Morning News Round-Up – 12.28.09: Club Scarlett, where the cool kids hang...

Senator Dianne Feinstein made the call, the President agreed and the Senate confirmed it. San Jose U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Seeborg has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate to sit on the U.S. District Court.

It has all the earmarks of a dirty story, complete with mudslinging. San Jose paid contractors McGuire & Hester $3 million, and hope to recovery some money from RMC Water and Environment for a sewer screw-up before paying for work to start over.

The Valley Transportation Authority hit the bicycle jackpot with a grant kicking off a bike-share program for Silicon Valley. San Jose Councilmember/VTA Chair Sam Liccardo pushed for bike share as part of the bicycle master plan doubling San Jose’s bikeways.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs hits the 2009 highlights with a year-end review. Complete with embarrassing drunk arrests, embezzlement and conflict of interest – what a political column wouldn’t give for a year like this. Too bad San Jose Revealed is no longer...

Scott Herhold reminds us it’s not just a year-end review but the end of the first decade in the 21st century. Herhold provides a decade review of the top 25 with the good (Google), the bad (De Anza rape) and the ugly (economic crisis).

Club Scarlett… The Merc’s Editorial Board extends a welcome to non-profit leaders at Working Partnerships as they join the club filled with lawyers, engineers and, yes, lobbyists wearing the Scarlett L.



Silicon Valley kids will not be happy to hear this… Summer classes in algebra paid off with big improvements. According to Silicon Valley Education Foundations Muhammed Chaudhry, kids can forget the local swimming pool and plan on a little number crunching.

A pedestrian died after being struck by a Cadillac on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose. Police want you to provide details (408)277-4651.



Mission City Lantern wants your John Hancock on the 49ers ballot measure petition and reports a brisk business just North of an opponents home.

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.8.09: A frosty Round-Up...

San Jose’s new affordable housing policy could get some tweaking before it even takes effect in 2013. City Planning staff will suggest ditching the rental property portion of the new rules, unless the state Supreme Court has something to say…

Gilroy’s City Council looked at loosening regulations for gambling and adult businesses. No word if medical marijuana joints would benefit from the (apparently) liberalization of Gilroy.

Gilroy Police Chief Denise Turner is asking the City Council for doggie laws with “more teeth,” in an attempt to prevent dog maulings. Doggie laws... more teeth...

The sorry tale of Palo Alto’s JJ&F grocery is over, for now. In a(nother) contentious meeting, Palo Alto’s City Council said “yes” to rebuilding the grocery along with offices and housing. Hoping to prevent a bait-and-switch, Councilmembers tied the land to food, forever. The party-pooper in this shopping parade was Assemblymember wannabe/ Councilmember YorikoKishimoto .

A new tax (might be) on the horizon for the cash-strapped Morgan Hill? A gathering of the City Council minds seems to say yes. Apparently frustrated by discussions over pennies under discussion, Councilmember Larry Carr said “City Connections, meetings – those are all distractions…” (apparently) hoping to move talk to high dollar salaries…

Stevens Creek Trail assault perp John Detches was busted over the weekend. Mountain View Police spokesperson, Liz Wylie, reports Police “pretty much stumbled upon him…”

Perhaps hoping for a Psycho Donuts redux… Antonio’s Nut House patron Afshin Fouladpour got ripped and waved a gun around after being booted from the bar multiple times.

Gubernatorial wannabe/(former) eBay CEO Meg Whitman took the stand in a federal case saying eBay wanted “all of Craigslist” but they didn’t do anything naughty with information they had from owning a huge chunk... No word if the Poizner people were in the courtroom taking notes...

Protect San Jose blogger/(former) San Jose Council Chief/ (former/losing) Council candidate Chris Hemingway suggests community activists looking within (and taking the San Jose Police Department’s Citizens’ Academy) will allow citizens to “…address issues like the language barriers between Police and non-English-speaking immigrants, immigrant prejudice against police derived from their native country, an increase in drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, and gang-related crime, and the bad attitudes of youths when dealing with authority.”

Mission City Lantern is thoughtfully sending a little Cheez Whiz to friends at Santa Clara Plays Fair, and props to Watch Dog (again) for nominating Campbell Mayor Evan Low the coolest Mayor.

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.3.09: The Broom Closet Modeling Defense...

We can't believe that the Broom Closet Modeling story is still percolating in Santa Clara... but the Santa Clara Weekly couldn't resist taking a shot at the Mercury News. The Editor/Publisher Miles Barber in the (appropriately titled) Milestoneds is pissed the Merc Editorial Board called for a change in culture for a high school where it is (apparently) ok for a teacher to have sex with a student and a janitor to solicit “only the prettiest” students for personal gain. In Milestoneds Barber suggests a winning football team proves Wilcox High is a great place. Good point?

On a much more grown-up Santa Clara note: Santa Clara officials look forward to June 49ers stadium vote.

State Senate wannabe?/ San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce President Pat Dando was popping the champagne early after the “soft-money” controversy went her way, a second time. San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle calls campaign finance “an area of law that’s ever-evolving,” and will study the ruling before suggesting San Jose ditch rules preventing unlimited amounts of “soft money” put toward independent expenditures in local campaigns. Wouldn't it be great if there was a blog around that would give a snarky run-down on this ruling... Watch Dog misses San Jose Revealed...

San Jose’s City Council didn’t worry about nay-saying NIMBY neighbors when they said yes to two housing development proposals this week. Barry Swenson Builder looks forward to seeing a 15 story tower along (currently) sleepy West San Carlos while business owners in Evergreen are hopeful more neighbors will keep stores open.

Speaking of NIMBYs, we head further north to Mountain View... Coming in at 4 stories with a cost of $500,000 per unit, the Mountain View City Council approved use of $7 million for a below market rate development. Councilmember Laura Macias commented the “traditional” Mediterranean design looked the same as other developments (think “yawn”) but gave her support to the ROEM proposal.

Following the critical head injury San Jose High’s Matt Blea suffered on the gridiron, the Merc’s Editorial Board calls on football coaches to think about kids health over winning. Editors call on parents to lead the charge in this culture change.

Palo Alto Police hired security guards in an attempt to prevent more teen suicides along the CalTrain tracks. Police are hoping the public will keep the guards on duty with donations to Barbara Teixeira, c/o Rail Crossing Watch Fund, Palo Alto Police Department, 275 Forest Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Greenwaste of Palo Alto is seeing green on skinny streets. Palo Alto residents on narrow, private streets will cough up an extra $180 to have their waste removed.

Gilroy’s medical marijuana dispensary continues to face an uphill battle. The Police report kids and medical marijuana (and booze) are being found together – so far it has not been MediLeaf’s pot. Let's get this straight: teenagers, booze, and pot together in one place? Unbelievable! Opponents are starting a petition drive of their own while Gilroy resident Karin Clements is bothered the acrimony is dividing Gilroy.

Protect San Jose’s Sunshine fan, Ed Rast, used a public records request to dig into the drunk in public problems facing San Jose Police. While the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity looked at numbers for big cities, Rast looked at San Jose neighbors to find Gilroy and Milpitas outshine San Jose in the Latino arrest department.

And the love affair continues between Watch Dog and Mission City Lantern...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.6.09: State Senator Dando?

State Senator Abel Maldonado appears headed to fill the Lt. Governor's seat recently vacated by (now) Congressman John Garamendi. Most Republican insiders are reported to be anxious to boot Maldo from their caucus midst and happy to see him heading to the Guvernator's side. A special election for Maldo’s seat could be just what the Dem’s are hoping for in the South Bay. But Watch Dog spies tell us that Chamber head-honcho, Republican, former San Jose Vice Mayor, and former Gov-staffer Pat Dando's hat is firmly in the ring for that seat...

Just as Watch Dog was making plans to go clubbing in downtown San Jose tonight this news: Vault Ultra Lounge (whatever an "ultra lounge" is) was shut down by the State Alcoholic Beverage Control. Something about minors hanging in the bar and ignoring the State’s labor regulations. Vault’s owners weren’t dishing to the press -- shocker... What will Vault's lobbyists do when they can't blame the Police and the City for screwing up their client's business... perhaps Tim Hennessey will come to the rescue?

Three kids and an 18 year old, confessed to Police they shot and stabbed trick-or-treating children on Halloween. District Attorney Dolores Carr and Mayor Chuck Reed look forward to trying the teenagers as adults. San Jose Councilmember Nora Campos is pissed as gang violence continues to rise in her Council District. The irony of this story:

• We know about the confessions because the Police released their Police reports... which is exactly what was being asked of them a few weeks ago and they fought. Just to be clear on the new policy: Good news for Police = Reports get released. Bad news for Police = Reports don't get released...

The Merc’s Editorial Board sends props to San Jose Police for their rapid arrests in the Halloween gang violence then reminds us that busting minorities is an area where San Jose Police excel -- and it is hurting their ability to do their job in the long run.

Not to be left out of the reform-the-police debate, the President of San Jose Downtown Association calls on San Jose leaders to set a Civilian Review Board off to oversee accusations of police misconduct.

City staff and taxpayers need to share the burden of San Jose’s 9 consecutive years of red ink -- that's the plan the City Council passed (without Councilmember PO). Slightly less painful than Mayor Reed’s initial proposal, a blended proposal calls for a 5% reduction in employee costs, efficiencies, and taxes... how fun...

Also getting in on the San Jose budget fun... San Jose Inside read reports of Council decisions on sharing the pain and asks “after nine years of budget deficits, are city operations still inefficient to the tune of $32 million?” SJI also wants to know how it is police and firefighter salary and benfits “shot up 78 percent” while the rest of the world saw 18% increases.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff who ran over cyclists has now cost the County $4.6 million with another lawsuit in the works.

Mountain View seeks to out-do San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s passion for green. Setting an aggressive goal of greenhouse gas reduction puts Mountain View among the first of cities across the nation.

Just in time for your Saturday lawn mowing pleasure: Residents of Santa Clara Valley didn’t reach their water savings goal. The pretty green lawn-keepers missed the 15% reduction mark, and used more water than their Peninsula and East Bay cousins. Don’t worry your pretty little roses over it, there’s no teeth in the Water Districts regulations.

The Merc’s Sean Webby better hope he never gets pulled over by San Jose’s finest. Protect San Jose’s James Gonzales suggests the sale of newspapers is behind the Merc’s investigation into allegations of excessive force... (If the Merc didn't need to sell papers, I guess we can assume that the paper wouldn't cover videos of baton-wielding Police Officers busting college students or the lack of transparency from the Police Department...) The Protect blog seems to be taking a page from Sarah Palin's playbook: blame the media.

Morning News Round-Up – 10.14.09: Dirty magazines in a fire station? Watch Dog is shocked...

San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle told the City Council they should settle (outside a courtroom) the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by fire engineer Julie LeBlanc. Doyle said the $200,000 settlement was “…a good settlement...” and sent props to LeBlanc for her courage in ferreting out the hard-core porn, including the “illest men’s magazine ever.”

San Jose walked off with California’s “highest and most prestigious environmental award” when they took the GEELA home from Los Angeles. Mayor Chuck Reed was “delighted” San Jose received recognition for keeping (recyclable) garbage out of the landfill.

Between depressed home values and fewer kids in school the Alum Rock School District talks school closure. Superintendent Jose Manzo looks at the shutdown of 2 elementary schools and a middle school due to the “financial dilemma.” Perhaps this is a fall-out from their previous "Superintendent dilemma..."

Mountain View’s City Attorney gig will soon be open as 16 year veteran Michael Martello heads into the sunset (possibly) to write a tome on conflict-of-interest. A subject Martello is familiar with having faced the music for possible conflicts during his affair with Foothill Disposal General Manager/Chamber of Commerce Board President Pamela Read.

A 2 year Mayor? Mountain View is thinking up ways to make the ceremonial rotation seat more inviting. Last years (1 year) Mayor Tom Means said the influential position means “you do get invited to things… oversee functions… set the agenda on a lot of things.”

Assemblymember Joe Coto did a happy dance Sunday night when the Governator put Santa Clara Valley Water District board reforms into state law. Reforms endorsed by the board allowed Coto to (seemingly) join forces with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed as a Sunshine distributor.

Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees President Don Moody feels “pretty darn good” about their choice for a replacement Superintendent but isn’t dishing on the name.

Medical marijuana for Gilroy and Los Gatos has to wait until lawsuits meander through the courts or another 90 days. Deputy District Attorney Steve Lowney told the Gilroy City Council to avoid the same over-the-counter problems seen in Los Angeles. Los Gatos Councilmembers are waiting for the League of California cities to provide direction. Dude...

Gilroy survived the first storm of the season with fewer power outages and lots of flooding. Morgan Hill residents headed to church to avoid flooded roads. The biggest storm in nearly 50 years took its toll dumping over 2 inches of rain in San Jose while water district Chairman Sig Sanchez said “this is a great start!”

According to the Merc’s Sal Pizarro there’s a lotta life in the annual Day of the Dead celebrations. “Five Minutes of Heaven” is on tap with San Jose’s Irish Sister city and kids get good dish with Seedfolks.

San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo sends props to this years (first female) winner of the Nobel prize in Economics Elinor Olstrom before moving on to talk about last years winner, the joys of small schools and Rigor, Relevance and Relationships at San Jose's Downtown College Prep.

Morning News Round-Up – 10.5.09: A little Bloody Mary with that garlic shake?

Hoping to jump start development, San Jose is ditching requirements on affordable housing six months at a time for specified developments. Not everyone is happy with the news, Kyra Kazantzis with the Public Interest Law Firm called it “a shame” San Jose gave up “45 years of affordability.”

Residents in the fancy peninsula towns of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton voiced their opinion that they should get an underground High-Speed Rail. After all, it would “tremendously increase property values,” according to architect Tony Carrasco and it would only increase the cost of the 8 mile stretch by $2 Billion… There’s no truth to the rumor Palo Alto is holding a bake sale to cover the costs…

Stanford’s Hoover Institution fellow Eric Hanushek thinks education in California so bad the state is “dragging down the nation.” Hanushek shared his opinion following the news that school leaders will sue over the states ever decreasing funding for public education with parts of the state ranked 47th in funding for public education in the state. San Jose Unified’s Don Iglesias supports the lawsuit saying “without litigation the state won’t properly fund schools.”

San Jose police put perv Jeffrey Minkin behind bars when he showed up at schools without mentioning his Megan’s Law status– and for hosting those sleepovers .

It doesn’t pay to key the car of a nerdy Silicon Valley millionaire. Howard Herships is off to jail for a month following the end of 4 years of legal wrangling over his keying of Steve Kirsch’s electric RAV4.

The Republican gubernatorial wannabe’s are having some kind of fun reminding each other of their (past) Democratic support. Meg Whitman pointed out Steve Poizner wrote some mighty big checks to presidential hopeful Al Gore while Poizner pointed out Whitman’s support for Senator Barbara Boxer.

With visions of steelhead trout in mind environmentalists are lining up support for the Calaveras Dam rebuild. The current dam, celebrating it’s 84th birthday, could be replaced as soon as 2015.

Disagreeing with the San Jose Parks representative, the Merc’s Scott Herhold says Beverly Head’s tragic death was not “an unpredictable accident.” Bike and dog owner Herhold advocates for more enlightened trail users.

Santa Clara County Tax Assessor Larry Stone is getting more than the usual “boo” in his own cafeteria. Stone’s remarks about pensions has county co-workers posting anonymous/angry signs – Stone says he’s trying to prevent the same public uproar that caused Prop 13. Labor doyenne Cindy Chavez welcomes predecessor Amy Dean next week when Dean shares insights on weaving the “labor movement into the civic fabric…”

San Jose Congressman Mike Honda thinks garlic is a fine treat so it’s no surprise he was unhappy with Republican colleague John Boehner’s disparaging remarks. Honda offered Boehner a basket filled with the Gilroy treat, the fun that goes on in D.C…

Protect San Jose’s Bobby Lopez offers District Attorney Dolores Carr, and all challengers, a Police Officers Association interview. Lopez wanted to “clear the air” saying no endorsement has been made…

San Jose Insiders let loose in Rants and Raves… Pat Waite and John Galt quote Ayn Rand, James Rowen takes time off from Mission City to celebrate a Stanford win and spank San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle while SteveO wonders about the Merc’s use of plastic bags…

Mission City Lantern wants a great Santa Clara and suggests Bill Bailey try a Mary-free Bloody. Now, where’s the fun in that?

Morning News Round-Up – 9.22.09:

You remember this story, former San Jose Police Officer/Santa Clara County District Attorney investigator Sandra Woodall smashed her car into parked cars and injured a teenager. Collegial courtesy (allegedly) caused San Jose Police Officers Will Manion and Patrick D’Arrigo to look the other way after Woodall's visit to the neighborhood bar for a post-rehab celebratory drink (allegedly) impaired her driving. San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis let the other shoe drop this week, he wants to fire Manion and D’Arrigo.

California hopes to snag $1.28 billion in federal funds to bundle with Prop 1A funds for Caltrain expansion and moving High-speed rail at high speed to Northern CA.

It’s a little anti-climatic - the Palo Alto City Council approved a change over to (formerly interim) Police Chief Dennis Burns who hopes to “lead the organization in a fair and ethical way.” A slap at former boss/predecessor Lynne Johnson?

De Anza community college is at the “…bottom of a funnel” according to spokesperson/former Merc reporter Becky Bartindale so they shut the doors on more than 8,000 students hoping to beef up their accounting, chemistry and writing skills.

The Merc’s Editorial Board offers San Jose the chance to step out from the crowd and become a leader – ditch the bag. Likening the demise of the plastic bag to getting cigarettes out of restaurants, Merc Editors offer it could be increasingly painful to keep the bag (along with (possible) federal sanctions).

Earthquakes/A’s owner Lew Wolff isn’t caught by surprise often so when Soccer Silicon Valley President Don Gagliardi rattled off SSV’s good deeds even Wolff was impressed according to the Merc’s Sal Pizarro. State Senator Joe Simitian and San Jose Councilmember Nora Campos will be in San Jose to discuss State reform with Joint Ventures Silicon Valley and the American Leadership Forum.

San Jose Insider/San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio was not happy with his colleagues last week when they ignored his request to kill a “Shared Room Occupancy” proposal in his neighborhood. Watch Dog is hopeful Oliverio meant “Single Room Occupancy” in his collegial spanking.

Mission City Lantern slaps a favorite, Jamie McLeod, and celebrates a win by the San Francisco/(future Santa Clara?) 49ers.

Protect San Jose's Tuesday numbers guy, Ed Rast, wasn't up and running by post time, the Friday forum landed two comments over the weekend.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.3.09: $20 million here, $20 million there...

San Jose employee unions can't be happy about a new audit the City Council will be hearing about this week. The audit says that the City could save $20 million/ year just be bringing employee health benefits in line with the private sector AND in line with other government agencies. Expect a backlash from labor-backed City Councilmembers. (Too bad there isn't a local blog reacting to the audit...) Local public employee unions should be glad they don't operate in San Mateo County. Up there, there is a County-wide task force looking at public employee benefits and pensions... The Merc. Editorial Board also thinks health benefits and pensions should be a priority.

The Merc's Scott Herhold must read Watch Dog. His piece in Sunday's paper was titled: DA Dolores Carr deserves a re-election opponent. Amen Brother. We even listed some potential (re-election) suspects (through links) last week.

Changes as the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International (?) Airport are being seen as a good thing by passengers. Unfortunately, as the airport gets better, the flights get fewer...

The East Side Union High School District has a new Acting Superintendent. Raising the obvious question, wasn't the last one just an "acting" Superintendent. (That's a pun people...)

Did you know that the next Secretary of State (?) is getting re-married? That's right. You just probably don't know who the next Secretary of State was going to be. But it's State Senator Elaine Alquist... and she is about to be off the market again.

Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro is under fire... and it isn't (all) about the Recall. This time he is getting dinged for cuts to public safety. Actually, this is all about the Recall -- and the saga is growing. Mayor Gage?

The Merc's Internal Affairs can't get enough of the blogwars in San Jose, probably because San Jose Inside is getting new (?) information out every Friday afternoon. This time, they SHOW ME THE MONEY... sort of.

Speaking of Phil Bump...

According to Mission City Lantern, the former Campaign Manager for Cindy Chavez for Mayor (Justin Schall) and former Political Director for the South Bay Labor Council (Phil Bump) are working on the campaign for Eric Goia for New York City Public Advocate. The Dream Team reunites... Somewhere on the 18th floor, Mr. Jansen is smiling.

While we are on the topic... San Jose Revealed seems to be down today. But Phil Bump did have time to see 500 Days of Summer this weekend and wrote a review. Whether Phil Bump is Revealed or not, he is a good writer. In short, 500 Days of Summer sucked, according to Phil Bump.

Club Wet - 15 Patrons/15 Minutes = No Stabbings?

We learned earlier this week that (thankfully?) Club Wet will be opened this weekend after a couple of days off. They were forced to take a short hiatus because of a series of stabbings that occurred at Club Wet over the past couple of months.

Club Wet's lobbyist (Dustin DeRollo) should get paid extra for getting the City of San Jose to allow for a quick re-opening...

The City did insist on some punishment for Club Wet, but the punishment seems like barely a slap on the wrist. The "punishment" includes limiting the occupancy of Club Wet by 15 people (not a typo) and closing 15 minutes early (not a typo)...

To give you an idea of the difference that 15 people make in a Club the size of Club Web, check out this photo (from Wet's website) and you tell me if removing 15 folks from this shot makes a difference.

Check out Club Wet for yourself, visit their website. Don't' miss the galleries and the videos.

And, we look forward to seeing you this Friday and Saturday night at Club Wet.

I'll get us on the VIP list for DJ Fashen if you sign us up for House of Wax/ DJ Sid Vicious...

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.1.09: Football season begins early...

It is almost professional football season... at least in Santa Clara it is. The Merc’s Editorial Board offers an opinion on the (Santa Clara) 49ers – let the voters chime in. Santa Clara Unified School District Superintendent Steve Stavis is on board and sent a note to Mayor Patricia Mahan that included mention of $141 million for schools if the 49ers make their new home here… At the same time, Santa Clara City Manager Jennifer Sparacino says the proposed stadium will result in “excellent economic development.”

Calling San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis’ “just say no” policy to public requests for the 911 tapes “inflexible” the Merc’s Editorial Board also says it's bad policy. They call on the Chief to release the tapes from the death of Daniel Pham. Very Herholdian of the Editorial Board...

The economic meltdown could bring benefits to San Jose development projects. Councilmembers Sam Liccardo and Nora Campos are teaming up to support lowered fees for Mesa Development’s 360 Residences. According to Campos the biggest risk is “failing to support projects” ready for prime time.

The Campos Crew was elsewhere in the news over the weekend too...

• Mr. Insurance, otherwise known as Assemblymember Joe Coto, is handing his lucrative reins to San Jose Councilmember Nora Campos. According to the Merc’s Internal Affairs, Campos should officially announce that she is running for Assembly today. San Jose Revealed dished last week on the (un)surprising news…
• Councilmemer Nora Campos’ brother Planning Commissioner/Council hopeful Xavier Campos’ involvement in multiple “scandalous” events.
  

Assemblymember Joe Coto is focusing his legislation on the hyper-local. Legislation changing elections for the Santa Clara Valley Water District is on tap for Assemblymembers. Water District Director Rosemary Kamei calls it a good idea and says it will ensure South County of representation.

The Merc’s Man About Town, Sal Pizarro, didn’t offer to help the Institute of Contemporary Art’s Cathy Kimball with her dunk tank. But, he does ask you to offer names for the ICA’s buck a dunk fun during the SubZero Festival… Pizarro hopes you’ll head to the Fairmont for dinner with Cisco’s John Chambers and (former) Foothill-DeAnza Chancellor/D.C.-bound Martha Kanter.

San Jose brothers Kulbir and Amirtpal Dhaliwal walk away with $900,000, Carlos Sousa, Jr. and Tatiana lost their lives. The Merc’s Scott Herhold says the boys aren’t angels but the San Francisco Zoo got off easy.

Mountain View Police ended a Shoreline concert early when fighting broke out and 6 people were stabbed. None of the victims appears to have life threatening injuries.

The perv following sisters on their way to school was busted. Seems Armando Sanchez is already a convicted sex offender.

And the understatement of the day... schools in Mountain View and Los Altos didn’t do too badly in the states new API rankings.

San Jose Inside gets a giggle out of a Tesla recall…

Here to inform, the Merc’s Government Watch…

• The budget is top news for City Councils in Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, along with Fremont Union High School, Palo Alto Unified School District, and San Jose Unified School District
• Milpitas Councilmembers discuss a proposal from Vice Mayor Pete McHugh for an un-layoff of full-time City employees.
• San Jose’s City Council considers keeping/cutting their pay and hears recommendations from the (decimated) Drunk Task Force.
• San Jose’s Rules and Open Government Committee talks to the Merc about release of the Daniel Pham/911 tapes.
• Santa Clara County Office of Education talks school safety and charter schools.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.10.09: Fiber Optic Vandal Edition...

In case you missed this week's San Jose Police Department news, check out our post from mid-day yesterday: "A Consortium and Task Force walk into a bar..."

You may have realized the phone craziness yesterday. Tens of thousands of folks had their phone lines screwed up all day. AT&T blamed the problem on vandals who cut fiber optic lines. The episode caused emergency response and public safety officials to declare a state of emergency because 911 lines were messed up.

The Merc’s Editorial Board has declared the arrival of detente for the City of San Jose and the County of Santa Clara. Crediting Mayor Reed and Supervisor Don Gage for starting the effort 2 years ago and former Councilmembers/Supervisors Dave Cortese and Ken Yeager, the breakthrough comes in the form of a plan for sharing Redevelopment monies.

San Jose’s financial woes seem to mount daily. Compared to San Diego, San Jose’s employee disability claims are triple that of San Diego. Mayor Chuck Reed says he’s disappointed the problem isn’t under control and perhaps San Jose should “subcontract all this out to Santa Clara County.” Disabled/Councilmember Pete Constant disagrees with proposed changes to make it harder to go out on disability saying in his experience the City waits too long to send employees out on disability. (If you are interested in Councilmember Constant's history of disability with the City, here is a little bit, it came up earlier this year...) On the plus side, at least this isn't another story about the Police Chief.

It’s not funny, really, but it does sound a lot more like Animal House than Stanford…Palo Alto’s downtown was the scene of a wet-noodle assault...

Mountain View Councilmembers saw a dizzying array of budget cutting ideas this week but weren’t sure they understood the trade-offs involved. Several Councilmembers admitted they didn’t understand the budget. Councilmembers Laura Macias and Ronit Bryant were frustrated by the process, Bryant said budget decisions in the past have been a very passive process but the current crisis requires Councilmembers to step it up. Y'think?

Los Altos managed to get their Standard & Poor’s credit rating headed up, unlike many of their Silicon Valley neighbors. City Finance Director Russell Morreale credits their “pay-as-you-go” attitude.

One year of dropouts from San Jose high schools lose hundreds of millions in potential earnings, are likely to be the source of over 500 violent crimes, and cost the State bundles. People Acting in Concert Together (PACT) is pissed off about that and managed to get a pledge out of two of East Side Union High School Trustees to reduce the dropout rate. Study director Russell Rumberger pointed to San Jose Unified as exemplary in fighting the dropout problem.

The Merc’s Editorial Board hopes voters in the Moreland School District read the news that dropouts can be prevented during the early years – and vote yes on Moreland’s Measure A parcel tax measure.

Students at Santa Clara’s Wilcox and New Valley High Schools staged a mock funeral at the end of two days of the grim reminders of drunk driving. Santa Clara Police Chief Steve Lodge hopes the training will help students think before driving after getting sloshed. Or, maybe he hopes they’ll hold off on getting sloshed until out of high school…

They’re not NIMBYs they’re YUMBYs say High-Speed Rail opponents on the Peninsula who banded together as a consortium and skipped right past the local meetings to meet with Assemblymember Ira Ruskin. Ruskin is glad they did and pulled the High-Speed Rail Authority officials into the office for a chat. They are still NIMBYs...

Los Gatos’ residents lost their emergency room at 1:00 this morning as Community Hospital closed its doors. New owners, El Camino Hospital, hope to re-open in July. Until then Good Samaritan hopes to serve your emergency needs.

Saratoga’s Chamber of Commerce, still reeling from revelations that Executive Director Elizabeth Borbolla made off with Chamber funds, is working furiously to keep the doors open. Van Nelson, Chamber President, voiced disappointment in his protege saying “she was rising to the challenge. She was teaching herself the skills she needed to do the job. And we could afford her.” And she was stealing your money...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.6.09: Fake Quotes Edition...

The Merc. was on a tear this weekend over accusations of racial profiling. (Perhaps reporters and editors are listening to the Drunk Task Force even though the folks that launched the Task Force aren't):

• A comparison between the approach of San Jose’s former (beloved) Police Chief William Lansdowne and current (not so beloved) Police Chief Rob Davis. Davis says it’s like comparing “apples and oranges” and an unfair to compare San Diego to San Jose. Davis didn't continue to say, "To compare someone who was loved and someone who isn't, isn't fair..."
  
• Up next, the Barrera family was pulled from their home and put face down in the yard before Police realized they were at the wrong house. (Big oops.) As if the story wasn't enough, the Merc. enters the digital age and has a (controversial) video posted that includes interviews with the Barrera’s and others unhappy with SJPD.
• A weekend expose on the huge number of arrests for disorderly conduct and similar "crimes". Guess what? Latinos get arrested more than anyone else.
• The Merc’s Editorial Board wants Mayor Chuck Reed and City Manager Debra Figone to demand an explanation on the large numbers arrested for disorderly conduct and similar "crimes".

In other law enforcement news: Sheriff Laurie Smith cut off access to expensive psychotropic drugs for inmates in order to save money and get folks off of drugs. Apparently some inmates pretend to be schizophrenic to get high. Spokesperson Joy Alexiou says there are other drugs that do the job but won’t cost as much. (Perhaps meth?) Sheriff Smith did not say, "If the San Jose Police Department would stop bringing us all these people that don't really belong here, we'd really appreciate it."

Tuesday is a big day for San Jose's Major League hopes. In chambers for both the County Supervisors and San Jose City Council the words “Play Ball!” will ring out. The Supervisors and Council call the Giants territorial rights nothing more than the creation of “indentured servants” of the South Bay. Not everyone agrees, Giants Executive Vice President Larry Baer says Santa Clara County is “the heart of our business.” What he didn't say was, "and the heart of business is for sale to the A's if the price is right..."

The Merc’s Internal Affairs brings us up to date on the continuing political drama around Silicon Valley -- even though some of it you know because you read Watch Dog...

• The Manuel Herrera-Xavier Campos battle for San Jose’s City Council District 5 seat is lining up. The X Man (Shirakawa staffer/Nora Campos' brother Xavier Campos) tells us that he is “seriously considering” a run at the seat. Really? Watch Dog is shocked! Shocked! (Except we wrote about on March 20th.)
  
• In the Alum Rock School District, former/current Superintendent Norma Martinez quit last year but is still pulling down the big bucks, draining much needed dollars from a cash-strapped School District, and making the District look horrible...
• GOP rivals for the Governor’s office flew together out of San Jose, which is pretty funny. But that story that both campaigns wanted everyone to know about (which Internal Affairs didn't mention) was that the two m/billionaires were both flying Southwest and the candidates want everyone to know that they are "of the people." Steve and Meg, good work -- we believe it. Whitman was not heard saying, "I like this brand new airline...Southwest."

San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo’s bad decision to take Sharks tickets might not be turn out so badly. The tickets weren’t as expensive as Liccardo thought so there’s (apparently) no violation of State rules. (Watch Dog spies have let us know that the 18th floor of City Hall is scrambling to figure out who else may have taken tickets but not reported them. Remember, Liccardo actually reported the tickets...) One spy did not say, "Everyone accepts tickets, Sam is the only one silly enough to even report it..." (Actually, someone did say that...)

San Jose Revealed amps up the angst over the Liccardo mishap but sets their aims at City Attorney Rick Doyle with a rather long tirade.

Mr. Roadshow’s Gary Richards handed the reins over to Mrs. Roadshow so he could head out for a little baseball. The Mrs. gets the chance to dish on the Mr.’s driving habits.

The community member of the Merc's Editorial Board is changing over. Teresa Alvarado is out and Michelle Lew is in. Lew is the President of Asian Americans for Community Involvement.

Vasona Park was the site of the Iranian community’s annual NoRouz celebration. San Jose Planning Commissioner/Festival organizer Matt Kamkar hopes the crowd of over 20,000 will work together to raise $100 million for a community center in San Jose. Not great timing for that fundraising effort -- but at least the weather was good.

Here’s where you can go to be a part of government in action this week:

• The County Board of Supervisors will hear Supervisor Dave Cortese’s request for more details on the lock-up of a 10 year old boy and his 11, 12 year old siblings. (Oh, and a request to have Major League Baseball let San Jose out of San Francisco's grip...)
• The San Jose City Council will also discuss Major League Baseball and a downtown San Jose stadium...and sidewalk cafes, surplus land, and fee increases for tree removal.
• Monte Sereno’s City Council (they have a City Council?) will consider pay for City Council members. Good timing for that discussion...
• The San Jose Elections Commission will consider the complaint against former Mayor/Lobbyist Tom McEnery, discuss procedures for anonymous complaints, and campaign finance and limits to contributions.
  

And in our School Districts...

• The Franklin-McKinley School District hosts a workshop to figure out how to chop $2 million out of the budget, including increasing class sizes.
• The Los Altos School District discusses removing money from programs to feed the general fund.
• The Alum Rock Union School District will consider formation of multiple committees and consider a supplemental retirement plan for teachers. Wouldn't it be great if the District had a Superintendent to guide this discussion?
• The Cupertino Union School District also considers moving money from programs to keep the general fund afloat.
• East Side Union High School District Trustees will consider approval of a charter for Downtown College Prep, lockers, and an agreement with the teachers union.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.30.09: What if Lew Wolff shared his microphone with Tom Campbell?

Watch Dog has said it before, but Lew Wolff is a microphone magnet. So much so that his statements from last week about wanting to move to San Jose just keeping getting covered. As a review, Wolff came out with his stongest stance yet on the status of the A's plans:

"...We are really saying that we'd love to stay in Northern California, and go to San Jose..."

Now to a local guy that has trouble finding a microphone to speak into...Tom Campbell. Did you know he is running for Governor? The Chronicle threw Campbell a bone and covered his long-shot effort to become the next Governor. Campbell's pitch? He knows the budget really, really well. In normal times, we'd advice Campbell to get a different political message, but extraordinary times may call for an extraordinarily boring messages...and Campbell's understanding of the State's complex budget is extraordinary (and dry)...

San Jose’s firefighters have offered to give themselves a wage freeze for the next year. City Manager Debra Figone should have been happy to hear about it but was pissed off the firefighters went around her to make the offer directly to the Mayor and City Council. (Former Vice Mayor) Chamber CEO Pat Dando didn’t seem to care who heard the offer and called it a “...bold step in saving the city a great deal of money this year...” (a million bucks that is)

Residents in San Jose’s Gardner neighborhood in Willow Glen say High Speed Rail is ok, just don’t take their homes to make it happen. It wouldn’t be the first time transportation took over the neighborhood. In the early 1900’s the railroads secretly bought land to build the Southern Pacific line.

The Merc’s Charlie McCollum seeks answers to America’s burning question: How does Steve Wozniak manage to keep on dancing (with the stars)? As everyone in Silicon Valley knows: geeks rule. In this case, the computers are humming with Woz love. With a broken foot, torn hamstring, and questionable dancing skills, the Woz still has fans (voteWoz.com). Gary ‘Mr. Roadshow’ Richards continues his love for our dancing Teletubbie as well.

The Merc’s Editorial Board adds their support to Congressman Mike Honda’s efforts to open Mount Umunhum to the public. The challenge is cleaning up the old Air Force Base and radio station...oh, and the $11 million required to do it. If Honda has his way the Midpeninsula Open Space District will have a new jewel. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren said there’s an incredible vista and it would be a nice place to hike.

The Santa Clara County Office of Education hosted their annual History Day Competition, appropriately held at San Jose’s History Park. Students created, and defended, projects on everyone from famed United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta to Oprah Winfrey.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs expresses love for San Jose’s HP Pavilion after attending a Streisand concert and reading a study released from Sports Economics which says thousands of jobs have been created and millions pumped into the local economy. The lovefest is to support a theory that local sports officials are hoping to steal the Sacramento Kings. It doesn’t hurt San Jose's MLB ambitions either…Also in IA, their own list of Quick Notes this weekend…

• Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to ditch his Tesla...probably because the Governor read the Tesla Chronicles on Watch Dog...
• While the classes for East Side Union High School will be taking more students, and teachers no extra pay, the teachers in Palo Alto are getting a 5% raise...proving that it’s good to be in a town where property taxes keep on giving.
• Jude Barry apparently ditched John Garamendi’s Gubernatorial race because the Lt. Governor can’t raise any money. The rumors are not true that Barry was too busy writing Watch Dog to run Garamendi's race...
  

Santa Clara is reeling from the apparent murder-suicide of 6 people, including 3 children, over the weekend. Very little information has been released about this incident.

A former Marine reservist, distraught about losing his business, threatened to kill himself in his San Jose home. Members of the San Jose Police Department surrounded the house, barricaded the neighborhood, and readied themselves for a patient siege. Turns out the guy snuck away and later called the cops from a payphone to give them permission to enter the home.

San Jose Revealed voices loud support for making San Jose’s Fire Station One a historic landmark. Apparently the best reason for giving it landmark status is to prevent former Mayor Tom McEnery from having his way with it. Others in the community also hope for landmark status and want to restore the structure and convert it to a museum.

On tap around the Valley for your elected officials:

• Palo Alto Unified School District talks about growing elementary schools, changing school boundaries, and the aforementioned staff raises. Get ready for some wild discussions -- school boundaries are a big deal in Palo Alto...
• Santa Clara County’s Committee on School District Organization meets to talk about moving property from Saratoga's Union School District to the Los Gatos Union School District...again, heads up when discussing school boundaries in fancy towns...
• The San Jose City Council Salary Setting Commission considers a freeze on the Mayor and Council salaries...
• Mountain View’s City Council talks about financial goals – like staying afloat in difficult times...perhaps Tom Campbell could give a Power Point Presentation on budgeting...
  

Tesla Chronicles: A NEW CAR! (but not for Silicon Valley)

Anything to do with Tesla gets major media buzz. (If they could only build lots of cars and sell them, that would be real news and not just media buzz...)

Like yesterday, Tesla's new sedan was unveiled. At half the price ($50K) of the Roadster ($109K) -- it will be the car for Everyman. (Everyman that can afford to by a $50K sedan, that is.)

What wasn't newsworthy was their announcement that the Sedan won't be built in San Jose...It wasn't newsworthy because you read Watch Dog (and the Business Journal.) (Although, we haven't heard anyone from San Jose City Hall officially say good-bye to Tesla yet...they usually just ignore it.)

Proving to be the least trustworthy company around, they are now saying the manufacturing will (probably) be in Southern California. Not the recently talked about Santa Clara or Fremont...

We look forward to future stories about Tesla's efforts to play one Southern California city against another in order to get a sweetheart land deal...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.23.09:

Odd couple Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmember Nora Campos are itching to move a few Redevelopment dollars away from traditional tasks of repairing dilapidated buildings and code enforcement into the City’s general fund. Not everyone agrees, (ever the contrarian) Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio calls it “not fiscally prudent.” He didn't say that he would like to move all Redevelopment funds to fund crossing-guards, however.

Speaking of Code Enforcement...San Jose’s East Side has taken a battering from gangs, crime, and neglect. For a while it looked like the riches of the Silicon Valley were starting to help. But the economic crisis and the housing crash have made the East Side the epicenter of San Jose home foreclosures. Code Enforcement Division Manager/Santa Clara Councilmember Jamie Matthews spends his days picking through bullet riddled houses tossing out teenage lovers and squatters.

Sunnyvale’s grand plans for downtown are being battered by the economy. Sand Hill Property is asking for more loans and trying to figure out what to cut or delay. Looks like Sunnyvale gets a Target but the high end hotel might have to wait until the recession is over.

The rumor about Wal-Mart violence pops up every few years. This year the urban myth merged with the violence at Evergreen Valley High and kept students home Friday. Parent William D. Brockmeyer III kept his daughter home and is pissed that principal Cari Vaeth and the Board of Trustees haven’t offered counseling or shut the school down. Trustee/President Patricia Martinez-Roach says it’s up to the public to be more alert, and principal Vaeth (apparently) prefers to ignore the whole thing.

San Jose’s former Mayor Susan Hammer has partnered with Councilmember Nora Campos and the Executive Director of People Acting in Concert Together’s (PACT) Matt Hammer to bring a new charter school to the embattled Alum Rock School District. Hammer (son Matt not Mayor/Mother/Baseball fan Susan) said 70% of Alum Rock’s children cannot read well or do math when they leave 8th grade and he wants to change that. (Luckily the plans don’t call for MACSA to manage the finances for the new school.)

San Jose’s unions have to be watching the public beating Gilroy’s administration is taking for automatic raises and wondering: will they get their raises in light of San Jose’s growing deficit? Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio seems to be sending a lightly veiled threat – skip the raise or lose jobs…

The Merc’s Scott Herhold isn’t happy some of his City Council seem to take off just when the going gets tough. Herhold calls out Councilmembers Kansen Chu, Pete Constant, Ash Kalra, Rose Herrera, and Madison Nguyen (and Liccardo and City Manager Deb Figone) for missing out on painful Council meetings.

Some of Merc columnist Joe Rodriguez’s neighbors live on top of a toxic sludge left behind by a turn-of-the-century San Jose city dump. Parents and homeowners are pissed about what they say was partial and vague information relating to clean-up while San Jose faces another legal challenge. City attorney Rick Doyle (unsurprisingly) says the City has done it’s job properly while Councilmember Sam Liccardo says he hopes to rebuild trust before the mediation starts.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs muses over a possible Silicon Valley (wonky) brain drain as the new administration in D.C. taps area wonks. IA doesn’t seem to know whether San Jose should be flattered or pissed off by the loss of staff. San Jose’s battered employee pension fund was honored by Money Management Letter – of course if they hadn’t lost a Billion dollars the award might not have been as a mid-size plan…Failed Santa Clara Council candidate Ciaran O’Donnell forgot to check his mail or read the reg’s – he got dinged by the city for fouling up the last of his campaign paperwork.

It’s all about the Merc’s Editorial pages…

• On loan, Tere Barbella could be the next casualty in East Side Union’s budget cutting. The teacher had the chutzpah to call the District Administration and Board of Trustees out for poor leadership and bad decisions.


• Editors send props to San Jose Assemblymember Joe Coto for his attempts to get the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board to adopt reforms including term limits.


• and… the Merc calls for an open mind from San Jose’s Drunk Task Force following the City’s partnership with the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity. Seems the Merc doesn’t agree with Watch Dog that Task Force founders Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmember Nora Campos are tossing their baby under a bus. We’re almost looking forward to the eventual blow up…

From Charter schools to sun power there’s a lot to digest this week with your elected officials…

• Tonight the Los Altos School District will cut jobs and review a Bullis Charter School proposal...


• The Supervisors will figure out if the sun will power their future...


• San Jose’s City Council will review $4.5 million in overruns for a South San Jose Police Substation, approve the Mayor’s budget, honor Cesar Chavez with a walkway, and argue over outsourcing City jobs...


• The Santa Clara Valley Water District will decide if we’re really in a drought, and (finally) decide whether to let voters choose term limits or not. Sorry Sig, Watch Dog sides with the Merc and Assemblymember Joe Coto on this one...


• San Jose Unified School District meets Thursday to (also) talk Charter Schools.

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.25.09: The Mardi Gras Hang-Over Edition...

San Jose survived the annual Mardi Gras madness. San Jose Police Officer Jermaine Thomas reported this year's celebration netted fewer than half the arrests of 2008 – most of those for weapons and probation violations. Sounds like a good time was had by all...

Bye, bye, Birdie! Lew Wolff has officially called off the wedding with Fremont. Wolff’s Dear John letter is a study in restraint, sending love even to those who disagreed and acted “…in a reasoned manner.” The Merc’s Marc Purdy chimes in on the Fremont loss saying it’s a no-brainer, bring the A’s to San Jose.

There’s a fire sale in the City of San Jose. With roughly 40 properties on the initial "For Sale," the City of San Jose hopes to raise as much as $137 million. Deputy Public Works Director Phil Prince said "It is urgent that we see what we can get out of here because of our budget situation." Nothing like selling land at the bottom of a market...

San Jose’s City Council was super busy Tuesday as 9 of them gave their blessing to $6 million in grants and loans to the much ballyhooed San Pedro Market (a.k.a. The McEnery Market). The lone dissenter (unsurprisingly) was Councilmember Nora Campos, who attempted one final shot at colleague Sam Liccardo over the proposal. Campos hoped City Attorney Rick Doyle would slap Liccardo for a legal violation - but the City Attorney said no ma'am. San Jose Revealed isn’t any happier than Campos and snarls through today’s column. Mayor Reed should find Campos' frequent frequent and lonely opposition flattering -- after all, imitation (of Reed's days on the Council) is the sincerest form of flattery...

San Jose Councilmembers asked nightclub owners to help cover costs of policing. Amazingly, not only did business owners agree but are delighted with the changes. Dan Doherty (Mission Ale & Smoke Tiki Lounge) said, "When elected officials trust small businesses, good things will happen." Councilmember Sam Liccardo gave credit to Police, City staff, and local businesses for working the deal out over the past 2 years.

The Santa Clara County Supervisors are giving $100,000 to the Public Defenders Office to re-examine 1,500 sexual assault cases whose (previously denied) videotapes have suddenly appeared. Public Defender Mary Greenwood called the move “extraordinary” and said, "The importance of the tapes is that with this new evidence, we need to see if there are people who were wrongfully convicted who are incarcerated." The DA Saga continues...

Sometimes, reform happens…and sometimes it doesn’t. The drama-shrouded Santa Clara Valley Water District voted to support a bill by Assemblymember Joe Coto which allows all 7 members of the Water District to retain their seats (in spite of a recently enacted law) but pushes reforms on the Water District Board. "I think these are fair," Coto said. "The public deserves these type of laws to make sure we rebuild the confidence in one of our important public institutions." Director Sig Sanchez (who has been on the Board for 29 years) disagreed with allowing the State legislature to define Board policy saying, "It would demean this district to where we were relegated to the role of some small district in the Central Valley." Ouch. Nobody replied, "Sig, get a new job..."

San Jose's Thomas Green, Jr. was the Finance Director for a local hospital, now he’ll be another perv behind bars. Green pleaded guilty to trading kiddie porn in chat-rooms according to U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello.

San Jose Revealed reports San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio is growing forgetful, or perhaps he’s in denial. Oliverio blogged for San Jose Inside details of a meeting then feigned surprise when people showed up. Revealed includes a video clip from the meeting with Oliverio and cohort Councilmember Pete Constant denying complicity in getting (partially informed) community members in the room. C’mon boys, you should take pride in getting the troops to turn out. You might, however, make sure they’re fully informed first.

San Jose Inside blogger/Santa Clara County School Board Trustee Joseph DiSalvo advocates the introduction of democracy, or at least a cessation of violations of the California Voting Rights Act. Local legislators received a call to action following a court decision last year – allow school district candidates to be elected by those they represent. DiSalvo points out at-large elections hurt minority (and women) candidates.

Tesla Chronicles: A Good News (for Tesla)/Bad News (for San Jose) Story

Watch Dog has covered it all here before about Tesla. Today, there is a good news/bad news story about the San Carlos-based electric car company. For the Bay Area, it may be one of the last Tesla Chronicles stories...

The Good News for Tesla:
Tesla got the $350 million Federal loan it was seeking. Congrats Tesla.

The Bad News for San Jose:
By all accounts, including this one just posted on the mercurynews.com, Tesla isn't really coming here anymore.

If the Merc's Tesla reporter Matt Nauman (or San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed) had been following the story, they would have realized that Tesla announced in early February at they were in "late stage" negotiations to build the San Jose plant in New Mexico...