For a Friday, there is some pretty big news...
Good morning San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis (and the SJPOA)... Assemblymembers Joe Coto and Paul Fong have something to tell you... they are asking the Joint Legislative Audit Committee launch an investigation into the SJPD to see if officers are trained properly and look into citizen complaints about use of force properly. But the intrigue doesn't end there... Mayor Reed criticized Coto and Fong, saying: "I see Joe Coto and Paul Fong all the time, and I'm surprised they haven't asked me about this." Stay tuned... Remember when there was talk of Coto running against Mayor Reed this June? Hmmmm...
The Merc's sport columnist Mark Purdy gives us an update about what the heck is happening with MLB in San Jose. The bottomline? MLB (and Bud Selig) are dragging their feet and San Jose needs to get on with it...
The City of San Jose, sensing a public sentiment shift under their own feet, is considering a new tax or fee to pay for tree maintenance... Which will make folks in the City who are uber-protective of their salary, benefits, and pensions pretty happy. You see, if there is a tax (or fee) for trees, then that money doesn't have to come from the general fund -- which means everyone's salary, benefits, and pensions are safe... for now.
You probably remember Broom Closet Modelling at Wilcox High in Santa Clara... the janitor who was running at teen modelling agency. But before there was the broom closet, there was a teacher arrested at Wilcox High School on the first day of school for allegedly having sex with a student... and that may have been a pattern that perhaps the principal knew about. Well, we have some more information today, thanks to the Merc: the Principal at the school will not face criminal "failure to report" charges... Not that it means anything, but... the principal's attorney is Steve Manchester, who seemingly endorsed the District Attorney when she ran the first time...
While we are talking about the DA's office, there is an Op Ed in the Merc by former Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell who calls for a mutany in the DA's office. She urges prosecutors to ignore their boss's decree to boycott one judge... and she calls out Jeff Rosen on the issue too...
High-Speed Rail could be moving faster than planned (pun intended) with a new influx of Federal cash... $2.25 billion, with a "b"... NIMBYs with an "n" better get their act together...
The backyard hockey rink in Palo Alto at the home of Sun Microsystems Chairman Scott McNealy needs to go through Palo Alto's planning process if he wants to keep it... What is weirder: Having a backyard hockey rink or Palo Alto's planning process?
1 comment:
"Good morning San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis (and the SJPOA)... Assemblymembers Joe Coto and Paul Fong have something to tell you... they are asking the Joint Legislative Audit Committee launch an investigation into the SJPD to see if officers are trained properly and look into citizen complaints about use of force properly. But the intrigue doesn't end there....Mayor Reed criticized Coto and Fong, saying: "I see Joe Coto and Paul Fong all the time, and I'm surprised they haven't asked me about this." Stay tuned... Remember when there was talk of Coto running against Mayor Reed this June? Hmmmm..."
*****
The Hon. Paul Fong
Assembly Member Fong has two chestnuts in this fire. First, he has made racially-tainted remarks about various San Jose City Hall personalities. The most notable was when he called Mayor Gonzales's city manager a "white boy." Referring to an adult man as a boy is universally deemed to be a reference that tells observers about a lot of the negativity and divisiveness in the speaker's mind.
Second, he is engaged in a competition with SJ City Council Member Kansen Chu to be "the" leader of Asian American political efforts in Santa Clara County. The investigation is part of his overall thrust to achieve leadership in the Asian community and is consistent with his other claims and boasts. He helps to groom and select Asian American candidates, collect endorsements, raise campaign funds, and build a system of mutual obligations within that community.
*****
The Hon. Joe Coto
Assembly Member Coto has a spotty background, notably his experience in Oakland and his fund-raising on the Assembly insurance committee. But the idea that he may have mayoral ambitions is not without basis...one of his aides is the husband of former City Council Member Cindy Chavez as I recall. It is unlikely that he intends to run in 2010, however.
His purpose in this investigation is to seal his public position as the dominant leader of the Latino political community, parallel to the goal of Fong, and to play his cards well to have a serious role after being termed out. He almost certainly will run for major of San Jose in 2014. He's on the Ron Gonzales track who demonstrated that an ambitious man (although Ms. Alquist did it, too) can take two or four years off from holding office, and still have heft among the electorate.
Post a Comment