Super-Sized Morning News Round-Up -- 5.17.10: Blood-Sport Monday - Hockey and Politics...

The Western Conference Finals started Sunday... Sharks lost... but at the end of the series, we are looking forward to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sending some of Chicago's finest (and fattiest) foods west to San Jose. He and Mayor Reed made a little wager. Chuck may receive a bunch of Vienna Beef soon. Yum.

But hockey was the mild sport over the weekend with politics being a little more dangerous... Especially in San Jose's City Council District 5...

Let's go chronologically:

The Mayor may be sharing some of Chicago's finest foods from Mayor Daley with his new BFF, Magdalena Carrasco. He endorsed her late last week, according to Watch Dog's email...

But that wasn't the only, or the most intriguing, part of that City Council race this weekend. Mailers were mailed out that took a big shot at Xavier Campos' role at MACSA courtesy of the Chamber. (Can you use the phrase "courtesy of" when you are talking about who paid for a hit piece?) Longtime readers of Watch Dog will not be surprised about the MACSA/Campos connection...

But that wasn't even the more intriging news out of that City Council race. It seems someone is (illegally) using Magdalena Carrasco's name to put out a fake mailer that has her standing with a communist Vietnamese flag... welcome to 1950... The Mayor is not pleased with this latest development and is calling on the DA, the Elections Commission, the post office, and the media to all do their job to identify who did this shady work... Watch Dog won't speculate, even though we'd love to...

As if there wasn't enough going on on San Jose's east side, there was an emergency landing at Reid-Hillview over the weekend... and a man was shot and killed in the Tropicana parking lot on Sunday morning.

Expect this story to also have political repurcussions: Dolores Carr's DA's office apparently stopped the forensic testing of some evidence in the De Anza rape case. This according to evidence in an ongoing civil trial... Jeff Rosen's team is no doubt reprinting this story and distributing it widely... Especially now that he has the support of some high-placed friends...

A big, long in-depth story was in Saturday's Mercury News about the new County Executive Jeff Smith. He has some fans, namely the County Board of Supervisors, who extended his contract through 2013. But the more interesting part of the story is the detractors: the County's unions do not like Jeff Smith. But that might be expected... but Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren? Apparently Smith pushed off a meeting with Lofgren for months. Here's what she said:

"His comments so far appear to be precipitous, haphazard and detrimental to the foundation of county government... People are calling to complain to me. I spent 14 years of my life making a good hospital and many of us are thinking, 'What is he doing?'"

Well, we know he isn't making friends with people in high places...

That isn't the only County employee in the news this week... there is a new County Counsel in the mix -- the acting County Counsel Miguel Marquez is getting the acting removed from his name...

The Merc's Internal Affairs shed some light into how the employee negotiations are going at the City of San Jose. It seems that City Manager Deb Figone had her lunch at Flames interupted by some city workers that were having a protest and started banging on Flames' windows yelling "Save our jobs!"... of course, Figone used to eat lunch at Morton's, but since the pay cut, she's now at Flames... We also learn from IA that the San Jose Redevelopment Agency forked over a $62 million check to the State Govenrment t his week. No word yet if the Governor has signed the thank you note...

Also in an attempt to get attention for their union plight, Jim Unland at the San Jose Police Officers' Association wrote a Memo to the Mayor on Friday... we're sorry we missed it then, but the Mayor probably isn't...

Perhaps this will help with the Figone/Employee and Police/Mayor relations: Measure K in San Jose got the deep dive in Sunday's paper as the Merc's Sandra Gonzales goes into the lovely Garden City Casino for some "man/woman on the street/at the table" interviews and looks at the pros and cons of relying on gambling to plug San Jose's budget holes...

The Water District reversed course and approved a new map for districts. Gilroy is no longer with Palo Alto... And that new Gilroy/Morgan Hill district is the one that the fast-food toy-loving Supervisor Don Gage will run for this fall... But the Mayors of Gilroy and Morgan Hill are still not pleased...

Sometimes it is good to have a reporter/columnist that is over 25 years old... such is the case with Scott Herhold. He gives a great perspective on Larry Pegram's first go'round on the San Jose City Council. If you read between the lines, Pegram left the Council with his three buddies on the heals of a bribery scandal... Pegram wasn't indicted or found to have done anything wrong...

File this story under D -- as in "Drive Cindy Chavez Crazy." Local political consultant Jude Barry is a founder of a technology firm that allows folks to register to vote and sign ballot petitions through iPhones, iPads, and other smart phones. It is the same company that landed Barry on the California Labor Federation's Do Not Patronize list... (This story should tell you how important that list is...) The Santa Clara County Registrar is accepting registrations that use Verafirma technology...

File this story under W for Weird... the Merc Editorial Board, generally a pro-education parcel tax bunch is "reserving judgement" on one parcel tax this June -- Measure I in Alum Rock Union Elementary School District because they are not including charter schools in their tax measure. The other parcel taxes in Milpitas, Oak Grove, and Mount Pleasant get the Merc Editorial nod...

Palo Alto may be getting some taller buildings... above 50 feet actually. Expect the NIMBYs to start the rebellion soon...

Ken Yeager and the rest of the Santa Clara County Supervisors (except Don Gage and George Shirakawa) get props from Dorothy Dimitre in the San Mateo Daily Journal for their fast food toy ban...

We didn't write about this last week, but it doesn't mean we missed it. Saratoga City Councilmember Susie Nagpal died last week. Very sad story.

And because sometimes important things happen outside of our regular sphere: Burlingame and its police department have started the long road toward pension reform. From the San Mateo County Times: "...Police sergeants and captains in Burlingame have agreed to pay freezes through the end of the year and are ready to cut retiree benefits, the first union contract that includes pension reform for a city struggling to deal with escalating employee costs..."

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.13.10: Bike to Work... (or think about it at least...)

San Jose will join forces with other right-minded (or is it left-minded) California communities in pushing for some sort of boycott of Arizona... Don Gage and Pete Constant are the only (tea party) hold outs and are supporting the Arizona law -- sort of. Expect lots of American flag t-shirts and a Tea Party rally before the Council meeting in June...

When the San Jose City Council does take up the issue in June, it is likely that they won't get a lot of text messages during the Council meeting... John Woolfolk at the Merc looks into the lack of texting between lobbyists and the Council during Council meetings, which they banned a few months backed -- it wasn't so much as a ban as much as it was that those texts were open to the Public Records Act. We did learn something interesting from Councilmember Ash Kalra:

"Councilman Ash Kalra said he was messaging back and forth with his staff about unrelated upcoming agenda items, something he does frequently because "it's the one time of the week when they have me captive and I can get stuff done.""

That probably isn't very reassuring to all those public speakers (and City Staff) who think that Kalra is actually listening to them... silly public speakers (and City Staff)...

Yesterday was the Merc's deep-dive into the Dolores Carr half of the DA's race, today is Jeff Rosen's moment in the spotlight. There is lots of good information in the piece about his background, his law school days, how he didn't like being an associate at a law firm, and this little tidbit: he weighs 140 pounds...

Just to pile on...

The Metro's endorsements have been piling up on someone's desk, because they are all coming out at once. First it was Magdalena Carrasco and now it is Jeff Rosen. Just so we are clear, Metro endorsed Dolores Carr last go'round, but not this time...

49ers in. Yahoo in. The Santa Clara City Council is having a very busy year...

The Mercury News Editorial Board agrees with just about everyone else that the Water District should redo how it redrew their District lines... the District has scrapped the old plan and now is looking for a new plan...

The Merc Ed Board also commends the East Side Union High School District Board for cutting their own stipend and insisting on paying part of their medical benefits... which begs the question: East Side Union Board members get a stipend and health benefits?

We can't believe we've missed out on another local blog... Sunnyvale City Councildweeb Jim Griffith is writing frequently and brings us an insider's perspective to the goings on in Sunnyvale. Read more at dweeb.org... the latest updates are about Nokia opening up their Nor Cal headquarters in downtown Sunnyvale, which is "huge" according to Jim's Council Blog... He recommends: "...every one of us should immediately go out and buy our City Manager, our City Attorney, and their respective staffs a large bottle of their favorite alcoholic beverage..." That would be a sleepy party...

In sad news, the ACLU is closing its San Jose office because of budget cuts. That will make San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis and the POA pretty happy... but it makes Watch Dog sad. Why? First, the ACLU protects idiots like Watch Dog... and second, the ACLU local person, Skyler Porras, was a great quote. Remember these highlights?:

• About Mayor Reed: "...petulant political posturing..."
• About a plan for the San Jose Police Department to police themselves: "...Asking the police department to police themselves has been about as effective as asking a teenager to ground themselves after missing curfew..."
• About San Jose's plan to hire a group of social scientists to study the drunk arrest problem: "...a bumbling way to appease a scandal-plagued but politically powerful police department..."

While we are on the topic, did you know that a west coast big city mayor forced out the city's police chief? There were concerns about how the police department was dealing with vulnerable populations in the city... hmmm...

Finally, there is a woman at Valley Medical Center that they are trying to identify. If you know an elderly Asian woman that is missing, please take a look at the photo.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.12.10: Where's Palin?

This is not the type of news that Morgan Hill likes, we'd guess. The Live Oak t-shirt flap has reached a new level of idiosy. Hundreds showed up to hear themselves talk and to get on the evening news yesterday... One question remains: when will Sarah Palin chime in?

The Santa Clara Valley Water District seemingly can't get out of its own way on their redistricting plan. They put Gilroy with Palo Alto which almost prompted the South to invade the North talking about states' rights... Anyway, the Water District reversed its decision and will scrap the map and start over... sounds like a plan that would have been a smart idea before the initial new map was released... better late than never?

Yesterday, the Mercury News Editorial Board announced their endorsement for San Jose City Council District 5: Magdalena Carrasco. Later in the day, the Metro came to the same conclusion. Some choice quotes:

"...Carrasco has a shot at this seat because she seems better able to connect with East Side voters. The fact that she is fluent in Spanish is a big plus with many of them (Campos does not speak Spanish)..."

"...Xavier Campos worked for 20 years at the Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA), ultimately becoming chief operations officer. MACSA is now under criminal investigation following findings that it was skimming from its employees’ pension funds..."

San Jose Inside gives us a glimpse into the County Board of Supervisors meeting, which we know you didn't attend... Shirakawa cried about the Arizona anti-immigrant law. Seriously, check out the story...

Dolores Carr gets a write up in the Merc today looking at her successes and talking about the other stuff too. The story comes with the obvious headline: Carr seeks re-election despite 'mistakes'... When you are the incumbent and the words 're-election' and 'mistakes' make the headline the week ballots go out, you aren't having a good week...

The mural at Mineta San Jose (International?) Airport Terminal C (that's the one you don't fly out of) will come down with it. The Merc's Joe Rodriguez gives some background about the mural and its struggle to survive.

Hey all you kids out there... the County Supervisors will pass a policy soon that keeps kids under 13 out of juvie lock-up.

Yesterday we let you know about a plan to get rid of the leaf blower hotline to help fix Palo Alto's budget shortfall. That was controversial enough... but Palo Alto also wants to charge kids to participate in the Palo Alto Children's Theatre. Now the Palo Alto City Council has crossed the line, apparently...

The Los Altos School District got a new Superintendent this week. An internal pick, Jeffrey Baier...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.5.10: Margaritas all around... the Sharks won...

Sharks win... and it was a doozy. Four words: Overtime, Breakaway, Joe Thornton.

Hey, Denis Theriault is back on the Merc's local political scene... he covers some young-ish Silicon Valley guns running for office: Chris Kelly (running for Attorney General) and Josh Becker (State Assembly)...

San Jose's City Council will extend a program that has curbed "drunk-in-public" arrests... This story allows the Merc to reprint their favorite line:

The pilot program followed Mercury News reports that San Jose police were arresting more people on charges of public intoxication than any other law enforcement agency in the state. Some community members alleged the statistics showed police were inappropriately using the public drunkenness law as "social control," a charge police denied.

Speaking of the San Jose City Council, the Merc's John Woolfolk provides a preview of the San Jose City Council 4 way race to replace Nora Campos. We learn that Nora is Xavier's older sister, that Manuel Herrera ran for City Council in a different district, that Aaron Resendez is a press operator, and that Magdalena Carrasco is "a hard charging mother"... (It seems the Merc's website is on the fritz, the URL for this story is:

www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_15016835

Gilroy will sue the Water District over their redistricting plans... this is going to be good. (That is, if you like one government agency suing another... and Watch Dog does like that, a lot...)

Speaking of Gilroy and the Water District... the "campaign" to overturn the groundwell fee failed. Everyone at the Water District is breathing a sigh of relief, until they get subpeoned in the Gilroy lawsuit...

Another Gilroy story... Gavilan College is really screwed up financially and so is its foundation. This story has the phrase "misappropriated funds" which usually tickles the DA's fancy...

It was an election day (sort of) yesterday. Mail-in ballot elections were due in several school districts... Palo Alto, Fremont Union, Union, and Loma Prieta school districts won their parcel tax elections... Lakeside lost...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.4.10: Buy your Corona today...

The County of Santa Clara has a big, gigantic $200,000,000+ deficit that they need to bridge. How? Like everyone else does: use reserves, cut jobs, "streamline services," and banning toys at fast food joints... But leave it up to a realist (non-politician) to shed some light on things. Patricia Gardner of the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits adds, "...it is great that [County Executive] Smith is preserving so much of our servcies at a time when our community is having so much hardship...[but] we need to be mindful that this budget does not take into account any of the state cuts..." May revise next week... hold on to your hats...

The folks in South County are not too pleased (apparently) with the new redistricting lines drawn by the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board... that's because one of the two seats puts Gilroy with Palo Alto... can't we all just get along? Or at least get it right?

Joe Rodriguez in the Merc tries to get back into the political realm and breaks down the similarities between the San Jose City Council re-election races of Pete Constant in District 1 and Sam Liccardo in District 3. Two popular incumbents, also-rans running against them, etc., etc.

A San Jose Police Officer that is due to be laid off saved the life of a cyclist this week. Chief Davis jumped at the chance to praise the officer after getting bashed by Protect San Jose last week...

This is weird, and seems a little out of line. Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio writes an open letter to San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis on San Jose Inside pushing for the promotion of Captain Gary Kirby... Watch Dog has to wonder whose water PO is carrying with this....

Another tough day for the South Bay Labor Council in the Mercury News. This time from the Editorial page regarding the San Jose (barely) International Airport and recommendations from the Airport head honcho that should be re-looked at to cut costs at the airport to make it even a little bit competitive with SFO and OAK. They include: "...contracting out services and paying living wages..." That will be a fun Rules Committee meeting on Wednesday...

While we are on it... we bring you this from the Chronicle: "San Francisco and its largest union have reached a long-delayed tentative agreement on a giveback plan, helping the city trim its projected $483 million budget deficit."

While we are on SFGate.com...

The Chronicle gets in on the action, obviously. The newspaper is so worried that they will lose the 49ers and that their beloved Giants will somehow get hurt if a team moves 30 miles further away, that they are now writing Editorials criticizing the A's for cracking down on their banner policy in the stadium. (We'd LOVE to see someone try to put up a banner anywhere in SBC, errr AT&T Park...) Actually, the Editorial isn't that bad and tells the Oakland City Attorney to back the f... up.

You have got to love California. In November, we will have a ballot measure, funded by oil companies, that looks to make AB 32 (the big anti-global warming bill) obsolete and a ballot measure to make recreational pot legal. Ironically, you will need to smoke pot to make all the November election commercials bearable...

This will make some people really happy... and some people not so much... metering lights in San Jose on 280. Thank you Mr. Roadshow for the heads up.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.27.10: Rainy Days and Tuesdays...

Scott Herhold does his best Harry Mavrogenes as he gets into the nitty-gritty about traffic patterns in and out of the HP Pavilion (and Cisco Field)...

You remember the shitty story about the two Santa Teresa High School students killed a classmate in his backyard... the two students pleaded not guilty yesterday.

In lesser crime news... the Apple Store in Los Gatos was robbed via smash and grab on Monday... "Everybody down... step away from the iPad..." Perhaps the thieves were in town for the Wine and Fashion Week in Los Gatos...

Mountain View will talk affordable housing developments in their downtown... we weren't there last night, but we expect the next story to be about NIMBYs...

El Camino Hospital is having a tough year in the budget department... they are $11 million short so far this year. Which makes it a great time to join the Board, which is what Patricia Einarson did by way of appointment this week...

Speaking of hospitals... a highly critical report was release this week of Valley Medical Center: "overstaffed," "high pay and benefits," "plagued with inefficiencies," etc., etc., etc. It must not be a good morning at 70 West Hedding...

It is political season in Morgan Hill. Two folks have declared their intention to run for Morgan Hill City Council in November: Michael Castelan and Rick Moreno. The seats they are running for are currently held by Greg Sellers' (who not be running again?) and Marby Lee (who hasn't decided to run yet or not)...

The protest letters to the Water District were due today, so if you are pissed about the ground-well fee, we hope you spoke up or will forever hold your peace...

You remember that there was "trouble in paradise" between the Los Altos School District and its teachers' union over contract issues... it was punted for a few weeks until something could be worked out that could pass the school board -- and now it seems to have passed the school board... barely. The best part of this story is that one of the board members used the phrase "hissy fit" in her comments before voting yes...

You remember the singing group from Mountain View High School that got stranded in Paris, right? Well, now they have to raise $50,000 to pay for their baguettes, escargot, and espresso...

Thanks to Politicon Valley, we know that Yoriko Kishimoto got the Sierra Club endorsement... adding to a long list of organizations?

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.25.10: Dolores Carr defends the Merc's rights? Weird

We mentioned it yesterday, lawyers running against lawyers can be fun... but it can also be litigious and boring. But we have to write about it anyway (especially when everyone else is writing about it...) Dolores Carr is now mad that Jeff Rosen is using Mercury News reprinted articles on his website -- which may violate copyright laws. We don't really blame Carr, all of the articles call her unethical, politically stupid, and other really nice things. Ironically, this puts Dolores Carr in the position of defending the rights of the newspaper that has absolutely crushed her over the past year. So, while Dolores Carr is spending time looking for reprint criminals, she should turn her attention to one of her own endorsers, Pete Constant, who uses reprints of the Mercury News all over his official City Hall website...

Scott Herhold compares Chicago Mayor (for Life) Daley and San Jose Mayor (for Now) Reed... His conclusion?: "...if he [Reed] had more of Richie Daley in him, he would enjoy more results..." Especially stinging for Reed and his crew will be this line: "...We are more open, more transparent, more ethical. As Reed's opponent, Cindy Chavez, said in the 2006 campaign, to what end?..." Cindy the Prognosticator.

The Merc Editorial Board defends the County's "Plan to Ban" (toys from Happy Meals...)

Budget woes are hitting everyone... the Santa Clara Unified School District is reminiscing about what it used to be like to have money as they hand out 100 pink slips...

Here's a Merc headline for you: Confusion, criticism follow Santa Clara Valley Water District groundwater fee... but then again, when doesn't confusion and criticism follow the Water District?

280 is getting a facelift?

Scott Herhold touched on it this week: schools, neighbors, and traffic do not mix in Los Altos... the Los Altos City Council agrees and is asking the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District to get its traffic shit together...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.10.10: Welcome to LAS, I mean SJC

Well, the City of San Jose is officially selling itself to the devil. Literally. They voted to put a measure on the June ballot to expand gambling in San Jose in order to help bolster their bottom line. It reminds Watch Dog of schools that allowed Coke and Pepsi into their cafeterias because there was money in it for the schools. Sort of, "we'll deal with the evil because we need the money"... It doesn't make it a good idea just because there is money attached to it. Five (FIVE!) Councilmembers opposed it: Councilmembers Ash Kalra, Nora Campos, Madison Nguyen, Kansen Chu, and Sam Liccardo. Nothing about it on the Values Advocacy Council website yet...

One person who may not have to deal with the results of more gambling (which we can only imagine he is very much against) is San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis. That's because Davis seems to be in the running for the top job in Dallas. The cheers from the ACLU and DeBug's offices were audible from the street when this news came out yesterday afternoon...

And then there is the daily story about the airport... this time the Merc Editorial Board took their turn. They say no to lifting the curfew totally, but maybe some tinkering with it might make sense... but it really is about jobs and wages, both of which may need to be discussed to keep SJC on track with paying its debt obligations and its doors open... Perhaps the City should consider putting a card room in Terminal 1...

And the daily 49ers story... the Santa Clara City Council voted on mitigations to the stadium plan last night. But you weren't there, you were home watching Crystal Bowersox...

There is an interesting write-in campaign is going on with the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Because a judge ruled they had been collecting a groundwater fee illegally, they may have to stop collecting it if more than half of the customers will well-water write a letter saying they want to stop paying.. A weird exercise in democracy, to say the least...

What is it about Palo Alto Utilities? They can't seem to keep the lights on. In the past month they have had some problems... as outlined here. And they should probably get a new spokesperson. Dean Batchelor had this to say about yesterday's incident: "No one was injured, thank god." Thank god? You're the guy in charge and you need to have faith to make sure no one gets hurt? Later in the story he had this to say about the three outages this morning: "This is not a good month for us right now..." Y'think?

Not only that, but a big company is leaving Palo Alto because the electricity is unreliable... oops. Not a good month indeed...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.23.10: How to fix California? Eat lots of steak...

Fresh off his State of the City, Mayor Reed welcome some CEOs and other "Big City" Mayors to the San Jose to talk about how to fix California... Sending strong messages about frugality, being in touch with Everyman, and open government, they met behind closed-doors at Morton's in downtown San Jose...

Over at Protect San Jose, Jim Unland, the VP of the San Jose Police Officers' Association, seems to be hedging the organization's political bets. While they have endorsed incumbent District Attorney Dolores Carr in this year's race, they are also saying really, really, nice things about challenger Jeff Rosen. The only thing they say about Rosen that is negative is this: "...within the DA's office, he has limited supervisorial experience..." But Unland also has this to say about Rosen: "...Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rosen has also earned broad support and respect as a prosecutor from within the law enforcement community. Many of our officers speak highly of him. He has successfully prosecuted some very difficult and high-profile cases..." So they win if Carr wins, but don't really lose if Rosen wins. With "friends" like the POA, Dolores Carr is in for a long campaign season...

More recycled water could be finding its way to your tap... if the Santa Clara Valley Water District has anything to say about it. And they do. (Remember Mayor Reed drank some recycled water?)

How many preschools one street are too many preschools on one street? That is the question folks in Mountain View will be considering. The real question, obviously, is how many SUVs can fit on one street during drop-off/pick-up times?

At one time, Palo Alto had grand visions of a City-run fiber optic high-speed Internet network. That was a while ago and the vision has gone away... but then Google came calling, and now Palo Alto's high-speed Internet eggs are in the Google basket. This probably puts Councilmember Sid Espinosa in a weird spot. Espinosa works for Google's arch enemy: Microsoft...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.9.10: It depends what your definition of "all" is...

Dolores Carr just can't help herself. She has some sort of addiction to bad decisions that inevitably lead to bad press... Her addiction and the bad press lead directly into more ammunition for Jeff Rosen's campaign. Remember the Memo she issued to her entire staff that said something like -- don't take any cases to a specific judge, you know, the boycott Memo. Well, she has been taking some serious heat for that decision... so she has back-tracked. Apparently Dolores Carr didn't mean it when she wrote: "I have decided to exercise a challenge to Judge Bryan pursuant to CCP 170.6 in all criminal cases." She is disputing the definition of the word "all" -- very Clintonesque Ms. Carr, very Clintonesque...

Speaking of interesting June 2010 ballot battles... the Santa Clara City Council will decide about what the actual ballot language will be on the ballot related to the 49ers stadium election. One small problem, the City Staff in Santa Clara seem to have a different idea of what voters should read and vote on in June versus what the stadium backers feel voters should read and vote on. Watch Dog's guess is that the 49er's language will take the day... This is such big news (apparently), even the Chronicle has a story...

Speaking of politics...

Mayor Reed did a big favor for the SJPD (and the POA) when he penned a very critical letter back to Assemblymembers Joe Coto and Paul Fong. Remember, Coto and Fong have asked a State Assembly Audit Committee to look into the San Jose Police Department training and practices in light of all the news stories and community complaints. By the way, the letter appears nowhere on the Mayor's website... only on Protect San Jose.

And more politics... and sports...

Matt Artz in the Tri-City Beat in the Contra Costa Times (you know you read it too) has a great piece about an imaginary conversation between Bug Selig and Lew Wolff about baseball and the Bay Area... Watch Dog's favorite line is from Imaginary Lew Wolff to Imaginary Bud Selig:

Bud, please, it doesn’t make sense to have two teams in one metropolitan area, and have both of them 40 miles from the area’s largest city.

That pretty much sums it up... unless of course your pitching ace is in arbitration...

Yesterday the Merc delved into the disagreement between San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and City Manager Deb Figone over how to revamp the City's pension boards. Figone had one way to do it, the Mayor had another way that was developed as a compromise. The Merc gives props for the Mayor for trying and encourages the reform, but ends with this: "But it's a shame taxpayers will still fall short of majority representation."

There was a huge fire in an East San Jose warehouse yesterday. You probably saw the smoke.

Soccer fields, soccer fields, everywhere there are going to be soccer fields near the new Earthquakes field.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board is about to get a new member soon to replace retired old-timer Sig Sanchez, who retired at the beginning of the year. The South County folks would like his replacement to be South County-centric. There are 14 folks whom the Board of the Water District interviewed and they will get resumes back soon... check out the list of folks who applied.

Scott Herhold gives some perspective on MediLeaf in Gilroy in his column today. Herhold thinks Gilroy is wasting money on a lawsuit against an establishment that isn't that dangerous because Gilroy thinks pot is the boogey-man...

This is fun: A Palo Alto public meeting on High Speed Rail design options. Expect a lot of angry folks yelling and screaming... And their neighbors to the north (Atherton and Menlo Park) are threatening to re-open lawsuits against the High-Speed Rail Authority...

More fun in Palo Alto... the City Council is getting out of the Palo Alto promotion business and letting the hotels in town spend the money it collects from a new "Tourism Business Improvement District" to promote themselves...

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 -- 12.10.09: Re-Election Campaign, Already?

Surprise. San Jose’s Mayor Chuck Reed announced he’s running for re-election. This time around Reed plans to fix the economy, really bring Sunshine to local government, and keep you safe (translation – more Police?). Also hitting the ground in the re-election zone are Councilmembers Pete Constant, Sam Liccardo, and Madison Nguyen. (Although you may not get that impression from their web presence: Liccardo is up and running, but Constant is asking volunteers to walk precincts (in 2006) and Nguyen is still celebrating not getting thrown out of office.)

The 49ers are hoping a citizen-backed ballot initiative will have them finding their way to Santa Clara. Composed of Santa Clara’s power elite, Santa Clarans for Economic Progress now faces a confused City Council to explain why their way is better. 49ers spokesperson Lisa Lang scoffed at accusations the 49ers were trying to skirt any review process saying the move put them “on a surer path to know what the voters really want.” It looks like there could be two measures that are pro-pro football in June in Santa Clara.

The San Jose City Council will be sharing text messages received during Council meetings, if colleagues agree with Mayor Chuck Reed. For future reference, Watch Dog texts look like this “Woof.”

A tale of two bills… San Jose Assemblymember Joe Coto is hoping the Assembly Education Committee members will agree that tying teacher incentives to student performance and closing failing schools are good. So far, his bill is hung up for changes… Palo Alto’s State Senator Joe Simitian fared better, his geeky bill flew through with committee support.

The Merc’s Editorial Board sends props to the East Side Union High School District Trustees after taking steps to keep an eye on the money with an Audit Committee. Editors want you to know you have until today to get your application in for this fun gig.

(Former) County Counsel/ Justice Department Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ann Ravel receives another “Atta-girl” from Watch Dog. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Ravel’s lawsuit against big pharmaceutical companies was right on and ordered 10 of them to stop overcharging local clinics serving the poor.

Joy Alexiou, spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, was happy to announce $2.6 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money would be headed to a San Jose clinic for the homeless.

Because you didn’t have enough fun with water rationing before… The Santa Clara Valley Water District wants you to keep those lawns brown until next Summer. (Outgoing) Board Chair Sig Sanchez offered “we’re facing another season of water supply uncertainty.”

InnVision the Way Home tried for a second time to give away a fancy Silicon Valley home. Grand prize winner/San Jose resident Dale Swanson didn’t get a house in the hills but did walk away with an extra $100,000. Third times a charm?

More janitorial news… (Former) Los Altos Christian School janitor James Carroll heads to the pokey for a year after his kiddy porn conviction. Pissed off parent Lisa Maxe said parents filed numerous complaints and were really pissed when Carroll was spotted working on campus after his arrest.

Creekside dwellers in Morgan Hill are pissed about project delays stopping the flood. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson J.D. Hardesty said we’d “love to do this project” but the money ain’t there. Call your Congressional reps…

Gilroy Councilmembers heard from pissed off residents about vicious dogs before they added police chief Denise Turner’s “teeth” to dog laws. People with biting pooches watch out, your dog could be heading to doggy hell if deemed “vicious.”

West Valley-Mission Community College Chancellor John Hendrickson sends a request your way: Tell State Senator Elaine Alquist and Assemblymember Ira Ruskin the economic turnaround depends on community colleges and they need money to make it real.

Protect San Jose’s Beat Cop dishes on Cops Care Cancer Foundation fun times at NASA this weekend for kids combating cancer.

San Jose Insider Pete Campbell wants the fed’s to show us the money before snagging San Jose’s old City Hall to use as a courthouse.

And then there is this tid-bit: former Cindy Chavez campaign manager Justin Schall has found his way into another community's blogosphere... Lehigh Valley, to be exact. This isn't particularly nice, but it does reference San Jose Revealed, so we thought we'd post it.

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.1.09: Chief Burns in Palo Alto?

Ascension Calderon wanted to know why San Jose Police had stopped his nephew. For Calderon that day in 2006 escalated into a nightmare with pepper spray and racial epithets. When Bruno Figueroa, the Mexican Counsel General, asked for more police accountability, Calderon’s case became international headline news. Today, San Jose’s City Council is expected to authorize $97,000 to make a lawsuit about it go away. City Attorney Rick Doyle points to possible “exposure to substantial attorney’s fees” as one reason to avoid the courtroom. Bobby Lopez gives us an interesting quote in the Merc story as well. Here is the paragraph from the story:

Figueroa's criticism drew a rebuke from the head of the officers' union, Bobby Lopez, who suggested the Mexican government solve its own police problems "before he tries to solve ours."

Is Mr. Lopez admitting that there are police problems in San Jose? Just asking...

Alviso may again be a launching point for fishermen, children, and marsh enthusiasts when the first boat launch in 25 years opens next year. County Supervisor Dave Cortese now worries a new dock will invite abandonment of boats “the last thing we want is for it to look like a junkyard on the water.” Way to lighten up the day Supervisor Cortese...

Great Oaks Water Company is doing the happy dance. A judge has ordered the Santa Clara Valley Water District to refund Great Oaks more than $4.6 million for overcharging.

On the heels of (more) bad news for the Water District, Sig Sanchez has announced his retirement after 55 years in public service. From 4 terms on the County Board of Supervisors to (nearly) 30 years on the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors, Sanchez has seen it all. About retirement Sanchez says “I’ve just updated my TV service and I’ve got 24 hour cartoons coming.”

San Jose lost an icon when developer Jim Fox passed away last week. Fox made sure San Jose’s old buildings were brought back to their former glory, he kept his promises, and smoked his favored cigars on the ledges of his restored buildings. The Merc’s Scott Herhold sends a fond farewell to Fox who left San Jose a better place.

It may be called the Rose Garden but San Jose residents are mighty pissed at the thought of losing a 70 year old Sycamore tree.

Busted. Gilroy’s medical marijuana dispensary owner Goyko “Batzi” Kuburovich refused to let City inspectors stroll through the joint and was tossed into the pokey. Gilroy Councilmember Craig Gartman was curious as to why Police were part of a code enforcement problem and said he didn’t “think the City should try to intimidate a business owner.” The Wild West Weed War...

It was a star-studded night for the swearing in of Palo Alto’s new Police Chief Dennis Burns. Former Secretary of State George Schultz did the honor of swearing in the replacement for Palo Alto’s ousted/ embarrassment Lynn Johnson, relatives from Ireland were on hand and Burns 11-year-old daughter pinned Daddy’s new badge on. Hopes are high for an end to the racial controversies that plagued Burns' predecessor.

Palo Alto’s sit-lie ordinance has been used once for prosecution since enacted 12 years ago to get homeless folks upright. Council candidate/ panhandler Victor Frost drew the lucky straw during his sit-lie candidacy at Whole Foods. Frost’s troubles mount as his public defender ditches Palo Alto for San Jose.

San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo is having a ‘60’s flashback chanting Books Not Bombs. DiSalvo expresses fading hope the new administration will focus on closing the achievement gap and educating the 40% of Latinos and African-Americans who do not graduate from high school.

Protect San Jose notes the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity released their much anticipated quarterly report without fanfare. Protect San Jose plans to dig deep in the 8 page report with regular updates. The first CPLE report concludes by suggesting San Jose Police should change the way racial arrest data is collected and make it public, tell CPLE whether arrests resulted from officer or citizen call, and create a community/police executive ongoing dialogue. Bobby Lopez did not say, "Why doesn't the CPLE solve its own police problems before trying to solve ours..."

Morning News Round-Up – 11.10.09:

San Jose Redevelopment Agency chief Harry Mavrogenes took a beating Monday afternoon when County Executive Jeff Smith said the Agency is “so highly leveraged they cannot pay off their bills or even their operating expenses…” Smith was joined by Councilmember Sam Liccardo who hoped his cautionary tone might prove to be “off-key.” No doubt, Mavrogenes was thinking the same thing...

The Santa Clara Open Space Authority is breathing a sigh of relief, and keeping nearly $30 million from an “illegal assessment.” The agency now gets to figure out how to spend the ill-gotten gain, open some of that open space, hire a few rangers, build trails or purchase more parkland. Maybe Taxpayers Association Doug McNea could look somewhere more interesting next time...

Sporting a new t-shirt Morgan Hill resident/Medical Marijuana dispenser Batzi Kuburovich stands proudly next to Gilroy's shiny new medical marijuana dispensary. Councilmember Cat Tucker was pissed the dispensary opened in “blatant disregard” to the law and council decisions. We’re happy we now know where to go to get our doctors note for pot…

San Jose Insider/San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio was mighty pissed last week when colleagues ditched his idea to open labor negotiations for popcorn eating entertainment. Oliverio hopes to increase taxes on the city’s gambling joints and adding a pot tax for good measure.

The Merc’s Scott Herhold talked (government staff) layoffs with a friend over the weekend and offers a few ideas of his own for cost savings. Don’t let folks with skin in the game decide who pays their retirement shortfall (police and firefighter pension trustees – that would be you), don’t send San Jose economic geek Paul Krutko to Portugal – send him to Palo Alto, and, when you see your lawsuit going down in flames – stop throwing money at it (Santa Clara County’s “ludicrous” GIS battle).

Ooops. The Santa Clara Valley Water District is in a little hot water of its own. A trial began Monday that could have the district providing refunds to thousands of water drinking fans. Great Oaks Water Company hired forensic accountant Thomas O’Rourke to track the dollars collected and follow their flow.

If you love your Whole Foods you’ll be happy to hear construction is underway again in Almaden Valley. Sadly, if you live in San Jose’s Rose Garden, you have to wait for construction to resume – Blossom Hill has priority.

Mountain View High’s principal Keith Moody overcame tough odds and was a football star before his passion for education kicked in. Last month Moody was inducted into the Syracuse Hall of Fame.

Hoofers around Mountain View will be happy to hear MV wants to hear from you. Google maps are helping online walkers tell the city what works and what doesn’t.

Mission City Lantern sends a love note to Watch Dog with a reminder that Stanford trounced the Ducks. OSU Beavers bested the Cardinals. (Watch Dog (mistakenly) read the Mission City headline “Stanford Defeats Oregon…” with a giant beaver and was (apparently) too hung over to remember which wildlife was present.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Morning News Round-Up -- 10.6.09: No kissing...

If you screwed up as a kid this is your chance for a fresh start. Take the case of Dominick Hendricks who was caught on tape necking on the San Jose State Campus – that turned into a conviction for a “lewd act.” Thanks to some of those federal stimulus bucks, Hendricks might not have to report his crime. More interesting, what are those SJSU Police up to when kissing on campus is a crime?

Another reason for kids to hate school – and parents to love it. The San Jose Unified School District will offer all 32,000 students free swine flu inoculation.

It was a busy weekend for Morgan Hill Police along with San Jose’s gang unit and other County law enforcement agencies. Gang members were busy beating, stabbing, and shooting in Morgan Hill leaving 1 dead in the City’s first homicide in 4 years. First a Milpitas homicide -- now Morgan Hill...

San Jose’s Rock and Roll half-marathon took a tragic turn when 2 runners in their 30’s died.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District Directors poked at staff last year asking for a reduction in expenses. This year Board Chair Sig “Methuselah” Sanchez said he was “pleased with the (latest) report” showing travel was down. The reductions follow a Morgan Hill Times report chastising the Agency for travel and overtime.

Gilroy Planning Commissioners said no to development in the hills but signed on to expanding the City’s boundaries with proposals from Shapell and Wren Investors. A pissed off Michele Beasley with the Greenbelt Alliance called all 3 proposals sprawl saying there was plenty of land in City limits. Yes Michele, but Gilroy needs to protect that land for outlets...

Gilroy has visions of turning the Garlic Capitol into a bustling transportation hub while Councilmember Perry Woodward worries the proposed design of a 3 story, 5 lane rail line is “troubling.” Unlike toney neighbors to the North, trenching is “far too expensive” for Gilroy.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.28.09: The Detroit of the Bay Area?

It’s official, Toyota walks away from Fremont after 25 years. That is a heck of a year for Fremont, losing a professional baseball team AND a massive automobile manufacturing plant. We'd call them the Detroit of the Bay Area, but Detroit has a baseball team. Perhaps casinos would be a nice addition...

Things took a turn towards ugly at meetings for San Jose’s pension systems this week. Current and future retiree’s attacked the Canadian consultant’s proposal to create an independent board while non-governmental folks attacked worker pensions. “Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic...” was the accusation of tech retiree Jerry Mungai. Oddly, the pissing match at the actual meetings sounded a lot nastier than the joint post from the Police Officers and Firefighter union heads this week on Protect San Jose where Bobby Lopez and Randy Sekany offered this: "We’re always open to listening and talking about ways to improve things."

We hope the anti-High Speed Rail/ NIMBY celebrants are enjoying their party. One downside the court's ruling this week questioning the EIR of High-Speed Rail, which the NIMBY's love, is that Caltrain electrification could be delayed or defuned... buzz kill, man.

The Civil Grand Jury took a swipe at San Jose in June for cost increases at the Los Lagos Golf Course. San Jose responded this week saying an unexpected increase in construction costs was the problem.

Wanna catch up with the Merc’s Sal Pizarro? Sounds like he’ll be at the grand (re)opening of San Jose’s 101 year old Carnegie Library following the $9 million overhaul.

Speaking of openings... the Merc’s Scott Herhold munched on shrimp and sipped champagne while San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo channeled Will Rogers at the opening of San Jose’s newest downtown attraction: a grocery store in a downtown high-rise condo building.

Don’t be dumping your garbage in San Jose’s Hoffman Via Monte neighborhood. The neighbors voted to keep their no-warning-big-fine penalty in place for the idiots tossing beds on sidewalks.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stopped by San Jose to see those federal stimulus dollars start trickling in this week for the Lower Silver Creek flood control project.

It’s Barry Swenson Friday… First up, pissed off Cupertinites found the ad-hoc parking lot for as many as 50 construction vehicles offensive... A few calls to Cupertino City officials later, Swenson was in hot water. Next, the Watch Dog formula of the day:

• Prime Development Land + High Housing Prices = Goodbye Palo Alto Bowl

Was Mountain View pissed they weren’t called kid friendly and San Jose was? Maybe. This week the City bulldozed a 20 year old make-shift BMX park called “Creek Trails” by local dirt bikers. City Attorney Michael Martello (the biggest downer of them all) ‘fessed up it was his idea saying it was “…one of the times where you hate to be an adult...” but it was a lawsuit that caused San Jose’s $8 million got the bull-dozers rolling.

Palo Alto Mayor Peter Drekmeier will host a forum organized by the faith community and Penny Barrett to help grown-ups figure out how to help fix the teen suicide problem. The Merc’s Editorial Board adds their voice supporting the County’s call for more work.

Mountain View Councilmembers agree with the Santa Clara Valley Water District and McKelvey Park is headed for a flood protection/ baseball field of dreams. Councilmember Laura Macias stayed out of the conversation as colleagues called it a win-win.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.21.09: The DA and East Side Union... again

Hoping to move investigations along faster, Trustees for East Side Union High School District have hired their own law firm to investigate Superintendent Bob Nunez’s (possible) embezzlement. The Board also received $115,000 from Save Our Sports because, as parent Patty Carrillo put it, “...the kids need sports, and that’s what we’re focused on...”

San Jose Inside is back... and the Insiders are very pleased with themselves. Inside has discovered “tagging” and direct replies… San Jose Inside also reports District Attorney Dolores Carr is not happy with Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to evict nearly 40,000 prison inmates. Well, not that many people are pleased with DA Carr either.

Fix that leaky faucet is the message coming from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Word is Silicon Valley residents haven’t made the grade on the 15% voluntary water usage reduction. World Toilet Day is just around the corner, so you better get with the program...

Looking for someone “… qualified to build an NFL stadium...” 49ers spokesperson Lisa Lang is hopeful Santa Clara’s newly minted Charter Review Committee will find a way to make it so. Senator Elaine Alquist has similar legislation moving through the hallowed halls of Sacramento.

Supervisor (and Gilroy Mayoral wannabe?) Don Gage joins the garbage fracas telling pissed off residents “GreenWaste Recovery was able to do more for less...” (and had better lobbyists no doubt) than competitor/current provider South Valley Disposal and Recycling. Representatives from South Valley's parent company NorCal Waste Systems will (probably) show up at the Supervisor’s meeting to disagree…

Assemblymember Bill Monning (apparently) took offense to a recent story about legislators handing out raises… Monning made sure the Morgan Hill Times knew none of his staff got raises and he asked for a 10% paycut. Not to be outdone, Assemblymember Anna Caballero also took a 10% cut from her $116,000 salary…

Mountain View’s Googler/(accused) thief Leonard Izbicki was busted after walking out (and selling) $80,000 in tech-dream hardware.

Neighbors are happy. So is Babe Ruth Baseball. But there’s one very pissed off Mountain View Councilmember. Using money from “Clean Safe Creeks and Flood Protection” Santa Clara Valley Water District engineer Afshin Rouhani says all promises will be kept in creating a park/flood basin -- but that means losing some parkland but gaining two refurbished baseball fields. Councilmember Laura Macias shot back the Water District was using “basic psychology” and behaving outrageously and she is acting in her own, I mean her neighbors', best interst.

(perv/rapist) Swim coach Andrew King is landing in another court soon. Jane Doe, one of King’s dozen (so-far) victims, is suing. Also lawsuit bound are USA Swimming and Pacific Swimming with accusations of negligent hiring…

David Pilipina was busted for the stabbing death of 19 year old Kristina Harris Perkins during a brawl at the Alum Rock Lightrail Station in San Jose. The Sheriffs are looking for others, if you know anything, call Sgt. Herman Leon at 408-808-4500.

Our Psycho Donut friends want to be “the most unusual doughnut shop on the planet” but not by pissing off the entire mental health contingent. So, (new) chief Psycho/music lover Jordan Zweigoron says you’ll now see “Headbanger” instead of “Massive Head Trauma” with more musical transitions are yet to come…

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro sends props to Bert George for receiving the Boy Scouts Distinguished Citizen Award. Pizarro also dishes there’s a kid-filled Sunday on the horizon at San Jose State University with Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead.

Fighting a different sort of tagging was on the mind of Protect San Jose’s Beat Cop. Beat Cop reports San Jose Police has a new online tool to send graffiti photos, as long as it’s under 100k…

Finally, let’s end this week of perv’s and embezzlers on a high note… The Merc’s Linda Goldston weaves a tale of love and horse whispering. Maddie Hodgson is living every little girls fantasy as she works with blind, and a little broken, Misty at Kids Love Horses.