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 -- 3.18.10: Hungover? 420

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

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

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

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

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.17.10: It would be a lot cooler if you did...

The budget is bad in San Jose, real bad. Yesterday was a hum-dinger at the Council meeting as it pitted people who love parks, libraries, and other City services against City employees who love their jobs. According to the Mayor (in the Merc story): "Although this is the ninth year we've faced significant budget shortfall, this year is by far the worst..." What he didn't say: "Because things are so shitty, we are going to give card rooms the latitude to turn San Jose into Las Vegas..."

To help move things in the right direction, the City also approved a series of pro-business incentives... and... they also approved a rezoning thingy to allow the Earthquakes to build a soccer stadium right off Coleman avenue. Hey, if the Earthquakes play it right, they could take over the airport site (when the airport fails) and build the San Jose version of Estadio Azteca...

Happy Hollow got its facelift,

Happy Hollow got its (taxpayer) gift.

Now take your kids,

And you will see,

That it isn't as crappy as it used to be...

Ironically, the Happy Hollow story in the Merc was written by Holly Hayes... Holly Hayes' Happy Hollow story. Who said the Editors at the Merc can't be cute?

This is a story with so many interesting angles it will make your (political) head spin... Palo Alto firefighters are looking to put a ballot measure on the November ballot that would block Palo Alto from firing firefighters as Palo Alto balances its budget. This will get every firefighters union in the county (or the world) to call their political consultants as soon as possible this morning... Another layer of intrigue is that the head of the Palo Alto firefighters union putting this thing together? Tony Spitaleri... why does that name sound familiar to you? That's because he's on the Sunnyvale City Council. Just wait until the Sunnyvale Public Safety Officers put a ballot measure on Sunnvyale's November...

Speaking of the ballot box, but let's move up to this spring. 8 (8?!) school districts are looking for parcel taxes on ballots this spring: Milpitas, Mt. Pleasant, Alum Rock, Palo Alto, Fremont Union, Loma Prieta, Lakeside, and Union.

Back to Palo Alto... they are going to do a tad bit more outreach before re-writing their recycling regulations. It seems folks had a bit of a privacy issue with having the city go through garbage. Shocker.

We'll end today with a little political reporting from the good folks as the Fly/ San Jose Inside. It seems that Cousin Cortese, who is running in San Jose City Council District 9 is a Karaoke DJ master. Seriously. Watch Dog has confirmed, however, that his ballot designation is not Karaoke DJ, although, to paraphrase Dazed and Confused, it would be a lot cooler if it was...