Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.3.09: Nervousness Edition...

There will be several nervous folks tonight at 8:01 p.m. as poll results start coming for some local elections. Those nervous people include some City Council candidates in Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Palo Alto, some School Districts looking for additional revenue from property owners, and folks who want to sit through endless School Board meetings for the next 4 years. In case you forgot, here's how the Merc Editorial Board will be voting...

All you nervous people who have been worrying about the San Jose Police Department: stop being nervous. All that bad stuff you've been reading about the San Jose Police Department -- the drunk arrests, the attitude arrests, the beatings, the Tasings, the secrecy. The San Jose Police Department has a plan -- to police themselves. Because police have such an awesome reputation for self-reflection and willingness to find fault with one another. The quote of the day goes to the ACLU San Jose honcho Skyler Porras, "Asking the police department to police themselves has been about as effective as asking a teenager to ground themselves after missing curfew..." There is something politically new in today's story and worth noting. The Mayor and the San Jose Police Officers' Association's Bobby Lopez seem to be turning against Police Chief Rob Davis. Check it out: The Mayor said he had, "...significant concerns about how and when force is used..." and Bobby Lopez, "...We have some of the finest officers around, but unless you properly monitor the officers with the right people any group of people can go astray. You need the right supervisors, the proper safeguards. In the past I have questioned if we have that..." (Watch Dog is certain that a post is being penned right now for Protect San Jose to push the Police Chief further under the bus...) The countdown to San Jose Police Chief's decision to "spend more time with family" and "fish more" is upon us... Rob Davis is nervous today...

And we are starting to see the results of this weakening position of the Police Chief and the increased scrutiny on the San Jose Police Department. Next week, San Jose's Rules and Open Government Committee (which the Mayor runs with an iron fist) will discuss releasing the 911 tapes in the Danial Pham case. And the Mayor (seemingly) wants to hear the tapes...

Glenn Beck is going to have a field day with this one: an Arabic-immersion public Charter School is looking to opening in Fremont.

Solar is about to get cheaper in Mountain View (if you own a commercial property)...

There was a gang fight at Live Oak high School in Morgan Hill. Ironically, the school's mascot is an acorn and the school's motto is "Go Nuts!!" Well, the students seem to have followed that motto pretty well...

This should help mellow everyone out... Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio is pledging his support (on San Jose Inside) for the cultivation and dispensing of medical marijuana. PO is going for the 420 vote in Willow Glen. Wait for the first pot club to try to move on to Lincoln Avenue... PO will be one popular guy.

At the beginning of today's Round-Up, we talked about nervous people and elections... we will end the same way. Except, this nervous person is named Jim Cogan and the election is in 2010. (Ironically, he was recently made un-nervous by San Jose Unified School Board member Pam Foley dropping out of the race...) Cogan is running for District 9 City Council and he's re-nervous because Don Rocha, the Cambrian School Board member (and interim Chief of Staff to Councilmember Rose Herrera) officially threw his hat into the ring against Cogan. Expect a "tough on crime" piece on Protect San Jose from Cogan soon. In the meantime, let the race begin!

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