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 -- 4.19.10: When in Munich...

The Sharks won game two... but lost game three in OT...

Speaking of Silicon Valley professional sports... The Merc's Editorial Board loves Measure J: "...The site near highways and rail is perfect for football, and Santa Clara is a well-run city that can capably handle this project..." So does the Merc's Scott Herhold, who says the 49ers' stadium makes sense, even if it didn't make cents... (Mission City Lantern is happy...)

This will make everyone at Protect San Jose very, very angry. (As if they weren't angry enough!) The Merc won a bunch of awards at the California Newspaper Publishers Association annual contest, and the stories that Sean Webby wrote about the use of force by the San Jose Police Department are now "award-winning stories by Sean Webby"...

Oh, and this: Sean Webby has a profile of LaDoris Cordell as she gets ready to move into the Independent Police Auditor's office in San Jose. We learn about her background, her time on the bench, her time in Palo Alto City Hall, and how she will approach the IPA job. We also get a choice quote from Councilmember Pete Constant, who along with the Mayor and Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, voted against her appointment: "...I have concerns that her star power may overshadow the role of the IPA..." Because why would we want an Independent Police Auditor that is independent or that audits the police?

Patty Fisher of the Merc dives into the deep end with her column today criticizing the firefighters unions in Palo Alto and San Jose. And even calls out the San Jose firefighters union and their ideas to help close the budget deficit in the city: "...Their idea of concessions is to defer some vacation and their $495 annual uniform allowance. Hey heroes, let's get real..."

It was Sunday yesterday, which means the Merc's Internal Affairs is reason enough to get the paper... usually. This week we learned that San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio gets more girls without the beard, even if it is the NHL playoffs and that Dr. Phil is helping State Senator Leland Yee get a bill passed in Sacramento...

Who said that only Southern California could have a 3rd Street Promenade? Not Morgan Hill... their's opened up this weekend to much fanfare... at least a lot of fanfare for Morgan Hill...

There was a brutal attack during a home invasion in Gilroy on Tuesday. The two victims are still in the hospital and one is still in critical condition. Police think the home, and the victims, were targeted.

A group of musicians from Los Gatos High School had a great trip to Europe to play some concerts... on their way back home, they had a layover in Munich, which is where they have been since Friday because of the volcano in Iceland. Don't worry, they are having a great time in Germany and they are enjoying missing class too. Thank you Luftansa! Here is some advice for you high schoolers, from Rick Steves...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.9.10: More bad news for SJC...

It has been a month of stories about SJC. We learned that they don't really fly to the East Coast except once a day. We learned that Frontier Airlines is pulling out. We learned they are asking (begging?) companies to pick up the tab for their grand opening. And then yesterday's Study Session at the San Jose City Council. Bill Sherry, the Airport Director, told the City Council that SJC might fail unless some things change... like living wage, or privatizing custodial services, or lifting the curfew. Why? Well, there is $32 million of debt service due soon and the airport can't pay it. Um, this isn't getting any better, just more and more pathetic.

On San Jose Inside, San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio let's us know that absolutely does NOT want to lift SJC's curfew... neither do any of his neighbors.

From one very expensive project that is failing, to another that will (hopefully) succeed. The mitigations fo the environmental impacts of the 49ers stadium will be dealt with and voted on today. If you love nitty gritty of land-use, head to the Santa Clara City Council meeting tonight. If you're normal, American Idol is on tonight...

A list came out of the lowest performing (failing) schools came out yesterday. It is a list that nobody wanted to be on... but here is who is on the list:

• Hoover Middle and Burnett Middle (San Jose Unified)
• Cesar Chavez Elementary, Ocala Middle, Joseph George Middle (Alum Rock) Escuela Popular Charter (East Side Union High School District)
• August Boeger Middle School (Mount Pleasant Elementary School District)

Libraries are under the knife (potentially) in San Jose. An OpEd in today's Merc makes the case why they shouldn't be cut... like the obvious, it is where many people look for jobs and many people don't have jobs right now.

The Merc's Scott Herhold looks at what government officials drive and on whose dime... Here's what we learn about government-funded rides: Supervisor Don Gage drives a very expensive, environment-be-damned GMC Yukon because he's a "big guy"... DA Dolores Carr goes for a foreign, luxury car -- an Acura TL... Sheriff Laurie Smith, a hybrid Camry. But the best part of the column is this tease by Scott Herhold: "...District Attorney Dolores Carr, who drives a $36,900 Acura TL (2007) with a power moon roof, a navigation system and heated front seats. That purchase required approval by the county executive's office — which I'll explain in an upcoming column..." Yay! More Carr columns coming...

Big props to Morgan Hill Police for arresting two of their "Most Wanted"...

Hangar One clean up and revamp will fall on NASA, not the Navy. That's not great news...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.8.10: Full body scanner...

Is Steve Poizner now the most pathetic politician in California? He is trying to sell himself as another person with his initials: Sarah Palin. Can you imagine a conversation between the two?

Poizner: Governor Palin? It's Steve Poizner from California

Palin: Ah shucks Steve, we have the same darn initials, don't we.

Poizner: Yes ma'am, I guess we do, but I'm calling to see if you'd consider endorsing my candidacy?

Palin: Are you calling because we have the same initials?

Poizner: No ma'am, I am the true conservative in the race and I thought you'd like that.

Palin: SP endorses SP... that would be a cool headline. Do you like guns?

Poizner: I didn't use to, but I kind of do now.

Palin: Are you pro-life?

Poizner: I wasn't, but I can be if it helps.

Palin: Have you read my book?

Poizner: I did.

Palin: Did that ebay chick?

Poizner: I don't think so...

Even though they can't seem to pay for their grand opening, once SJC does open its new doors, there will be full body scanners greeting you.

Speaking of Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio...

Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio will get his day in the sunshine this week when his idea to get affordable housing developers to pay park fees, which they haven't had to do before in San Jose. They haven't done so because it was seen as a burden to pitch in for parks (or build parks) for affordable housing developers in the past, but money is money and parks are parks and Oliverio has been pit-bullish on this...

Perhaps affordable housing developers can also pay to keep The Rep afloat... because nothing else has seemed to work. This could be it for the theatre...

Is downtown Palo Alto the center of the (incredibly whacky) "open carry" movement? Before you write something edgy in response to this story online or on Facebook, remember what happened to the East Palo Alto Police Officer who did... We wonder if the open carry folks are smart enough to realize that Palo Alto is different than East Palo Alto...

Don't worry too much, because Palo Alto is also where Dr. Phil will be shooting... not guns, but a television show. But City officials are asking Dr. Phil not to focus too much on Palo Alto's string of teen suicides.

Voters in Los Gatos will be going to the ballot to vote on a $3.9 million school bond. $3.9 million? Isn't that the same as the average home price in Los Gatos?

Would you be surprised to know that Senator Joe Simitian scored a $3,183.20 trip to Boca Raton Florida from a special interest? We were. (Would you actually pay to spend time with Simitian?) The special interest group is the Soap and Detergent Association, which may seem squeeky clean, but I'm sure the good folks at the water treatment plants feel a little differently.

And Simitian's friends at the Soap and Detergent Association won't be able to text the Senator if a new bill passes the Legislature. Sort of a San Jose-like ordinance for Sacramento. To the bill, the Merc Ed Board says: OMG TY...

Internal Affairs is really getting into the San Jose District 9 race... did you know that Jim Cogan and Don Rocha played on the same basketball team? It gets better: Jim thinks Don was a ball hog. At least the issues are getting a fully hearing in this race. Perhaps a one-on-one game would be in order? "You and me. One-on-one. The winner gets Judy's office..."

The good folks at the Morgan Hill Times take a look at the story after the story about the Hollister-born Pentagon shooter.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.2.10: Another "reliable" poll?

Yesterday's (unreliable, 7-point margin of error) poll about the 49ers in Santa Clara that was leaked to the Chronicle's Matier & Ross (and made fun of by Watch Dog), is in the news again: This time, showing support for the A's to San Jose move. If one part of the poll is unreliable, then can we trust the other parts of the poll? Oregon-based Rick Lindholm did the poll of 200 folks in each city about each stadium issue, and is now on the defensive. He claims that the poll wasn't paid for by anyone, rather that it is his own poll that he uses in an ongoing way to help with other clients. Here is Lindholm's reasoning for doing the poll in today's story: "Lindholm said he was not hired by anyone to conduct either survey. He said he does polling on a variety of issues in the Bay Area, using the results to help him build a database for his other polling work for private clients." But last June, when he did another "unpaid" poll talking about baseball in San Jose, said this: "Lindholm told the Mercury News on Tuesday that he had conducted the polls for free and that no one had hired him to do them." This guy is either loves doing polls for free or loves to see his name in the paper... or both. It is becoming more and more clear that this guy is working for one or more San Francisco interests that would like to kill one or both stadium measures in Santa Clara County.

The County is considering giving defendants some rights when they are charged with misdemeanors by having a defense attorney from the public defenders office show up. How progressive... for 1930. The cost is a million buck for the next two years.

Note to Michelle McGurk: Make sure you don't include this in today's City Hall clippings. We don't want anyone to freak out about this headline: Tesla kicks tires on new Palo Alto headquarters. While Tesla kick the tires, Paul Krutko kicks himself...

The power outage on Sunday in Palo Alto is causing a (seemingly) growing headache for the Utilities Department in Palo Alto. The Department wasn't giving residents and businesses any information about the outage, when the lights would come back on, or what the cause was. The Utilities Department's official response: "We're very sorry for the inconvience... We failed... I'm sorry..."

The Mayor of Palo Alto, Pat Burt, gave his State of the City yesterday and talked about improving infrastructure, installing red-light cameras, how he wants to improve relations with Stanford (yeah, right), and of course High-Speed Rail. He didn't mention that he wanted to improve the communications efforts of the Palo Alto Utilities Department...

Steve Poizner is getting ready to launch a statewide ad campaign... hopefully in the ad he will describe his thinking of why it took so long to start his statewide ad campaign... "I waited so long to start this ad campaign because I love coming from 20 points down and I've been busy bidding on stuff on eBay. I'm Steve Poizner, and I approved this message."

Poizner's announcement about this ad campaign couldn't come on a shittier day, and not because of the weather. But Jerry Brown is slated to announce that he is officially "official" in the race too...

Morgan Hill has strong, limited development rules in place and has for a long, long time. They seem to be working, according to a recent study.

Finally, we take a look at San Jose Inside where Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio gets all academic on our asses. He goes into parking theories and how free parking is a bad idea. Watch Dog actually agrees... so Councilmember Oliverio, how about proposing that the Mayor and Council have to pay for parking everyday in the City Hall garage. Symbolic, yes. But powerful. Email us if you are interested in proposing that idea here. (We won't tell anyone we gave you the idea...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.8.10: Need a miracle?

High Speed Rail has certainly gotten the attention of folks up and down the Peninsula -- think Atherton, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto. But now, Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmembers Pierluigi Oliverio and Sam Liccardo are concerned about a raised HSR track through downtown. So they did what elected officials do when they are concerned... they wrote a letter.

While that letter might have an impact, we doubt it caused this... The Executive Director of the California High Speed Rail Authority (Mehdi Morshed) is retiring in March.

Here's a fun story to end the week on: Silicon Valley bankruptcies are at an all-time high. Have a good weekend...

While we're on bankruptcies...

It is nice to see folks in the Merc newsroom are reading Watch Dog (or at least the Gilroy Dispatch...) They caught up with the story about the Sargent Ranch folks filing for bankruptcy... The Dispatch had it earlier in the week...

Four folks who are definately not filing for bankruptcy anytime soon are the four folks who are officially running for Governor (Whitman, Campbell, Poizner, and Brown -- sort of sounds like a law firm...) are being asked by the Bay Area News Group papers to release their tax filings. From rich to not-as-rich, here's where we think folks will line up: Whitman, Poizner, Campbell, Brown...

Lately when Watch Dog has written about the Santa Clara Unified School District is involved either teenage models or rapist-teachers -- but today it is new type of story for the District. Parents slept out and lined up for their chance to get their kids into the kindergarten at the Don Callejon School. No word if anyone uttered: I need a miracle...

There is an OpEd in today's Merc celebrating 30 years of the Rep. Kudos Mr. Reber and all who enjoy the theatre...

Taking Scott Herhold's column and running with it -- water well owners in South County are protesting proposed fees. Apparently, if more than 1/2 of all the well owners protest, then they won't have to pay it, according to the Morgan Hill Times.

There was a bomb threat at Palo Alto's City Hall yesterday morning which caused an evacuation (obviously). Coincidently (?) a small earthquake shoot Palo Alto City Hall (and the rest of us) at almost the exact same time... perhaps the bomb-threat-maker caused the earthquake?

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.15.09: Big night for the San(ta Clara) Francisco 49ers...

The San(ta Clara) Francisco 49ers kicked some serious Cardinals' ass last night. Seven Cardinals' turnovers helped San(ta Clara) Francisco's cause as well... We're not here, to start no trouble, we're just here to do the Santa Clara shuffle... (Mission City Lantern doesn't miss a beat...)

Speaking of new stadiums... the Chronicle's man in Oakland, Chip Johnson, does his best to boost Oakland Mayor Ron Dellum's plans to keep the A's in Oakland -- and not with out some needling of San Jose. Like this: "...the chances that Wolff and San Jose city officials will prevail in their attempts to move the team are slim..." Really? I suppose Chip Johnson and Ron Dellums are closer to Major League Baseball owners than Lew Wolff (a Major League Baseball owner). Johnson's piece also states the obvious -- that is may be too little too late -- when he writes: "...It's a complete turnabout for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums who in early 2007, shortly after taking office, dismissed any notions that the team would remain..." So perhaps Lew Wolff's non-embrace of Oakland is because it comes three years too late...

The Merc Editorial Board gives an atta-boy to Mayor Chuck Reed for punting San Jose's Redevelopment budget talks to February until things can be ironed out on several fronts: the State's money grab, perhaps the Teamsters' thingy, and some other stuff too.

Scott Herhold provides some perspective on the death of teenager Sarah Botill in Gilroy from a night of drinking. Herhold concludes that this is no ordinary story because, "...She was the daughter of a firefighter. She died after drinking at the home of an ex-councilman. And she had a few swallows of beer that night at the home of a cop..." More details about the case from the news side of the house at the Merc and the Dispatch as well...

The Merc's Mr. Roadshow describes some details about the proposed BART-to-Silicon Valley line and how some traffic delays can already be tied to BART's eventual construction...

Speaking of trains... more and less. Apparently High-Speed Rail tickets might be a little bit more expensive than originally planned (and sold to voters) and the ridership numbers may be a little less. Oops... Watch Dog would still pay a pretty steep price to not have to fly into LAX ever again. It might be a good place to get a haircut, but it is a bad place to fly in to. It is safe to assume that the higher fees and lower ridership are not what 200 folks in Mountain View were most concerned about when they attended a High-Speed Rail meeting...

This week the Merc called Steve Poizner's Gubernatorial campaign "anemic" and then late yesterday a story posted that went further into detail about what the rumor-mill in Sacramento is churning out. Poizner may not spend the $15 million he is putting in for some time and all the money that is being put into the race by Whitman and Poizner may mean that San Jose's Tom Campbell is backing out of the race, to which Campbell's press secretary says: "People can talk and conjecture all they want, but there's no change..." Of course, Campbell's press secretary did confirm that supporters are encouraging Campbell to run for Senate instead... because nothing could go wrong with a Campbell Senate bid... (36.6%)

More bad news for the Santa Clara Unified School District and Wilcox High School. Just as the Broom Closet Modeling Agency flap has died down, the Santa Clara Police are forwarding to the District Attorney their findings of their investigation into whether the Wilcox High Principal knew a teacher was known for having sex with students before he was arrested for (you guessed it) having sex with a student... now the District Attorney Dolores Carr needs to review the findings and decide if she wants to take on a high-profile rape case... where have we seen this before? We can only hope two things in this case: 1. that Jim McManis isn't the defense attorney for the Principal, and 2. that the DA's husband isn't working for the victim's (victims'?) families in some way...

To light or not to light... that is the question (at the Ann Sobrato high School football field in Morgan Hill). One complication -- the football field is actually in San Jose ... and within the City's greenbelt. San Jose Councilmember Ash Kalra, who represents the part of San Jose that would be impacted had this to say: "I'd certainly be open to discussing it. I don't want to close any doors to the interest the community may have to try to find a way to make it happen. But under the current zoning, it just won't work." Oh well... perhaps there is a high school in Dillon that will share their Friday Night Lights...

They are going to pave "paradise" (Palo Alto Bowl) and put up a "parking lot" (for a new hotel and townhomes)...

San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant joins Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio this week on San Jose Inside talking about the City budget. San Jose's new blogging duet...

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 – 11.10.09:

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 -- 11.4.09: 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.”

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.3.09: Nervousness Edition...

There will be several nervous folks tonight at 8:01 p.m. as poll results start coming for some local elections. Those nervous people include some City Council candidates in Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Palo Alto, some School Districts looking for additional revenue from property owners, and folks who want to sit through endless School Board meetings for the next 4 years. In case you forgot, here's how the Merc Editorial Board will be voting...

All you nervous people who have been worrying about the San Jose Police Department: stop being nervous. All that bad stuff you've been reading about the San Jose Police Department -- the drunk arrests, the attitude arrests, the beatings, the Tasings, the secrecy. The San Jose Police Department has a plan -- to police themselves. Because police have such an awesome reputation for self-reflection and willingness to find fault with one another. The quote of the day goes to the ACLU San Jose honcho Skyler Porras, "Asking the police department to police themselves has been about as effective as asking a teenager to ground themselves after missing curfew..." There is something politically new in today's story and worth noting. The Mayor and the San Jose Police Officers' Association's Bobby Lopez seem to be turning against Police Chief Rob Davis. Check it out: The Mayor said he had, "...significant concerns about how and when force is used..." and Bobby Lopez, "...We have some of the finest officers around, but unless you properly monitor the officers with the right people any group of people can go astray. You need the right supervisors, the proper safeguards. In the past I have questioned if we have that..." (Watch Dog is certain that a post is being penned right now for Protect San Jose to push the Police Chief further under the bus...) The countdown to San Jose Police Chief's decision to "spend more time with family" and "fish more" is upon us... Rob Davis is nervous today...

And we are starting to see the results of this weakening position of the Police Chief and the increased scrutiny on the San Jose Police Department. Next week, San Jose's Rules and Open Government Committee (which the Mayor runs with an iron fist) will discuss releasing the 911 tapes in the Danial Pham case. And the Mayor (seemingly) wants to hear the tapes...

Glenn Beck is going to have a field day with this one: an Arabic-immersion public Charter School is looking to opening in Fremont.

Solar is about to get cheaper in Mountain View (if you own a commercial property)...

There was a gang fight at Live Oak high School in Morgan Hill. Ironically, the school's mascot is an acorn and the school's motto is "Go Nuts!!" Well, the students seem to have followed that motto pretty well...

This should help mellow everyone out... Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio is pledging his support (on San Jose Inside) for the cultivation and dispensing of medical marijuana. PO is going for the 420 vote in Willow Glen. Wait for the first pot club to try to move on to Lincoln Avenue... PO will be one popular guy.

At the beginning of today's Round-Up, we talked about nervous people and elections... we will end the same way. Except, this nervous person is named Jim Cogan and the election is in 2010. (Ironically, he was recently made un-nervous by San Jose Unified School Board member Pam Foley dropping out of the race...) Cogan is running for District 9 City Council and he's re-nervous because Don Rocha, the Cambrian School Board member (and interim Chief of Staff to Councilmember Rose Herrera) officially threw his hat into the ring against Cogan. Expect a "tough on crime" piece on Protect San Jose from Cogan soon. In the meantime, let the race begin!

Morning News Round-Up – 10.27.09: It's bad news Tuesday....

According to attorney Terry Bowman, representing the San Jose police officer caught on video striking San Jose State math student Phuong Ho with a police baton, “Mr. Ho is responsible…” San Jose Councilmembers Madison Nguyen, Sam Liccardo and Ash Kalra stated they were “saddened the Vietnamese American community has recently experienced two incidents with the San Jose Police Department regarding possible use of excessive force.” The Merc’s Scott Herhold steps into the fray with his own analysis of Phuong Ho’s videotaped interview offering this “It’s hard to think he’s making this up… it is extraordinarily hard to make charges against cops stick before a jury.”

Following the death of Beverly Head when she got tangled up by a dog leash, San Jose takes on bikes and pooches. Somewhere, someone is hoping bikes and pooches become a leading story...

Santa Clara’s City Council tackles one hurdle standing in the way of bringing the 49ers to town. Up tonight, letting the team pick the builder of their (planned) Santa Clara Stadium…

The Merc’s Editorial Board wants Sunnyvale voters to know they’re not getting all the facts. The Merc takes a swipe at endorsed candidates Mayor Tony Spitaleri and Councilmember Chris Moylan for telling pieces of a story…

Love is in the air for the Mountain View Whisman School District. Superintendent Maurice Ghysels sheepishly admitted he’s been getting cozy with elementary school principal Carmen Mizell.

San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency released their bad news budget. After $75 million was taken by the State and facing decreased property tax revenues the Agency did some fancy (internal) footwork slashing budgets. Set your sights lower for the convention center expansion…

If you’re looking for your swine flu shot make sure you’re tops on the list. Public Health Officer Marty Fenstersheib had to shuffle after learning fewer (anti) swine-ish shots would be arriving. Kids and pregnant moms top the list… Keeping in mind, not all flues are swine-ish…

Speaking of budgets… San Jose Insider/San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio takes a stab at explaining the financial benefits of outsourcing city jobs and how San Jose’s budget works…

Also a San Jose Insider, Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo is eternally optimistic that San Jose’s 19 school districts can be organized into 4, DiSalvo wants to hear from you. Do you think 19 school boards, 19 superintendents, 19 sets of district staff, 19, well, you get the picture… willing to give up turf for the good of the children?

Protect San Jose’s numeric guru/Sunshine Task Force chair Ed Rast digs into the mind-numbing world of “item 3.5” and suggests the City Manager is reading Protect San Jose. Still no word about Sunshine…

Morning News Round-Up – 10.13.09:

Peninsula residents met with High-Speed Rail Authority experts to review the over/under/through options to move those 100 mph trains from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The anti-roller coaster requirement takes all the fun out of transitions between grades and is giving some residents headaches. You still have time for an “Alternative Analysis” meeting tonight in San Francisco. San Jose resident Larry Ames was pleased to see his curvy high-rise proposal on the chalk board…

Mountain View was planning for a rainy day when they bought up small bits of land and identified it as possible parklands. Their rainy day has arrived and those crusty old apartment buildings will soon make way for small parks and playgrounds along Mariposa and Del Medio Avenues.

Los Gatos’ Mayor Mike Wasserman finally ‘fessed up. Yes, he is running to replace Supervisor Don Gage. The Mayor announced he’s running on a cost-saving platform, after all, he is a tax preparer.

The Palo Alto Daily News has made their choice for City Council: Larry Klein, Corey Levens, Gail Price, Leon Leong and Dan Dykwel.

The Merc’s Editorial Board is fed up with the political wrangling preventing downtown San Jose from building a new urgent care center. “… each day of delay is a further shame” in the 5 years since San Jose’s downtown hospital was closed, according to the Merc and there’s no better time than the present to jump start replacement.

Paul “not a doormat” McCauley thought he was doing a favor when he moved a billboard sporting van for the owner of “Hassle Free Process Service.” The Merc’s Scott Herhold reports McCauley is the one facing the hassle and legal beagle Jim McManis stands to benefit from McCauley’s lapse in judgment.

Kudos to Voodoo Lounge owners David Powell and Tony Beers for pulling the plug on homophobic musicians Buju Banton, according to the Merc’s Sal Pizarro. Also tops on the Pizarro list of good, the InnVision homage to 007, complete with “shaken, not stirred.”

Protect San Jose sent props to MADD on passage of the breathalyzer ignition switch for first-time drunk drivers…

From previous San Jose Council meetings we know Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio’s thoughts run through the gutters (Library content filters anyone?), now we learn he’s dragged the rest of his body through the gutter during a sewer tour.

Palo Alto thieves made off with Gamble Gardens froggy and are politely asked to return both the frog and his lilypad says Executive Director Vanessa Roach.

As the first of the Winter storms hits, look forward to flooding and crashes on local roadways. Sounds like a good day for racking up some tele-commute time.

Gary “Mr. Roadshow” Richards dishes on good eats, police-style, for food-lovin’ road warriors. Best advice, look for those patrol cars in the parking lot when hitting your neighborhood eatery.

Morning News Round-Up – 9.28.09: Back in the news...

The Valley Transit Authority has gotten an earful about slow light rail from riders and Mr. Roadshow. They aim to do something about it but some of the Valley’s biggest transit supporters are less than excited about light rail 2.0. Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s Carl Guardino votes for the “less expensive” alternative of “bus rapid transit.”

Also interested in putting happy wheels on the road… San Jose gets federal stimulus dollars to repave 19 of their 2,300 road miles. According to San Jose Transportation deputy director Hans Larsen the $15 million drop in the bucket is appreciated but hardly covers San Jose’s $283 million backlog.

Local Deputy Dogs are pissed off over a county report saying they pay too much for e-booking bad guys. Federal law enforcement pays nothing for computerized booking while poor Los Altos Hills paid nearly $11,000 for one booking in 2007. The answer, of course, is sending law enforcement officers driving to county offices to file reports. Or, LAH arrests more people.

Rosemary Stasek was a catholic and a staunch supporter of women’s rights. “A society is really built up on how it treats women,” according to Stasek and a big part of the reason she landed in Afghanistan. The Merc’s Patty Fisher shares details on the remarkable Silicon Valley woman who left home for less green pastures.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs did a mighty-lot of sleuthing last week…

• The case of District Attorney Dolores Carr & spouse (ethical) screw-up ranked a letter from attorney/friend B. Robert Allard (apparently) to the prosecutor’s chief opponent asking to let bygones be bygones.
  
• Round 2 – the Government Attorney’s Association was asked to investigate a vote of no-confidence against their big dog, District Attorney Dolores Carr. The mystery is who asked...
  
• Sunnyvale, according to IA, needed “schooling in the California Public Records Act” before dishing on home loans to 6 Sunnyvalian employees including nearly $900,000 to City Manager Gary Luebbers.
  
• (former)Hewlett Packard Tech giant/senatorial wannabe Carly Fiorina takes a ribbing from the Merc’s Internal Affairs the Huffington Post as well as a host of bloggers for the “Worst Political Website Ever.”
  

The Merc’s Scott Herhold takes his readers on a sentimental journey through the tale of two weddings (no funerals) and a peek into his daughter’s wedding of the future. Along the way Herhold offers his thought that the legalization of gay marriage will happen, it’s only a matter of time…

Homeless pooches are the beneficiaries of the Humane Society’s annual Walk N’ Wag this weekend while pampered pooches can hang at Pooch in Sunnyvale for only $100 a night according to the Merc’s Sal Pizarro.

The Merc’s Editorial Board calls on Senator Dianne Feinstein to fight for the $4 million Congressman Mike Honda wants to clean up Mt Umunhum. Calling the sum a “pittance in the context of billions in military spending” the Merc hopes Feinstein will “make this project a bright light in an otherwise dark hour of investment in public facilities.”

San Jose Insider/Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio argues against a “plastic bag bureaucracy” and suggests instead banishment of the single-use poopy diaper. Also Inside, Jack Van Zandt had a rockin’ good time with Joan Baez kicking off the Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival.

Protect San Jose’s Mary Klotzbach shares the wrenching story of her son’s death at the wheel of a drunk driver and the costs associated with drunk driving.

Normally a 49ers booster, Mission City Lantern sends props to the Vikings for their “marvelous” win. Really, James?

If watching your local elected officials is your thing, here’s the hap’s for this week…

• San Jose’s Community and Economic Development Committee talks outsourcing, no, they’re not sending street paving to India.
  
• San Jose’s City Council reviews a contract for the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity (nearly a year after the fiasco that go this ball rolling), considers letting anyone buy low income housing and hopes to make it easier on city landmarks.
  
• The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and San Jose City Council meet together to talk flu pandemic and census. Apparently, none of the other Silicon Valley cities plan on having pandemics.
  
• The Mountain View-Whisman School District considers proposals on school size, boundaries, transportation, enrollment priorities and independent study. And, as if that weren’t enough fun, Trustees talk salaries.

Morning News Round-Up – 9.22.09:

You remember this story, former San Jose Police Officer/Santa Clara County District Attorney investigator Sandra Woodall smashed her car into parked cars and injured a teenager. Collegial courtesy (allegedly) caused San Jose Police Officers Will Manion and Patrick D’Arrigo to look the other way after Woodall's visit to the neighborhood bar for a post-rehab celebratory drink (allegedly) impaired her driving. San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis let the other shoe drop this week, he wants to fire Manion and D’Arrigo.

California hopes to snag $1.28 billion in federal funds to bundle with Prop 1A funds for Caltrain expansion and moving High-speed rail at high speed to Northern CA.

It’s a little anti-climatic - the Palo Alto City Council approved a change over to (formerly interim) Police Chief Dennis Burns who hopes to “lead the organization in a fair and ethical way.” A slap at former boss/predecessor Lynne Johnson?

De Anza community college is at the “…bottom of a funnel” according to spokesperson/former Merc reporter Becky Bartindale so they shut the doors on more than 8,000 students hoping to beef up their accounting, chemistry and writing skills.

The Merc’s Editorial Board offers San Jose the chance to step out from the crowd and become a leader – ditch the bag. Likening the demise of the plastic bag to getting cigarettes out of restaurants, Merc Editors offer it could be increasingly painful to keep the bag (along with (possible) federal sanctions).

Earthquakes/A’s owner Lew Wolff isn’t caught by surprise often so when Soccer Silicon Valley President Don Gagliardi rattled off SSV’s good deeds even Wolff was impressed according to the Merc’s Sal Pizarro. State Senator Joe Simitian and San Jose Councilmember Nora Campos will be in San Jose to discuss State reform with Joint Ventures Silicon Valley and the American Leadership Forum.

San Jose Insider/San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio was not happy with his colleagues last week when they ignored his request to kill a “Shared Room Occupancy” proposal in his neighborhood. Watch Dog is hopeful Oliverio meant “Single Room Occupancy” in his collegial spanking.

Mission City Lantern slaps a favorite, Jamie McLeod, and celebrates a win by the San Francisco/(future Santa Clara?) 49ers.

Protect San Jose's Tuesday numbers guy, Ed Rast, wasn't up and running by post time, the Friday forum landed two comments over the weekend.

Morning News Round-Up – 9.15.09: What do plastic, bail bonds and Wet have in common...

Good News – Silicon Valley schools rank high in California. Bad News – Silicon Valley Latino and African American students do worse than state averages.

Vincent Cardinalli, Sr. thought he’d found the ideal way to scam money until the law caught up and handed him 157 felony counts. Always thinking creatively, Cardinalli instead sued one of the witnesses for $4.5 million, and won judgment. If only the Godfather thought of it first...

Candidates for Palo Alto City Council are unhappy interviews to take over the Police Chief gig happened behind closed doors.

San Jose’s Coyote Creek has the dubious distinction of landing on Save the Bay’s Top 10 “Bay Trash Hot Spots.” Plastic bags floating down Coyote Creek to join the 1 Million that land in the Bay each year garnered the creek this (depressing) honorific.

Gubernatorial hopefuls come calling in Silicon Valley looking for some love.

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro shares the news that San Jose Downtown Associations Scott Knies is getting canned by the city. Don’t worry about Knies, it just means the city won’t be paying Knies $160,000 (on top of the $69,000 from the association). Instead, the San Jose Redevelopment Agency will add $100,000 to the Downtown Association coffers.

Sunnyvale Mayor Anthony Spitaleri is pissed he (and Sunnyvale) have landed in a payment dispute between the Sunnyvale Mixed Use LLC and the folks (formerly) doing the build.

San Jose celebrates going solar at 6 city facilities, a $500,000 lands in the form of solar panels.

Oops, the Morgan Hill Unified School District discriminated against special education student Jessica Perez forcing her to stay in school longer and miss graduating with friends. At least, that’s what the State and Perez say.

Those fun loving folks on the Gilroy City Council may have goofed when they voted behind closed doors on raises for the city manager and clerk. Secrecy be damned, numbers for your review in the Gilroy Dispatch. You gotta wonder, who advises these guys…

Sports, sherry and dark chocolate sustained Wimbledon player/wild woman Dorothy Crichton who passed away at the age of 104 in Palo Alto.

PoliticonValley sends kudos to County Supervisor Ken Yeager for landing the State Senate confirmation to the California Air Resources Board.

Protect San Jose’s Ed Rast is one pissed off number cruncher. Rast is (apparently) mad that some non-profits receive city funds.

(also pissed off) San Jose Insider/Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio is mad affordable housing projects don’t pay into the city’s park fees. Oliverio and Rast should get together for a mad fest. Also Inside, Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo wants kids to have the same teacher for more than one year.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.25.09: #5 (plastic) #6 (water)

"Number 5: Divert 100 percent of the waste from our landfill and convert waste to energy." Does that sound familiar to you? It is from the San Jose Green Vision, which was passed unanimously by the City Council. Now, San Jose is moving forward on Number 5 as it inches closer to eliminating its share of the 19,000,000,000 plastic bags floating through your yard, down the creek, or across the street. Councilmember Sam Liccardo takes a bold stance in the face of a (possible) lawsuit from the American Chemistry Council, “We can’t be afraid of what the plastics industry and its lawyers might do.” Predictably, Councilmember Constant takes the other view. This story is getting some wide coverage, including our friends to the north and the Associated Press.

To Number 6...

San Jose resident Gene Kohara is confused, and a little pissed. Kohara questions those funky water misters at City Hall while he’s being asked to cut water usage... in the 3rd year of a drought. San Jose’s public art misters help to cool visitors to the (giant concrete) plaza. Others wonder if trees might do the trick. Number 6 in the Green Vision does say, "Number 6: Recycle or beneficially reuse 100 percent of our wastewater (100 million gallons per day)"...

We missed this from the weekend because you'd need to be a detective to find it on the Merc.'s website... from Internal Affairs: Council candidate Jim Cogan says he wasn’t offended, really, when opponent Pam Foley offered her district needed an “ethical” representative. Perhaps he should have been...

The Merc’s Editorial Board wants to see you at City Hall this week as pension reform is under discussion. (If you have second, check out the first comment on the Merc's website following this Editorial...)

Gilroy Councilmembers are pissed off. Someone is dishing the secret details from behind closed doors. Threats of Grand Jury investigations could be heard from Mayor Al Pinheiro and Councilmember Craig Gartman after tales were told about proposed employee raises. We understand why Pinheiro and Gartman are mad... but are the also politically tone-deaf? Employee raises?

Gilroy Unified Schools transportation supervisor ditched his gig over the weekend. Emil Frates was accused of contract violations and Superintendent Deborah Flores said they’d been trying to “fix” the mess but they continued “to be in turmoil.” Perhaps Mr. Frates learned that City employees in Gilroy were getting raises and scooted across town...

Psychiatrist David Arredondo is calling for “…less blame and more understanding of what's really going on in the culture of these high schools...” as he looks into why teens are killing themselves.

The Merc’s Mr. Roadshow dishes Top Secret details from the California Highway Patrol High Command, smuggled out by daring men on horseback. Not really, but Watch Dog bets today’s dish from the Highway Patrol gets a few readers pissed off about the warning: Put Your Cellphone Down.

Dude, the skate park’s “...not a magnet for bad behavior...” really. The Morgan Hill skate park has had its share of naughtiness, but parents and police hope that’s a thing of the past as bad behavior (seems) to be going away. (Don't tell Los Gatos about this...)

San Jose Councilmember/Insider Pierluigi Oliverio notes he’s meeting with City Planners to help a constituent who didn’t “take responsibility” for figuring out what he could do with land he wanted to buy before he bought it. We thought the folks in Willow Glen were the smartest folks in town...

Speaking of Jim Cogan, or at least we were near the beginning of today's Round-Up... Cogan chimes in on today's Protect San Jose site and tries to be funny, but sneaks in a litte (ok, a lot) of self-promotion.

Morning News Round-Up – 7.1.09: Post Dominatrix hangovers....

Twitter it ain’t… Palo Alto’s policy committee spoke to a nearly empty room on the fate of Peak Democracy’s online Palo Alto forum. Councilmember Sid Espinosa said the forum was of “no value” while colleagues disagreed keeping the site running.

Silicon Valley De-Bug director Raj Jayadev called on San Jose’s Police Officers Association to end the “name-calling” at a rally Tuesday night. Tossing a little humor in the mix, Jaydev had a new t-shirt on declaring “Thug.” POA leader Bobby Lopez thought better of his “ticked off” response to the Merc and allowed as how he would meet with Jayadev. Psst, the video link on Protect San Jose goes straight to YouTube. Way to make promises…

Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith apologized with tears in her eyes following the deaths of cyclists Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough last year. Yesterday Peterson’s family got the news the County is coughing up $2.3 million.

Joining San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio for the San Jose Stage political fundraiser were the Merc’s own Man About Town, Sal Pizarro, San Jose Inside’s Fly and Mission City Lantern. Show stealer, Councilmember Judy Chirco, kept her dignity and her seat. Fly reports more sex humor, less political satire while Mission City wants to know more about Councilmember Pete Constants fascination with the dominatrix.

The assemblymember formerly known as “Mr. Insurance” is currying favor with the Da Mayor. Joe “Gotcha Covered” Coto carried a controversial (San Francisco) state law change for former San Francisco Mayor/former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown – much to the surprise of San Francisco leaders. SF Supe’s weren’t pleased and killed the end run around State law.

Los Altos declared its NIMBY heart over Mountain View’s housing proposal with worries Mountain View residents would clog Los Altos streets. Mountain View Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga pointed out neighbors share…

Good fences make good neighbors, does good policy do the same? San Jose Councilmembers Pierluigi Oliverio and Sam Liccardo are voicing support for the Distinctive Neighborhoods program which might give residents more say in who their neighbors are…

Drama runs high in the preliminary hearing for gang members sharing the defense table in Gilroy. Norteno’s defense attorney, Edward Sousa, wants his clients out since one of their gang was killed.

Santa Clara County’s new courthouse in Morgan Hill hasn’t translated to more downtown dollars – yet. Could it be the economic downturn affects even judges?

San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo read the recently released Civil Grand Jury report hinting it ain’t the kids benefitting from education dollars. DiSalvo muses the 31 different school districts in Santa Clara County might not serve the children…

In Los Gatos the Parks Commission issued a concern that sometimes local regulations get ignored as trees are mowed down. Really? Naked hills are a problem for Councilmember Steve Rice.

Morning News Round-Up – 6.30.09: A little independence is a good thing, right?

Mountain View’s city council is looking to strengthen its milquetoast pleas for NASA Ames Hangar One. No doubt a strong retort from Mountain View will (not) sway the Navy who previously ignored congressional requests…

Linking Bay cities isn’t only a BART dream, from our Sister blog Watch Dog San Mateo…

• Peninsula cities are falling just short of (actually) thumbing their collective noses at State efforts to get cities to accept their “fair share” of housing. Commissioner Lee Lippert said the “vibrant” retail on El Camino was taking a beating as housing moved in. Vibrant, really?
• Pissed off Palo Alto employees marched on City Hall the day before their contract expires. Union leader Mike Keate wants negotiations to be productive and City Manager James Keene wants them to be public, promising entertaining days ahead.
• “(We) got plenty of creative ideas…” from comments during a High-speed Rail outreach according to regional manager Dominic Spaething. A tunnel high on the list for Palo Alto, Atherton and Menlo Park…
• Foothill-DeAnza Community College District Board Vice President Hal Plotkin will join Chancellor Martha Kanter in D.C.. No doubt he’ll be pulling out of the race to replace termed out Assemblymember Ira Ruskin leaving room for Palo Alto’s Yoriko Kishimoto to do battle with San Mateo Supervisor Rich Gordon.
  

Embezzlement troubles were set aside for MACSA’s annual 100 Most Influential Latinos in Silicon Valley according to the Merc’s Sal Pizarro. No shows included outbound executive director Olivia Soza-Mendiola and “many members of the group’s leadership.” Pizarro also shares the success of Michele Gray’s Walk through the Vineyards and opening applications for the Chamber’s Leadership program.

Celebrating American Independence will mean something different for the (really pissed) residents of Mountain View’s Americana apartments. These (un)lucky souls get to spend the long weekend moving out so the expected asbestos shake down doesn’t affect them. Irony much?


More tools in the toolbox, that’s what veteran cop Pat Dwyer hopes will help officers to back away from shooting the mentally ill. The Merc’s Scott Herhold shares Dwyer’s thoughts in his role as County mental health’s police liaison trying to prevent another Daniel Pham situation.


The Civil Grand Jury spanked school districts including Gilroy and Gavilan for not preventing $288,000 in losses with better controls. The Grand Jury wants district Trustees to reconcile inventory. Gilroy Superintendent Deborah Flores said she’s happy to involve Trustees but wonders about asking that level of micro-management…


Morgan Hill’s city council is scrambling to buy up foreclosed homes at the same time the Planning Commission recommends relieving developers of responsibility for building affordable homes.


Savvy Cellar Wines fills the gap left when Christine Tran’s deal with Mountain View to fill the Train Depot self destructed. Desperately in need of a wine bar, Mountain View residents could be heard celebrating all the way to Hangar One.


"Folks say that if you listen real close…” begins the winning entry for San Jose State University’s annual Bulwer-Lytton worldwide literary parody contest.


San Jose Councilmember/San Jose Insider Pierluigi Oliverio lets loose on non-controversial consent calendar items (the issues city staff figures are non-controversial) and invites all to Monday Night Live. More entertaining than consent… Watch Dog tipsters share the news that Olvierio refused to play along with the (semi) satirical bashing – the punishment for doing so was a special public spanking.


Mission City Lantern wants to know what’s up with San Jose Revealed.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.4.09: Falcons with an inferiority complex?

Editors at the Merc must be incredibly bored... Apparently, it’s important to call out Stephen Colbert for not noticing San Jose’s City Hall peregrine falcon papa shares his moniker. You know a City has a massive inferiority complex when the paper of record begs for national airtime. Perhaps he sees the falcons' names for what they were -- a cheap way to get San Jose some exposure.

Perhaps the Merc Editors (or reporters) should have been following the internal politics at City Hall a little closer than the falcons... Fortunately for all of us, the Metro was on the case. The tit for tat on the 18th floor between Mayor Reed and Councilmember Campos got a bit (a lot) more heated on Friday. The Mayor asked Campos to apologize for making a stink about not knowing that the IPA candidate's brother was a sworn officer when she probably/actually did. Reed is calling Campos a liar. This qualifies as a ratcheting up of the war of words between the Mayor and Campos. But it also shows that the Mayor took the bait. Watch Dog believes that this is what Campos has wanted for a long, long time...

Swine flu mania kept attendance (and Drunk Arrests) low at San Jose’s annual Cinco de Mayo. American G.I. Forum member/Alum Rock School District Trustee Dolores Marquez still declared the day a success saying, “we’re so grateful the weather held up and the people showed up.”

While we are Spine flu -- San Jose State’s Spartan Daily declares the first casualty of the swine flu to be common sense. Sometimes the student newspaper hits the nail on the head...

And where healthcare and the tanking economy meet, we have some problems. Valley Medical Center’s CEO, Kim Roberts, worries her emergency room is “the safety net of the safety net.” Their safety net is reaching its breaking point, even before swine flu mania VMC saw a 10% increase in uninsured patients.

Silicon Valley nonprofits, don’t bother seeking help from San Jose Councilmembers Pierluigi Oliverio or Pete Constant. Constant and Oliverio have suggested most of the City’s nonprofit support be suspended. Constant wants the tobacco money to pay for City services saying that while it’s nice to give money to nonprofits he wants to take care of “family first.” Agencies like Meals on Wheels, the Blind Center, and Big Brother Big Sister don’t qualify as family.

BART fans will be cheering in Milpitas Friday. The Valley Transit Authority will be joined by Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s CEO Carl Guardino and San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo to break ground on phase one of BART to San Jose. (Ironically, Councilmember Constant also said no to BART...)

San Jose Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio’s Chief of Staff Denelle Fedor, has joined the boss in contributing local news. Fedor questions the wisdom, and financial benefits, of ending San Jose’s mounted police patrol. Fedor has a horse in the race, she founded Friends of the San Jose Mounted Unit and complains City Manager Debra Figone never asked her to help cover the cost of keeping the horses on the street.

San Jose Revealed dishes on San Jose’s upcoming government doings… Revealed hints at a preference for plastic bags? Say it ain’t so. Wells Fargo gets to keep San Jose’s business, no more tossing toxic dental waste down the drain, San Jose Earthquakes want a stadium, and you will be able to buy food at the airport.

And, finally "Government Watch" is back at the Merc -- but isn't that interesting this week:

• San Jose’s City Council thinks about a new process for hiring the Independent Police Auditor. Maybe this time not having a family member on the force will make the top ten. Also on tap, the agreement with the consortium replacing/augmenting the community Drunk Task Force.
• The Santa Clara County Office of Education talks about charter school intents (intent? Like educating students?) and how do deal with a potential surge in charter schools.
  

The Merc’s Scott Herhold tells a recessionary tale of woe, entrepreneur/author/gourmet Pete Klein ditched the work day drudgery to become the “No-Face Bandit” until he got caught early this year. Herhold seems sympathetic, maybe he’s considering his own career change as the Merc continues to shrink.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs took note of San Jose’s Community and Economic Development committee meeting and complaints from the nonprofit community and San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Chief Pat Dando that a late memo from Councilmember Ash Kalra seemed quite familiar to a few in the audience.