing—in Santa Clara County and the Bay Area than any other municipality. Once a city filled with orchards, San Jose is now a sprawling suburb and still growing. Although you may see open space in the city, much of it was zoned for housing 2-20 years ago and just hasn’t been built on yet.
The Last Shall Be First
Last week’s discussion of the Valley Fair/Westfield behemoth mall complex and its fleet of department stores is linked in one way to the more recent and dubious history of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Yes, they both have “fair” in their titles, but more precisely, they both offer lessons and opportunities to do a few things right in the development of key properties in our city.
Wife of Carlos the Peregrine Files For Divorce
Extra-nest Affairs and Eagle Envy Cited as Grounds
The wife of star falcon Carlos the Peregrine has filed for divorce in a Santa Clara County court on Thursday, citing alleged “extra-nest affairs” and “eagle envy” by her husband.
