Remember the unadulterated fury unleashed by the character Howard Beale in the 1976 movie “Network?”: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” That’s how I feel about a recent reminder of how out of control rental housing prices are getting in Silicon Valley. Well, I’m not ready to flip out on network TV, but angry…
Sep 23, 2014
Moving to San Jose? Don’t forget to bring your own police officers. And be prepared to pay for them. That might very well be the sales pitch in the near future, as San Jose residents become increasingly fed up with their City leaders decimating the local police force. It seems the new trend to ensure personal safety here in the…
Aug 15, 2014
This has been a terrible summer from the violence in the Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, to Ferguson, Missouri and murders here in San Jose. Oh I understand each one is different and perhaps the gravity and complexity of the issues involved with each should not allow them to be lumped together. But with the onslaught of violence in…
Jul 15, 2014
When most politicos say “2016”, they are talking about the Presidential race to succeed Barack Obama. But in the neighborhoods of San Jose Council District 6, the jockeying for position to replace Pierluigi Oliverio after his 10-year reign of error has begun in earnest. District 6 is one of the most, if not the most politically active areas in San…
Jun 10, 2014
The current City administration likes to talk about running the City at the speed of business. Who knew it was the molasses business? On December 10, 2010, the Certificate of Occupancy was issued for the Bascom Community Center / Library Café at 1000 South Bascom Ave. On June 7, 2014 the third and final part of that facility was finally…
May 13, 2014
The Mayor and his friends have played a cruel joke on San Jose citizens. By co-opting the concepts of “open government”, “transparency”, “sunshine” and similar expressions, they have created the San Jose Way that in reality has the opposite effect. We are at the high point of the city budget season. There are budget meetings throughout this month in every…
Apr 14, 2014
When I filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission and the San Jose Ethics Commission against mayoral candidate Sam Liccardo, I did so because I take laws seriously. Liccardo has cheated his way through the early part of the campaign to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he shouldn’t get away with it. Tweet
Mar 11, 2014
Have you read a book today? Waiting to the last minute, the San Jose City Council approved a resolution to place on the June ballot a Measure to extend the Library Parcel Tax. Surprisingly, the vote was unanimous. Perhaps that should be the headline from our partisan, divided, “I wanna be Mayor” City Council. Regardless, it’s good to see the…
Feb 11, 2014
For at least the past four years, I took part in the City Manager / Mayor’s Saturday morning budget priority setting session under the dome with members of other Neighborhood Associations and the Youth Commission. This faux-community involvement session is headlined as one of the ways that the Mayor & his allies will listen to the neighborhoods about our needs…
Jan 14, 2014
“Always focus on the front windshield and not the rear view mirror.” ― Colin Powell Today, San Jose neighborhoods are concerned about crime, public safety, gangs, and graffiti. People don’t care about the statistics of how many homicides, violent assaults, burglaries, or car break-ins occurred in some meaningless snapshot of time. People are fearful of what’s going on right here…