The day San Jose Inside readers have been patiently waiting for has arrived. The busiest guy in town finally turned in his answers to reader questions that were submitted back in October. After detailing how a Q&A with the chief went wrong, Moore sprang into action with a 4,501-word email. Below are the questions and answers, preceded by Moore’s apology to readers for the delay. We’re sure all of you will understand.
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City Losing Patience with Occupation
In response to the ongoing Occupy San Jose protest at City Hall, the city is once again changing its stance on where protesters are allowed to camp and asking the public to stop donating food to occupiers. A memo sent Thursday by the city manager’s office to Mayor Chuck Reed and the San Jose City Council says the city has stepped up its effort to remove Occupy San Jose, which is now nearing its 50th day.
Mayor Reed is Wrong about Murder Rate
Editor’s Note: Jim Unland is a sergeant in the San Jose Police Department and vice president of the Police Officers Association. He wrote this column for San Jose Inside.
Last week the nationally renowned criminologist Chuck Reed said, “There’s nobody that seems to think that there’s a direct connection between the number of officers and the number of homicides.” However, Mayor Reed has also said that gang homicides can be prevented. Every time he says that the number of officers doesn’t matter with regards to the homicide rate, he demonstrates his ignorance as to how the San Jose PD has kept its citizens safe for so many years.
Shooting at Funeral for City-Employed Biker
For the second time in a month, a local Hells Angels member was shot to death in public. Steve Tausan, 52, was attending a funeral Saturday for the late president of the motorcycle club’s San Jose chapter, Jeffrey Pettigrew, who was killed in September in a casino shooting in Sparks, Nev. Pettigrew also worked as a city of San Jose employee.
City Hall Evacuated after Email Threat
City officials were evacuated from City Hall at 5:30pm Monday evening after an email threat was received. It’s unclear how many people were evacuated, but a spokesman for Mayor Chuck Reed said 40 to 50 city officials were standing in a particular area outside an hour after the evacuation. City officials said the threat was not directed at any particular person.
Chamber Invites Unions to the Party
While it might not signal a real truce in the endless, tedious factional conflict that is San Jose politics, the business community extended an olive branch to local unions last week. The setting was a soiree introducing Matt Mahood, the new CEO of the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The Externalities of Mental Illness
A stranger attempting to lure a three year old away from the child’s older sister with candy is odd, not to mention, bold. For the stranger to then follow the two children into their home and try to pry the younger child from her mother’s arms is unbelievable. Although this might sound like a nightmare, this scenario actually took place last week in San Jose. The stranger is a woman whom suffers from mental illness and was subsequently arrested.
Self-Inflicted Wounds
Although we are entering “road paving season” we have next to nothing for the maintenance of our 2,300 miles of road. This issue was raised at the city council meeting last week. A question was asked about issuing bonds to pay for road paving. To issue bonds you need a source of revenue, such as a tax. For example, the $300 annual parcel tax for road paving that was discussed during the Council study session last year. This parcel tax would require appproval by a two-thirds supermajority of San Jose voters.
Homicides Already Surpass 2010 Total
A 51-year-old San Jose man died from his stab wound injuries late Thursday night, bringing the total of homicide victims in San Jose this year to 21. That total is one more homicide than San Jose had in all of 2010.
POA’s Gang Shooting Report Pushes To Save Jobs From Layoffs
The Police Officers Association published a report of a weekend drive-by shooting to show why it says the public will be less safe if officers are laid off due to the city’s budget crisis
State AG Drops Hosseini Murder Case
The murder of shopkeeper Vahid Hosseini and the ensuing charges against Williams Rodriguez were a turning point in the political career of former District Attorney Dolores Carr. Now that Jeff Rosen is DA, the problem with Carr’s involvement in the case through her husband has vanished. But the State Attorney General’s office announced yesterday that it has decided to drop the case.
Quetzy’s Red Eyes
A vandal who defaced the Quetzalcoatl sculpture in Plaza de Cesar Chavez this week may have helped align the piece with the intentions of the artist who created it. The notoriously monochromatic statue of the mythological Mayan plumed serpent now looks out at the downtown San Jose skyline with red eyes aglow. That is probably closer to what the renowned sculptor Robert Graham had in mind when he conceived the artwork.
Political Parties: Election Night Part 2
Though trailing to Xavier Campos, District 5 candidate Magdalena Carrasco’s election night party was nonetheless packed with about 100 exuberant wellwishers.
Downtown San Jose councilman Sam Liccardo attempted to set a mood for the evening: “You guys took on the machine, and I know your going to win tonight!,” Liccardo shouted, to a round of applause.
Campos Clams Up
District 5 San Jose City Council candidate Xavier Campos still refuses to address any details about the two decades he spent working at the embattled Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA).
Five days after MACSA’s Youth Center on 660 Sinclair Dr. was raided by armed investigators from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office , Campos, the organization’s former chief operating officer (COO) insists through intermediaries that there’s no reason for him to address the issue.
SJPD Policy on Immigration Law Enforcement
On Sept. 2, the San Jose Police Department issued a press release that explained the department’s policy on enforcing immigration laws. “Much discussion is taking place across the country concerning what responsibility local police departments have to ensure compliance with immigration laws,” it reads. “While the San Jose Police Department stands ready to work with any law enforcement agency to pursue violent suspects, regardless of a suspect’s immigration status, the Department has a longstanding policy of not arresting persons based solely upon their failure to comply with Federal immigration laws.
Who’s to Blame for the Carnage at 10th and San Fernando?
By now, everyone knows about the awful car crash that left a 15-year-old girl dead, and members of her family injured. On July 13, after allegedly running a red light, Bernardino Cuebas sped away from a CHP cruiser, eventually colliding with another vehicle. According to reports, the 15-year-old girl was ejected from the car that Cuebas hit, and died at the hospital the next day.
