A New Dawn for San Jose

They say it is darkest before the dawn. Political opportunism and excessively stringent fiscal policies have led a city that was once a proud bastion of progressive leadership and ideals,  down a dark path where the Mayor and Council majority are waging war on their own employees.

An attack on workers’ vested rights and the continual degradation of the commitment of a proud workforce have created a previously unperceivable implosion of our city employees.  City staffers have left in search of work environments that respect their talents and provide a stability that our city now lacks. Because of that exodus, resources were drained leading to record levels of crime, city service levels at a fraction of the norm in previous years, and outsourced services to private companies that are more expensive and less efficient than dedicated public workers.  And for what?

So Mayor Chuck Reed can further his vision of fiscal restrictions, heavily funded by Texas billionaires and right wing anti-government fiscal conservatives? Reed’s taking his show on the road to Sacramento to lengthen his career while continuing the demonization of public employees.

But here’s where the sun comes up, even with this unpleasant backdrop.  The new year opens up possibilities for a new beginning in San José. First, we only have 12 months left in the Reed administration. To those who have been yearning for almost a decade for a dynamic vision for the Capital of Silicon Valley, your wait is almost over. Second, half of the City Council is likely to turn over in the next year. This is our time, our moment to take back our city and move it forward to greater heights as Silicon Valley companies see a resurgence and Sacramento, under the leadership of Governor Brown, begins to move a once dysfunctional state government in a positive direction in partnership with local municipalities.

It is up to us to seize this moment. If we do not, we will be faced with another decade of promises from false progressives; a continuing downward spiral until our city fulfills the prophecy being instigated by a mildly resurrected local Republican Party and purported moderate Democrats that see government as the source of all problems or, at least, as a popular scapegoat.

We will only be successful if we do not compromise on our progressive ideals.  We must hold politicians accountable for their actions rather than being swayed by false promises of cooperation and collaboration to woo the kind hearted into their corner. Do not ask those who seek our approval what they are going to do; ask them where they were during the darkest days. Were they standing up for the rights of hard working employees to collectively bargain and for low wage working women to get a raise? Were they standing up for marriage equality for all of our brothers and sisters, and for protecting those who risk their lives protecting us? Or, did they make the politically convenient choice to ride the long coattails of a conservative mayor until they heard the first round alarm of their impending election clock ring?

Being able to decipher between the real champions of progressive values and those who wear the cloak when it is convenient will carve the future of our city. Choose poorly, and we will continue to have the outside world wonder what is going on in a once progressive San José. However, choose wisely, and we will have a chance to turn this ship around into a promising future for all of our residents—that will finally shed light on the darkness and be the new dawn for San José.

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