City of San Jose
District 4 Vacancy
Assemblymember-elect and current Councilmember from District 4 Kansen Chu is currently orienting himself to his new gig representing Assembly District 25 in the state’s capitol. With the Assemblymember-elect’s swearing in scheduled for December 1, the San Jose City Council is poised to decide how to fill the newly created vacancy for District 4. Per the City’s charter the Council has multiple options – call a special election, appoint a replacement, or both.
The Council has a history of calling for special elections, especially for District 4. Astute readers will remember that when then-Council member Reed was elected as Mayor, a special election was called to fill the vacancy. The winner of that election was none other than Kansen Chu.
Where: San Jose City Council
When: Tuesday, December 2
Agenda: link
$2 million High-Rise Development Incentives
The City of San Jose is seeking to expand incentives to lure developers to build skyward in the downtown core. The impetus for incentives per staff is the commercial vacancy rate, which has dropped from nearly 30% in 2012 to just over 13%, with a continued downward trend. To help alleviate the space crunch, staff is recommending that the City piggyback on the incentives offered for downtown residential development and build a high-rise incentive program focused on a single project for employment uses. The goal is to suspend the collection of construction taxes and construction excise tax for a new high-rise project within the next 27 months. The cost is estimated at $1.5 to $2 million dollars.
Nothing in the staff report indicates that potential $2 million in incentives will be paid for by either the property tax or the increased economic activity by bringing in additional workers downtown. These taxes fund the majority of the Traffic Capital Improvement Program – in other words traffic mitigation that the City will be on the hook for. That’s not to say either that the extra $2 million couldn’t be used for other things the City needs, like say …oh where do I begin?
Where: San Jose City Council
When: Tuesday, December 2
Agenda: link
Facilities Maintenance – Large Deferred Maintenance Backlog
Speaking of things that the City could potentially use their money for, the Office of the City Auditor has a report to the City Council on just how poorly things are progressing for repairs and improvement projects across the City’s large portfolio of buildings. Spelled out in the report is a chronic underinvestment in facilities maintenance that has led to a large deferred maintenance backlog. Also worrisome, preventative maintenance fell to unacceptable levels for much of the last decade and despite recent improvements still doesn’t meet industry standards.
Sounds like it’s not just the workers who are having a bad time – even the buildings are getting a raw deal at the City. It would be interesting to see how many deferred maintenance projects could be funded with – let’s just pick a random number here — $1.5 to $2 million dollars? While this report was already heard in the Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee last week, it’s worth reviwing.
Agenda: link
City of Santa Clara
50 Shades of Super Bowl
The City of Santa Clara is pulling together some fun events leading up to Super Bowl 50. Unlike the Super Bowl’s host committee, who is designing events to be San Francisco-centric, the list of events Santa Clara is putting together will be based in Santa Clara and will be decidedly more community-oriented. While $2 million is being put forth to help fund the events, that money will only be spent if the City is unable to get sponsorships and private donations to cover the cost of the events. Helping to offset the cost, some of the proposed events will be ticketed which should bring in additional revenue.
The list of potential events all sound great and this will definitely bring the community together around the Super Bowl. It’s too bad the way the 49’ers are playing and the continued struggles with the Raiders, it’s highly unlikely that those lucky enough to have tickets will be able to cheer on a local team.
Where: Santa Clara City Council
When: Tuesday, November 25
Agenda: link
City of Mountain View
North Bayshore Precise Plan
After several public hearings, multiple staff reports and a whole bunch of work by the Environmental Planning Commission and the City Council, Mountain View is poised to approve the North Bayshore Precise Plan. Per the Precise Plan, the North Bayshore development will serve as a major high-technology employment center and a modern mix of use for both retail and housing interspersed with open space and hotels.
Lots going on in this innovative urban planning project many years in the making.
Where: Mountain View City Council
When: Tuesday, November 25
Agenda: link
Dennis Raj is Political Director for the South Bay Labor Council
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