Sharing my thoughts
Since being elected to the City Council, I have written many on-line article sharing factual information and my views on City Government. There have been over 300 of these articles published. You will find the collection below:
Since being elected to the City Council, I have written many on-line article sharing factual information and my views on City Government. There have been over 300 of these articles published. You will find the collection below:
Empty Homes Tax would create an invasive new bureaucracy collecting residents’ data with little promise of revenue By: Pierluigi Oliverio Published March 15, 2024 A city only exists with tax revenues — and the collection of those taxes should be simple, streamlined and fair. Candidates for San Jose City Council are calling for a complicated, dubious and unwieldy new tax. It’s called…
Non-compliant digital media offered by organizations intentionally or unintentionally discriminates against millions of people By: Pierluigi Oliverio Published May 17, 2023 There has been substantial public discussion around equity in society. Conversations frequently focus on gender, income, race or sexual orientation. But often missing is the disabled community, which overlaps with all identified groups. There are many disability categories, but people often…
The worst days of deepfakes are likely ahead of us, potentially impacting all levels of government By: Pierluigi Oliverio Published November 12, 2022 The internet is rife with videos of famous people seemingly saying and doing unorthodox things. It may look like them or sound like them, but is it really Joe Biden, Donald Trump or Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking? No one wants…
Voters should elect candidates who prioritize security, risk mitigation and buying American By: Pierluigi Oliverio Published September 15, 2022 The bipartisan $54 billion CHIPS Act was enacted to minimize risk to the United States, with an eye toward making us less reliant on foreign manufacturing. It was passed with enthusiasm, patriotism and a healthy dose of paranoia. Over the past decades,…
Spread of misinformation and disinformation is becoming a growing threat By PIERLUIGI OLIVERIO | PUBLISHED: March 26, 2022 at 5:15 a.m. | UPDATED: March 28, 2022 at 4:54 a.m. According to Pew research, 86% of Americans get their news “often or sometimes” via the internet, while 53% consume news from social media. This is problematic and a notable change because people are clearly being manipulated…
Cities and counties suffer from siloed data as each department manages ‘work’ their own way Pierluigi Oliverio – Dec 23, 2021 Based on first-hand experience, I have found that the private sector adopts technology faster than the government. The private sector is inherently motivated to be efficient, saving money and enabling positive customer experiences. When I first started working in municipal government in…
The only immediate, viable option to eliminate homeless encampments is to use county-owned land Pierluigi Oliverio – June 11, 2021 In November 2016, Santa Clara County voters passed Measure A, a $950 million property tax increase for housing. Campaign advertisements promised the tax increase would generate 4,800 housing units in 10 years, targeting vulnerable individuals such as the chronically homeless. A recent…
Mercury News – Mar. 3, 2021 An extreme proposal is headed to the San Jose City Council in June that would allow a single-family house on your block to be demolished, without a community meeting or public hearing, and replaced with up to six housing units. Proponents would have you think that eliminating your choice to live in a single-family…
Mercury News – Dec. 4, 2020 With property tax season upon us once again, it is worth noting that many Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Cruz) willingly disclose each monetary line item on the annual property tax statements, while Santa Clara County continues to omit data, thus perpetuating the annual charade to…
Mercury News – Sept. 30, 2020 The San Jose General Plan 2040 (GP2040) is the blueprint of how San Jose will grow in the future. One of the ambitious goals of GP2040 is to achieve financial solvency for the city by balancing job growth with housing growth. For decades, San Jose has done the heavy lifting by building the majority…
Letter to the Editor, June 17th, Mercury News: The California Department of Finance is proposing civil penalties against Santa Clara County for improperly reporting student enrollment, and misallocating property tax revenues that should have gone to K-12 schools. The County was notified of the accounting error in January, and the State has requested $145 million to correct the error. But the…
Mercury News – Nov. 7, 2019 Every fall, property owners in Santa Clara County receive their annual property tax statement. The arrival of this document is highly anticipated by some (myself), and overwhelmingly dreaded by others. These statements list out various taxes and fees assessed on properties as separate line items, and then provide a grand total. My own bill…
On Aug. 13, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to initiate the process for placing yet another tax increase on the 2020 ballot. This would entail a 5/8-cent increase in the sales tax rate. For businesses and residents in San Jose, this means increasing the sales tax rate to 9.875%. Voters should recall that the county passed six…
San Jose Mercury News – July 24, 2019 Although planning for emergency preparedness may be considered boring by some, it’s one of the most fundamental services we expect from our government. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors intends on closing San Jose’s Reid-Hillview Airport, an action that will put lives at risk during the next major disaster. When I served…
San Jose Mercury News – June 26, 2019 Santa Clara County is the only local government entity responsible for helping the severely mentally ill, opioid addicts, and foster children. Yet our county government is considering spending $5 million on commissioning statues, and $125,000 for a single painting? The county does not operate a fine art museum, nor is it in the…
San Jose Mercury News – May 2, 2019 County government is the sole local government entity responsible for social welfare programs. In contrast, cities, by their very charter, deliver only a narrow set of services, such as parks, police and public works. Why then do cities often take the lead in dealing with homelessness when it is the primary responsibility of…
Back in 2014, I hosted a community viewing of the documentary film “The Paw Project.” The veterinarian-filmmaker attended the city hall event, and participated in an audience discussion. The film exposes the barbaric practice of declawing cats, and advocates for the termination of this unnecessary and harmful procedure. Declawing — which is much more aggressive than trimming fingernails and is…
Gov. Newsom proposes allocating an additional $1.75 billion for new housing. Regardless of how many tax dollars are spent, the biggest obstacle to building housing remains the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA does not discriminate, as its victims can be infill housing developments, or dedicated teacher housing. Rather than fixing CEQA, our Legislature provided exemptions for billionaires to fast-track construction…
Santa Clara County cap annual pensions at $220,000 and use proceeds to help severely mentally ill, homeless. The Los Angeles Times reported on Dec. 12 “dozens of retired Los Angeles (city) employees are collecting such generous retirement pay that they exceed pension fund limits set by the IRS, saddling taxpayers with additional costs. Their lavish pensions forced the establishment of…
In 1976, Mayor Janet Gray Hayes announced that the biggest challenge facing San Jose was the city’s jobs-housing imbalance. 42 years later, little has changed. San Jose only has .85 jobs per employed resident, while neighboring cities have as many as 3 jobs per employed resident. The number of jobs a city has directly translates into tax revenue for residents….
Regarding the recent editorial concerning our Democratic Governor’s defense of taxpayers against a lawsuit brought forward by labor unions, I say BRAVO, Governor Brown. Defending the abolishment of pension spiking is sorely needed. Presently, California has approximately $206 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. Taxpayers are on the hook for this entire amount, which will cause both near term pain and ultimately…
Santa Clara County’s annual property tax statement does not provide property owner’s itemized costs for every different assessment, such as bonds and the pension levy. Unlike our county, Alameda, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties do offer this information. I contacted the Tax Collector’s office and asked why this pertinent data was missing. It was explained to me that Santa…
Last week, Santa Clara County Supervisors voted to demolish a vacant building and build a surface parking lot rather than allow John Sobrato and Jim Salata to remodel it in order to shelter homeless individuals. However, out of this unfortunate result comes a potential victory, since verbal commitments were made to build low-income housing at this site in the future….
Residents at the Aug. 31 San Jose law enforcement town hall expressed a strong desire for a larger police force. While this would be nice, there’s no easy way to fund such an expansion. City leaders stated that the only way to do so would be with a substantial tax increase, deep cuts to other city departments, or massive commercial…
In response to the July 15 letter by Darlene Brennan stating that I cheerfully gutted the San Jose Police Department (“Oliverio reaped what he sowed in election”), I offer the following information. During my 10 years on the San Jose City Council, I served during both the Great Recession, and at a time when annual pension payments substantially surpassed all property…
On June 5, San Jose voted soundly against urban sprawl and instead stayed the course in favor of high density housing within the city core and along mass transit. This is not only good for the environment but also for the financial stability of our city. The defeat of Measure B and the victory of Measure C was in part…
(Mercury News 9/26/17) State legislation AB1250 would negatively impact Santa Clara County. It would not only increase the cost of county government unnecessarily, but would also inflict harm on our most vulnerable residents. Fortunately for taxpayers and recipients of county services, the bill stalled this month , but will likely be reconsidered in January. Passage would remove the flexibility of county government…
The new concept designs for St James Park are beautiful, but there’s no money to implement these proposals. The city council voted to channel 100 percent of all park fees from new downtown housing to St. James Park, and it still won’t cover the renovation (I voted against this). Instead, I would like to see the city outsource park maintenance…
When I ran for city council ten years ago, I campaigned on providing 401K retirements programs instead of pension plans for new city employees. Coming from the private sector, where companies have largely abandoned pension plans in favor of 401K’s, this seemed fiscally pragmatic. Then and now, public pension systems are costly and unsustainable. Costly, in that tax revenue spent…
San Jose should retain child pornography unit San Jose has long debated asking for help from other law enforcement agencies as a way to augment patrol staffing. This is not a new idea, as approximately 200 cities in California contract with another law enforcement agency. Unfortunately, the city council action Tuesday will remove staffing from the child pornography unit. Given…
The law is very clear in California: It is the responsibility of county governments to provide advanced life support services for residents. However, in San Jose, it is the city (specifically, the San Jose Fire Department) rather than the county that provides this vital service. San Jose taxpayers shoulder the burden of paying the overwhelming majority of the price tag…
The article “Outcry ensues over frail police communication network in wake of officer shooting” (Page 1A, March 28) is a sad but timely example of why the City of San Jose should and must have a laser-like focus on providing the essential services that are actually listed in the city charter. The proposed budget for next fiscal year creates a…
– Taisia McMahon & Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio – Special to the Mercury News Behind Mr. T’s liquor store on Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen is a former Union Pacific Railroad structure referred to as the trestle. The trestle first disrupted the Los Gatos Creek over a half-century ago when the railroad company, with no regard for the environment, inserted 95 chemically…
Growing up in Willow Glen, I have long heard people discuss how many vehicle lanes there should be on Lincoln Avenue. For some, the ideal would be to reduce vehicle traffic from four lanes to two, with the potential to add a middle turning lane or bike lanes. In doing so, we would be emulating other cities such as Campbell,…
Parents of All Political Stripes Agree The Sunday Internal Affairs column listed an incorrect dollar amount regarding the costs associated with implementing software restricting access to pornography on the children’s computers in our libraries. To be clear, there are three sets of computers in libraries: adults’, teenagers’, and children’s. Back in 2009, the cost to implement porn filters for both…
In my conversations with commercial developers, business owners, and those that would simply like to see more high-quality jobs, the most common complaint is that San Jose is a difficult city for conducting business. Our permit process is cumbersome, approval periods are unnecessarily long, and the amount of risk assumed by developers it too great. This is nothing new. Time…
Every election campaign is the same. Same big money from out of town, same special interest groups, and the same variety of falsehoods that range from the amusing to the absurd. The election for Mayor of San Jose will bring much of the same, and candidates will promise the world on a silver platter, and have you believe that they…
Recently much has been said about the next San Jose mayor becoming an “Education Mayor.” It is easy to make public statements that play upon parents with school-age children during an election year, but the fact remains that the city has absolutely no control over public schools. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Section 1400 of the San Jose city charter lays out…
The front-page article about “reuse” staffing a community centers in the Dec 13 issue of the The Resident, indicated that I was the only vote opposed to the return of the facilities being run by the city. However, the article did not explain the cost savings we are walking away from by doing this, and thus why I voted no….
A recent discussion within our community has focused on building even more single-family homes in areas that are reserved for jobs or fall outside of the urban service area. The proposal would allow those who convert industrial land to pay a fee per housing unit created. Those dollars would then be used to purchase open space in Coyote Valley. Although this idea…
The current county policy, which shields illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes, defies common sense. When the federal government wishes to detain and potentially deport violent criminals, local government should not stand in the way. Rather than protecting violent criminals, we should focus on preventing heinous crimes such as the tragic murder of Martha Casillas (Mother of two) who was…
The San Jose Environmental Innovation Center (EIC) has been in the news a lot recently, due to the fact that it is $1.6 million over budget and six months behind schedule. This project was always risky, as it utilized complicated tax credits that expose the general fund—the guarantor of the project—to future risk. During my tenure as a San Jose councilmember, I have…
For some time now, I have wanted to see Shakespeare performed outdoors in San Jose. I have had the opportunity to see outdoor Shakespeare performances as far away as Ashland, Ore., and as close by as Los Gatos, Santa Cruz and Saratoga. In every instance, it was a great time. Each time I thought this type of event would be nice…
The city of San Jose should put a hold on hiring firefighters until the firefighter union accepts a lower cost, second-tier pension plan for new employees. This would achieve cost savings and keep the city on a fiscally responsible path. Doing so would allow us to dedicate more funds to hiring police officers. My prior work experience before joining the City Council was in…
There was a brief mention in Sunday’s Mercury News about the HP grant funds that are allocated by elected officials in San Jose. I thought that I would take a more in-depth look into the topic by sharing my perspective and providing greater information regarding my allocations. Each fiscal year, councilmembers are allocated $20,000 that can be utilized to provide grants to…
. When the San Jose Arena first opened in 1993, I remember standing in a long line in order to apply for a job. Several friends who were also keen to work at the impressive new venue accompanied me. We thought it would be great to work in this facility. At the time, with the benefit of 22 years of wisdom, we…
Dear Netflix, Congratulations on your company’s success in the marketplace. Your first-to-market strategy, technology and service offerings have made Netflix a well respected global brand. Netflix has not only created millions of satisfied customers, but your success has also generated substantial wealth for shareholders, employees and their respective families. Netflix has also increased tax revenue to government, whether by capital gains…
Last month, I wrote about West San Carlos Street as one of the major boulevards in San Jose. West San Carlos is the strategic link between our city’s downtown and the Santana Row/Valley Fair area. A major parcel on West San Carlos is the site of the former Fiesta Lanes bowling alley and retail/auto center. The City Council voted this month to remove the final…
The economic viability of San Jose’ airport (SJC) is in a precarious position. Bond payments are now due for the $1.7 billion dollar airport expansion, and, ultimately, the payment could fall to the general fund if airport revenue cannot cover what is owed. In order to avoid a bailout by tapping into the general fund, it is important to run…
Today represents the unfortunate five-year anniversary of a very painful situation for the city of San Jose. As reported previously in the San Jose Mercury News, 2008 was the year city officials terminated, or at least tried to terminate, a firefighter on charges of sexual harassment against female co-workers. The firefighter plead guilty to the District Attorney for assault towards…
Last week, I participated as the alternate for Mayor Chuck Reed on the oversight board for the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency (SARA). The primary focus of the meeting concerned the approval of a one-year extension to the existing Letter of Credit (LOC) with JP Morgan bank. This extension had already been passed by the City Council, but it was still up…
San Jose has spent approximately $1 billion on affordable housing, which has produced tens of thousands of units being built within our city limits. The city has always done more than its fair share in this area. In fact, San Jose has carried the region—to its own economic detriment—by shouldering most of the affordable housing needs, resulting in fewer jobs….
The day begins like any other in beautiful Silicon Valley: children are on their way to school, commuters are stuck in traffic, etc. Our carefree existence then suddenly gives way to a terrorist attack at a high-profile technology company. People are killed, injured, power is out, phone service is down, and a pursuit is underway for those who have set…
San Carlos (WSC), with its cool vibe and eclectic mix of businesses, is not only a destination in-and-of itself, but it also plays a pivotal role linking downtown San Jose and Santana Row. This area also happens to fall within both the city and county jurisdictions. This dual jurisdiction has historically thwarted development, and has made consistent code enforcement difficult….
The new minimum wage law, Measure D, will take effect March 11, 2013. The increase in pay to $10 per hour represents a 38 percent increase, when including employer matching payroll taxes. Back in November, the voters overwhelmingly supported Measure D. Many business owners I have spoken with plan to cover the increase in payroll costs by raising prices, reducing the…
Note: This is Pierluigi Oliverio’s 300th Post: Negotiations between the city of San Jose and the Police Officers Association continue to be contentious. (Photo by Thomas Hawk). Our goals for law enforcement in San Jose must be based on need and the amount of tax revenues on hand. As Gov. Jerry Brown stated last month, “People want to have more childcare, they…
Neighborhood Watch programs serve as one tool for communities to combat gangs. (Photo by hsivonen, via Flickr) The Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force held its fifth annual community summit Saturday, and more than a hundred San Jose residents were in attendance. This task force started in 1993, spanning the terms of three mayors, three district attorneys and five police chiefs. The Department…
San Jose’s elected officials recently discussed options on how it should manage billing for its garbage services, with some councilmembers arguing that they thought residents should pay higher rates without offering new services. When it comes the garbage services, residents have two simple requests: 1. Pick up the garbage every week in a reliable manner; 2. Do it in the…
My parents were not born in the USA. Both emigrated to America from Italy when they were adults. For approximately 10 years, my family lived in an apartment on Willow Street in the largely immigrant neighborhood that has been known by many names over the years, depending on who you asked: Washington, Sacred Heart, Goosetown. My parents, both career teachers,…
A proposed softball complex could generate revenue for the city of San Jose, or it could be a liability for the general fund. (Photo by Laura Padgett, via Flickr) The City Council ended 2012 with a vote supporting the exploration of building a new softball complex at either the former Singleton Landfill site or at the County Fairgrounds. The Singleton…
The city reached a deal with Jose Theater to extend the lease of the property, home to comedy club The Improv, for another 10 years. But a different item discussed at last week’s Oversight Board meeting could have a huge impact on the city’s upcoming budget. Many of the historic buildings in the downtown area were purchased, renovated and brought…
All Nippon Airways (ANA) hosted a reception last week in honor of a new direct flight from San Jose to Tokyo. The inaugural flight is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2013. ANA will also offer connecting flights to 22 cities worldwide. This is good news for SJC, because the new connection will create a positive economic ripple effect for San Jose…
Planning departments across the USA commonly create “specific plans” and/or “master plans” for certain streets and neighborhoods within a city. San Jose, not unlike other cities, has many of these same plans. These plans tend to have colorful illustrations depicting what life in the future would be like, and almost always seem to be utopian in nature: happy residents walking…
Tonight marks the start of another series of community meetings designed to garner input about a prospective Police Chief. The city of San Jose conducted a nationwide search for a police chief less than two years ago, which ultimately yielded limited interest and few qualified applicants. The city spent an exorbitant amount of money and time on this effort. I wrote…
The City Council had a study session last week devoted to affordable housing. The session covered how San Jose could build more affordable housing, even though it has already publicly funded and completed roughly 21,000 such units in years past and has 1,500 additional units currently in the pipeline. As a point of comparison, other cities have done little during…
The new, privately developed Willow Glen Town Square held its grand opening party Saturday. The event was well attended by happy residents, eager business owners, loyal patrons, and other local well-wishers who came to celebrate this wonderful new addition to our community. This well-planned development replaced a liquor store and non-optimized parking lot with a three-story office and retail complex…
If you are like the majority of San Jose residents, you probably work during the day and/or are involved in a child’s education at school/home. Your ability to attend a daytime San Jose City Council meeting is limited. The council conducts the overwhelming majority of its business during the day. This includes voting on matters that directly affect our lives, such as law enforcement,…
I remember making minimum wage, $3.35 per hour, when I worked at Burger King during high school. Most of my coworkers were high school students, college students and very few were adults. Prior to my job at Burger King, I had a paper route that, according to my memory, netted out to less than minimum wage. In the case of the…
The San Jose City Council met last week to discuss and prioritize certain ordinances the city should pursue in the coming year. Creating an ordinance requires staff time from the department that the ordinance will affect and, as always, time from the City Attorney’s office. In many cases, outreach for ordinances must be done to garner resident and stakeholder input…
Last week, I hosted a community discussion on identity theft. Our expert that evening was the Director of the Identity Theft Council. The meeting was filled with shock, drama and some hope at the end. The stats are brutal: 1 million people are victims of identity theft each month in the USA. If we only look at property crimes in…
Woody Allen had a theory on success. He said most of the hard work was just by showing up. (Photo by rasdourian, via Flickr) Tuesday is the day that councilmembers reserve for City Council meetings.Closed session council meetings start at 9-9:30am and often continue past noon. The public council session starts at 1:30pm, often merging into the evening session with a…
For over 10 years, San Jose has been struggling with implementing a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). HCP is a regulation imposed by the Federal government to restore natural habitats and preserve wildlife, like the spot checkered butterfly and the burrowing owl. HCP is an unfunded mandate from the Federal government levied on local government. Federal agencies are not big on waivers…
San Jose Municipal Code Section 8.12 authorizes the use of the PoliceReserves. Although the Reserves are available, the city is not utilizing their full potential. Use of the Reserve officers could offer valuable assistance to the city because they are fully sworn and have the authority of a regular officer under California Penal Code Section 832.6(a). Reserves have already completed the…
Arts and Culture are words used quite often to describe the vibrancy of cities; particularly big cities looking to attract business, tourists and new residents. City folk have enjoyed arts and culture entertainment for centuries, which has been funded both privately and publicly. It is not uncommon for people to travel out of state and even internationally for festivals that explore…
Picture a corn field with a farmer shucking corn by hand. His focus is on shucking the corn and he does it very well. However, this farmer can only do so much in a day and thus is provided an opportunity to assemble farm equipment which will shuck more corn than present resources allow. However, to do so will mean…
When I was a kid, I would watch the old 1950’s show, The Honeymooners. I remember one scene where the main characters, Ralph and Ed, were talking about future vocations for their children. Ralph spoke about his child going to college, while Ed said—if he had a boy—that he would get him a job working with him side by side…
Last week, Mayor Reed and the majority of the City Council attended the ribbon cutting for the world’s largest material processing facility in San Jose. Well, it was not actually a ribbon cutting. Instead, we all threw a recyclable object into a recycling bin, but it did the trick. After the ceremonial acknowledgments, I stayed to tour of the facility,…
Ten years since it opened, Santana Row remains a premiere destination and tax revenue jackpot for San Jose. Santana Row will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year. It has provided a new destination for Bay Area residents as well as additional tax revenue for San Jose. Santana Row is a unique place that draws people from outside of San Jose and…
At the upcoming Aug. 7 City Council meeting, the discussion will focus on how to prioritize city spending IF revenues increase. So, in the example below, if revenues increase by $10 million—either by revenue growth or tax increase—this is how I think it should be spent by percentage. We will still be spending money on all of the city services…
On Mar. 9, 2009, I wrote about homeless encampments in San Jose. At that time, I shadowed police and social workers on five different occasions. They went out to relocate the homeless and clean up property they were occupying. On July 25, 2011, I wrote about mental illness and how deinstitualization has in part contributed to an increased homeless population: Most recently, the homeless…
As a councilmember, I interact with many different people on a regular basis and have a chance to observe the different stages of life. One day I might meet a newly engaged couple and, behold, they are married with kids who attend the local elementary school. Or it could be a young family and the next thing I know I…
I recently attended funerals for individuals who were older than 90 and 100 years old. As usually done at funerals, family and friends shared stories about the deceased. One theme that emerged at both funerals was that the older generations were more frugal. Shaped by the depression, they spent less than they made and had no expectations for assistance. At the…
Do you remember the childhood story about a Troll under a bridge who threatens to block passage and eat the three Billy Goats Gruff? Well, this is similar to the county of Santa Clara and the city of San Jose. The county government as a whole, was never a fan of the Redevelopment Agency, as RDA had the long-term potential of…
Last week, the City Council spent nearly two hours discussing the development of four new recreational soccer fields that would be located next to the new San Jose Earthquakes soccer stadium by Lowe’s and In & Out Burger on Coleman Avenue. The soccer fields were a specific line item under Measure P, which voters passed in November 2000. The larger parcel was purchased in…
The topic of government providing transportation to seniors came up during our budget study sessions. Combined, the city and county currently provide a senior lunch program. The discussion was around the cost and value of increasing services like transportation to receive this lunch service. Like many cities, San Jose has facilities that serve residents, such as community centers, libraries and…
It is time to announce the awards for best actor and best actress in local government for the “Pension Reform in Name Only” category. Best Actress Award: Nancy Pyle I have watched Nancy Pyle read from a prepared script time and time again, speaking for and against pension reform. But, from my perspective, she supported any roadblock in the way…
I wrote an prior blog describing how I felt the initiative process will become the norm for San Jose and that seems to be the case. The threshold to gather signatures is obviously attainable, which can be attributed to the work and funding of organized groups. San Jose has four signature drives completed or in the process of finishing in the last…
Last year, I wrote about a parcel of land that was converted from commercial zoning to residential by my council colleagues … some of whom are “friendly” with a certain lobbyist. Many believe this parcel was converted as a “quid pro quo” so AT&T would sell their land for a potential baseball stadium. I opposed this rezoning since I wanted…
Some people have called the fact that San Jose will have 9 million dollars more than anticipated a “surplus.” Having this money will allow the city to avoid layoffs and add funding for libraries, as well as anti-gang programs this coming fiscal year. The mayor has called it a 1-percent cushion, because this money came about from last year’s budget action…
The now “famous” deadlocked 5-to-5 vote last week, regarding whether or not to move forward with a second-tier retirement system for new employees, was fascinating to watch but extremely disappointing in the end. Sixteen months ago, 74 percent of San Jose voters approved of the city adopting a second tier for pensions. One could feel the shock in the chambers when half the…
I predict going forward that groups sponsoring ballot initiatives will be a constant part of the political landscape in San Jose, similar to the outside funding of planning department ordinances by third parties to move forward on regulations. The minimum wage initiative recently gathered and submitted the required signatures last week, and action will be taken at the May 22 City Council…
We all have an impact on the sewer system and our waste must go somewhere to be treated. Miles upon miles of pipe transport and maintain our civilization and virtually eliminates outbreaks of typhoid and cholera. As some have said, “No pipes, no civilization.” Our sewer system is financed through fees on our property taxes, which pay for this mostly unseen infrastructure….
The “victory” claimed by certain union members by suing the city over the word “reform”—as in “pension reform,” known as Measure B for the June ballot measure—may have actually jeopardized a future tax increase to fund their own jobs. The removal of the wording, “essential city services including neighborhood police patrols, fire stations, libraries, community centers, streets and parks,” was included in…
As we know, health care costs are escalating at double-digit rates. The continuous high costs are a burden to the self-insured, businesses and government. In San Jose, we have an unfunded health care liability of approximately $1.5 billion. The City of Stockton has been in the news for starting the process of bankruptcy under AB506, and much of their plight is…
The city’s General Fund is not legally obligated to pay an airport expense or debt service payments.However, the City Council has discretion over the allocation of general fund monies in general, and may approve an allocation of general fund monies for airport expenditures. This includes payment of debt service. The allocation of general fund resources to the airport would be a policy…
Last week, I attended the Oversight Board for the Successor Redevelopment Agency public meeting. One person who watched the meeting said it was “like viewing the reading of a will.” That was a fair analogy. In the case of thedeceased RDA (56 years old), the deceased had property it owns but comes accompanied with liens from the County and JP Morgan. The deceased…
A citizens signature drive is underway to secure a certain percentage of the budget for our libraries. This would replace the library parcel tax set to expire in 2014. If enough signatures are collected, the measure could be placed on the ballot in November. Single-issue advocacy may come at the cost of something else. However, setting aside a specific percentage of…
During my tenure on the City Council, I have viewed the labor negotiation process between city staff and labor representatives, who meet behind closed doors, as simply maddening. Due to the closed door nature of the meetings, it is clear that not enough information is shared with the public, employees, retirees and council members. Although the City does a good…
Despite a lack of funding as well as handling animal shelter duties for several neighboring communities, the city of San Jose’s Animal Care & Services department is placing more stray cats and dogs with owners than at any other time. The city of San Jose’s Department of Animal Care & Services is the place to seek out regarding all things…
I had some calls last week on the topic of pensions and the June ballot measure. Several people were under the impression that San Jose will eliminate pensions altogether, which is not the case. Other callers wanted toreplace the current system with a 401K-type benefit. One person was against any change to the pension system, even for new employees. They…
Last week, the council discussed a poll of residents/likely voters regarding their views about tax increases. The majority of the Council appears to be considering a June ballot measure for a tax increase. Since the poll respondents are anonymous and nearly everyone on this blog is anonymous, I thought I would ask the question: Which tax do you want? How much…
Last Friday, Joint Venture Silicon Valley (JVSV) hosted its annual State of the Valley. I was one of the 1,000 people in attendance at the convention center. JVSV started in 1993, during a recession, to promote economic growth through public-private partnerships. Several demographic statistics were pointed out during the presentation representing Silicon Valley, including Santa Clara and San Mateo counties: — 37 percent…
For this weeks blog, I am continuing the discussion about providing a fixed percentage of the budget towards police. A nickname for this might be, “We Get, You Get.” The name refers to when the aggregate budget grows, then funding for the most critical service a city can provide—police—would grow. (Providing a sewer system is a close second for the…
Elected officials come and go, and with that so do certain priorities. It seems that with every budget cycle, certain departments have to prove their worth and their existence. For example, San Jose spends less than half (as a percentage of budget) on information technology (IT) than other cities its size. Strategic investments in IT have the potential to improve…
With the passage of Senate Bill 654 (SB654), authored by Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg, cities in California would retain Redevelopment Agency’s (RDA) tax increment financing to build more affordable housing. The entire Legislature is set to vote on the bill. As we know, the Supreme Court terminated the RDA tax increment statewide. One major reason behind Gov. Jerry…
Last week I attended a disturbing meeting. Not a City Council meeting or a committee meeting but rather a meeting with law enforcement on child pornography. I did not know what to expect. The Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children (SVICAC) is responsible for investigating cases of web-facilitated child pornography and cases of child sexual exploitation or abuse that results…
As you may have heard, last month the California Supreme Court terminated all Redevelopment Agencies (RDA) in California. As a result, they will be dissolved by Feb. 1, 2012. The first step is for each RDA to form a “Successor Agency.” This agency will enforce any and all obligations and agreements that are currently in place. In addition, it will…
Due to flat tax revenues and escalating pension costs, the city of San Jose has been forced to cut library hours year after year as well as make million dollar sacrifices in all other city departments. Even with all of the eliminations, San Jose continues to have a budget deficit. The current direction for the Library Department for fiscal year…
Last week, the City Council made a change to suspend two construction taxes for a limited time in an attempt to encourage commercial property owners to provide improvements for their existing buildings. The hope is that if owners can improve their buildings at a lower cost, they may find tenants—which is a win for them and for San Jose. Providing…
Last year, Mayor Reed’s budget, which most of the councilmembers supported, gave warning to the city-funded “Art” groups that they would no longer receive funding from the city starting on July 1, 2012. As we know, the budget deficit continues. Many of the art groups are in facilities partially or fully built by the Redevelopment Agency (RDA). These include the…
In a quest for even more affordable housing in San Jose, the City Council voted 10-1 to amend the North San Jose Area Development Policy. I voted no. San Jose, known for its propensity to approve 99 percent of proposed housing developments, continues to go down the same road. North San Jose is a Redevelopment Agency (RDA) zone, and any…
The sick leave payout perk was something that the current City Council inherited from a prior council. Although once considered a nice perk, if the city continues this trend without any change it will continue further on a downward spiral of spending money it does not have. If the City froze all sick leave payouts today, it would still have…
The City has been grappling with proposed changes to Title 16 for over two years. Title 16 covers the regulations of card rooms. The 125-page document reads like a novel. Although the State of California oversees gambling facilities, San Jose has it’s own regulations for two gambling facilities, which are Bay 101 and Garden City. Some say this is duplicitous…
Ensuring that cars travel slowly near schools should be a priority for San Jose. Local governments should embrace tools that make streets safer for pedestrians, especially when those pedestrians are overwhelming children walking and biking to and from school. In 2008, Assembly Bill 321 (AB321) was signed into law with support from the national organization, Safe Routes to School. AB321…
There are some topics that are difficult to talk candidly about, let along think about, among our family and friends. One of them is discussing our eventual death and the specifics that accompany end of life. Issues like a will, trust, medical power of attorney and funeral preparations are sensitive things to prepare for but prudent to do while we…
Tomorrow, the City Council will adopt the 2040 General Plan (GP2040), which charts the growth of San Jose for the next 30 years. The Task Force, of which I am a member, met for over four years and held over 60 public meetings. In hindsight, the GP2040 could have been done sooner, however, the scope was too broad at the…
The 2006 San Jose City Council unanimously approved a $2 million loan to the San Jose Repertory Theater, fondly known as The Rep. On Tuesday, the 2011 City Council will consider modifying this loan. The Rep has made progress in getting out of the red and into the black by reducing staff, designing less expensive sets, shorter show runs and…
Some people have called the fact that San Jose will have 9 million dollars more than anticipated a “surplus.” Having this money will allow the city to avoid layoffs and add funding for libraries, as well as anti-gang programs this coming fiscal year. The mayor has called it a 1-percent cushion, because this money came about from last year’s budget…
I was recently approached in my district by a married couple who told me that they hold “very liberal” perspectives on political matters, with the exception of pensions. When it comes to that topic, they said, they are in line with Rush Limbaugh. It is evident to me that whatever degree of pension reform is put on the ballot—and, yes,…
At the Rules Committee last week, we voted 4-0 not to pursue an audit of the incubator program that was started in 1994. Instead, we decided to stay with the current work plan that includes an audit of the Environmental Services Department. Incubators are located all over the country. They are backed by cities, universities, foundations and venture capitalists. Cities…
Rails to Trails is a term for the conversion of obsolete rail lines into recreational trails. This has been done all over the United States. Railroad lines provide unique and scenic routes through cities. These trails lend themselves to both recreation and transportation that is not dependent on gas. Railroad lines are abandoned for a variety of reasons, like major…
The current form of government in San Jose is a city manager form of government. I have encountered many residents who find this confusing. Many residents believe that the mayor is the boss, which is not the case in San Jose. The distinction in a city manager form of government is that a career administrator implements policy from the elected…
It is clear that the budget deficit this year and in future years cannot be solved only by pension reform. Even if the city stopped matching the employee contributions at the current rate of 250 percent to the average employer match on a 401K of 3-6 percent, taxpayers would still have a multi-billion dollar unfunded liability from commitments to current…
A small ceremony was held on Saturday with little fanfare, but it was big on Americana style. An eagle scout was honored for his project that constructed a new sign at the Willow Glen Community Center. A new sign had been planned for awhile, but it was put on the back burner to instead paint over the prior decade-old paint…
San Jose residents have been heading south to Family Camp, located not far from Yosemite, for more than 30 years. Did you go camping over the three-day weekend? Camping is a time to enjoy nature and the adventure of the great outdoors. Last week, I attended a community meeting about San Jose Family Camp. There were approximately 25 residents who…
The San Jose Redevelopment Agency’s financial obligations were discussed and voted on last week. The final chapter of RDA will be decided by the State Supreme court sometime before Jan. 15, 2012. Should RDA ultimately end, the state wants to know all of the enforceable obligations. Everything needs to be listed, from bond to lines of credit to legally binding…
When I read or hear an economic report about building permits, housing prices, consumer spending, jobless claims, GDP, inflation, stock prices, etc., it always leaves me wondering: What does this data mean to a city? Well, based on current numbers, San Jose shouldn’t expect any significant increase of our No. 1 revenue source, property tax, for several years. Property values…
SolFocus, which manufactures innovative photovoltaic systems, moved its headquarters and 100 employees to San Jose. Increasing the tax base helps government provide services at levels that meet most residents’ expectations. At the national level it’s clearly impossible to grow the economy to pay off the national debt. At the state level, the current rate of economic growth is unlikely to…
Orquestra de Moderna performing at Plaza de Cesar Chavez during last year’s Jazzfest. Photo courtesy Chip Chapin. Downtown San Jose will be celebrating 22 years of the San Jose Jazz Festival over three days beginning this Friday. Music festivals are held all over the world and provide the unique experience of bringing musicians from across the globe to perform in…
City parks like San Jose’s Municipal Rose Garden make neighborhoods more livable and homes more valuable. Glenn Franco Simmons photo. About twice a month, I get an inquiry from someone who is considering purchasing a home in my council district. I think it is good idea as it shows they are doing their due diligence. Councilmembers are often the conduit…
Santa Clara’s Agnews State Hospital served mentally ill patients from 1885 until 1977, when it was closed following the passage of the Lanterman Act. 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…
Last week, “the Feds” visited Pioneer High School to present an initiative collaborating with cities to prevent a terrorist action. They distributed a brochure titled “Building Communities of Trust.” The Feds included the Department of Justice and the FBI. I attended to hear first-hand the details and the comments from attendees that were assembled. Most of the attendees represented various…
At the June 21 Council meeting, a city employee (who was about to be laid off) spoke during the open forum section of the meeting. “Thank you Mayor and Council. My name Michael Medlin. I am a resident of District 4. I quickly wanted to thank the City for the opportunity of working at city hall for the past 5.5…
Back in July 1776, the Continental Congress voted to declare independence from England and adopt the Declaration of Independence. However, there were several votes before the final vote that were not unanimous as some colonies voted no or chose to abstain. Voting is an opportunity not everyone across the globe is afforded. We know that in close elections every vote…
San Jose’s old City Hall was given to the County of Santa Clara to settle a debt, under the threat of a lawsuit, at a time when both municipalities were experiencing serious financial stress. As I have shared in prior blogs, issues that are discussed in closed session meetings are suppose to remain confidential until the City Attorney reports out…
A new Grand Jury report says San Jose routinely over-deploys firetrucks, and suggests changes to current rules mandating four firefighters on every call. In the past, I have written about how fire services are deployed in San Jose with an emphasis on the data that shows the overwhelming ratio of medical calls to actual fires. In addition, I have shared…
Last week, the Council emerged out of closed session directing staff to communicate and negotiate with the unions regarding the possibility of a ballot measure and pension reform. The goal is to combine these two topics and create/work within a timeframe if possible. For savings to occur, it is important to have something fully implemented prior to next year’s budget….
Inviting volunteers to staff some city-financed programs in San Jose’s libraries would allow more libraries to stay open longer. Last week I featured some of the budget memos I submitted to the mayor. Here are the rest that I submitted. Budget memos are only allowed to be signed by one councilmember. Doing things differently in some areas means we can…
Last week was the deadline for councilmembers to submit their input in writing to the mayor. Budget memos are only allowed to be signed by one councilmember. Here are some of the budget memos I submitted: Outsource Park Maintenance In 2007, I proposed a pilot program specifically to outsource park maintenance at the Rose Garden Park. At that time, my…
On Tuesday the Council will discuss the fiscal reform proposals that Mayor Reed has researched and constructed. It will not be not an ordinary city council meeting but instead a major discussion being held in big cities across the country. Last week, the Council had a study session regarding the City’s retirement system. From my view, the presentation given by…
The City of San Jose did not need to go to voters before issuing a bond to purchase the Hayes Mansion, but it would need supermajority approval before issuing a road-paving bond. 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…
The Council last week made the second SERAF payment to the state. SERAF is where the State raided all RDA coffers in California—again—in our case taking $75 million from San Jose. The state allows payment of the SERAF to come from the housing department if a city chooses to do so. This second payment of $13 million is due this…
The saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” can be said for the City of San Jose’s closed session meetings. In a prior blog, I wrote about what I could of closed sessions called The Mystery of Closed Sessions. Closed session attendees sign a paper with legal verbiage at each meeting signifying the importance of confidential information shared at the…
The water treatment plant in Alviso will soon be able to make wastewater potable. Robert Dawson photo. Last week, the City Council moved forward with an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the water pollution control plant often referred to verbally as “weepeeceepee” (WPCP). The plant and the land are jointly owned by San Jose and the City of Santa Clara….
Graffiti abatement in San Jose costs the Parks & Rec department $1.7 million per year. Local residents occasionally chip in to help. I attended the District 5 (D5) community budget meeting last week—it was the third D5 community budget meeting I’ve attended. Approximately 50 people were there, with the majority being city employees. Many of the speakers shared emotional testimonials….
The citywide Community Budget meetings started last week with the city manager and other city department heads in attendance to answer questions. Ten public meetings will be held with one meeting in each Council district. This first meeting was held in District 2 with approximately 100 people in attendance. From my perspective of recognizing faces, listening to questions and subsequent…
In society we have chosen to give up some of our liberty or ability to do anything we want for the the trade off of having more opportunity under law. If we do not like the rules of society than we can move away to a remote mountain and have more freedom, but one would give up certain benefits we…
San Jose’s Fire Station 6 was put on the chopping block in 2008. Last week the council took up the firefighters union contract with more than 100 firefighters in attendance. I thought I would share why I voted no. First, I think it is clear that if you have worked in city government over the years that things are drastically…
The vote on the convention center has been covered extensively, but a resident I spoke to asked me to please share my view on San Jose Inside. As we know, the Council vote was unanimous in supporting the renovation and expansion. Although I cannot speak for my colleagues, I would say there were four major constituencies who advocated for the…
The 2010 Census data came out and the good news, from my perspective, is the population of San Jose is not one million people but instead 945,942. However, I am told there is under-counting as some residents do not want to be counted. Our population growth rate has slowed to 5.7 percent as opposed to 37 percent in the 1970’s….
After much discussion at the City Council meeting last week the Council voted in favor of having city staff study performance as a criteria when it comes to employee layoffs. The review will determine if the City should include job performance when considering layoffs, or keep the current system in place, which is based solely on seniority. Due to budget…
In past blogs I have expressed my concern about the cost to our city of too much housing. Specifically, housing that does not pay its own share of revenue. One example I have pointed out—and constantly been the lone vote against—is affordable housing. We run the daily operations of our city with tax revenue. The city does not write paychecks…
Sick leave payouts are part of the City of San Jose budget deficit problem. These payouts do not discriminate; every employee including management accrues sick leave, and if employed with the City long enough, will be eligible for sick leave payout when they retiree. One exception is that councilmembers do not accrue sick leave. The City of San Jose has…
The Budget Valentine will be visiting with the Council today at 1:30pm. The Council is having a public study session that will be streamed on the Internet and broadcast on Channel 26. This meeting will include discussion of what cuts will be required based on the budget shortfall. The budget is assuming that each union agrees to 10 percent total…
In my opinion, the Council made two great investments two weeks ago for our tax base and jobs. The Council provided $500,000 of Redevelopment Agency (RDA) funds each to Sunpower and Maxim, totaling a one million dollar investment for economic development. These two companies compete globally, therefore they could have chosen any other location in the world. Maxim, a billion-dollar…
As you may remember, two weeks ago I shared that the City of San Jose contracted with a public opinion organization to conduct a telephone poll of 1,000 residents. These residents were asked survey questions from Jan. 13 to Jan .17. In comparison to my web survey, the City did a “scientific survey” which means they called men and women…
It is pretty common to hear from residents, when discussing our City budget: “But i pay my property taxes.” As I have covered before on a prior blog post, your property tax bill does not flow 100 percent to the City. Much of it is taken by the school districts, County, community colleges and special districts. (This does not include…
The City of San Jose contracted with a public opinion organization to conduct a telephone poll of 1,000 San Jose residents. Residents will be asked survey questions about the budget and city services from Jan 13 to Jan 17. The results of the phone survey will be shared in February. Please note I received a draft of the survey and…
The City of San Jose has adopted Civil Service Rules that state what is and what is not allowed in regards to employment. The City Charter allows for changes to Civil Service Rules by a Council vote, and does not necessarily require a city-wide election. SECTION 1103. Civil Service Rules; Manner of Adoption. Civil Service Rules for the Classified Service…
More than a year ago, the San Jose City Council was presented with renewing its Microsoft desktop licenses. This can be an expensive line item. We have spent over seven figures in the past for licensing alone on this item. I thought to myself, and later spoke at the Council meeting, that there is no real competition for this purchase…
San Jose is currently looking to find a Director of Economic Development. As The City embarks on this search, what qualities do you feel this person should have? Should they have a background of some particular flavor like commercial real estate, a housing developer, former elected official, lobbyist, economist, academic, small business, large business, tech background, etc? Should they be…
Last year, the council was faced with cutting the aquatics program down from ten pools to two due to the budget deficit. Stuck between a rock and a hard place the council invoked the “Unique Service Purchase” clause. 4.12.235 Unique services purchases. The procurement authority may initiate a procurement for unique professional or other services where the procurement authority determines…
Tax Base Erosion Night lived up to its name last Tuesday at the Council meeting as a truck drove through the Employment Lands Framework. Council voted 8-3 to amend the General Plan and allow new townhouses instead of reserving land for jobs next to Santana Row. Thank you to Rose Herrera and Sam Liccardo for voting to hold the line…
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…
The Public Safety, Finance And Strategic Support Committee took up the topic of unnecessary force in conjunction with drunk-in-public arrests. The police department along with the city auditor, city manager and Independent Police Auditor spent approximately 500 hours going through paper to pull out data. Inherently, a paper system is cumbersome and takes time to extrapolate data. Although we have…
Last Thursday, the council had a study session for San Jose’s 2010-2011 budget. The public meeting received little media attention. Perhaps, since the holidays are near, we only want to hear the good news…and next years budget is far from good. There is no dispute on the data—just the direction we shall choose to balance the budget. Here is a…
As city revenues have continued to decline, more money has been allocated to public safety both in real dollars and as a percentage of the general fund budget. Sixty percent of our general fund is allocated to public safety versus 40 percent 20 years ago. That 60 percent includes public safety pension costs and consumes our top four revenue sources…
Unfortunately, not all housing developments create the same economic value in areas assigned to the Redevelopment Authority (RDA). Last week, the council approved financing for an affordable housing development on North 4th Street in a RDA area. Since the housing developer is a non-profit, the development is exempt from paying property tax. In addition, the fees that are paid for…
During the past few years, the City of San Jose has annexed 42 county pockets. These annexations came about in two ways. First, the State of California changed the law that made county pockets that are under 150 acres unable to vote on whether not they wanted to be annexed. Second, the County of Santa Clara had wanted San Jose…
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. You can read more about the San Jose fiscal reforms…
Last week, Council dove into a study session about street paving. As you may have heard, San Jose came in last on a national survey on road conditions. This survey was done prior to the $12 million in federal stimulus money that was allocated to San Jose for road paving this summer. San Jose’s cost to maintain roads is high…
Last week, I got a mailer from the No on V campaign railing against the decisions of past city councils about spending on the Hayes Mansion. I was elated! I felt validated in my support for selling the Hayes Mansion to stop the annual bleeding of millions of dollars. I wrote about selling the Hayes Mansion two years ago on the…
County Assessor Larry Stone visited the San Jose City Council study session last week and gave an extensive lecture on the role of the County Assessor and a critique of Spectrum Economics. His comments were blunt, sparing only profanity about the economist hired by the RDA for $15,000. I wrote about this topic three weeks ago. This is the only time…
The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. Cicero, 55 BCE The San Jose convention center was visited by experts…
For the most part, I do not think people want things to change. However, could you see living without highway 280, 85, 87 or 237? When building large transportation projects there always seems to be opposition of some sort. Government at all levels—local, state and federal—deems that certain projects have a higher value in the long term. A current public…
Last Tuesday, the City Council had a study session on the upcoming Redevelopment Agency (RDA) budget. RDA funds are regulated by state law and are almost entirely spent on land and construction, similar to how bond monies are restricted. We have funded some limited city services in RDA and Strong Neighborhood Initiatives (SNI) areas (not citywide), such as anti-gang programs…
On April 18, 2006, the City Council unanimously approved the Guadalupe Mines General Plan amendment, changing the zoning from Research & Development to Residential. At that same meeting, the Council debated other industrial conversions along Old Oakland Road/Rock Avenue, and voted to convert all of the employment-land parcels that night to housing. Now, four years later, on Aug. 31, the…
Put aside the State’s raid of city funds for a moment and instead, lets be thankful for one of the best gifts cities have received from the state legislature…Assembly Bill 321 (AB321). AB 321 allows cities the flexibility and discretion to lower speed limits on two-lane streets adjacent to public and private schools, which are currently posted at 25 miles…
As most of you are most likely aware from the front page article in the San Jose Mercury News on August 12, The San Jose Municipal Rose Garden was selected as America’s Best Rose Garden. What an incredible achievement! Congratulations and thanks to all involved including the paid park maintenance city staff and the non paid volunteers. The rebirth of…
I attended the first community meeting regarding the selection of the next San Jose Police Chief on Tuesday, Aug. 24 at the Roosevelt Community Center. Approximately 21 people attended. Attendees were divided into small groups to discuss five questions. I did not see any police officers however they may have been in attendance but remained anonymous. Translation services were available…
Did you ever have a romantic relationship with someone that tested you in one way or another? Maybe you or someone you know dated or are dating a person where at first the relationship was great. You were carefree and really enjoying yourself—but suddenly realized that some of your actions have consequences? Perhaps you really enjoyed eating out at restaurants…
The Rules Committee allowed my memo on Pension Reform to go before the City Council Tuesday, Aug. 3, to be considered as a ballot measure for San Jose voters this November. At the Rules Committee meeting, members of the public were few compared to the number of paid lobbyists that were in the audience. I have a supplemental memo coming…
On Tuesday, Aug. 3, the City Council will decide on five possible ballot measures that would go before San Jose voters in November. So far, the Council has budgeted money to place two items on the ballot; therefore the council must choose two of the five. However a group known as Baseball San Jose has offered to pay for the…
My memo below will be discussed, next Wednesday, July 28 at 2pm at the Rules Committee which includes Mayor Reed, Vice-Mayor Judy Chirco, Councilmember Nancy Pyle and Councilmember Pete Constant. This is a public meeting. Recommendation Direct City Attorney to prepare legally binding ballot language for a ballot measure to be considered at the August 3, 2010 Council meeting for…
From time to time I have talked about outsourcing certain city services to save money—so the city can use the money saved on core services we provide to the community. When I first introduced a pilot program for outsourcing park maintenance at the Rose Garden Park in 2007, the council (except for Mayor Reed) shrugged off my idea. Now, the…
Hope your Fourth of July holiday was fantastic. On June 29, prior to the holiday the Council made the final vote for a balanced budget. More than 20 people spoke at the Council meeting and all but one advocated that the Council not outsource janitorial services but rather keep the janitorial staff employed, since they provide an incredibly valuable service….
The final-final vote for the budget is tomorrow, to enact appropriations. Much work goes on behind the scenes with our budget office. Each time a change is made it is an arduous effort to balance the books and calculate the impact on the budget. If there is a compensation cut in a private sector, it is simply a reduction off…
The two city council meetings held last week regarding the budget and labor negotiations demonstrated the need to make all labor negotiations public. If you are interested, you can click on this link and see for yourself the drama and trauma that took place that still does not have closure. This week’s meeting, June 22, will hopefully close this chapter. I am…
Monday: Medical Cannabis Outreach Meeting The first outreach meeting regarding medical cannabis collectives was held Monday night at City Hall. Even though the meeting was held late in the process, it was well attended with over 150 people. There were two main groups present: residents and collective patients. Not one person spoke against compassionate use of medical marijuana in San…
It is the City of San Jose’s process that City Manager Debra Figone puts forth a budget proposal in May. Then, after that is released, councilmembers make their budget proposals to Mayor Chuck Reed. When the Councilmembers make written suggestions of their “budget wants,” they also need to include what funding source within the city will be affected (some written…
Hello Readers, As you may know, I created a budget web survey which I shared with you on May 10. The survey was open to everyone and closed yesterday afternoon. More than 1,000 people participated with more than 400 written comments. Thank you for participating. Here is a link to the results: 2010 Budget Trade-Offs Survey Results. Enjoy the balance…
The Good News: The City has a counter offer from seven out of 11 unions to take a temporary reduction in compensation (by paying more of their pension contribution temporarily on a pre-tax basis). The Not So Good News: The offer is equivalent to $14.6 million of the $118 million deficit, thus layoffs and service cuts are inevitable. The “Not…
In 1993, city staff began looking at selling the Municipal Water system, which the City of San Jose currently owns. Municipal Water covers approximately 10 percent of the city serving portions of Council districts 2, 4 and 8. The main service provider, San Jose Water Company, a private company, provides approximately 80 percent of San Jose residents with water. The…
This year, the San Jose City Council is forced to make drastic cuts. Unfortunately, the city of San Jose has had a deficit for the last decade even before the Great Recession. In fact, even without the recession, San Jose’s financial obligations are significantly higher then revenues coming into the city. As a result current elected officials are left with…
I hope your weekend was enjoyable. I wanted to let you know that I believe that you have a very difficult job and I wanted to say thank you for your nearly 30 years of service to San Jose. Managing an organization of approximately 1,400 people, public or private, is a challenge. It is impossible to make everyone happy internally…
Last week I attended evening budget meetings in Districts 3 and 5. The center of our city (District 3) had a high turnout from residents who find great value in community centers. Particularly, the Gardner and Washington Community Centers. Both facilities provide a place to go and where residents can be positively impacted. Classmates and friends of mine from Willow…
Last Wednesday night, the Public Safety committee held a special meeting regarding our police officers. The city manager began by sharing the amount of effort and outreach that has transpired the last few months with city initiatives with regards to our police department. For the last two years, certain individuals have been lambasting our police force with charges of racial…
Last week, I attended budget meetings in council districts 9 and 10 as well as the labor unions’ budget meeting at the Tully library. The people that attended this meeting were mostly union members and city council staff. It was admitted at the meeting that significant layoffs were inevitable since the deficit is enormous. Ideas were presented on what money-saving…
Last week, the Council finally discussed my memo and voted to have staff come back with a draft ordinance for final review regarding medical cannabis. Currently, 14 states have legalized cannabis for medical purposes and 14 other states are considering legislation now. I attached a memo from the US attorney general saying that the federal government will recognize state laws…
The City Manager will release the list of proposed cuts to balance the city budget today (March 29). These cuts are based on no concessions from any of the labor unions nor savings gained through outsourcing of janitorial services (among others) to save money. Money saved from outsourcing could help pay for library hours or the aquatics program, for example….
Monday: No Impact Man Film at City Hall Nearly 300 San Jose residents attended to watch this documentary, which portrays a family that adopts environmentally friendly choices over the course of a year. For example, they bike instead of driving, buy only locally produced food and give up their television. The main point of the evening was that we do not have…
Below are a few observations from last week. Monday: Council study session on Airport Overwhelming majority of Council thought outsourcing of janitorial to save $3 million was a bad idea so it looks like we will lay people off and consider getting rid of the night time curfew in the future. Monday Night: General Plan 2040 Task Force Meeting Although…
This afternoon at 1:30 the Council will gather for a special meeting to discuss the City’s airport. The expansion was voted favorably by the council in 1997 with then-Councilmember David Pandori casting the only vote against. The airport, with the hands artwork that is visible driving on Highway 87, was approved in 2005. Through the selling of bonds (borrowing) the…
Professor Donald Shoup of UCLA visited City Hall last week. He was in San Jose to present a lecture titled, “Why free parking is a bad idea.” The information he shared is based on his book and research. There are approximately 700 million parking spaces for 230 million cars in this country and 99 percent of cars trips have free…
Mayor Reed shared a candid and honest view of city revenues and expenses at the State of the City Breakfast last week. (Personally, I miss the State of the City speeches in the evening as it led to dinner after the speech and spending money Downtown.) As we already know the City is walking the plank, with the sharks swimming…
Last week the Council tackled two agenda items related to parks. One was to apply for a state grant. There is $184 million up for grabs for the entire state of California to be spent on city parks. California has 36 million people and San Jose has one million. If San Jose were to get 1/36th of those state funds,…
The city of San Jose recently completed a scientific poll of 902 residents. This poll cost $50,000. As I mentioned in a prior blog, I took many of the poll questions and posted them on the District 6 website (the district I represent) and here, on San Jose Inside. I entered the questions and three of my own into a…
Photo radar helps augment traffic safety, as well as that of pedestrians and neighborhoods. A tweaking of the current policy to improve safety will not cost the state any money, and in fact will raise money while at the same time lowering emergency room health care costs. Speeding cars in our neighborhoods continue to remain an issue. The City of…
Due to the structural budget deficit and the decline of tax revenues coming into the city, the January police academy has been postponed indefinitely. By postponing the academy the city saves money but risks neighborhood safety. To be fair, it is a balancing act of what you would like to provide and what money you actually have on hand. However…
The City of San Jose has contracted with a public opinion survey company to poll residents on the city’s budget in a project fondly known as “the City of San Jose Budget Prioritization Survey.” The control group of the survey is 900 residents representing the entire City. They will be contacted by home and cell phones. In the end, the…
I am one of the members who sits on the South Bay Recycled Water Committee, representing San Jose. This committee has investigated and is now recommending a partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Water District to move forward with recycled water and jointly build an advanced water treatment plant. (I blogged on the topic of recycled water and water scarcity…
2009 was a challenging year. San Jose government had its decline in revenue in addition to suffering from an overall structural budget deficit. Many families in San Jose lost their jobs and still continue to struggle in finding another one. All of us have been impacted by the Great Recession of 2008-2009 in some way. With the eye of the…
On Nov. 3 at the city council meeting, I removed an item from the consent calendar. The agenda item was asking for council approval to spend $286,700 for software. This particular software would help the housing department manage its loan program. Several years ago the Housing Department purchased software to manage this data, however, it never worked and we ended…
The Council punted the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) budget last week to February 2010. As has already been highlighted in the news, the state is taking $75 million away from San Jose’s RDA. We need to pay the State off in May and identify where the money is coming from in March (no negotiation or payment plans on this matter are…
Last Tuesday at the council meeting, we spent approximately 90 minutes discussing the Teamsters Union at the Convention Center. Long story-short, this is a labor dispute between two different union locals that will be settled by the National Labor Relations Board. However, in the meantime, the Convention Center (which is the largest source of the City’s hotel tax receipts and…
Prior to Mayor Reed, the City of San Jose would amend the General Plan (GP) approximately seven to twelve times a year; which equates to about once every month, give or take. During this time, about 1,200 acres of industrial land were converted to residential housing. As a result, the City lost 1,200 acres of land that could have been…
A couple of weeks ago I put together my own web based Redevelopment Budget survey. I shared financial information in bullet point form in the introduction and then gave information throughout the survey. In some cases I would state the dollar amount given to a particular program and then ask a question. More than 600 people completed the survey, which…
Last week, at the city council meeting, I removed an item from the consent calendar on the agenda for discussion. As you may remember from my blog about San Jose’s million-dollar golf nets, consent calendar items do not have individual discussion, but rather are voted on all at the same time. If one wants to discuss a consent item, you…
Last week, the council had public hearings regarding the upcoming 2009-2010 Redevelopment budget. Mayor Reed ensured that the public had both a day and night session to attend, allowing more people to participate. In addition, tonight (Nov. 16) at 6pm the mayor is hosting an additional public meeting at City Hall to garner feedback on the RDA budget. During last…
Last week, the council had a special meeting to discuss the upcoming $96 million budget shortfall. $96 million is the equivalent of eliminating all library, park and community center positions citywide. My fellow councilmembers and I gave the city manager direction on how best we think the budget gap could be closed. The first part of the meeting covered the…
I support an ordinance in San Jose that allows for the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana dispensaries/collectives. Proposition 215, which was passed with voter approval in 1996, called for the legalization of Medicinal Marijuana with 56 percent of the voters in favor. Santa Clara County supported this proposition by 64 percent. Since then, the legislature has passed SB420 which…
A variety of issues were discussed at last week’s council meeting that dealt with city finances. Jennifer Maguire, the Director of our Budget Office, shared that the ending fund balance this year is 1.3 percent. The city has always had an ending fund balance for as long as anyone can remember. It is both a science and an art trying…
The Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee, which I sit on, had a special meeting last Wednesday night. Usually, this committee meets during the day. This special meeting was being sponsored by the Independent Police Auditor (IPA) and the City Council stemming from the alleged racial profiling arrests Downtown for pubic intoxication. This is one of two meetings to…
Last week, I toured the City of San Jose’s sanitary sewer system along with Public Works staff. For those of you who may not be aware, sewers in San Jose stretch out for 2,200 miles and range anywhere from 100 years old to brand new. The “sewer freeway” is at Zanker Road, where four large- diameter lines converge towards Alviso….
At the Rules Committee last week, there was a proposal to amend the Graffiti Abatement Ordinance for juvenile offenders. When someone gets arrested for doing graffiti in San Jose or other cities in Santa Clara county they are punished via the County court system. However cities do have a municipal code where offenders may pay a fine. State law does…
It is well known that the city of San Jose is on its way to banning single-use plastic bags starting in Jan 2011. An ordinance will come back to Council in 2010 for final adoption which will contain different options. The most problematic option I could see is a fee put on single-use bags. The 25-cent fee would be charged…
Last week, at the Council meeting, there was a contentious land use item. A housing developer is asking the council to approve a rezoning of land to allow a 117-unit affordable Shared Room Occupancy (SRO). Currently, there are business owners, adjacent property owners, and residents who do not support this project. I have been a councilmember for more than two…
Since Sept. 7 was the Labor Day holiday, the City did not have a regular city council meeting. So, instead the Council had a “study session” on the Greenprint, which is a vision for our parks and community centers. (It is not a legal binding document.) Study sessions are sort of like the “News Hour” program on PBS. We spend…
San Jose’s population is officially 1,006,892! 1,006,892—confirmed by the State Department of Finance on April 30th of this year. I thought it would be interesting to share how San Jose has grown since 1950. Take a look: 1950 95,000 residents 1955 112,000 residents 1960 204,000 residents 1965 328,000 residents 1970 459,000 residents 1980 629,000…
Last week, I chose to attend both outreach meetings regarding the issue of retirement board governance, so I could hear concerns first- hand instead of reading a staff report. The possibility of changing the makeup of the current retirement board was presented by the consultant. The biggest change, if adopted, would be to remove city councilmembers from the board and…
One of the most important responsibilities a councilmember has is working on constituent issues. So far, my office has managed 4,675 constituent issues, which I refer to as “cases.” I set up a web database that allows constituents to track our case work in real time online. In most cases we are successful in resolving the issue or concern. In…
The 20th San Jose Jazz Festival was a shining success—for itself, and also for Downtown San Jose. The festival showcased straight-up jazz, Latin jazz, blues, and Brazilian music, at outdoor stages scattered throughout the Downtown. Many of the Downtown hotels were filled with visitors, which means money for the City of San Jose in the form of transit occupancy tax…
The City of San Jose closed a $84 million dollar budget shortfall for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, which resulted in 13 city employees being laid off. However, these 13 former employees are first in line for job openings at the City should they become available. Also as a result of the balanced budget, 250 city employees moved into different departments…
The first council meeting of the new fiscal year will result in discussing the new budgets cuts that must be made due to Sacramento’s raid of cities’ property tax money. Since San Jose does not want to look at delivering services differently, as Chicago and other cities do, then that leaves us with only one option: cut services to San…
Do you remember the commercial for Ginsu Knives from the late ‘70s? It would show a sharp knife on TV cutting through everything from tomatoes to tin cans. The announcer would repeatedly say: “But wait! There’s more!” Well, just when you thought we had a balanced budget for the City of San Jose, the state of California has said “But…
I was recently downloading classic songs on my iTunes from the late ‘70s, two of which were Bob Welch’s “Ebony Eyes,” and Player’s “Baby Come Back.” iTunes is great because I can choose the specific songs I like rather than having to purchase the entire album. Those of us who are a certain age probably remember when we had to…
Do you ever wonder what it takes to move a bus stop? Especially those that are located at busy intersections or located right in front of retail establishments? Well, if you have, you are not alone. My council office gets requests to move bus stops on occasion. Sometimes the request is moving a bus stop that has been in the…
The 2nd Annual Rose, White and Blue Parade put on by the Alameda Business Association (ABA) with assistance from the Redevelopment Agency, was a fun-filled day for everyone on Saturday, July 4. In 1896, The Alameda (one of San Jose’s historical streets, dubbed the “Beautiful Way”) was home to the Carnival of Roses, which continued with The Fiesta de Las…
When I ran for city council I was asked many times, “What are you going to do about the schools?” Unlike Chicago or New York, where the care of the schools falls under city government, San Jose has multiple school districts that have separate elected officials that are responsible for the care of the schools, making the City of San…
The consent calendar on the city council agenda comes after the City’s ceremonial items are completed. The difference between “consent” items and the rest of the agenda is that the consent items are suppose to be composed of “rubber stamp” issues like excused absences for councilmembers, final adoption of ordinances that were already voted on at previous council meetings, etc….
The 2009-2010 budget passed with full support of the Council in part by draining the City’s reserves (the economic uncertainty reserve has only enough funds to cover 1.5 days of payroll now) and by the negotiated/voluntary salary freezes by two unions CAMP and MEF (thank you). In the case of MEF the money saved can be used to avoid layoffs…
Now that Cattelus Development has walked away from developing the Santa Clara Fairgrounds, I hope the County will consider something other than housing. Perhaps a fee based sports complex or even…a horse track. The goal of the Fairground’s property is to bring in revenue for the long term. Selling the land at a depressed price is not optimal. A long-term…
One of my favorite TV game shows was the original Family Feud with Richard Dawson. His big line was, “Survey Says!” when the survey answer was shared with the audience. I am pleased that my Budget Survey drew more than 700 participants. Thank you to those who engaged. It was long…but then our deficit is large, so the survey needed…
Memorial Day is a day when we commemorate those who died serving in our military. For the past 15 years, the City of San Jose has recognized our police officers at an annual Police Memorial Ceremony. This started in 1995 under Mayor Susan Hammer. The event has grown from a small event to one that draws many. The Police Memorial…
Well it was certainly a busy week with the Council meeting, budget meetings and committee meetings. This weekend I spent time with the SJPD Metro Unit clearing a homeless encampment, and I observed Fire Station 7 putting out a car fire late Saturday night. Instead of writing a blog this week I spent my time preparing a survey for you…
Last week I attended two more community budget meetings to hear feedback from residents in District 9 and District 2. The District 9 meeting was a bit different from previous sessions, as there was no slide presentation. Instead, it included an overview and discussion to go over paper handouts on the Proposed Operating Budget with City Management. Not much was…
Over a month ago I wrote about a budget meeting I led in District 6 with my own presentation on the deficit and alternative solutions. Since then, other council offices have scheduled their meetings. I was curious to hear the opinions from outside my district. So last week I attended the budget meetings in District 10, Almaden/Blossom Valley, and District 8, Evergreen….
The City Council discussed one of the world’s most precious resources last week; water. The council had its annual meeting with the Santa Clara Valley Water District. In the past, the two organizations have had some turbulent conversations; however, at this meeting we were all on the same page about conservation and the future supply of water. Half of our water is…
Although I was born and raised in San Jose, my visits to the East Side were not commonplace. As a kid, I was advised of general safety issues about the East Side and was warned not to go “there” at night. My father taught English to adult immigrants on the East Side for about half his teaching career, and I…
…I did not actually eat breakfast with members of the Chamber of Commerce last week, but I met with them early in the morning—which is a challenge for me since I normally go to bed at 1am. The Chamber, as many of you know, is an interest group that advocates on behalf of small and large businesses. They invited me…
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:…
On Friday, March 20, I participated in a fun event called San Jose Bike Party. The “bike party” is organized by people who promote bicycling in San Jose. They pass out flyers at bike shops and use the internet to get the message out. There have been 18 “Bike Parties” so far and the 19th is coming up on April 17…
Last week I responded to many of your questions with a term, “Meet-and-Confer.” This terminology is used in reference to discussions that city management has with unions about almost anything. Once a labor contract is agreed upon, any thought of a change requires a meet-and-confer meeting. It could be a compensation freeze, sick time, vacation time, grievance, health care, retirement,…
On March 12, I hosted the second annual budget meeting in my district. My goal was to inform the community about the budget process, the size of our budget, where the revenues come from and different options on trying to deal with the current deficit. The major message from the residents that attended the meeting was that the city needs…
On Saturday morning, I went on my 5th Homeless Encampment “sweep” with the San Jose Police Department’s Metro Unit. The Metro Unit is in charge of monitoring creeks for encampments. These clean-ups have taken me to Districts 3,4,6 and 7, alongside the Coyote, Guadalupe and Los Gatos Creeks. When you climb down into the creeks you forget you’re in San…
In 1976, San Jose city leaders emerged from a retreat at the Asilomar Conference Center and declared that their number-one priority was to fix the jobs and housing imbalance in San Jose. Since then San Jose has provided the most affordable housing in the state of California, and tens of thousands of market-rate dwellings; however, San Jose has not shared…
Last week, I attended a brainstorming session at City Hall. The purpose of the gathering was for ideas to help Downtown during the recession. The group included the Downtown Association, land owners, developers, business owners, arts advocates and others. Individuals presented their ideas to the group. One example was sponsoring an overnight camp-out in Downtown parks by the Boy Scouts…
Last week at the Rules committee, there was a standing- room-only crowd to support our request to use $1.9 million to fund the citywide school crossing guard program on a temporary basis (three fiscal years) out of the $9 million the City receives from the tobacco settlement monies. The reasoning for this request is that the 60-year-old crossing guard program…
Coming before the Rules Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 2 PM in Room 118 is a memo regarding the 64 year-old crossing guard program. In a nutshell, the memo asks that the City of San Jose use $1.9 million from the $9 million tobacco settlement monies (which the City receives every fiscal year from the tobacco industry and will…
Last week, the Council spent two and half hours talking about making changes to a 1997 “competition policy.” At the prior Council meeting we spent two-plus hours talking about the same topic. That policy is already burdensome and makes it difficult for businesses and/or non-profits to jump through all the hoops to do business with the city. I don’t own…
On Saturday, City Manager Debra Figone and Mayor Chuck Reed hosted 100 neighborhood residents at City Hall for a discussion and group exercise on how to balance the city’s budget and eliminate the $65 million dollar deficit. The residents who attended represented a large geographic portion of the city. They were both young and old, male and female and represented…
Last week, Mayor Reed held his State of the City Address. And I think the mayor was forthright by clearing stating that the City of San Jose has a large deficit, and that cuts to services and layoffs are before us. In fact, I believe that the current $60-65 million budget deficit will worsen and grow to $70-75 million. Just…
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…
2008 was certainly a roller-coaster ride. From the rise and fall of oil to the housing market collapse and finally the recession. 2009 will be a challenging year for each and every one one of us. The City of San Jose will have a newer City Council. What I mean by newer is that six out of 11 members will…
Hope your Christmas and Hanukkah holidays were enjoyable. City Hall is closed from Dec. 24 through Jan. 5 for the annual furlough. Like many people, I am spending time with family and reconnecting with friends. I have known many of my friends since San Jose grammar school in the 1970s and ’80s, so that puts us in the 35-45 age…
Tomato Thyme is a popular restaurant in my district that operates out of a typical suburban shopping center—with parking in the front and the buildings in the back. Tenants in this shopping center include Safeway, Rite Aid, Bally’s Fitness, Bank, Dry Cleaner and even a Moose Lodge. Consumers patronize shopping centers like this, but may never ponder who actually owns…
Last week, I attended the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Policy Advisory Committee at the VTA headquarters on North First Street. This advisory committee is not the official VTA governing board you hear about, but a committee “underneath” the governing board which has a representative from each city in Santa Clara county. At this meeting, Joseph T. Smith, the Chief Financial…
The city of San Jose already had a structural budget deficit without the economy crashing. Our ongoing expenses are higher then revenue coming into the city. Throw on a recession, and the numbers just get worse and our options more drastic to manage a $65 million shortfall. Do we balance the budget by more service cuts to the neighborhoods? Postpone…
On Thanksgiving Day I participated in the Turkey Trot, a 5-10K run that takes place Downtown. That same day I attended the 63rd annual Big Bone Game between Lincoln High School and San Jose Academy. The Turkey Trot is a great way to get people out of the house and into our Downtown for a good cause. I spoke to…
Last week, the City Council voted to direct planning staff to explore how San Jose could build more housing in North San Jose (possibly even exceeding the cap which would go against the incremental plan laid about by the North San Jose vision). The vision for North San Jose has included some housing next to jobs so we could allow…
Last week I attended the 8th annual Tech Awards at our convention center. The Tech Museum organizes this amazing event which is sponsored by a “who’s who” of tech companies. Nearly 1,500 people attended this years event. This is one of the best events for San Jose because of the positive PR. The greater Bay Area tech giants gather at…
Last Saturday, Nov. 1, I had the pleasure of meeting 17-year-old Eagle Scout Alex Gregory, who lives in the Almaden Valley. Becoming an Eagle Scout is not an easy process. A person who is seeking this honor must have dedication and perseverance. Only about 4 percent of Boy Scouts exceed expectations and achieve the high level of Eagle Scout. To…
Last week, I visited the Rules committee to present a memo that Councilmember Constant and I wrote asking that the Council hold off on adopting a citywide Inclusionary Housing policy. I first blogged on this topic on December 17, 2007 in a post titled ”Coming Soon: Affordable Housing Citywide.” The Council is set to vote on Inclusionary Housing on Dec 9. The proposed policy…
Last week the San Jose City Council discussed the Hayes Mansion, a historic 100-year-old south San Jose estate. The City of San Jose bought this property about 10 years ago. The story of “why” the City purchased the property is long…and depending on whom you ask, the reasoning can change. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, I will skip the…
About a month ago, I came upon a car accident at a signalized intersection. One car was completely flipped over and on the opposite side of the road. The other car was spun around in the intersection. I stopped to speak to people on the scene and the police. Apparently, a middle-aged driver blatantly ran a red light, striking the…
While the economic morass commands the headlines, there is a bright spot in San Jose. Specifically, south San Jose, in Edenvale. Last week, I attended a ribbon-cutting for CTS Electronics Manufacturing Services. They are an outsourced manufacturing company for companies that design electronic equipment like networking equipment. CTS competes against large multinational companies like Flextronics and Sanmina. Much of this…
Last week I went on my first City to City trip organized by the Chamber of Commerce. The delegation was comprised of 80 “San Jose Cheerleaders,” including Mayor Reed, four councilmembers (besides myself), City Manager, Police Chief, high-tech representatives, affordable housing developers, attorneys,etc. Interestingly enough, about 20 percent percent of the group lives in District 6. Before I decided to…
Last week I visited the Rules and Open Government Committee which sets the agenda for upcoming Council meetings. The Rules Committee includes Mayor Reed, three councilmembers, the City Attorney, City Manager and the Redevelopment Agency (RDA). The purpose of my visit was that two memos that I wrote were going to be heard. The first memo was to request that…
If you’re a homeowner, most likely you received your property tax bill in the mail last week. I did and I owe $11,854. (If Washington Mutual does not collapse I will pay this amount from my savings). My parents, who live next door, with the same size lot, will be paying $1,696. Why the huge difference? A little thing called…
Last week, the council voted on two noteworthy items: a citywide fire station policy and pay for airport personnel. The most important item was the new citywide policy for the closure and consolidation of fire stations. Up until now, San Jose did not have a policy of how or when a fire station could be closed or relocated. The lack…
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…
Labor Day is a time that many of us celebrate with BBQs and rest. It’s a day to acknowledge the work of everyone in our society. However, many people work on Labor Day, including but not limited to 9-1-1 dispatchers, grocery store clerks, nurses, and sewage treatment plant workers, etc. This is also a day that I think of the…
From my experience in running for elected office, one of the difficult hurdles was raising money. Now I don’t have a problem “asking” for money per se. However, the difficulty for me was “who” I should take money from and who I shouldn’t. Who I take money from during an election can equate to access and/or even the perception of…
Rebuttals? No, not at the 2-minute public forum at council meetings but, rather, for ballot statements. This past Tuesday, the council decided to match the State of California in allowing rebuttal statements so that voters could hear more than one side of a ballot issue. The State of California ballot statements carry a full debate on the particular state propositions….
After nearly four hours of back and forth, the council emerged with measures for the November 2008 ballot. The first is the reduction and update of the telecommunications user tax. This would allow the city to capture new telephone technology like Voice of Internet Protocol (VOIP). The second is a reduction of the 911 system support fee which would result…
…well, actually, I toured District 2 with Councilmember Forrest Williams. However, sometimes people mistakenly call him by the actor’s name instead. Who could blame them? Councilmember Williams has star power; especially driving his Batmobile Mercedes. Councilmember Williams is very energetic and shared many stories about District 2 with me. He does his morning jog up the local hill and eats…
Vice Mayor Dave Cortese wins the prize for having the most historical knowledge of his district. I had the opportunity to tour District 8 with the vice mayor and get a better understanding of the land we call Evergreen and its agricultural history. The housing boom started in 1975 with single family houses galore. Transportation congestion quickly became an issue….
After finishing lunch at Pollo Loco on Winchester Blvd., Councilmember Pete Constant took me on a District 1 tour. District 6 and District 1 share a long border along Winchester. Recently, both of our council offices have been working with the RDA and small businesses to help build a larger business district for Winchester. We started off on Cadillac and Impala Streets…
It is the latest City of San Jose acronym. GFSDEPSG stands for the three-year General Fund Structural Deficit Elimination Plan Stakeholder Group. Whew! Try saying that fast even once. This group is chaired by my colleague Pietro Constantino (Pete Constant in Italian). The GFSDEPSG includes city workers, unions, various city department directors, nonprofit executives, the Chamber of Commerce and San…
A while ago I wrote that I wanted to tour each council district. Well, I got my wish. I have been touring San Jose over the past few months and last Friday I spent the morning with my colleague, Nancy Pyle, who represents District 10. I met Ms. Pyle off Blossom Hill Road where we began the tour driving through…
Last Tuesday, we considered whether to continue preliminary discussions with the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and three private property owners regarding San Pedro Square. The issue under consideration was should RDA spend money to do capital improvements like sidewalk widening, streetscapes and loans to rehab older buildings in the area. Let me first talk about the elephant in the room, former…
The city council spent 12 hours on “Budget Tuesday” last week. Here are three of the topics we covered. Budget: It was the end of a long budget process and I lived through it. We had tough choices to make. San Jose is involved in many things—some questionable and others necessary. I think we need to consider starting fresh with…
Last week the city council unanimously approved a concession agreement for the new airport terminal. Believe it or not, the Chamber of Commerce and the Working Partnerships Labor Union both agreed on the selection. Whew! If only agreements like this could happen more often. However, in my opinion, the best part of this selection is that many local small businesses…
Did you know the city has a central warehouse that costs over $850,000 a year to operate? (Yes, we do. We really shouldn’t be surprised; this is the same city that spends over $30 million on three public golf courses.) Back to the warehouse: It stocks items like toilet paper, batteries, landscaping materials and cleaning products. The $850,000 is the…
Disneyland in Alviso? Not quite, but the comparisons are definitely there. Several months back, I accompanied Councilmembers Chu and Liccardo on a tour of the San Jose Water Pollution Control Plant. We rode on electric carts that were linked together like those at an amusement park. Our tour guide spouted off words like, “sewage back-up, micro-organisms, aeration, methane gas”—much different…
Last week, the council spent 90 minutes deliberating the sale of a 0.19 acre parcel of surplus downtown property for $450,000. The current tenants, the Arab American Community Center and the Indochinese Refugee Center, are nonprofits who pay $12 a year in rent (month to month) on an expired lease. They were notified in January 2006 about the city’s plans…
In a prior blog I wrote about the “mystery” of closed session meetings. These meetings occur every Tuesday morning and cover real estate, litigation and labor negotiations. In addition, everything covered at the meetings is confidential. Last week, the city council voted to release a revision of a closed session memo for public distribution called “Confidential Legal Advice Related to…
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my biggest regret as an elected official: my support last year of the unanimous vote that converted commercial property to residential on Lincoln Ave—820 units to be exact. Going forward, I will vote on what is best for San Jose and our future. Last week I was put to the test. A project…
In a prior column, I wrote about taking advantage of the great San Jose weather by having events at City Hall Plaza or at the Circle of Palms. At last week’s city council meeting, there was an item that pertained to sidewalk cafes at night. I support outside settings and made a motion at the meeting proposing to extend hours…
Berkeley and Santa Cruz have a reputation of voting on proclamations or supporting causes that are outside their domains, such as the independence of Tibet, the genocide in Darfur, and federal issues like immigration or going to war. Topics like these are worthy of discussion on a blog, in person, or for our elected officials in Washington DC. However, is…
Last Tuesday, the city council had two agenda items to vote on that would allow for applicants to sell alcohol: one for a Whole Foods grocery store and the other for a gas station. State law limits the number of liquor licenses in an area. The City of San Jose went one step further by blocking certain new liquor licenses…
The end of March marked my first anniversary as an elected official. As I reflect on my first year in public office, I am amazed at all the different topics I have been involved in as a councilmember. I am pleased that employees who work at companies like Cisco and Adobe are now allowed to volunteer in our parks and…
A month ago I drafted a memo that would expand the city’s ordinance to allow Community Benefit Improvement Districts (CBID). This is not an original idea, nor is it cutting edge. In fact it’s embarrassing that the City of San Jose didn’t jump on this opportunity sooner. Other major players who have implemented CBIDs successfully include, but are not limited…
The council meeting last Tuesday evening lasted until almost midnight. The council discussed and voted on the Mayor’s Budget Message, San Jose Medical Center and Mexican Heritage Plaza. I was happy to see the budget discussed at night so more people were able to attend. San Jose Medical Center (HCA) has been closed for several years and sits on 10…
Last week I wrote about exploring furloughs instead of layoffs to balance the budget. Part of my job is to come up with ideas/solutions to issues/problems. There are lots of departments in a city our size and lots of different opinions. What one department sees as black, another may see as white, and yet another, grey. When it comes to…
This past Wednesday night I hosted a community budget meeting for my district. Between City Hall and my meeting I stopped at home to pick up my laptop. As I left, I saw my neighbors out in front of their homes. My next door neighbor was tossing a ball with his son. Other neighbors were working on a car, fiddling…
At the recent televised priority session, the city council and senior staff discussed the priorities for San Jose which included the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and the dollars spent on the Strong Neighborhood Initiative (SNI). SNI is a policy implemented about eight years ago. SNIs are suppose to represent areas in the city that are “run down” and/or in need of…
Many people ask what my biggest surprise has been since becoming a council member. I have shared that my biggest surprise has been closed session meetings. “Closed session” meetings are private meetings which include the mayor, city attorney and city council. The city manager and two other attorneys who record the minutes are also present. Sometimes, depending on the subject…
This week at council we discussed the upcoming 2008-2009 budget process. The budget for San Jose is a year-round process tracking the revenue that comes into the city, like sales tax and construction and conveyance tax (C and C), and expenditures that come from the General Fund (non-restricted money), or capital expenditures (restricted money) like building new libraries. The city’s…
As some of you many know via Sal Pizarro of the Mercury News I have grown a beard. I stopped shaving the morning of the mayor’s State of the City speech. I joked with Sal that I was not going to shave until we fixed the structural budget deficit. Getting our city’s finances in order is the number one priority…
At the General Plan Task Force meeting last week, we discussed transportation and how future VTA projects will guide San Jose’s land use. The VTA budget for new projects is funded out of the voter-approved half-cent sales tax. The tax provides partial funding for BART, light rail extension, bus rapid transit improvements, some road paving, trails and bike lanes. The…
Several months ago I wrote a blog “Try It Before You Buy It,” where I spoke about the importance of making sure that the city has the option of using technology before actually purchasing it. I shared how large organizations struggle with information technology (IT) implementations when dealing with vendors who often make promises that differ from the actual results received. I…
January 21, 2008 is a legal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is a day in which we should take a moment (or longer) and pause…and think of the teachings of Dr. King. His legacy, his goals and how he affected our society will be remembered forever. What if Dr. King were alive today? What would…
Last week the San Jose City Council discussed the issue of co-payments for retired city workers and their dependents. The recommendation from the city manager was to defer adding co-payments for one year to allow more time for this issue to be researched. Whatever the outcome, the decision will affect 3,000 retired city employees, including dependents, and the city budget….
As I bid 2007 goodbye and welcome 2008, I think of the many issues that my colleagues and I will be working on in one way or another. Whether balancing the budget, protecting our resources like industrial land or implementing the mayor’s Green Vision, among others, it will take collaboration, perseverance and, above all else, a good sense of humor…
When it comes to the holidays, many of us expect to have them off. Whether it’s Hanukah, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, etc., the assumption is that the holidays are automatically a day off of work or that one can request religious days off and the request is granted. However, this is not always the case. My early work experiences included…
This season is a fun time of year—getting together with friends and family whether it is for Christmas or Hanukah or another celebration—with holiday parties, a lighter work load due to the end of year, shopping for gifts for loved ones and getting extra rest. This is also the time of year for enjoying the plentiful decorations that compliment our…
No, I am not referring to the subprime mortgage crisis and the subsequent foreclosures but rather last week’s three-hour city council study session regarding inclusionary housing. Many comments were expressed on how inclusionary housing should be dispersed. What exactly is “inclusionary housing?” Is it for extremely low income (ELI), or for others? No one can argue that San Jose has…
The San Jose City Council received a North San Jose Task Force update last week. North San Jose is a grand opportunity for the city. The prospects are endless: industrial land which adds revenue to the city budget, residential properties to allow people to live close to where they work and an abundance of land which can be used for…
As we know, San Jose is made up of council districts and, as a result, many of us have come to identify with these boundaries and/or borders. I know I have. I was raised in Willow Glen. My parents live in the same home they bought over 30 years ago. Most of my life experiences centered around my neighborhood; therefore,…
History was made last Tuesday night at City Hall when over 1,000 people gathered there, packing the Council Chambers, the rotunda and all the community rooms. Approximately 200 people from the crowd spoke at the meeting. They were old and young, male and female, recent immigrants and those here for decades. The topic was the naming of a business district…
Would you pay 25 cents a mile to drive in the carpool lane? A coin is being thrown around as an option for drivers to pay when driving on Hwy 85 or 101 in a few years. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is proposing HOT lanes—not “hot” as in temperature but rather HOT as in High Occupancy Toll lanes. We…
Veterans Day is a time to be thankful for the men and women who have served or serve in our military. I am taking this opportunity to share why Veterans Day is important to me. I have never served in the military, so sometimes I feel a bit “hollow” in comparison to those who have committed their lives—past and present—to…
The question of raising taxes came up for discussion during a special study session regarding deferred maintenance and infrastructure backlog within the city of San Jose. The city needs at least $915 million in one-time funding and an additional $45 million for ongoing funding needs if we want to catch up with our projects. You may be asking yourself how the city…
This week I am writing about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Most of the time, sadly, we hear these words of good advice but don’t make the conscious effort to apply healthy choices to our usual routines. Perhaps some of you who are reading this may think that writing about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, one which…
This past Tuesday, the City of San Jose discussed its midyear point, which is where we consider how we should spend or not spend any “extra” money that was not part of the regular budget proposal. This year approximately $13 million is up for discussion. Cities have some accuracy in forecasting budgets, but there is always an unpredictable deficit or…
Early Saturday morning, October 6, I hosted a community meeting titled “Preserving Our Historic Neighborhoods: How to make your Neighborhood a Conservation Area.” Many residents have been vocal about preserving not just their individual homes, but their entire neighborhoods as historic structures and/or areas. Therefore, the purpose of the forum was to empower and inform residents by giving them options…
A few months ago I wrote about the chronic problem of speeding in San Jose. My concern about this problem peaked when two parents were killed recently by a speeding driver while walking on Graystone Lane in Almaden Valley. At that time, I proposed that the City of San Jose review its traffic calming policy in an effort to update…
At the evening meeting last Tuesday night (Sept. 25), the San Jose City Council discussed prevailing wage and volunteers and how this relates to city jobs for parks. I am sure most of you have volunteered your time at some point, whether in your children’s school, as a coach or to pick up trash, etc. Most of you did so…
Open space is a very important quality-of-life issue. With so much development happening everywhere, we need to remember to include open space in our plans. I attended two outdoor events this week that reminded me about how important open space is, especially where there are trees. Both of the events were located in pristine areas. It isn’t mandatory that I…
Large organizations often wrestle with enterprise software implementations. They are often promised big returns, quick implementations, user friendly programs and then—the real “kicker”—that costs will not exceed a certain given price. Nothing could be further from the truth. The VTA spent $30 million on finance software and currently is in the process of spending another $3 million for an upgrade…
Grocery stores are an important element of our neighborhoods. They remind me of libraries and parks: a place that is usually open and serves everyone. Some of my fondest memories of childhood include grocery stores—whether it was cooling down on a hot day in the freezer section or spending my paper route money on snacks. Of course, those were the…
At the August 28 city council evening meeting, the council spent over two hours deliberating on where to put the park that is part of the Irvine Development in North San Jose. This item was continued from the August 14 meeting where the council discussed it at length until 1 a.m. There were two possible park locations discussed. One option…
On Thursday, August 23, 2007, the elected officials of the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County met to talk about five top priorities that affect the city and county. City and county staff attended, including San Jose City Manager Debra Figone and County Executive Pete Kutras. It’s no secret that the relationship between the county and the city…
I was invited to attend the musical “Leader of the Pack” performed by the local Children’s Musical Theater (CMT) in the San Jose Civic Auditorium. Over the past year, I have attended a few of CMT’s productions. What specifically caught my eye during “Leader of the Pack” was a young girl who performed in a wheelchair. At first I thought…
One issue that everyone who is paying attention to San Jose politics agrees with is that the City of San Jose’s General Plan is outdated and is in need of revamping. At the August 7 city council meeting, all of Mayor Reed’s recommendations for the General Plan Update Task Force (which included Councilmembers Liccardo and Chirco and me) were supported…
I took advantage of the great Bay Area weather that San Jose benefits from and attended two night time events that were held outdoors in downtown. I went to the Christmas in the Park fundraiser at the Circle of Palms two weeks ago. The night was filled with great company, a silent auction, wine and opportunities to win trips. All…
Four people died in Almaden Valley on July 24th, 2007—two teenage boys just beginning their lives as young adults and a married couple walking together for a stroll. One teenage boy was driving his car with a friend as a passenger. He lost control of his car on Graystone Lane as he was traveling faster than the posted speed limit….
It’s my turn to complain about traffic. Traffic: another reason to keep jobs in San Jose. I join over 50 percent of San Jose residents who leave their homes every day to travel to their jobs to earn a living outside of San Jose. Those of us who commute, trek highways 101, 880, 85, 87 and 280 mostly north to…
Public and Private Sector Jobs As I mentioned before, I am working full time in the private sector during the council recess. I enjoy my private sector job and I believe it is healthy for anyone who runs for public office to keep their “day job.” I like working in the software industry and helping different companies solve problems. I…
As I have mentioned before in a few of my posts, my parents taught me the importance of saving my money and using it prudently at a very young age. I think my parents taught me well; they practiced what they preached and I learned by example. Twenty years ago, my father was diagnosed with cancer. My parents, both teachers,…
As many of you know, the San Jose City Council is on recess for the month of July. Therefore, I thought I would share something lighthearted with you. “Monday Night Live,” a comic theater production by the San Jose Stage Company, is an ongoing tradition for some. The yearly event started about ten years ago and depicts well known San…
I survived another late night city council meeting. This one was the last of the 2006-2007 fiscal year. The meeting began at 1:30 p.m. but did not end until 11:30 p.m. I am not quite sure if having a ten hour meeting allows for the time needed to go over important items like Coyote Valley, a hazardous waste facility, and…
Last week, the San Jose City Council passed additional rules for governing lobbyists. I supported this item and made a few comments of my own. It is important to specifically define—as best that the city can—who lobbyists are and what they do. Lobbyists who are registered with the City of San Jose are individuals who are hired and paid money…
Whew—just before midnight, we passed the budget! After many long budget hearings, staff presentations, public testimony and robbing Peter to pay Paul, we have a “balanced” budget. The City of San Jose cannot borrow funds like the federal government. Therefore, we must balance our books every year. We do have bonds to pay for our capital projects such as new…
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. …
Happy Memorial Day The backbone of San Jose is made of its neighborhood business districts. District 6 has three viable ones: Lincoln Avenue, The Alameda and West San Carlos. These neighborhood business districts provide tax revenue for our city. In addition, they are a compliment to the residential neighborhoods they border. The business districts in D-6 have had empty storefronts;…
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…
It is 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday May 8. I just finished attending my second community meeting of the night. The day has flown by! My day began at 9:30 a.m. with a long closed-session meeting followed by a “Good Government” event at Adobe. I then went to the 1:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon city council meeting. The garbage rate increase was…
During my first month in office, I have attended various community meetings. The residents at these meetings continue to share that they want their parks maintained, swimming pools opened, traffic calming measures funded, historic neighborhoods preserved, bike lanes installed, trails completed and the list goes on. Most, if not all, of these needs require money. Streets don’t pave themselves and…