Morning News Round-Up -- 4.22.10: Opposed versus Opposing...

The San Jose Police Officers' Association has opposed the gambling measure on the San Jose ballot in June since it was put on the ballot a few months ago. Of course, they didn't oppose it enough to actually write an "argument against Measure K" for the ballot guide. Instead, they blogged about. So I guess we can say the POA are "opposed" but they aren't really "opposing."

But inside the story in today's Merc there are even more interesting details, if you read between the lines:

• Cindy Chavez still isn't talking to the Merc, but answered a question on Measure K through her spokesperson with a "no comment" -- thus violating Rule 1 of press relations.
• Even more interesting in the story is this: Ed McGovern pushing a yes on Measure K campaign on behalf of the card clubs and Jude Barry is a political consultant for the Police Officers' Association, which is opposed to the measure. This is interesting because Ed McGovern and Jude Barry are working together in Santa Clara on the 49ers' stadium campaign. Politics makes strange bedfellows... (No Councilmember Oliverio, we don't mean that kind of bedfellow...)

Here we go again... again. Senator Maldonado is gunning for Lieutenant Governor. Can't we all just get along?

While we are in Sacramento... Mr. Smith (well, Mr. Guardino actually) went to Sacramento, and got a piece written in the Merc about their trip... which we are sure will make the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce less than pleased because they went to Sacramento this week and got nothing written...

Speaking of Mr. Guardino, he comes to the defense of Cindy Chavez with a Letter to the Editor in today's Merc. He makes no mention, however, of why she has been in the paper lately: heavy-handed political tactics. But Cindy should send Carl flowers today...

Wouldn't it be great to buy alcohol and Advil in the same place? That way, you can get the cause and the cure for a hangover in one space... Well, the Campbell City Council doesn't think it is such a good idea and denied Walgreens' the proper permits...

The City of Palo Alto hired a consulting firm to see how it might be able to see how to trim costs from the fire department... of course, they forgot to find out if the consulting firm had every actually recommended reducing staffing levels of fire departments ever. The answer? No. Never. Not once. Well, that was money well spent by the City of Palo Alto...

A woman was violently attacked and robbed at the Gilroy outlets on Wednesday in the bathroom. Scary.

What a buzz kill... and during the week of 420: Mountain View Police busted a grow house with $100,000 of pot plants...

On the blogs...

San Jose Inside lets us all know about Sam Liccardo's birthday cake at his campaign kick-off, and that Zoe Lofgren was there. We also learn that candidate Tim Hennessey has "friends" on Facebook that are mad at him...

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.11.09: Oakland A's?

Oakland is getting around to realization that they might lose their baseball team... they are now putting together 3 sites that could house the A's. Perhaps that would have been a good thing for Oakland to do before the A's decided they wanted to move to Fremont... and perhaps it would have been an even better idea to do before the A's decided they really, really wanted to move to San Jose...

BART to San Jose, or at least to Berryessa, is looking promising following hints from the fed’s that there’s a big chunk of change heading West. Congressmember Mike Honda and San Jose Councilmember/(incoming) VTA Chair Sam Liccardo both breathed a sigh of relief and shared tears of joy with Carl Guardino... actually, nobody cried.

Now we know why San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant is missing so many meetings. He’s been busy building an iPhone app for blight. The Merc’s Editorial Board sends entrepreneurial props Constants way.

After colleagues on the Alum Rock School District Board decided to close Pala Middle School, Trustee Tanya Freudenberger said she was “sick to (her) heart.” Superintendent Jose Manzo said it was District solvency or school closure. Trustees are considering an extension of their parcel tax, which will no doubt go over well with Pala parents…

Can San Jose neighborhoods keep grocery stores in operation? You gotta wonder…

San Jose Rose Garden residents wondered why it took the San Jose Water Company 4 days to start fixing the gusher flooding their streets. Water Company spokesperson John Tang says it was a delay due to higher priority leaks and it wasn’t the media attention that bumped them up the list. Thank you for clarifying...

The story of the tragic death of a 15-year-old girl in Gilroy took a turn for the worse. Early information from the autopsy indicates she may have drowned. Mark Stanford with the County’s Department of Alcohol and Drug Services says “it’s a myth that you can sober up with… a shower.” But that may be where her friends put her...

Palo Alto Independent Police Auditors Mike Gennaco and Robert Miller want the new chief to put fresh eyes on the use of Tasers. Adding to the Taser woes, the Judge said police acted improperly when they zapped Joseph “Tony” Ciampi. Local attorney Aram James worries “it’s just a matter of time before we’re going to kill an unarmed person." Sound familiar?

Mountain View Whisman School District teachers are pissed at the way Trustees “handled the breach of professional conduct by the superintendent.” (former) Superintendent Maurice Ghysels’ is quick to point out his romance with a school principal is not the reason he’s resigning. It’s a timing thing…

San Jose Inside spent their Saturday with the NAACP for a “Courageous Conversation on Race.” District Attorney Dolores Carr, Police Chief Rob Davis, and La Raza Roundtable’s Victor Garza joined community groups for a confab on perception vs. reality over the challenges facing San Jose Police.

Mission City Lantern gets giddy over Santa Clara City Council’s approval of the 49ers environmental impact report.

Morning News Round-Up – 5.7.09: The Guvernator is on the line...

Calling MACSA one of “San Jose’s oldest, largest and most politically powerful Latino” institutions the Merc’s Joe Rodriguez investigates the embezzlement of teacher retirement funds. MACSA board president, Louis Rocha, Jr., this week said he was “outraged” and vowed commitment to a “full investigation” and making the teachers whole. The Santa Clara County District Attorney and the Office of Education have asked a state investigative team to dig into "fraud, misappropriation of funds or other illegal fiscal practices.” Meanwhile, this week’s initial meeting between MACSA and investigators was postponed without rescheduling.

The State of California wants to “borrow” $1 Million from Gilroy? The Guvernator wants to take from Gilroy, and other cities, more than $2 Billion in local property taxes. Ouch.

Gilroy’s unions could be facing a public vote on binding arbitration if the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce has its way. Chamber president Susan Valenta said it was a “very innocent request, so there wasn't anything that would or should cause any problems.”

The Gilroy Union School District is under the watchful eye of Standard & Poor’s all because of the clerical screwup that left payment of Measure J off this years property tax bill.

Mountain View’s city council will be adding fees and cutting services in an attempt to fix the $6 million deficit. Councilmember Laura Macias argued against raising fees for preschool. Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga disputed Macias position that it was low income families using the preschool services and said the fee increase was ok. Cat fight?

The Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition showed off a little this week with the grand opening of senior housing in Mountain View. The dreaded words “affordable housing” didn’t seem to correlate with the $31 million remodel.

Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino has teamed up with Jim Wunderman of the Bay Area Council to encourage CEO’s (and others) to ditch their cars and bike to work. May 14 is the date for the annual CEO/Celebrity Cycle-To-Work-Day Challenge – watch out for local celebrities as they navigate to work next week.

Palo Alto’s College Terrace neighborhood wishes Stanford students and employees would bike to campus. Neighbors are sick of non-resident cars clogging the streets and have demanded permit parking.

Santa Clara County firefighters rolled to Apple Computer this week to when a white powdery substance was left in the cafeteria. Sorry, kids, looks like your motivation has left the building… Oh, Apple wants to buy Twitter, (apparently) so does Google.

Gilroy’s rapist/teacher Alberto Vicuna, Jr. gets a slap on the wrist for his nine sex crimes. Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Ray Mendoza said he did not charge Vicuna with rape because he didn’t think the jury would believe the girl was forced.

As if it’s not bad enough just going to the dentist… San Jose dentist Benva Lazar pled guilty to groping patients, claiming he needed to do a breast exam to ensure their health.

Metro/San Jose Insider Erin Sherbert reports the Santa Clara Valley Water District has, at long last, selected a CEO. Beau Goldie fills the 18 month vacancy created when former CEO Stan Williams was forced out for his own hiring screwup.

San Jose Revealed lets loose with a few Quick Notes

• The Merc puts a personal face on low wage earners being dumped by San Jose.
• Accusations that Mayor Chuck Reed is trying to keep councilmember Nora Campos out of next years mayoral race. Yawn.
• Following up on the Earthquakes, declaring Revealed is right.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.4.09: Falcons with an inferiority complex?

Editors at the Merc must be incredibly bored... Apparently, it’s important to call out Stephen Colbert for not noticing San Jose’s City Hall peregrine falcon papa shares his moniker. You know a City has a massive inferiority complex when the paper of record begs for national airtime. Perhaps he sees the falcons' names for what they were -- a cheap way to get San Jose some exposure.

Perhaps the Merc Editors (or reporters) should have been following the internal politics at City Hall a little closer than the falcons... Fortunately for all of us, the Metro was on the case. The tit for tat on the 18th floor between Mayor Reed and Councilmember Campos got a bit (a lot) more heated on Friday. The Mayor asked Campos to apologize for making a stink about not knowing that the IPA candidate's brother was a sworn officer when she probably/actually did. Reed is calling Campos a liar. This qualifies as a ratcheting up of the war of words between the Mayor and Campos. But it also shows that the Mayor took the bait. Watch Dog believes that this is what Campos has wanted for a long, long time...

Swine flu mania kept attendance (and Drunk Arrests) low at San Jose’s annual Cinco de Mayo. American G.I. Forum member/Alum Rock School District Trustee Dolores Marquez still declared the day a success saying, “we’re so grateful the weather held up and the people showed up.”

While we are Spine flu -- San Jose State’s Spartan Daily declares the first casualty of the swine flu to be common sense. Sometimes the student newspaper hits the nail on the head...

And where healthcare and the tanking economy meet, we have some problems. Valley Medical Center’s CEO, Kim Roberts, worries her emergency room is “the safety net of the safety net.” Their safety net is reaching its breaking point, even before swine flu mania VMC saw a 10% increase in uninsured patients.

Silicon Valley nonprofits, don’t bother seeking help from San Jose Councilmembers Pierluigi Oliverio or Pete Constant. Constant and Oliverio have suggested most of the City’s nonprofit support be suspended. Constant wants the tobacco money to pay for City services saying that while it’s nice to give money to nonprofits he wants to take care of “family first.” Agencies like Meals on Wheels, the Blind Center, and Big Brother Big Sister don’t qualify as family.

BART fans will be cheering in Milpitas Friday. The Valley Transit Authority will be joined by Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s CEO Carl Guardino and San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo to break ground on phase one of BART to San Jose. (Ironically, Councilmember Constant also said no to BART...)

San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio’s Chief of Staff Denelle Fedor, has joined the boss in contributing local news. Fedor questions the wisdom, and financial benefits, of ending San Jose’s mounted police patrol. Fedor has a horse in the race, she founded Friends of the San Jose Mounted Unit and complains City Manager Debra Figone never asked her to help cover the cost of keeping the horses on the street.

San Jose Revealed dishes on San Jose’s upcoming government doings… Revealed hints at a preference for plastic bags? Say it ain’t so. Wells Fargo gets to keep San Jose’s business, no more tossing toxic dental waste down the drain, San Jose Earthquakes want a stadium, and you will be able to buy food at the airport.

And, finally "Government Watch" is back at the Merc -- but isn't that interesting this week:

• San Jose’s City Council thinks about a new process for hiring the Independent Police Auditor. Maybe this time not having a family member on the force will make the top ten. Also on tap, the agreement with the consortium replacing/augmenting the community Drunk Task Force.
• The Santa Clara County Office of Education talks about charter school intents (intent? Like educating students?) and how do deal with a potential surge in charter schools.
  

The Merc’s Scott Herhold tells a recessionary tale of woe, entrepreneur/author/gourmet Pete Klein ditched the work day drudgery to become the “No-Face Bandit” until he got caught early this year. Herhold seems sympathetic, maybe he’s considering his own career change as the Merc continues to shrink.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs took note of San Jose’s Community and Economic Development committee meeting and complaints from the nonprofit community and San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Chief Pat Dando that a late memo from Councilmember Ash Kalra seemed quite familiar to a few in the audience.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.1.09: "Size does matter..." according to Mayor Reed

Trying to catch up with Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio's use of inappropriate, sexual references in public, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed declared, “Size does matter” discussing San Jose's population (finally) hitting 1 million residents. (Rumors that Mayor Reed blushed and giggled after uttering the double entendre are unconfirmed...)

Swine Flu update: Four more Silicon Valley schools shut their doors for flu days. While Watch Dog is ready to ditch the Swine Flu mania it is nice to see all the kids wandering aimlessly, in public, with school doors shuttered.

San Jose City Manager Debra Figone put the budget axe to the grindstone. The result, no one is going to be happy. San Jose, trying to close a $77.5 million deficit, is losing nearly 150 people, closing libraries half the week, ditching the mounted police, and closing parks on slow days.

Fire Marshal David Schoonover isn’t a fan of San Jose restaurants’ tents and won’t be a welcome guest for garlic fries and Amber Ale. Visits from Schoonover to the Poor House Bistro, Gordon Biersch, and Smoke Tiki Lounge landed restaurant owners in hot water for their tents. Downtown Councilmember Sam Liccardo is hopeful the businesses and the Fire Marshal will work it out without costing businesses big bucks.

Former Mayor/lobbyist Tom McEnery hoisted a celebratory beer and danced a jig in the tent-free O’Flaherty’s when San Jose Elections Commissioners dismissed the anonymous complaint. Elections Commission Chairman Fred de Funiak was pissed saying the “commission was used,” to go after McEnery. Big guns Supervisor Dave Cortese and Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino showed up to tell the Commission not to accept anonymous complaints. Way to use the Rolodex, Tom. Yesterday, San Jose Revealed posted a scathing challenge to the Merc’s Editors to actually read the report...

Speaking of Dave Cortese... Supervisor Cortese hopes to prevent little kids from landing in the pokey and Silicon Valley from having the youngest child ever locked up.

Silicon Valley hookers will be happy to hear the news, Dean Rish from San Ramon was busted for robbing women in the world’s oldest profession. Public safety officials working with the District Attorney’s office used the internet to find hookers with information about the East Bay robber before busting him.

Alum Rock Union School District Trustees have renegotiated outgoing Superintendent Norma Martinez’ severance package. Gone (finally) are the half million in cash and monthly benefits over $1,500. Martinez’ revised deal of less than $200,000 and half the benefits will allow the District to “move forward” according to Board President Gustavo Gonzalez.

Earlier in the week we wrote about a development in Palo Alto that got shot down by the City's Planning and Transportation Committee... well, the developers had this to say: "This project has been in the works for five years, and this is the kind of dysfunctional process that drives business and tax revenue out of Palo Alto..." How do you really feel?

A grumpy Saratoga Planning Commission approved plans to expand the Inn at Saratoga but let owner Kwan Lee know they were pissed about his refusal to roll in improved handicap access. Commissioner Linda Rodgers said she was disappointed while Commissioner Mary-Lynne Bernald symbolically voted ‘no.’

Sunnyvale’s City Council is declaring Sunnyvale will be a safe place for bicycles and pedestrians at the same time and street parking will have to be sacrificed for the bicycle when needed. That’s putting the green vision where it counts…

Also insisting on going green… Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page is visiting each of his restaurants to ask they ditch the Styrofoam voluntarily. We understand that the American Chemistry Council is trying to track down Mayor Page...

Saratoga’s City Council has been working with Civica Software since November to update the website and settled on the new design this week. Mayor Chuck Page asked the background be white for easy reading while Councilmember Howard Miller said simply “it might be good to find out how to simplify this design to have less words and less clutter,” Miller continued with "one of the problems with websites for infrequent users ... is that they can get lost if there's too much going on." Apparently, this conversation about web-design is what constitutes hard-hitting news coverage in Saratoga...

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro can be found tonight ambling through San Jose’s SoFA district celebrating First Friday with music, art, and a little shopping. Pizarro also dishes former Mayor Ron Gonzales pouring a little red at a Silicon Valley Capital Club fundraiser and former Councilmember/Supervisorial wannabe Forrest Williams has declared himself green from his name to his business cards.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.6.09: City, can you spare $600K?

The San Jose City Council will be hosting a bake sale any day now. City Manager Debra Figone said the worsening economy is leading to a budget deficit of $62.5 million for the next fiscal year. Ironically, Mayor Chuck Reed will release a scary budget message Friday the 13th...

Speaking of the City of San Jose spending money...

San Jose's (four-letter-word) developers ROEM and CORE are putting their hands out for more than $600,000 for a project not due to break ground until 2013. The developers need an advance on money the City's Housing Department has promised. This (semi)bailout would usually sail through the City Council no problem as the money had been promised and the developers just want an advance. Given the economy, that seems to make sense. But, this bailout isn't sitting too well with some of the neighbors of the Fiesta Lanes project on San Carlos Avenue. That's probably because ROEM/CORE have been seen as neighborhood bullies since the project started. Backyard neighbors to the project were told a year ago that part of their yards were actually on the project's property. These neighbors got a nasty note from ROEM/CORE telling them that their fences were to be removed...which was not very neighborly. One such neighbor, Terri Belandra of the Fiesta Lanes Action Group, is fighting back and seems to have the ear of the City Council because she got the bailout package delayed a week and got Councilmember Oliverio all riled up too. Another pissed-off neighbor is Rod Sayfie, the owner of Meineke Muffler, whose lease on the property slated to be part of the development isn't up until 2013. Sayfie doesn't want to leave early and doesn't like the way ROEM and CORE have treated him up to now either.

(Watch Dog readers should know that ROEM/CORE are likely to get the bailout they want from the City Council. RObert EMami (get it? ROEM) is perhaps the most generous political contributor to causes close to some City Councilmembers. Watch Dog bets that the Councilmembers who speak up loudest for the bailout are also the folks that are the beneficiaries of ROEM's largess.)

Speaking of active neighbors...Los Gatans pissed about a proposed cul-de-sac and development were successful in delaying project decisions too. Resident Stephanie Lynatt is concerned the orchards are disappearing and Planning Commission Vice Chair John Bourgeois complained the architect didn’t implement the level of changes the Commission asked for.

Santa Clara County is offering a Pharmaceutical Drop-Off Program for folks to go dump their unused med’s in a plastic box and not down the toilet. Pill-snatching, pharm-partying teenagers are not big fans of this new County program...

Three Silicon Valley blackmailers are heading to the County brig. Superior Court Judge Thang Nguyen Barrett generously gave them less than a year in County lock-up for luring men into a sex tryst – with cameras turned on. James Spader did not speak on behalf of the accused...

In a much different kind of scam (we hope) -- a group of scam artists pretending to be with the City of San Jose Senior Centers is hoping to separate older folks from their hard earned cash. Watch out...

Perhaps the number of desperate scammers is about to increase...the unemployment rate in the Silicon Valley jumped to 9.4% in January. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group's Carl Guardino is predicting a worse news in February and March...and he is usually such an upbeat guy...

Hao D. Lam was murdered outside a home in San Jose’s Alum Rock neighborhood Tuesday night. The Police are reticent to share details and are hoping you’ll call with information: (408) 808-4500.

Some Mountain View pre-school parents are pissed off and the Mountain View-Whisman School Board heard all about it. The pre-school currently rents unused District facilities. Now, the District needs that facility back as Mountain View-Whisman School District expands. The District and parents agreed to meet again and the District (and the City) are trying to help the pre-school relocate.

San Jose Revealed lets loose with more Quick Notes – or as Revealed calls them – notes for the temporally frugal…they hit Mayor Reed’s junket to D.C. to dine with SJSU officials. They also get a shot in on a GOP boss' salary...(which Watch Dog San Mateo wrote about yesterday)...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.13.09: JasonJasonJason Edition...

San Jose’s Councilmembers Sam Liccardo, Rose Herrera, and Ash Kalra have banded together to propose a way of covering Police costs downtown while not causing bars and clubs to leave downtown. (Although, that might make the Police Chief a little happier if the clubs left downtown...) San Jose Downtown Association’s Deputy Director (and powerbroker) Blage Zelalich, said “We advocate a model that will keep downtown safe, but encourage a thriving and eclectic nightlife." The Police Chief didn't respond by saying, "We plan on arresting everyone downtown no matter what..."

The bad news keeps on coming for the Palo Alto Utilities Department. Earlier this week Federal officials from the Department of Transportation raided their headquarters and took out 7 boxes of stuff looking for forged documents? fraudulent hiring practices? who knows...Whatever it was in those boxes, the Feds are certainly looking for items above and beyond an internal investigation that happened last year.

San Jose Revealed asked readers to identify San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Pat Dando’s policy wins and today updates us on the results – according to Revealed it’s not a happy track record. Which mirrors what the Metro wrote weeks ago... Revealed and the Metro, friends at last...

Largely because of the taxes it brings in, every city would seemingly like to have a (bland) upscale Santana Row-like development in their community. But Mountain View won’t be getting their own Santana Row if developer Fred Thoits has anything to say about it. According to Thoits (talking about Mountain View's wishes), "If [Santana Row] is their vision we just can board up the stores and look at vacant property with no revenue and no sales tax." He sounds angry.

The Los Altos School District Board voted against placing a parcel tax on a upcoming ballot. Survey consultant (pollster) Connell Lindh warned the District would need to raise funds and that the spring and winter breaks would cause two weeks of lost campaign time. The proposed $168/parcel was deemed too risky to ask of District voters. The move means the District will be cutting programs and services and will likely be laying off employees. I guess the recession is even hitting Los Altos...

Local businesses stand to benefit from D.C.’s stimulus package with a push towards green technology and internet infrastructure. Cisco’s Director of Technology, Jeff Campbell, said "It was all about physical infrastructure in the past...” Julie Blunden with San Jose’s SunPower added the infusion of funding will help expand manufacturing and accelerate growth.

From the Fed's stimulus deal to the State's budget deal:

Silicon Valley Leadership Group (cycling) CEO Carl Guardino is delighted with the tax breaks offered to the high tech industry in the State deal and said, "This potentially is a huge win..." (If $.12/gallon tax increase is a huge win, we'd hate to see a huge loss...) But the word "potentially" in Guardino's quote may prove important. The deal isn't done yet and Jon Coupal, the anti-tax guru from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said, "I'll believe it when I see it...I would be stunned to see Republican votes sufficient to pass this thing."

Hope you weren’t in need of an emergency room Thursday. Valley Medical Center, one of Santa Clara County’s three trauma centers and the busiest in the Valley, was closed most of Thursday after an unidentified young man arrived bringing with him a noxious odor. Regional and O’Connor (and patients) apparently bore the brunt of the closure. VMC is open today.

Deputy DA Ben Fields gets to keep his job while he tries to clear his name from the charges that he made stuff up while prosecuting cases. Good thing he gets to keep his day job, since the County’s legal top dog, Ann Ravel has “…declined to support [Field's defense attorney Allen Ruby’s] request for additional funds...” Ruby, having already received $50,000, asked for an additional $250,000 in (non-existent) County funds to appeal the charges.

Santa Clara Police Officers approached a man reportedly planning on shooting a cyclist. When he ignored Officers and pointed his gun at them -- the Officers shot him. Names have been withheld for both the Officers and the other guy who is in the hospital in critical condition. SCPD wants you to call the Santa Clara Police Department Investigations Division with information, 408-615-4800.

The Morgan Hill Unified School District is in a state of “near fiscal disaster.” This year, they will avoid mid-year lay-offs. Next year lay-offs are a given. Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini is looking to her higher power for help and says, "We are just praying that the State gives us flexibility…We are trying to survive." There is a 100% chance that prayer will not be answered...

Gilroy is losing a 6 decade business and 26 jobs when Gilroy Pontiac Buick GMC closes its doors. Neighboring auto dealers all said “we’re fine” when asked if they were also getting ready to shutter the doors. What about the $13+ billion GMC received in bailout money? “…didn't trickle down to us. It stayed up there somewhere, but I don't know where it went. They forgot about the little people..." according to Joe Lopez, former Pontiac General Manager.

(Rare) Saturday Watch Dog Silicon Valley Update...

Does the name Steve Heminger ring a bell? (No, not Steve Preminger.) If it does, you are either a transportation geek, or on the Obama transition team. That's because Steve Heminger, who is currently heads up the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, is being considered for Secretary of Transportation. Which is good news for the South Bay, Watch Dog would think. But the Secretary of Transportation always faces scrutiny with hometown projects...Nonetheless, Carl and Company are pleased. This guy would be pleased too...

Morning News Round-Up – 12.12.08: Drunk San Jose...continued...with a twist

Although ‘The Lioness’ has left the Chambers on Hedding her presence will still be felt. Supervisor Blanca Alvarado’s career had dramatic ups and downs, she’ll take some time off and return to San Jose to continue her work. Alvarado was San Jose’s first Latina Councilmember and the County’s first Latina Supervisor, appointed when Congresswoman (former Supervisor) Zoe Lofgren left for D.C. (after Lofgren beat-up on this guy.)

Whether the booze is to dull the pain of the economic crisis or to celebrate the holidays – watch out. Without any drunk tanks it could cost you as much as $8,000 in addition to the night in jail if you get pulled over for a DUI. A drunk tank might have prevented the death of a Sunnyvale man this week. A drunk driver driving North in the Southbound lanes of 280 killed one man and injured another.

But not everyone gets arrested for being drunk in San Jose. District Attorney Dolores Carr is expected to ask a secret grand jury to investigate a possible cover-up by two San Jose police officers for driving drunk. (Ironic, given the zero-tolerance policy usually in place.) Earlier this year District Attorney investigator (and former San Jose police officer) Sandra Woodall smashed her Cadillac Escalade into two cars injuring a teenager. Officers then (reportedly) helped her answer questions and delayed a blood alcohol test long enough to render any results inaccurate.

Angry parents, students, and coaches yelled at East Side Union Superintendent Bob Nunez for his threat to take away sports in an attempt to balance the budget. The San Jose Earthquakes (Lew Wolff) and Oakland A’s (Lew Wolff) have stepped up with offers to help the District raise money for sports. Watch Dog gnaws on this bone, come June when the final decision is made how likely is it sports remain while teachers, administrators, and staff disappear? What do you think, should East Side toss sports?

Without athletics to unload, the City of Morgan Hill is laying off as many as 13 employees in an effort to cut $2.1 million from its budget. At a community meeting, attendees offered ideas ranging from a 10% pay cut for management (savings: $40,000) to shutting off street lights (savings: $150,000). Councilmember Greg Sellers expressed concern that the budget cuts made now might be a prelude to a more painful situation if the state again takes/cuts City funds.

The Merc. makes a case to the Alum Rock Board of Trustees to put aside rancor and move forward – put the children, not the personalities, first. That truly would be a first in that school District...

Monte Sereno has selected Curtis Wright as its new (rotating) Mayor and Don Perry as Vice Mayor.

It was a mix of celebration and nostalgia as Campbell said farewell to Mayor Don Burr who has spent 50 years supporting his community in various roles and welcomed new (recycled and rotating) Mayor Jane Kennedy and Vice Mayor Evan Low. While Kennedy celebrated her fourth Mayoral appointment, newcomers Mike Kotowski and Jason Baker were sworn in to their Council seats in front of friends and family.

New VTA Board Chair Dolly Sandoval has asked her colleagues to stop bickering and get behind implementation of BART saying, "If we are going to max federal stimulus dollars or our own local dollars, we've got to make sure we are singing from the same hymn book." Amen sister...Outgoing VTA Chair Liz Kniss reportedly told a packed room of Measure B supporters she didn’t expect to see BART in her lifetime. Looking surprised, Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino voiced an expectation of the first trains rolling through in 2017. Perhaps 2017 if we all sing from Dolly's hymnal...

Measure B (BART to Silicon Valley) drama coming to an end? The legal eagle update...

Election drama and nail biting appeared to be over when Measure B passed mid-November.

(Measure B was a tax measure to continue funding the BART extension to downtown San Jose.)

Not so fast, cried Measure B opponents last week as they filed a last minute lawsuit to delay certification and force a recount. As Watch Dog readers know, only yesterday a judge in San Jose sent them packing when it turned out the lawsuit was filed in the wrong county.

Fast-forward to today.

In a gloomy San Francisco morning in San Francisco Superior Court where arguments were heard by Judge Peter Busch for a temporary restraining order to prevent certification of election results.

Slight problem - the Registrar is good at PR and law. The Registrar this morning dropped the certified results in the mail this morning before going to court.

(No surprise) Judge Busch denied the restraining order as results had already been certified.

Is this the end of the drama? Only time will tell.

David Schonbrunn of TransDef.org, the chief opponents of Measure B, says "No one knows how the voters of Santa Clara County really voted on this." Well, the Judge, the Registrar, Carl Guardino, and more than 2/3 of the voters know how the County voted on this...the only people that don't seem to get it are the TransDef.org folks...

The Registrar graciuosly pointed out TransDef could request a recount -- at TransDef.org's cost -- for an estimated $400,000. Does T.J. Rogers have that kind of money to put behind a recount?

Stay tuned as the drama continues to unfold.

Morning News Round-Up – 11.28.08: Planning for more failed start-ups?

The pre-dawn hours saw eager Silicon Valley shoppers filling the malls in hopes of getting a good deal.

Groucho Marx once said, “Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” Hicklebee’s, a San Jose landmark, is hoping this is true this year as they offer pre-holiday sales for the first time in 20 years. Britt Beemer, retail industry analyst for nearly 30 years says, “The guys who have done the best job building customer relations will win.”

In Morgan Hill, Tony Eulo recommends green gift giving. Suggestions include Watch Dog’s favorite, the newspaper, as gift wrap. They should start with the Morgan Hill Times…just kidding.

If you receive a Blackberry or iPhone this year, best double check it wasn’t stolen from the AT&T store in Gilroy – creative thieves broke down a few walls and took nearly $50,000 in phones.

While road rage seems to be all the rage as shoppers and revelers rush hither and yon the Merc’s Gary Richards celebrates the tales of those who help others.

Emerging fields such as green technology where profitable startups are, "on the ledge, ready to fly," is where to focus according to San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed. (Like this one, I guess…) Reed has asked for a re-write of the Redevelopment Agency’s five year plan, "The Mayor wants to focus on the two most certain years," said Harry Mavrogenes, Redevelopment's (highly paid) Executive Director. "The further out you go, the fuzzier things are." Yeah, because betting on start-ups haven’t burned San Jose in the past. Perhaps the Mayor and Harry should focus on keeping the businesses already here afloat…or at least make sure the companies they help out will be around in two years – and aren’t burning through CEOs…

The annual Turkey Trot saw more runners than last year including Army Sgt. Angela Hernandez who said, "I did this for myself, and my family." Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino said donations to food banks were down by 50%, "The irony is when economic times are tough, the need is higher. It's also when giving is lowest." Watch Dog isn’t sure if that is irony or Econ 101…

Time off did not affect Mission City Lantern’s James Rowen, as feisty as ever he suggests failed Santa Clara Council candidate Mary Emerson head south.