Thursday, March 18, 2010

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.18.10: Hungover? 420

John Woolfolk, the City Hall beat reporter for the Merc, has a piece in today's paper about pension costs rising in San Jose. The story is short, but the message is clear: the City of San Jose is in deep financial doo-doo. The City's pension costs are going up nearly 43 percent this year to clost to $200 million in the coming fiscal year. So all you folks who love neighborhood centers, libraries, and paved roads -- get ready.

Speaking of budget cuts... the East Side Union High School District is cutting just about everything in their budget for next year. You know what would probably help in these difficult times out there? A Superintendent...

San Jose has a pot club problem. You see, they are sprouting up -- and their landlords are being threatened to close them down. To add insult to injury, here is San Jose's chief Code Enforcement dude: "...It's not that we don't want to welcome medical marijuana dispensaries in San Jose. We just haven't had a chance to try to figure out where we want them, and how many we want..." Huh? It sounds like he's been to one too many clubs...

Yesterday we learned about a possible firefighter-backed ballot measure in Palo Alto (headed up by a Sunnyvale City Councilmember...). Today, we learn that the firefighters in Gilroy are just as pissed -- and so is the City of Gilroy. They keep sending nasty letters back and forth to each other (and to the Gilroy Dispatch). Perhaps the firefighters should call Councilmember Tony Spitaleri in Sunnyvale...

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