Morning News Round-Up -- 2.6.09: "We love democracy...but not THAT much..."

Ly Tong, the man who went on a hunger strike because "Little Saigon" was that important to him, is again at the center of controversy. He was at rally at San Jose’s City Hall to keep the recall efforts against Councilmember Madison Nguyen in mind – and to demand an undemocratic appointment if the recall is successful. Nguyen, showing the poise that was missing early on in this fiasco, said, "At this point, my focus is to do my job as a council member during the day and at night to reach out to as many voters as I can."

So...if Watch Dog has this correct. The pro-recall folks love democracy so much that they want to excercise their right to recall a Councilmember, but they don't love it enough to actually believe voters should have the choice about who should represent them next?

Also in recall news, another name has popped up as a possible appointee, community activist/CA Peace Prize winner/Education Fund Boardmember Cora Tomalinas.

Booooooo....Larry Stone, Santa Clara County’s Assessor, is reviewing home sales as long ago as 2000 to try to catch all the homes that have turned over since the dot com bust. The hardest hit parts of the County: Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Milpitas, as well as East and Central San Jose are expected to see home prices plunge. Stone came out using the “D” word and said, "If it isn't the Great Depression, it's the Great Recession." Stone must have been reading Watch Dog, because we've used the phrase before...

San Jose is planning for the future with the Envision 2040 Task Force...The Task Force wants you to provide thoughts. (In case you have absolutely, positively nothing else to do) the Envision 2040 Task Force is meeting at the Mexican Heritage Plaza at 8:45 a.m. tomorrow.

San Jose State University is raising tuition and cutting back on the number of students it accepts in an attempt to deal with the severe loss of funding from the State. Oh yeah, and as unemployment rates increase, State schools face an increasing demand for their classes. (If you'd like truly unique take on all things San Jose State, you should head over the Mission City Lantern. James has some thoughts...)

While you’re sitting around unemployed, unable to get into school, and not helping either the recall or anti-recall folks, perhaps you'd like to look at the Madoff Client Database. For entertainment you can see which of your friends had investments with Bernie Madoff. Like Ian Thiermann, the 90 year old of Ben Lomond, who is now working at the corner market to put food on the table. Wouldn't it be ironic if Boots Del Biaggio was invested with Madoff and vice versa?

Those loud cheers your heard over the honk of the CalTrain horn this morning were cyclist who are getting more space on trains...in April. Congrats cyclists -- you had a grievance, you got it heard, and you got it (partially) addressed. Now, about those tights...

South County Councilmembers/VTA Boardmembers Greg Sellers (Morgan Hill) and Perry Woodward (Gilroy) showed up at a VTA City group meeting to elect their VTA alternate. Unsurprisingly, the guy who didn’t show up, Milpitas Mayor Bob Livengood, didn’t win the seat. Sellers was accused of political maneuvering by Livengood, positioning himself for a run at termed out Supervisor Don Gage’s seat in 2010. Sellers dismissed that with a laugh saying he was “not interested” in Gage’s seat and "I think it's silly and naive to say that." Wow! A fight is brewing between Greg Sellers and Bob Livengood...perhaps this Mild-Mannered Show Down could be on Pay-Per-View...