Morning News Round-Up -- 11.17.09: Tom Campbell for Governor (of Almaden)

Former Silicon Valley Congressman Tom Campbell tops a San Jose State University poll of Silicon Valley Republicans. That's good news for Campbell, but bad news for Whitman and Poizner. (It is good news for Almaden Valley too... imagine a Governor from Almaden?)

Team San Jose’s Dan Fenton is confident an expansion and face-lift at San Jose’s 20 year old Convention Center will help conventioneers find their way to San Jose, again. Matt DiNapoli and cousin Michael Mulcahey agree and don’t think the scaled down version is a problem. University of Texas public administration professor Heywood Sanders snorts when he hears Fenton argue San Jose has something special, saying San Francisco says “effectively the same thing.”

Who says your vote doesn’t count? The Orchard School District saw Trustee incumbent Ken Riley edged out by Bambi Ann Fleming by 2 votes. With less than 15% of registered voters showing up, the squeaker brought to mind other recent close races. Remember Gilroy’s School Board race last year decided by 6 votes and San Jose Councilmember Ash Kalra forced into a runoff with a candidate who beat out the 3rd place finisher by 12 votes.

The teens who killed Michael Russell have been outed, their MySpace pages scoured and friends chatted up by the press. In the week since Russell’s death the Santa Clara District Attorney’s office has decided to try the 15 and 16 year olds as adults.

(Former) Sunnyvale resident/Scout Leader/Mormon youth leader William Knox was called out as molester by his 3 step-sons. The Mormon Church is identified in lawsuits for ignoring the boy's pleas for help. If only there was another established church that had experience dealing with stuff like this...

It’s the high life in Gilroy as MediLeaf keeps the doors open. Councilmember/attorney Perry Woodward worries a legal battle over legitimacy could cost the City as much as $600,000. Mayor Al Pinheiro is pissed saying it’s about obeying a Council vote. Supervisorial wannabe/MediLeaf-friend Peter Arellano and colleagues Perry Woodward and Craig Gartman made history by boycotting a closed session discussion discussing possible litigation. Is everyone stoned in Gilroy?

Gilroy’s City Council is ready to renegotiate with firefighters. Councilmember Cat Tucker argues the union request for 4 firefighters to an engine is unreasonable, “we’re a small town. We can’t afford to have 4 (firefighters) on an engine.” Meanwhile, folks near the Sunrise fire station better ready their own hoses, Sunrise is open 3 days until the end of the year.

The blinding light on Palo Alto’s California Avenue will start to diminish this year. Following the unexpected removal of 63 trees, and the ensuing meetings with pissed off residents, a mix of 6 tree species was unanimously approved by the City Council. The California Avenue Area Development Association had hoped for selection of a single species for aesthetic purposes. Isn't it often about aesthetics in Palo Alto?

If you’re a South Bay cyclist, life is pretty good. San Jose’s City Council is prepared to double the number of bike lanes. The Valley Transportation Authority is ready to have loaner bikes waiting at the train. Thousands of bike lockers are on the way and multiple bike bridges, underpasses, and trail extensions opened this year. Bike commuter/ San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo says “obviously, we’re no Copenhagen…. but, that’s extraordinary progress…”

“...all children, irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity or religion...” should have access to success, according to San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo, hopeful his readers agree. That's really going out on a limb Trustee DiSalvo...

San Jose Police Officer Association President/Protect San Jose’s Bobby Lopez wants everyone to listen to the recently released 911 tapes from the shooting of Daniel Pham. Lopez argues the Merc didn’t do much fact checking before posting their story.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.4.09: Champagne Hangover Edition...

So many campaign parties, so little time... And the winners (and losers) are:

• Barely 42 votes separated Palo Alto Mayor Larry Klein from newcomer/(former) Palo Alto School Board Trustee Gail Price. Klein should be wondering what happened. Klein and Price are joined by Karen Holman, Nancy Shepherd and Gregory Scharff on the (nearly) all new Palo Alto City Council.
• Sunnyvale’s Mayor Tony Spitialeri held on to his seat as did Chris Moylan, they’ll be joined by newcomer Jim Griffith who coasted to victory over Penny Kelly.
• Cupertino bounced incumbent City Councilmember Marty Miller to elect newcomer/(former) Cupertino Union School District Trustee Barry Chang along with incumbents Orrin Mahoney and Mark Santoro.
• Cupertino School District Trustees Gary McCue, Ben Liao, and Anjali Kausar are retaining their seats. With little opposition, these Trustees coasted to easy victory.
• Los Altos School District Trustee Mark Goines and newcomers Tammy Logan and Doug Smith will be dealing with the only-in-Los Altos-type school challenges.
• Orchard School District Trustees Alan Fong and Bambi Fleming will be retaining their seats. Although in Bambi’s case, she was pummeled by newcomer Mark Newton and barely beat out fellow incumbent Ken Riley. This race might not be over.
• It was grim news for new tax requests in Santa Clara County: Palo Alto’s hoped-for business tax went down in flames along with parcel tax requests from Santa Clara Unified School District and Fremont Union High School. Cupertinites happily voted not to increase taxes but push utility taxes into the kitty.

And while the election is the story of the day, the story of the month/year is San Jose's growing issue with the Police...

San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed (now) says he’s “...going to be on the side of full disclosure…” for release of 911 tapes and must now “...convince at least 2 members…” of the Rules Committee to join him today. In spite of repeated requests from Daniel Pham’s father for release of the 911 tapes, Police Chief Rob Davis worries about violating the family’s privacy... (Or perhaps he is erecting the Blue Wall...)

The Merc’s Scott Herhold challenges Chief Davis not to manipulate Pham’s family into providing the answer the Chief is hoping for and urges readers to join him at City Hall today…

Perhaps Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio has a way to ease the brewing tension... PO thinks a little weed might be just the ticket. Oliverio hopes to pick up where Santa Cruz leaves off and bring two new (medical) marijuana clubs to the City’s empty industrial sites.

Following the closure of San Jose’s downtown hospital in 2004, a flurry of activity took place (not) to get the nation's 10th largest city a replacement. San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo inherited the controversy and now reports a new site may be identified “...within weeks...”

Three teenagers were busted by San Jose Police following the gang-related Halloween stabbing of 12 and 13 year olds. Sgt. Ronnie Lopez said “...it was a tireless effort by [police] … following leads.”