Morning News Round-Up -- 5.26.10: not very CSI-like...

Ah, the news about how shabbily handled the De Anza rape case was just keeps coming. Today's news: "...nearly 24 hours elapsed between when the semi-conscious girl was brought to a hospital and the first sheriff's officers knocked on the door of the house where the incident occurred..." That doesn't seem very CSI-like. Expect the Merc's Sean Webby to get another award around his coverage of this story... and expect the Sheriff, the DA, and nearly every other law enforcement official and organization to continue to hate Sean Webby. Which is a pretty good indication that he is doing his job...

Fresh off banning toys at fast food joints, the Board of Supervisors is about to get into the parcel tax game on the November ballot. The tax will go to "preserve health insurance for low-income kids"... this seems pretty ground-breaking to Watch Dog and we wish the Supervisors luck in November. We are pretty sure that there are about a dozen or so school districts out there that were eyeing November for a parcel tax as well. They might not wish the Supervisors much luck because they have to ask themselves: How many new parcel taxes are people willing to support?

The Las Vegas-ification of San Jose gets a deep dive in the Merc today. It doesn't sound like that many people have confidence in the plan for a major hotel near the new San Jose "Strip on First," but Garden City Casino is certainly moving and they are getting more tables (and increasing the City's rake) when they do...

There is at least a conceptual plan, even if not a fully-baked financial one, to make the Mexican Heritage Plaza an arts and culture school. Maybe the increased rake at the card clubs could help finance the place...

And what would a day be without a little news from the San Jose City Council District 5 race? Yesterday all the candidates attended an "ethics workshop" at Santa Clara University and they all signed a pledge to run ethical campaigns. A little late, perhaps? One candidate has already been called a communist and a gang-banger...

If you are planning on getting a fat loan from San Jose as part of your compensation for being hired to a high-level management job, it just got a little less fat... Of course, judging from some of the salaries highlighted in the Merc's Public Employee Pay Database thingy, why would someone need a loan anyway?

San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon gets the Merc Editorial Board nod for the 21st Assembly District... for a Board that questions the status quo up in Sacramento, it seems a strange choice, no?

As a companion piece up the Peninsula, it was Yoriko Kishimoto's turn for a Will Oremus profile...

While we are in Palo Alto... the Palo Alto Finance Committee voted to start charging kids/families to act in the Children's Theatre... that should go over big.

Here's something: Mountain View Police will "forgo pay raises for a year"...

We mentioned earlier this week that we can't resist pointing out imperfections with the online Merc... we are clearly wildly immature. We wouldn't argue agains that...





Finally, where have you gone Politicon Valley? We miss you...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.25.10: 2-40-2 Head line Bold herej head line bold goes here and here's more headling bold jyg

The Bay Area News Group is very proud of itself today as it unveils a (growing) database of public employee salaries for much of the Bay Area. Expect lots of folks on the 18th Floor to be search the database today... and if you have time, you can see how much more many of these folks make than you.

Speaking of public employees...

Not a day can go by without some news coming out of the San Jose City Council District 5 race. Yesterday it was Aaron Resendez who was making public a conversation that he had with Councilmember Nora Campos' Chief of Staff Ryan Ford. (Nora Campos is candidate Xavier Campos' brother.) It wasn't a conversation as much as it was a dressing down of Resendez by Ford, according to Resendez. He has called on Councilmember Nora Campos for a public apology, which sounds like he deserves... even Kathleen says so. Ryan Ford should expect a congratulatory call from Cindy Chavez and Neil Struthers today, "Our little boy is all grown up..."
Also, our call for campaign mailers yielded some fruit, and since we are in District 5 already, here is a glimpse of how nasty the race has become... With all due respect to Pat Dando, do voters in District 5 know her name still? Do voters in District 10?

Scott Herhold can not resist apparently. He takes yet another shot, albeit from a different angle, at District Attorney Dolores Carr. This time, Herhold isn't talking about her fancy car or her lack of ethics, although these things find their way into the piece (ok, not the car stuff). He profiles a Deputy DA who wants her boss to lose... she joins 40 other Deputy DA's in wanting the same thing. 40 DA's and one columnist...

Speaking of issues of crime and justice, the Merc Editorial Board continues to review its sample ballot and come up with judicial nominations in todays paper. They choose JoAnne McCracken, Vanessa Zecher, and Julia Alloggiamento but absolutely positively do not want you to vote for Thomas Spielbauer. They went so far as to write: Don't vote for Thomas Spielbauer. Wow. Perhaps Speilbauer and District Attorney Dolores Carr could commisserate about being treated like shit from the same newspaper...

Willow Glen Middle School was at the center of the world yesterday. (Some would say that Lincoln and Minnesota are always the center of the world...) A student apprently wrote a "hit list" on a bathroom wall that sent everyone into high alert.

Matier and Ross at the Chronicle (and the entire Chronicle, come to think about it) loves writing negative stories about the 49ers wishes to move to Santa Clara... yesterday's story was about how much money the 49ers are spending on their campaign. Another way to look at it is they are spending all that money to get the hell out of San Francisco...

Violent crime is on a downswing, according to statistics in San Jose. Of course, if you read Protect San Jose, we are headed down the road of Oakland...

Mountain View is buying up land faster than a South Bay city trying to land a Major League Baseball team...

Assembly candidate Josh Becker gets a long write-up by Daily News Group reporter Will Oremus... and the story (obviously) includes a stop at University Cafe in Palo Alto... a.k.a. Becker's headquarters.

Admit it Palo Alto readers, you were at the City Council meeting last night when the Council was discussing the Stanford University hospitals' expansion plans... that must have been so much NIMBY fun... so much fun, in fact, that the Palo Alto City Council put more demands, euphemistically called "community benefits" on the growing list of things Stanford should do to make their project acceptable to Palo Alto... like a "revenue guarantee"...

It has been a while since we made fun of Palo Alto Weekly's Editor Jay Thorwaldson for his "blogging" -- but his recent chime-in on High-Speed Rail re-sparked our snarkiness. He has posted twice in 2010. Perhaps he is getting into this new-fangled technology thingy...

We put this towards the end because really, who cares: Newt Gingrich endorsed Meg Whitman. One has to believe that Whitman sold her 2012 Presidential endorsement down the river for this endorsement...

Finally, does pointing out the Merc's technical difficulties ever get old? Watch Dog doesn't think so... this was a headline for a breaking news story last night:

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.18.10: Commie Gate

The news didn't stop in the San Jose City Council District 5 race. Actually, Commie Gate became even more intriguing... Richard Hobbs, Supervisor George Shirakawa's opponent for in 2008 released a statement about a hit piece that was mailed against him during that race. It had a striking resemblance to the hit piece mailed against Magdalena Carrasco late last week. Of course, Xavier Campos, Magdalena Carrasco's opponent for City Council works for Supervisor George Shirakawa, raising obvious questions, but prompting a Clintonesque response from George Shirakawa:

"Xavier didn't work for me or my campaign in 2008, and my office has nothing to do with this mailer against Carrasco."

I guess it depends on what your definition of 'my office' is... Notice he didn't say, "I had absolutely nothing to do with it." He said, "...my office has nothing to do with this mailer..." Shirakawa also didn't say that he didn't know about the mailer in 2008, just that it didn't come from his campaign...

The DA is looking into the entire episode, and they have ways of looking into DNA and finger-prints... (Of course, sometimes Dolores Carr pulls the plug on investigating forensic evidence...) The Merc Editorial Board had some not-so-nice things to say about this episode as well...

"...The link between the Hobbs mailer and the one against Carrasco is clear for all to see, and not just because of their physical similarity. Xavier Campos, Carrasco's chief opponent in the District 5 race, is a policy aide to Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. — the man who beat Hobbs in that 2008 campaign..."

Perhaps this is what Watch Dog meant yesterday when we wrote: Watch Dog won't speculate, even though we'd love to...

Several City of San Jose unions came forward with a plan to save costs in the City budget. It was met with mixed reviews...

• Chuck Reed: The proposal is "...nowhere near the 10-percent concessions..." that he says are needed
• Madison Nguyen: The unions should be "...commended for coming together..."
• Nancy Pyle: The proposal "...demonstrates very clearly that our employees are willing to make vital sacrifices..."
• Sam Liccardo: "We got into our current predicament with gimmicks and shell games... and that is not the responsible way out..."

Speaking of the Mayor and unions... Chuck Reed responded via blog post to the POA's accusations last week that the Mayor doesn't know what he's talking about with regards to binding arbitration... One big blog step for Chuck Reed, one small blog step for ProtectSanJose.com...

The Tour of California rolls through the Bay Area today and tomorrow... So shave your legs tonight and head to downtown San Jose tomorrow...

Speaking of high speed... a car crashed into a home in Morgan Hill following a high speed chase with police... drunk teenagers.

Hey all you Mountain Viewers... your City Council wants to hear from you about the new High-Speed Rail Report. Watch Dog is willing to bet that Mountain View will regret putting out the word that it wants public input...

While we're in Mountain View, the old San Antonio Shopping Center will be getting a new development... housing and a Safeway.

Staying in the big MV, more details are coming out about the dry cleaning murder-suicide...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.11.10: Life without a leaf-blower hotline...

Ballots are out... candidates are running around like crazy... and the Merc is about to weigh in on all the races... A while back they endorsed Teresa Alvarado for Supervisor... and Jeff Rosen for District Attorney... and now they are getting into the San Jose City Council races. District 5 is first up and they give a big nod to Magdalena Carrasco to replace Nora Campos. Some choice quotes that District 5 voters will be seeing a lot of in the coming weeks...

"What she lacks in political connections, she makes up in intelligence, thoughtfulness and a deep understanding of the values and needs of the community. We recommend her in the June 8 primary."

"Despite having served on the Planning Commission, he shows little insight into city operations."

And perhaps the most damning...

"He [Xavier Campos] was chief operating officer of the Mexican-American Community Services Agency, which is under criminal investigation for skimming off workers' retirement contributions. He says he was aware of MACSA's cash-flow problems but not the diversion of funds."

Ouch...

New, high-tech luggage scanners at Mineta San Jose (International) Airport get a write up in today's Merc. They are apparently cutting-edge, very cool, and something that "should be done everywhere"... Now, if only airlines and people started flying out of the joint, they could actually start using the luggage scanners...

Apparently several judge seats are up in the County... Tracey Kaplan at the Merc had the (tedious) task of getting into the nitty gritty of each race.

The San Jose/Evergreen Community College District is closer to getting a new chancellor... there are three finalists -- one local (the President of Evergreen Valley College) and two not so local... Watch Dog will bet on one of the two not so local folks...

The not-so-newly-formed Santa Clara County Elections Commission will meet finally... after 2 years. This seems to be over the objections of the Registrar of Voters. He seems to hate oversight more than a large, local police department does...

Add a rail company to the list of folks opposing High-Speed Rail... Union Pacific.

This should piss people off... the Leaf Blower Complaint Hotline in Palo Alto will be shut down due to budget cuts. If you have a complaint about your neighbor's leaf blowing, please call 800-Get A Life...

A new tax may be coming to Mountain View this fall... this time, more taxes on your 650 phone line that you are so proud of...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.28.10: This stuff writes itself sometimes...

Where to even begin on a day like today. Contentious budget cuts at San Jose City Hall? No. Banning fatty toys at the County Building? No. Sacramento shenanigans that have impacts in Silicon Valley... perfect...

There might be an election in some parts of Silicon Valley in May, June (x2), August, and November... that's because the Governor would like to fast-pitch the special election to replace Senator/Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado... (we wonder who this helps... hmmm...) "Hello Pat, It's Arnold. What are you doing between now and August?..."

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to ban toy giveaways at fast food joints within unincorporated areas of the County. The two that voted against the measure: Don Gage and George Shirakawa... seriously, this stuff writes itself...

Big day at San Jose City Hall yesterday... they were voting to cut the fat a little bit further, including their own paychecks. The tension at City Hall is apparently at an all-time high... or so they say. Unions are pissed at the City. The City would (ahem) like more cooperation from the unions... and never the twain shall meet, apparently. So the City Council needs to do something, and the only thing they can really do is cut -- and without willing unions, they have to cut non-willing unions..

That is on the cut side of things, but on the revenue side of things in San Jose, there are tons of folks looking at Measure K as one way to help stem the tide. Measure K would allow the City's two card rooms to expand in return for a higher rake for the City's coffers. (New slogan: What happens in San Jose, stays in San Jose...) The San Jose Police Officers' Association is opposed to the Measure (so are a few Council members)... but the San Jose Firefighters have thrown their support on the other side of things. Firefighters and Police Officers usually don't break ranks with each other on such things... perhaps this is a sign of things to come?

Earmarks are the bane of every good-government stalwart... of course, the disapproval is for other people's earmarks, not our own. Our folks requested $612 million in earmarks in next year's budget, which does not include the cool billion that Congresswoman Jackie Speier is proposing for Bay clean-up projects...

Minton's in Mountain View is about to get 203 units of housing. Of course, the new development isn't without detractors or NIMBYs... Mayor Ronit Bryant said it pretty well, in Watch Dog's estimation: "Will it bring more people into the neighborhood?... Yes, and I want more people downtown. We can't be proud of having a vibrant downtown and then say we don't want any more people in it..." You said it! Perhaps they could share the love with downtown San Jose?

You remember the story about the consultants that the City of Palo Alto hired to look into how to save money within their fire department... and how the consultants had never ever, not even once, recommended staffing reductions? Well, the consulting firm has been sacked...

Here is a heartwarming story from South County: A mother was arrested (and her kids were taken from her) because she left her kids alone at a motel. The four year old was wandering around the parking lot and the two year old was in a room alone. A special place in hell awaits...

We'll end with this, in case you don't read the East Bay Express... (pregnant pause) ... Some fans have been kicked out of A's games in Oakland for having anti-Lew Wolff banners. No wonder Lew Wolff wants to get out of there as soon as possible...

Reed: "Lew, you have my word: no banners in Cisco Field..."

Wolff: "That's the guarantee I've been looking for. Thank you Chuck... When can we move in?"

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.23.10: Leaving Mommy and Daddy Warbucks is a good thing...

The only San Jose news today is that the Sharks won... they lead the series 3-2.

Go electric or go to bankruptcy court... those seem to the options for Caltrain these days. That ain't fun. This would seem to have major implications up and down the region. Let is also be known that they are the first (but certainly not the last) local government agency to utter the "b" word...

Trouble in paradise... Paradise is Los Altos and the trouble is with the school district. Actually, the trouble is with getting a new teachers' contract signed by the school district. Some School Board members think the contract does nothing to address their budget problems now or long-term, some School Board members want to pass the thing and move on. The Board punted passing the contract earlier in the month and will take it up again on Monday. Is this a trend? Is this the educational equivalent of Police Officers and Firefighter contract/ benefit negotiations that cities are dealing with these days? We'll see...

It is very, very clear that (Almaden Valley's) Tom Campbell made the right move at the right time to get away from Daddy and Mommy Warbucks in the Governor's race. As Whitman and Poizner single-handedly boost up California's economy with their campaign spending, Tom Campbell is kicking ass in the U.S. Senate race he joined. A new poll done for Capitol Weekly has Campbell pulling away from Fiorina: Campbell 31, Fiorina 17, and Chuck DeVore (?) at 15 percent. (The betting line in Vegas is now Campbell by 6.5 points.)

Watch Dog is never really sure what James Rowen at Mission City Lantern means when he writes about us... but he wrote about our note on Jude Barry and Ed McGovern having clients on different side of San Jose's Measure K but working together on the 49ers' issue. It is clearly just business, but we just thought it was interesting and clearly that mainstream reporters aren't connecting dots, so we must.

Morgan Hill selected a (Barry Swenson) Builder to help redevelop its downtown... Congrats Mr. Swenson...

The same week as 420, Mountain View wants to crack down on a storefront pot club. Some people have no sense of humor dude... they are suing the club that opened up despite a City ban.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.21.10: 420 hangover...

The Sharks' series is tied at 2 games a piece...

In case you missed it, you should probably check out yesterday's post about what the San Jose City Council could have looked like... the way we (almost) were...

The Merc Editorial Board sets the stage for the next budget battle in San Jose. Calling the voluntary pay cut from the Mayor (and Constant and Liccardo and Oliverio and Kalra and Chirco) good stuff, they say more is needed from the unionized workforce... oh, and 1,300 employees in the City of San Jose got pink slips yesterday, including police officers and firefighters. Watch Dog guesses this is serious now... and it is going to get very ugly. Of course, the Police union and the Firefighters union are saying that the City is going to go to hell in a hand-basket. But more interestingly, Cindy Chavez did comment in the story in the Merc, but she did it by issuing a statement... we guess she must be sick of talking to folks at the local paper of record, given the goings on of the past few weeks. Note to Cindy Chavez: You are welcome to speak here anytime you like -- shoot us an email...

Speaking of firefighters... the Merc Editorial Board also chimes in on a bill making its way through Sacramento that would require municipalities to get state approval before filing for bankruptcy... ironic, since the state would probably have a big role in causing the bankruptcy in the first place... the bill is being pushed by the state firefighters union, which is also ironic for obvious reasons...

More on firefighters (in Palo Alto) below...

And the City of San Jose taketh (away jobs) and giveth (away land). Selleth, actually. The final deal for the two downtown parking lots to be sold to the Sobrato Organization went through yesterday, with a $20 million pricetag. Next up for the $20 million... baseball.

The San Jose Police Officer that was on trial for fondling a young girl while on duty was found not guilty yesterday.

A new fire chief will take over in Mountain View... and he is coming from Utah to do it. Welcome Scott Vermeer. We love your paintings...

The battle between Sunnyvale City Councilmember/ Palo Alto firefighters union boss and the Palo Alto City Council continues... the Council officially is asking voters to not sign the Spitaleri petition for a ballot measure... and he is pissed.

Earlier in the week, we learned of a group of band members from Los Gatos who were trapped in Munich. Which Watch Dog didn't think was such a bad place to be trapped... but there is a group of high school singers from Mountain View that are trapped in Paris. Perhaps the Mountain Viewers and the Los Gatans could get together on the German/ French boarder and put on a show?

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.20.10: 420, need we say more?

420... 'nuff said. Now, onto November...

It has been a bad few weeks for the South Bay Labor Council head honcho Cindy Chavez. First she got Jude Barry blacklisted -- which led to bad press. Then she sent a threatening letter to several Democratic Assemblymembers because they are supporting her "opponent" in a City Council race -- which led to bad press. Then her strong, yet unsuccessful, push to get Republican Dolores Carr endorsed for DA was uncovered -- which led to bad press. Today, the Merc's Scott Herhold ties it all up in a bow... He concludes: "...For such a sunny personality, hers are cold tactics indeed..."

"Hi Phil, it's Cindy. Can you relaunch sanjoserevealed as soon as possible? Thanks..."

Check out Watch Dog's piece from yesterday about Cindy Chavez, Dolores Carr, and Xavier Campos: United Carr Workers and Xavier Campos.

Watch Dog didn't really know something like this was possible, but... National Hispanic University was sold to a for-profit college conglomerate. Think of it as Walmart coming in to buy your small school. Laureate Education is the purchaser and their company is valued at $3.5 billion. If you are going to sell out, go big or go home, we guess...

Lately when anyone has been talking about Santa Clara, it has been about the 49ers or Yahoo... that's because everyone has stopped talking about the BAREC housing development that was controversial and contentious. But it is finally FINALLY moving forward as the clean-up starts... (If you know nothing about this development, then don't even try to understand the history...)

Yesterday was a bad day to be train-dependent. First a bomb threat that screwed up the afternoon/ evening community, then a suspicious package at the Caltrain Station in Mountain View closed things down for a while last night...

Speaking of trains... but a much, much faster one, hopefully. The Mountain View Council is studying the High-Speed Rail alignment options for Mountain View, and they really don't know what they like best... or least.

One Silicon Valley-ite who is running for high office has released his tax returns... Tom Campbell. And we learn what we already knew... he isn't a rich as Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, or Steve Poizner... Most stunning of all, he donated only $600 to charity in 2009. ... that's it. Perhaps the library in Almaden didn't need his help last year.

Speaking of Silicon Valley types running for office... Chris Kelly is a former Facebook executive running for Attorney General. (In case you didn't know that, and if you didn't know that, then you are in the majority...) He is facing some tough questions about Facebook's privacy policies. Questions like, does Facebook have a privacy policy?

Palo Alto is celebrating 420... well, Earth Day actually. They have a bunch of new enviro-sheek things happening.

To the blogs...

Protect San Jose answers a real(?) "Ask a Beat Cop" question today about a car getting stolen in downtown San Jose... of course the answer is about high-capacity night clubs...

Mission City Lantern has some advice for Cindy Chavez...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.24.10: I heart lawyers... especially ones running against each other

Who doesn't love a great political fight? But the fight gets a little boring sometimes if it is between two lawyers, like Dolores Carr and Jeff Rosen. Dolores Carr is taking Jeff Rosen to court over his ballot statement. (Because voters love frivolous litigation?) Carr is claiming Rosen is using quotes from others and comparing himself to her in his ballot statement -- both apparent no-nos. Of course, the best part of this is the Carr has given quotes to others to use in their ballot statements in the past and has compared herself to her opponent in the past. Um, lawyers, everyone finds the law boring... no offense.

So it has come to this: paycuts for City of San Jose workers. Sort of. That was the discussion at yesterday's City Council meeting. The story in the Merc has some colorful language to describe what is happening in the City: "[The budget discussion] ...comes amid the heightened politics of an election year as the city careens toward a fiscal crisis that could force dramatic service reductions..." Careens? It looks like the City Council will eventually take smaller concessions from unions (maybe) and do a series of one-time, short-term fixes to get through next year. That sounds familiar, like every year for the past decade. Watch Dog isn't sure that pushing these big salary cuts off another year until the Mayor wins reelection and won't have to worry about anything politically is a great idea for the labor-majority on the Council, but whatever...

To figure out part of the budgetary problems that municipalities face with pay, benefits, and pensions, check out this story about a Palo Alto janitor that took home $156k in 2009 and will receive a full pension and lifelong healthcare coverage... if only we had a national healthcare policy.

For those NIMBYs that want High-Speed Rail to (inexplicably) end in San Jose to avoid big impacts to the Peninsula got some troubling news yesterday... even if that were the case, the impact to Caltrain would be as impactful as the impact of High-Speed Rail. That's because the transfer to a new train to make it the final 50 miles up the Peninsula would hurt Caltrain and would require new tracks, new construction, and new trains... Face it Peninsula, your just train-screwed.

And if the previous story doesn't give you your NIMBY fix, perhaps this will: a public comment session on the "Minton Project" last night in Mountain View. Let's just say that not everyone supports 203 new housing units...

In the midst of the Great Recession, garbage rates are going up in Morgan Hill.

Ending with some blog stuff...

Jessica Fromm at San Jose Inside looks through some fundraising reports in the San Jose City Council District 5 race and finds that Magdalena Carrasco outraised (Nora's brother) Xavier Campos this quarter and that Campos spent more money that he took in during the same period. One candidate is raising money, and one is spending it... hmmm. Perhaps the Supervisor Shirakawa needs to call an emergency staff meeting to straigten things out...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.25.10: Dolores Carr... again again

Another day, another story featuring District Attorney Dolores Carr...sort of. Part A of this story is that a judge found a man that had been charged (but then uncharged) of murder "factually innocent." Part B of the story is that the judge finding the dude "factually innocent" stood up for the judge that is being boycotted by the DA's office for "standing up for her convictions." Part C is that the judge questioned why the District Attorney's office was fighting the "factually innocent" ruling... A response from the DA's office is expected today, apparently. Watch Dog anxiously awaits...

Speaking of the DA...

The Merc's Scott Herhold looks into the future about "How the Phuong Ho case will unfold"... He agrees with Watch Dog (read this) that the Police Officers in the video beating will not face charges from the District Attorney's office, but doesn't think it has much to do with the endorsement of the Police Officers' Association of the District Attorney... Herhold concluded with this about the Ho case: Put succinctly, Phuong Ho was beaten and shocked with a Taser without adequate reason. If there had not been a cell phone video, he would have been found guilty like dozens of others. It's the way our system works. Not the most reassuring few sentences in the paper this morning...

Picking up where Herhold left off, the Merc Editorial Board looks to the Police Chief to actually take some disciplinary action against the Officers involved in the beating/ Tasering of Ho and to make that action public. About the Officers' actions, the Ed Board concludes: "It may have been legal, but that doesn't make it right"... (Watch Dog predicts no action from the Police Chief.)

This was in yesterday's Chronicle, sorry we missed it: The folks that run Oakland Coliseum -- a.k.a. Alameda County -- are planning to build another stadium that will house two football teams, the Raiders and the 49ers. (Of course, the 49ers don't want to be there, but that's another story.) County Supervisor Scott Haggerty said: "There is only going to be one stadium in the Bay Area, and it's not going to be in Santa Clara... We have a better location, a better infrastructure and better access to roads and mass transit." Unfortunately, Oakland's ability to do anything is seriously in question -- just ask Lew Wolff.

We learn from San Jose Inside that most/all Mayor Chuck Reed's political people are working to get Sheriff Laurie Smith unelected... Mayor Reed isn't involved in the race... yet. The Mayor's political brain trust (?) is all behind former SJ Police Captain Richard Calderon...

In other political news...

Politicon Valley announced Vice Mayor Judy Chirco's endorsement of Supervisorial candidate Teresa Alvarado...

And the race to replace Judy Chirco on the City Council is heating up... and Larry Pegram seems to be in (with Jim Cogan and Don Rocha). There is also a Santa Clara University student in the race... because we all know what great decisions college kids make.

In case you were living inside a Bloom Box, you know that a thingy called a Bloom Box is being touted as the new, new thing in the clean tech world... We'll see. But certainly their PR agency is energized. 60 Minutes. NPR. Every TV station in the world. The Merc's front page. The Chronicle. etc. etc. etc.

A ban on pot in Mountain View... but they have all those yummy restaurants on Castro Street...

The lawsuit filed against San Mateo County's elections office is moving forward. This is about electronic signatures captured via iPhone being used to sign State elections petitions and is being brought by Verafirma, a Silicon Valley start-up. San Mateo County Elections' chief Warren Slocum rejected the signatures because he couldn't figure out a way to verify the signatures under California law. (This is a start-up that involves Silicon Valley man-behind-the-curtain Jude Barry...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.18.10: Guess who is coming to breakfast?

There was a bad plane crash in East Palo Alto yesterday. Unless you were under a rock, you know that three Tesla Motors employees were killed in the tragic crash. It also caused major damage to Palo Alto Utilities.

Guess who is coming to the Mayor's breakfast this morning? Lew Wolff, the Oakland A's owner. Not only is he coming, but he is introducing the Mayor, so at least one part of the speak won't be Ambien-like. Perhaps an MLB announcement will be forthcoming? Or perhaps Lew Wolff likes runny eggs... and the Mayor.

We joked that the Mardi Gras in San Jose was planned to have a "normal police presense," whatever that means... So it stands to reason that Police categorized Mardi Gras as like 'a calm weekend night'... as if that exists...

Hate the card clubs, love the card club money. That's what San Jose is all about. Here's what to look forward to in the coming weeks/ months: San Jose will put a ballot measure on a ballot to increase taxes on card clubs, then card clubs threaten to fight the ballot measure, then the City will allow more tables to allow card clubs to make more money so the card clubs don't oppose the ballot measure. Sort of like political racketeering by the card clubs... Too bad San Jose Revealed's coverage of the issues isn't linkable right now...

Do Not Cross, Park Closed... apparently San Jose Park Rangers mean it. Really, really mean it.

Does someone really have plan to redo Hangar One? Eddie Orton thinks he's got a plan and the money to do it. Eddie Orton is an Emeryville developer... Emeryville? Perhaps a Mountain View Ikea inside an enormous hangar?

In other Mountain View-area development news... Google doesn't want Mountain View to do evil in the North Bayshore neighborhood. In Google's view, evil = development...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.22.10: More pot for Spicoli?

Storm, storm, storm... but drought not over... power out because of storm... etc., etc., etc....

The 49ers are headed for the ballot in June. Their ballot initiative qualified and the Santa Clara City Council placed it on the ballot. Good things the football playoffs aren't distracting anyone in the 49ers' organization from their pending political efforts.

Let's hope this press clip doesn't land in San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's morning reading... or Harry's... or Krutko's... Tesla got its $465 million for their facility in Palo Alto. Ouch.

The Merc Editorial Board gives props to the (likely to be passed) Sunshine enhancement in San Jose that will include texts and personal emails. But the Ed Board can't resist taking this shot first: "...San Jose's mayor and City Council have resisted sunshine reforms for police records..."

The State Supreme Court struck down limits on how much medical marijuana patients and

caregivers can have for medical purposes. A ruling that will make Jeff Spicoli's day, but make the Morgan Hill and San Jose City Councils extremely angry and anxious. You know what can help cure anger and anxiety?

This story will make the San Jose Police Officers' Association a little angry and anxious... a City Auditor's report found that some Police Department desk jobs could be done by civilians rather than sworn officers. The City Council will take up the Auditor's report on February 2nd. Protect San Jose will (probably) take up the issue before that.

Speaking of Auditors and Police... San Jose Inside reports that Chris Constantin is leaving town and heading to San Diego. After being named, then un-named, as the City of San Jose's "Independent" Police Auditor, his stock sank (unfairly) locally. Unfairly because it was some other highly-placed peoples' lack of judgement that got him canned before he could actually get hired. Constantin is headed to San Diego to be the City's Deputy City Auditor. Good bye and good luck.

Yesterday we wrote that Tom Campbell woke up happy in Almaden Valley because the Governor's race which he left got more expensive right after he moved up in the ballot to the Senate race. (We got several wise-ass emails noting that everyone in Almaden Valley is required to wake up happy, it is in the deeds to their homes...) But the truth is that Tom Campbell will wake up even happier today when he checks the news on his HP computer. That's because he is leading the Republican field according to a new poll... and he is the Number 1 Republican contender to take on Senator Barbara "I heart the Oakland A's" Boxer...

Those poll results are being spun by Fiorina's team apparently. Politicon Valley has their press statement where Fiorina spins these results as positive for her camp (she's a strong candidate in the Primary and General) and opens up lines of attack on Campbell (career politician and worked in Sacramento recently). The best comes at the end of Fiorina's press person's statement: "...we expect his number to fall fast -- just like Martha Coakley's in Massachusetts..." Yes, because Carly Fiorina will be the Tea Party Candidate in this race...

Speaking of the increasingly expensive Governor's race, Steve Poizner criticized Meg Whitman's latest influx of $20 million bucks. Poizner says that Whitman is trying to buy the Governor's race... He did not say, "It isn't fair, I was going to try the Governor's race just like I bought the Insurance Commissioners office." Pot, kettle, black, irony... lots of zeros...

Hey, here's some positive news (with a downside)... home prices are up and so are sales. That's great as an economic indicator, bad if you've been saving up... Which makes this story sort of bad timing... or good timing, depending on how you look at it. The City of Mountain View is about to offer City employees $100,000 loans to buy a house in Mountain View.

Light Rail to Los Gatos? Maybe.

And while we are on rails... If State Senator Joe Simitian hosts it, anti-High Speed Rail people will come... that was the scene last night in Palo Alto when hundreds showed up to have their voices heard, or at least have their heads counted...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.14.10: Nothing Snarky to Write Here...

The Oakland A's desire to move to San Jose continue to light up the sports/blog/news world. Here are a few samples... from the Tri-Valley Herald, and editorial about the NUMMI site as a possibility, pointing out this: "...Ironically, it was the NUMMI plant and Toyota that helped torpedo Fremont's last pitch to the A's for a new ballpark..." And a story from USA Today, includes this gem of a quote from A's owner Lew Wolff: "It is like we are bing held hostage... We tried to make it work in Oakland. We exhausted everything we could in our area. It can't work. For us to compete, we've got to have revenue, and for us to get revenue we have to move to San Jose. It's that simple."

Andrew King, the swim coach/molester, will face his victims in court...

Here's another heartwarming story... a San Jose woman's car was repossessed because she was late with her payments. Ok, that happens all the time. But her 2-year old son was in the car. Oops.

The Mercury News Editorial board comments (positively) on the Tom Campbell political switcheroo (from Guv's race to Senate race)... The Editorial board also chimes in (positively) on Google's pulling out of China. A very positive day on Ridder Park Drive...

Nothing is easy to build/upgrade/restore in Los Gatos, but (finally) plans to rebuild/restore the Los Gatos Public Library passed the Town Council on Monday. Kudos all around.

El Camino Real and Stanford Avenue, perhaps one of the worst intersections in Silicon Valley, is going to get redesigned... thank goodness. Maybe this is the one thing that everyone in Palo Alto can agree on... it got a 5-0 vote on the Planning and Transportation Commission.

Small town politics can be wacky... like in Morgan Hill. Years ago, a local attorney/Commissioner Bruce Tichinin hired a spy to keep tabs on the City Manager... the City Council condemned him and asked him to step down. Tichinin filed a lawsuit... yada, yada, yada... the California Supreme Court denied a legal petition by the City of Morgan Hill. Just be happy you aren't involved in Morgan Hill politics... sorry Larry Carr...

Gilroy is still obsessed with pot. We learn from today's Dispatch that there are at least 4 "quiet" dispensaries there... Watch Dog is fan of the loud dispensaries, rather than the quiet ones...

Most cities would love a downtown grocery store... heck, San Jose tried 30 years to get one and now has two. But the Mountain View City Council said no to two proposals for downtown grocery stores this week...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.7.10: Good morning Ms. Carr...

The top story today will make DA Dolores Carr's head explode -- and perhaps her political future as well. A man sentenced to 38 years in prison in a child molestation case is going to be let out of prison because the prosecutors were corrupt. Watch Dog can't make this stuff up, see for yourself. The trial didn't happen under Carr's watch, but the key point of this story is that the steps the DA's office took, or didn't take, when they learned of over 3,000 video tapes made of victims telling their stories that they never handed over to defense attorneys. (No reponse -- yet -- from the Rosen for DA camp...)

In other crime news... You remember the story about a Fry's executive who liked to gamble with Fry's money? Well, his attorney is asking for the case to be dismissed. Good thing the DA's office isn't the one prosecuting this case...

Scott Herhold goes after his least-favorite government agency today... again: the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Referring to the agency as 'the Golden Spigot' he chronicles their continued missteps and financial fucked-uppedness. This story has political implications too...

In really important news... San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant is getting two new chocolate Labradors. "What's Labrador?" Perhaps Constant can name the pups Cheech and Chong...

Few things are more interesting on local City Councils than split votes... so when Melinda Hamilton was elected/selected by only four of her colleagues to become Mayor of Sunnyvale, we take notice. She beat out Ron Swegles for the position. Perhaps Sunnyvale politics will be interesting for the next little bit...

Three former high-ranking Mountain View department heads retired last month and are collecting their pensions... oh, and they are back at work part-time. Pension checks from the City and paychecks from the City... the double-dip.

Good thing local governments have extra money to throw around because Palo Alto just settled a lawsuit brought by a resident who was hit by a City employee who was driving and reaching for his cell phone... the total tab: $1.45 million and a spinal injury for the resident...

To the blogs...

San Jose Inside/The Fly gets Councilmember Liccardo talking about the San Francisco Giant's polling in San Jose -- which Watch Dog wrote about earlier this week...

Protect San Jose takes and responds to comments today. Watch Dog has only one -- when is "In Their Words" going to come down as promised? Just asking...

Politicon Valley gets the press statements from local electeds (and elected wannabes) about the Governor's State of the State...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.25.09: A Very Broccoli Thanksgiving...

Hitting the pages today news that State Senator Abel Maldonado has his fingers crossed for confirmation as Lt. Governor. The Merc’s Editorial Board chimes in their support for Maldonado calling it “progress for Californians.” And progress for broccoli too...

Now, the real question, which Watch Dog has been talking about even if no one else is: Is Pat Dando taking this extra long weekend to make a decisions about her future political career?

San Jose hasn’t been the “safest” big city since 2006 and now trails New York as 4th safest in the land. Mayor Chuck Reed remains committed to regaining the title as Assistant Police Chief Dan Katz reminds San Joseans “we’re the safest big city in California.”

And if San Jose is ever going to move up that silly list again, it may be with a new Police Chief. At least that's what some folks would like to see. With San Jose’s City Hall as a backdrop, “based on the questions… (we) ask that (Dolores Carr) convene an open grand jury…” asked Asian Law Alliance’s Richard Konda’s at a press conference with more than 15 other community groups. Police Chief Rob Davis asked Sgt. Ronnie Lopez to send an email saying his door was open and he was disappointed. Because nothing says "open door" like an email sent through a spokesperson through the media...

Convinced that continuing the conversation about police use of force is the best PR strategy... San Jose Police Officers Association Vice President George Beattie was “bothered” after re-reading the Merc’s use of force story. Beattie takes issue with the implication that force is common practice and that “minor infractions” are always safe.

Santa Clara Vice Mayor Jamie Matthews is keeping his inner-Yahoo under wraps (for now) to be “sensitive” to neighbor Sunnyvale. If Yahoo’s plans work out they’ll ditch Sunnyvale to be near the Silicon Valley 49ers – in Santa Clara.

Mountain View Police credit extra feet on the street from the Gang Suppression Team and a “zero tolerance” attitude towards underage drinking for a decrease in gang violence. That probably all helped... but also the fact that they are in Mountain View probably has something to do with it...

The Mountain View-Whisman School District yanked a discussion on special education teacher cuts before the meeting, at the request of the teachers union. Parents were pissed about a lack of “transparency” as cuts turned into part-time positions.

San Jose Insides Joseph DiSalvo sends his appreciation to teachers in schools as well as those in his life. Before heading off to enjoy his holiday repast DiSalvo closes by poking Inside readers “the division and the rancor of the discourse bordering on the personal on SJI is very distressing to me…” Perhaps he should have read the blog he posts on before agreeing to posting weekly. You think the personal stuff is bad now, DiSalvo should have read Inside during the 2006 Mayoral race...

Heading into the long weekend a little good news…

• Christmas in the Park opens for the 30th time in San Jose on Friday...
• Sunnyvale’s eSilicon is ditching a redux of their 2008 luxe dinner at Santana Row for a pizza bash in their office and a $5,000 donation to Sunnyvale’s Department of Public Safety...
• If you want to join eSilicon in the giving spirit this year the Merc has a few ideas...

And we end this short work week with this great tid-bit... As we were searching for the above picture of Pat Dando, and interesting "Sponsored Link" came up. It seems someone in the San Jose Revealed world is still paying the bill to AdWords... Go ahead, do a search for Pat Dando in Google and see what pops up.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.24.09: Dando's Condo...

The Governator loves Jay Leno, his first time in Leno’s guest chair he announced his candidacy in the epic Recall Election of 2003. For Schwarzenegger’s second act, he brought the news that (a small sliver of) Silicon Valley will face a special election because State Senator Abel Maldonado to replace Lt. Governor John Garamendi. That is, if he can get past the confirmation hearings. State Senator/ Lt. Governor wannabe Dean Florez doubts Maldonado will be confirmed. An unconfirmed (ok... made-up) report has Pat Dando polishing up her resume and kicking the renters out of her Sacramento condo...

Another day, another School District under fire. San Jose Evergreen Community College Chancellor Rosa Perez decided to retire for health reasons shortly after ABC 7’s I-Team asked to talk about her outfitting her home office, hiring her partner, and lavish travel around the world. Trustee/ Board President Randy Okamura grimly defended decisions to travel to Vietnam and Thailand to recruit students to the financially challenged district. (As if the school isn't bursting at the seams...) Perhaps former East Side Union High School District Superintendent Bob Nunez could take her out for coffee and offer some advice with how to deal with situations like this...

While San Jose Evergreen's troubles headline for the first time... the Merc’s Editorial Board spanks Santa Clara Unified for reinforcing sexual stereotypes, ignoring sexual harassment of students, and welcoming “Broom Closet Modeling Agency’s” Joe Miller into a (cush) District job. The Editorial wonders if Miller’s escapades would have been ignored were it not for teacher/ pedophile Edward Slate's arrest for having sex with a student... A renewed call for a change in culture is put forth... Miller did not say, "Now I can recruit kids to work for me on all the campuses..."

We missed this in yesterday's Round-Up... Firefighter Union chief Randy Sekany penned an OpEd in the Merc agreeing (sort of) with Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio... He said if PO wants to negotiation all union contracts in public, make all government contract negotiations public too. That might make San Jose City Council meetings worth attending...

The parents of one of the boys hospitalized following a Halloween attack spoke out for the first time. Yesenia and Samuel Contreras said their son was a smart, talkative boy before being shot by gang members. Police and the teachers at the boy's school are fundraising to help cover escalating bills.

The Merc’s Editorial Board unleashes their inner-arborist saying room for 90,000 trees in San Jose is an opportunity. Apparently these arborists did a little home resale sleuthing to remind doubters that tree-lined streets increase those sinking home prices.

Morgan Hill’s new school Superintendent Dr. Wesley Smith watched kids practice fractions and met with parents... including parents pissed off at Smith's non-Latino heritage. Smith took it in stride and aims for bilingual meetings where he hopes to “give people a voice.”

Gilroy parents are also pissed... After learning El Roble Elementary School custodians clean up knives, condoms, and drugs from the playground. Would the parents prefer the custodians leave them there? Or better yet, would parents prefer the custodians recruit their kids to model?

Mountain View’s Castro Street saw the arrest of teenagers kiting checks and hanging out with gun-toting felons. Police say 3 teens from Concord and Hayward borrowed daddy’s car for a joy ride to Mountain View with a bulletproof vest and handgun locked in the trunk. Kids, it is Mountain View, you probably could have left the bulletproof vest at home...

An “extremely intoxicated” Mountain View man was beaten and robbed of $40 according to Mountain View police spokesperson Liz Wylie who added that while it doesn’t appear to be gang related.

In the animal cruelty department, Gilroy rescue-pooch Sammy was mauled and killed by the neighbors pit bull and bulldog. Michael Vick has no comment...

And this just pissed Watch Dog off to no end... you remember last week Carly Fiorina had coffee with the Washington press corps and she questioned, while pandering, the science behind global warming. Apparently Fiorina is now the queen of science as she bashes the health reform bill being discussed in Washington...

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.18,09: Rapid-Response Rosen...

Teens Jae Williams and Randy Thompson hung with Michael Russell at Santa Teresa High, all dressed in black and sporting bandanas... then the stabbed Russell to death. District Attorney Dolores Carr charged the teens as adults after looking “at everyone’s culpability and social history.” Thompson’s attorney, Richard Pointer, is looking for a psychiatrist because there are “some issues” that could help his client.

While DA Carr deals with this case... she is also dealing with a political race. It seems her poll numbers are dropping fast. Not too many people want to see her get re-elected according to a San Jose State poll. This is news that challenger Jeff Rosen's people have already had some rapid-response fun with...

Speaking of kids being charged as adults... San Jose has the dubious distinction of housing 5 teenagers in jail, all being charged as adults for violent crimes. The Merc’s Editorial Board is following the U.S. Supreme Court as they wade into analogies that teens are like powerful cars missing working brakes. The Merc calls for an end to life sentences for teens.

And speaking of (former) prosecutors in trouble... (Former) prosecutor Ben Field sat at the defendants' table while a State Bar of California appellate panel attacked Field’s request to overturn a 4 year suspension for misconduct. While Field waits to hear if his punishment is decreased – or made worse – he continues as right hand for (former) Vice Mayor/ Labor leader Cindy Chavez.

Terrified tiny-tots attending downtown San Jose’s Lowell Elementary School got their anti-Swine dose the easy way – a nasal spray. Head Nurse Melinda Landau happily said “we’re doing good” before packing up and heading to Washington Elementary. Ixia Rivera a 10 year old now Swine-proofed said “it felt weird… but it didn’t’ hurt.”

Environmentalists for Meg? Conservatives are pissed that Silicon Valley Republican Gubernatorial wannabe Meg Whitman gave nearly $1.4 million to environmental causes.

San Jose Police Captain Manny Martinez is ditching San Jose to become Daly City’s new Chief of Police. When the going gets tough... the tough head north... could the Chief be far behind?

There is a simple solution to missing goals – change them. San Jose Chief Development Officer Paul Krutko thinks lowered expectations for Team San Jose’s management of the Convention Center will still be tough to meet during the current economic disaster, but he’d love to see “measures with higher levels of performance.” Team San Jose President Dan Fenton blames bad data from the City as the Convention Center heads for its biggest financial loss in 5 years. Mayor Chuck Reed scolded Fenton for an unconvincing media band-aid.

San Jose Police are working the press for feel good stories to counter their pesky media nightmares. The Merc’s Patty Fisher shares a heroe's tale after learning rookie Officer Matt Bordoni was a two time lifesaver. A quick thinking, and Morse Code savvy, 10 year old Bordoni rescued a neighbor in trouble.

San Jose Councilmember/VTA Vice Chair Sam Liccardo announced plans to introduce “segregated bike lanes” while doubling the miles of bike lanes in San Jose. Liccardo also let loose plans to solve the “first mile – last mile” dilemma for transit riders with a bike share program.

Mountain View neighbors of Cuesta Park are pissed to hear plans for flood protection and worry it could destroy the “rural feel” of their park. Mountain View Mayor Ronit Bryant says there’s “no way everyone can agree and be happy” but remains confident most people are “ok with the process.”

Mission City Lantern welcomes (not really) the return of anti-Mayor Judy Nadler gadfly Debbie Bress. (And Mr. Rowen, we are sorry about our spell-check oversight... thanks for the correction. We just wanted to make sure you were paying attention...)

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 -- 10.29.09: Need a space of my own (san jose downtown)

Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr is finding herself in hot water (again). This time, DA Carr persuaded one of her staff to reduce the charges for one of her big donor's clients. District Attorneys across California are publicly disagreeing with DA Carr’s suggestion that she was doing “what public servants do.” DA wannabe/ Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rosen suggested “there can’t be two systems of justice… Ms. Carr’s integrity and ethics … have harmed the reputation of the District Attorney’s office." District Attorney Carr, here is a number Watch Dog wants you to keep on speed-dial: 1-800-238-4427.

Here is another story of ethics in government, sort of. The Merc’s Editorial Board calls for the (temporary for now) ouster of Wilcox High Principal Tab Taber following the recent spate of bad news: a teacher (allegedly) having sex with a student/students and a janitor running a teen modeling agency out of the school's broom closet. In the Merc's view, “it's time to rebuild the culture at Wilcox High.” It sounds like they might be on to something...

And ethical issues are front-and-center in another school district this week: East Side Union High School District Trustees meet this week to decide the fate of Superintendent Bob Nunez, currently on paid leave while Trustees investigate (alleged) conflict of interest and (questionable) credit card use.

Oops, that pesky little problem holding up the Environmental Impact Report for San Jose’s plans for a Major League Baseball stadium turns out to be Hexagon Transportation Consultants’ mistake. Seems fewer baseball fans translated into more traffic for Hexagon. Acting Transportation Director Hans Larsen is busily doing the apology dance after blaming VTA for the screw-up.

“Rules are made for people who don’t have common sense,” according to San Jose resident/City Council Chief of Staff Edesa Bitbadal arguing in favor of stronger leash laws. City Councilmember Nancy Pyle said her office has been inundated with email and phone calls following the death of Beverly Head and “we are not in the business of coming up with a million rules.”

The ongoing saga of Summerhill Apartments code violations and blue-tarped roof continues in Mountain View as the City Council said no to owner Sal Teresi’s re-roofing request. City Attorney Michael Martello pointed to workers camping in the parking lot and (apparent) attempts to set up residency in an “uninhabitable building.”

That isn't funny business in Mountain View, but this is... really funny business... the Superintendent from the Mountain View-Whisman School District has a "romantic relationship" with a Principal -- which is a no-no.

Gang violence struck (again) in Gilroy. A 17 year old (alleged) Sureño was shot by (alleged) Norteño’s in his car with other (alleged) gang members. Police said (however) there’s no evidence this is retaliation for a gang murder earlier this month in Morgan Hill.

Morgan Hill’s Christian bookstore owner/perv Richard Dresser pleaded guilty to sexual battery and lewd conduct and will be registering as a sex offender following his 6 months in jail.

Meanwhile, Palo Alto High School students engaging in the annual “Egg War” used frozen eggs instead of the traditional raw to pelt each other. Students were stopped from using their normal field of battle after the Police beat them to their Stanford stomping grounds. (Please don't read into that sentence too much. The Palo Alto Police didn't actually beat them -- we mean that the Police got to Stanford first. It is Palo Alto, not San Jose...) Assistant Principal Todd Feinberg is hoping students rat each other out in exchange for a shorter suspension.

Googlers hosted U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu when he announced big federal dollars for green in Silicon Valley.

Mountain View neighbor Los Altos is worried plans to remodel the San Antonio Center might take shopping dollars out of Los Altos while adding children to the Los Altos School District. City officials will meet over a negotiation table to talk turkey. Los Altos Councilmember/(former) Mountain View Vice Mayor Ron Packard offered “it’s a wonderful development for Mountain View, I wish it were happening in Los Altos.” Please use this time to shed a tear for Los Altos...

If you’re hoping for your anti-swineish shot, get in line. Santa Clara County got short changed in the dosage department and is (im)patiently waiting. The Merc notes all the other (much smaller) counties in the Bay Area received (a lot) more shots to hand out. State Health Department spokesperson Mike Sicilia blamed the computers... good excuse.

We end today on a political note about 2010. There is a new face downtown San Jose political circuit... that is, of course, if you consider Morgan Hill part of downtown San Jose. Let us explain...

Anxious to get an office job after 4 years of medical retirement, Morgan Hill resident/ (former) security guard/ bartender/ bouncer Tim Hennessey has his heart set on San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo’s seat. Hennessey complains he doesn’t want to wait until he’s 50 or 60 to run, he wants to “act now.” Hennessey’s biggest supporter, night club owner Ray Shafazand, is eager to engage in a “dirty…big war” to oust Liccardo for his night club-backed candidate, according to San Jose Insider Jessica Fromm. Oh, Hennessey is also a Republican. We found this listing on Craigslist... Could it be Hennessey is close to landing his new downtown apartment?:
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$700 Need a space of my own (san jose downtown)

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Date: 2009-10-28, 1:00PM PDT
Reply to: hous-rdn3y-1441756047@craigslist.org

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Hi, I need a place of my own. I don't want a room in someone's house . I like to have guests and not feel that I'm invading someone else's home. I like to come and go as I please without worrying about waking my roomates if it's late when I get back. I'm looking for anything from a studio to a one bedroom, but am having a hard time finding one in my price range. $700 is is over a third of my monthly income so it's the most I can afford. Please let me know if you can help me. Thanks