Morning News Round-Up -- 5.21.10: "NUMMI A's" no more...

Go Sharks! (Please win... pretty please?)

Well, we guess the Oakland A's won't be going to the former NUMMI plant after all... that's because Tesla and Toyota will move in to build electric cars. Of course, Tesla track record of sticking to its word is someone less-than-desirable, just ask San Jose, but we wish Fremont, Tesla, and Toyota well. (Here is a full run-down of the Tesla Chronicles...)

As a reminder, Watch Dog predicted the NUMMI/A's effort last August...

"...Fremont’s Nummi plant is packing the bags and heading to Texas leaving nearly 5,000 newly unemployed in its wake. Perhaps a Fremont ballpark can actually happen now?...

Maybe now Bud Selig can make a decision?...

The Mercury News Editorial Board continued to look at their ballots... and today they have made the 18th floor a very exciting place to be. They endorsed Don Rocha for San Jose City Council District 9 to replace Vice Mayor Judy Chirco. They say he has "...the potential to continue in the tradition of Chirco..." They also give some ink to Jim Cogan (too close to public safety unions) and Larry Pegram (too close to Jerry Falwell)...

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce put out a reward for clues leading to catching the culprits behind the hit pieces sent against Magdalena Carrasco... ironically, the place to call with your tip is Crime Stoppers -- whose President is the aforementioned Jim Cogan, running for City Council in a different District. Hypothetically, what if someone called with a tip that identified a Cogan supporter as the culprit? Just asking... (Mission City Lantern is on the fake-mailer case too...)

While we're in District 5, ProtectSanJose.com brought us a message from Xavier Campos...

A San Josean will head to the Senate... no, not Tom Campbell (yet)... but County Superior Court Judge Edward Davila has been tapped for the federal bench by the Obama administration...

This will be bad news piled on top of bad news... property assessments are down... way down... boooooooo...

Dear Gilroy Unified Voters... thank you for passing the school bond in 2008... we are over budget... so Christopher High School will have portables instead of a great new facility... will you trust again with your vote and your cash? Love, the Gilroy Unified School District.

Sunnyvale may lose its seat on VTA, and Sunnyvale Councilmember Chris Moylan is pissed about it: "...Based on population, the one city other than San Jose that should have a permanent seat on the board is Sunnyvale..." No word on dweeb.org yet on the issue...

Some folks in Silicon Valley will be voting on June 8th and June 22nd... the 22nd being the date that the Special Election to replace Senator-turned-Lt. Gov Abel Maldonado's seat will be voted on... and if no one gets 50 percent plus, a run-off will happen on August 17th. Expect an influx of Sam Blakeslee and John Laird visits in the coming weeks...

The Lame (Duck) Governor was at Google yesterday... no doubt in an effort to shift attention from Google's bad European news this week...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.22.10: Opposed versus Opposing...

The San Jose Police Officers' Association has opposed the gambling measure on the San Jose ballot in June since it was put on the ballot a few months ago. Of course, they didn't oppose it enough to actually write an "argument against Measure K" for the ballot guide. Instead, they blogged about. So I guess we can say the POA are "opposed" but they aren't really "opposing."

But inside the story in today's Merc there are even more interesting details, if you read between the lines:

• Cindy Chavez still isn't talking to the Merc, but answered a question on Measure K through her spokesperson with a "no comment" -- thus violating Rule 1 of press relations.
• Even more interesting in the story is this: Ed McGovern pushing a yes on Measure K campaign on behalf of the card clubs and Jude Barry is a political consultant for the Police Officers' Association, which is opposed to the measure. This is interesting because Ed McGovern and Jude Barry are working together in Santa Clara on the 49ers' stadium campaign. Politics makes strange bedfellows... (No Councilmember Oliverio, we don't mean that kind of bedfellow...)

Here we go again... again. Senator Maldonado is gunning for Lieutenant Governor. Can't we all just get along?

While we are in Sacramento... Mr. Smith (well, Mr. Guardino actually) went to Sacramento, and got a piece written in the Merc about their trip... which we are sure will make the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce less than pleased because they went to Sacramento this week and got nothing written...

Speaking of Mr. Guardino, he comes to the defense of Cindy Chavez with a Letter to the Editor in today's Merc. He makes no mention, however, of why she has been in the paper lately: heavy-handed political tactics. But Cindy should send Carl flowers today...

Wouldn't it be great to buy alcohol and Advil in the same place? That way, you can get the cause and the cure for a hangover in one space... Well, the Campbell City Council doesn't think it is such a good idea and denied Walgreens' the proper permits...

The City of Palo Alto hired a consulting firm to see how it might be able to see how to trim costs from the fire department... of course, they forgot to find out if the consulting firm had every actually recommended reducing staffing levels of fire departments ever. The answer? No. Never. Not once. Well, that was money well spent by the City of Palo Alto...

A woman was violently attacked and robbed at the Gilroy outlets on Wednesday in the bathroom. Scary.

What a buzz kill... and during the week of 420: Mountain View Police busted a grow house with $100,000 of pot plants...

On the blogs...

San Jose Inside lets us all know about Sam Liccardo's birthday cake at his campaign kick-off, and that Zoe Lofgren was there. We also learn that candidate Tim Hennessey has "friends" on Facebook that are mad at him...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.15.10: Tea Party Day...

Sharks lost...

Even though Scott Herhold at the Merc thinks LaDoris Cordell was an "odd choice" for the San Jose Independent Police Auditor job... he didn't convince the Editorial Board who called the choice "daring" and "great for the time"... as for the San Jose Police Officers' Association, they have a different opinion:

"...I have serious concerns about Ms. Cordell’s ability to be independent and objective. While she has a right to be associated with community groups that have historically been critical and antagonistic to our officers, this should raise questions about her ability to be objective, just as Chris Constantin was considered biased because of his relationships. I consider this a double standard..."

As we said yesterday, really? Cordell has a brother or sister that works at the ACLU, the NAACP, or DeBug?

Speaking of public safety unions in San Jose, the firefighters looked through last year's budget and found $7 million worth of things that could have been cut from the City Manager's budget, saying that such frivolous spending creates a credibility gap for the City when it says they are broke. The story on San Jose Inside does provide this jab back at the firefighters about their plans to close the budget gap: "...All told, the union’s proposals would come to a little over a million dollars. The total of the contracts outlined in “City Spending Gone Wild” only adds up to a little over $7 million—loose change compared to the $116.2 million quagmire that the city is still trudging through..."

Another nugget in the San Jose Inside story: lobbyists Dustin DeRollo and Tom Saggau are on the case for the firefighters... perhaps the firefighters forget the great work these two did for bail bonds shops and Club Wet...

Zoe Lofgren on the Supreme Court? Someone in Washington thinks it is a good idea: the Computer & Communications Industry Association. Watch Dog loves the Congresswoman, but we aren't sure about this particular job opening for her...

San Jose City Council races are still heating up. Magdalena Carrasco beat out Xavier Campos for the Chamber of Commerce endorsement yesterday, as reported by San Jose Inside. Perhaps Labor's threatening Carrasco's supporters helped push the Chamber towards Carrasco?

In a nod to NIMBYs, some folks on the Peninsula are considering whether or not to join the (Tea Party?) effort to repeal the High-Speed Rail bond... have fun with that...

Speaking of the Tea Party, there will be a "Tax Day Protest" in downtown San Jose today. That should be a fun, gun-toting shin-dig... In case you forgot, last year San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant joined the (anti-immigrant, pro-Palin) fun... (Thank you tipster for the picture...)

In an (un?)related story... LA may shut down a white supremacist meeting permitted for this weekend...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.22.10: Are you a Proprietary Member of Fremont Hills?

Two stories of local politicians ignoring folks in their own backyards in order to court voters in Orange County: Tom Campbell "assails" healthcare reform and Steve Poizner goes anti-immigration. We can't leave this part of the Campbell story alone: Campbell delivered his anti-healthcare speech at the Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills, a club that has... "...a total of 425 Proprietary Memberships, granting all members full privileges at the Club. All club memberships are by invitation only..." Oh, and an equestrian center. We can assume that zero of the owners of the 425 Proprietary Members goes without healthcare or finds it too expensive... But perhaps a neat follow-up story to this one (hint to Barbara Boxer's team) would be to see how many of the workers at the Fremont Country Club have health insurance...

The San Jose Independent Police Auditor search appears to be heading into its final stages (finally). And the Merc uncovered one of the finalists: former Judge and former Palo Alto Councilmember LaDoris Cordell. This cannot make law enforcement officials very pleased... which probably does make a whole bunch of other people very, very pleased. We guess no brothers or sisters of current police offices applied...

The Merc just can't get enough of the Happy Hollow Zoo opening... another story appeared this weekend.

Remember those fireworks that you used to love in downtown San Jose during the Fourth of July? Well, you can kiss them goodbye. Fil Maresca says the City's fees for the Police were too expensive. That's sort of what the Chamber of Commerce is saying about the Police as well -- at least their pensions...

Speaking of the Chamber...

The Chamber's political action committee, COMPAC, won a lawsuit and now the City of San Jose owes them $400,000+. Pat Dando can't help but gloat in the Merc's Internal Affairs.

Also Internal Affairs is something that was essentially lifted from San Jose Inside: one of the "also rans" in District 9 is both a Cortese and a karaoke genius...

Rounding-Up Internal Affairs this weekend, we learned Sunday that Steve Poizner shared a flight to the Southern California debate with Meg Whitman's press team. But more important than that are two more things that we learned that were embedded in the piece: 1. Whitman is flying a private jet (everywhere) and 2. the source of all things anti-Poizner that has appeared in Internal Affairs is Mary Anne Ostrom is working for Whitman now but used to work for the Merc. Hmmm... Debunking the myth that all reporters (and former reporters) are Democrats...

Attention Mr./Dr. County Executive: The Mercury News Editorial Board has a big problem with you and how you want to run the Valley Medical Center. Please report directly to the Principal's office for further instructions...

The Merc Editors have started their campaign endorsements. They start with Proposition 16 and recommend no.

There is a new blog in town... zzz...

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.16.10: Bracket Tuesday...

It is fill out your bracket Tuesday today... so forget work. Start researching Murray State!

It is pink slip week at School Districts in California. Need we write any more? Send complaints to Capitol Mall, Sacramento, California...

Over the past several months (ok, the entire past year and then some) The Case Against Dolores Carr has been built by challenger to the DA Jeff Rosen. Now, The Case Against Jeff Rosen has one small piece of evidence... Mr. Rosen needs to amend his ballot statement because he misquoted the Mercury News... sort of. He quoted the Mercury News correctly, but the quote came from Scott Herhold, not the Mercury News. He's changing the ballot statement, but needs a court order to do it...

And when the Chamber of Commerce made the case against Cindy Chavez in 2006, they ran afoul of the City of San Jose's campaign spending laws that were in place at the time. Well, 4 years later, the court ruled in their favor and now they are getting their legal fees back... unless the City of San Jose appeals further, which it sounds like they will not do. Here's something: Our insiders are telling us that the Chamber has been grilling candidates that have come before them about how they would vote in closed session on this issue... classy.

Perhaps more important than the ruling itself is the author of this story from the Merc... none other than Scott Herhold. This is the second time (at least that we've noticed) that Herhold has been columnist AND reporter. They do that type of thing at the San Mateo Daily Journal, but at the Mercury News? Weird. Although, our friends at Protect San Jose think that Sean Webby has been writing a column rather the news for a long, long time...

Here's irony: A Southern California Republican Assemblywoman is becoming the best friend of all the NIMBYs up and down the Peninsula who hate High Speed Rail. Diane Harkey is introducing a bill to stop the sale of High Speed Rail bonds... Perhaps they will throw her a ticker-tape parade up and down El Camino Real...

Perhaps in response (?) Quentin Kopp wrote a pro-High Speed Rail piece for the Merc. Surprised?

With all due respect to Palo Alto, but any city should do their best to avoid this headline: Local teens describe their stresses on 'Dr. Phil.' Perhaps Dr. Phil can get Oprah to bridge the relationship divide between Stanford and Palo Alto...

When the going gets tough (and the going is tough for the Morgan Hill Police Department) the tough get going (to the Feds for more money).

When the going gets tough (and the going is tough for the City of Gilroy) the tough get going (home early for the week).

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.11.10: NAACP vs SJPOA (still)

In case you don't read Watch Dog on the weekend, and we can't imagine there is anyone out there that doesn't... you missed, or should we say mist, some spelling mistakes from the right side of the political spectrum. First we chronicled, or kronikled, Pete Constant's re-election site and then an advertisement from the Chamber of Commerce, or Commerse.


Watch Dog had to be the first to mention this: the NUMMI site in Fremont is being repackaged as the perfect site for the A's according to a story in Saturday's Merc. On August 17, 2009, Watch Dog wrote this:

"...Fremont’s Nummi plant is packing the bags and heading to Texas leaving nearly 5,000 newly unemployed in its wake. Perhaps a Fremont ballpark can actually happen now?...

The head of the local NAACP may not board the Freedom Train on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day because the San Jose Police Officers' Association is a sponsor this year. In his words in the Merc, "After years and months of abusing the community, the San Jose Police Department has the nerve to show up under the banner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..." Well, yes.


But don't worry, it is clear that the SJPOA hears the concerns of the community and is taking steps to repair its reputation... right? Well, not so much... Bobby Lopez, on his way out the door as head of the SJPOA, wrote a piece for the Merc titled: In San Jose Latino arrests, the problem is Latino drinking -- not police practices. Lopez's thinking goes like this: If Latinos would just stop drinking so much, the Police wouldn't have to arrest them so often... Protect San Jose has a reprint of Lopez's OpEd, in case you don't want to give the Merc your "business"...


Taking on the big (sign) issues, San Jose's City Council is going to review changes to the sign ordinance... too big? not big enough? too graphic? too electric? Tuesday is the big day to find out.


"Nobody wants to have any more City bailouts..." That's the sentiment of Chris Esparza who is on the committee (responsible for) making the Mexican Heritage Plaza financially sustainable. He favors a school for the arts while the other major idea is a cultural and entertainment center. The Committee will discuss the ideas publicly Tuesday night...


Scott Herhold provides a picture of how the Sargeant Ranch development (now on hold because owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy) involved Congressman Mike Honda, former Congressman Vic Fazio, and the Amah Mutsun tribe as part of the Ranch owner's bid to circumvent the planning regulations of the County.


The Merc delves a little deeper into the crisis facing Bay Area transit agencies, including the VTA -- but more importantly, brings us a new feature whereby they provide video of reporter Mike Rosenberg talking about the challenges of transit agencies... "New" technology being integrated into the Merc's website? Say it ain't so... That VTA story was on Sunday. Today, the Merc has a piece about how VTA has ambitious plans for the coming years, even though the agency is cash-strapped. Sort of like a newspaper implementing new technology, even though it is cash-strapped...


Speaking of cash-strapped... Team San Jose's Dan Fenton is on his way to Dallas to rescue San Jose's convention business. Team San Jose's labor contracts have pissed off just about everyone in the convention business, and the Convention Center in downtown San Jose is at risk of losing megabucks. The Business Journal (and San Jose Inside) chronicles Fenton's efforts to fix the screw up...


It is car show week in San Jose for all of you folks in the market for high-end automobiles... all three of you.


The race to replace Councilmember Nora Campos on the San Jose City Council got a little more crowded this week, and a little more complicated for sibling Campos (Xavier) who would like to walk right into his sister's seat. Neighborhood leader Aaron Resendez is signing up to run. And in a weird use of City employee time and energy, Councilmember Campos' Chief of Staff takes on the duty of criticizing a political opponent of Xavier Campos...


Moving north... Apple plans to open a "flagship" store in downtown Palo Alto... and yes, there is already an Apple store in downtown Palo Alto -- but this one is going to be a "flagship" store -- so when it opens we'll all have to go see the difference.

Spel Cheque... Continued...

Well, it seems spelling mistakes are contagious on the right side of the political spectrum.

(See Spel Cheque? from Sunday about Councilmember Constant's re-election -- or is it reelekshun? -- website.)

Another spy sent us this clip from the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce insert in this week's Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

To paraphrase Lynyrd Skynyrd, ."...the Chamber must love candidates for Lieutenant Govenor..."

Morning News Round-Up -- 9.3.09: Mr. Pegram goes to Washington?

Most Gilroy schools are celebrating. California High School Exit Examination results were posted. Gilroy winners include Gilroy High with 81% and 80% of students passing Math and English respectively. At the bottom of the barrel the beleaguered MACSA-managed El Portal with less than 45% of students passing math and English. Ouch. Maybe if the folks running the schools paid the teachers instead of embezzling, test scores would go up...

Porn king Larry Pegram has a new adventure in store for unsuspecting voters. On top of recent announcements that he is recruiting people to look over your shoulder at libraries as well as collecting money for a ballot measure to overturn San Jose City Council’s decision to keep San Jose out of the Big Brother role at libraries, Pegram’s longing for a Congressional gig came out at the ChamberPAC's annual picnic. (carpetbagger)/ Congressional wannabe Pegram told the Metro’s Fly he’s ready to move to Tracy. Watch out, Congressman Jerry McNerney, the porn king is on your trail.

If Second Harvest Food Bank didn’t know the power of social media 3 weeks ago, they do now. Carolee Hazard asked her Facebook friends what do to with an extra $93. More than $10,000 and 10 countries later, Second Harvest celebrates the $93 Dollar Club.

The Merc’s Mr. Roadshow (a.k.a. Gary Richards) is looking out for everyone, including Mountain View City Councilmember Laura Macias. Worried about hitting California’s “craziest” traffic after a holiday in Tahoe, Macias wants to know if she should hit the road before dawn or after sunset Monday?

Silicon Valley Leadership Group revealed plans to honor former San Jose Mayors Susan Hammer and Tom McEnery to the Merc’s Sal Pizarro. Also on tap, a look at gubernatorial wannabe’s in separated conversations. The only candidate not showing up, Meg Whitman. That should be awkward for the folks sitting in the eBay seats...

The Merc’s Editorial Board has a message for the City of San Jose – get serious about trails. The Board suggests a missing trail between the Los Gatos Creek and Guadalupe River is the same as leaving out sections of Highway 101.

The City of San Jose got a little love (not the kind of love that makes Larry Pegram blush, however) from the Civil Grand Jury according to San Jose Inside. The sucking sound was dollars disappearing in the links at Los Lagos and Rancho del Pueblo golf courses...

The San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce got props during a recent Los Altos City Council meeting. Under discussion, should the Los Altos Chamber model itself like San Jose’s Chamber. Councilmember David Casas thinks so saying the “clear line” between business and politics would make it easier for Los Altos to hand money to the Chamber. If only San Jose Revealed was still up to comment on this story...

Los Altos residents on Blue Oak Lane want to ditch their septic tanks, but cost and giant holes have some worried. Elementary school teacher Mildred McColloch is pissed about the $40,000 (+) price tag saying “I’m basically being booted out…" And that just stinks...

Business owners and planners in Los Altos are at odds over strengthening downtown. The economic downturn hurts business owners who believe that revitalization is great but the real pain is now.

Those pesky (toxic) Perchlorate chemicals found in wells around Silicon Valley are disappearing. Of course, if the drought disappears those Perchlorates could continue their journey.

Morgan Hill City employees will breathe a sigh of relief: the City Council decided no mid-year layoffs. Mayor Steve Tate and Councilmember Larry Carr have their fingers crossed the unions will give up raises to help out.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.20.09: A Correction to Start...

We start with a correction this morning because screwed up. And boy did we heard about it from many, many people. We misread a Merc. story yesterday about the City of San Jose wasting money on cost overruns for capital projects. In fairness to us, the sentence was (somewhat) confusingly written:

...the substation is one of just three San Jose capital projects out of hundreds over the past decade or so to exceed their construction contingency budgets...

We believe one could read this sentence two ways, but we apparently read it the wrong, more cynical way. Apologies all around -- and thank all of you for reading so diligently.

On to the Round-Up...

The Merc’s Editorial Board is tickled Tesla stays in Silicon Valley with its “cool Roadster.” San Jose's Office of Economic Development is considerably less tickled... it sort of makes this press release look silly... and this one too.

It seems an Op-Ed on Sunday struck a nerve, if you believe what you read in the Letters to the Editor in the Merc. Remember, Cindy Chavez wrote (but did not text) about campaign finance reform in San Jose. Bill Baron, the chair of the Chamber of Commerce's political arm COMPAC, responded yesterday in Letters... our favorite line: "...you're being robbed of 'sunshine' in broad daylight, one dollar and one text at a time..." Colorful language Mr. Baron...

It has been a couple days since Dolores Carr's name has been in the paper -- and her name isn't in this story either. But we sort of wonder why... There is a story in today's Merc. about a defendant that was found "factually innocent" on a burglary charge. It seems both the San Jose Police Department and the Santa Clara County DA's office made mistakes which could have screwed up one 20-year old's life (and his family's loves) for the next 6 years. No word from Protect San Jose on this issue... yet. (For those of you who are considering a run against Carr, you should cut out this story for your opposition research file. Just a helpful hint from your friends at Watch Dog.)

East Side Union High School Superintendent Bob Nunez (apparently) left his last gig with a (huge) black mark. (Un)Suprisingly, East Side Union Trustees didn’t know about it because they didn’t ask his former employer for references. Now, (un)surprisingly, similar accusations are coming to haunt Nunez. Former Trustee/Superintendent George Shirakawa, Jr. shrugged off (possible) thievery saying “…Bob brought labor peace…” So, if we get this straight, misusing District funds is ok as long as nobody is on strike? Bloggers at The Unruly Advocate are not surprised with the shenanigans… Neither are we.

Facing a $44 million deficit San Jose State University President Jon Whitmore is ditching 200 faculty members. Whitmore will share the news during his Welcome Back speech today… He probably won't say, "Welcome back, don't let the door hit you on the way out..." What he should do is blame the strong leadership in Sacramento.

Congressmember Anna Eshoo announced she’s moving forward with a healthcare Town Hall – via phone. Constituents can register online (and then Eshoo's staff can hand-pick questioners...) We aren't kidding, check out this NPR story from yesterday...

Moto Amore owner John Bettancourt is one pissed off scooter rider. Bettancourt accuses San Jose bureaucracy of forcing him out of business while code enforcement’s Mike Hannon says having a tax certificate is not the same as having necessary permits. Downtown Councilmember Sam Liccardo is still hoping to talk to Bettancourt…

Gary “Mr. Roadshow” Richards dedicates his (generally) car-centric time to the two wheelers in our midst. It’s the time of month again for the San Jose Bike Party to hit the street, cyclists ask Mr. Roadshow about trails and parking…

The Merc.’s Scott Herhold also talks bikes, this time with (bike vs. drunk driver) survivor MaryAnn Levenson. Back in the saddle, Levenson teaches bike safety when she’s not kicking ass in competition.

The Alameda (State Route 82/El Camino Real) is getting a face-lift and plans are underway to ditch the “highway” moniker.

There’s big trouble in Garlic-land… Gilroy Police, while looking for (wife beater) Joel Barnes, wound up with a meth dealing teenage girl (apparently) shacking up with machine gun toting 30 something’s Raul Maciel and Thomas Esparza. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Joel Barnes may call the Sheriff's office at 299-2311. We have to say, nothing goes with meth like garlic.

The Los Altos Town Crier caught up with the news that Pilgrims Haven is a go…

The tanking economy is driving Los Altos library lovers to call for renewal (and increase) of a 20 year old parcel tax. Los Altos Hills Councilmember/library fan Jean Mordo said the (up to) $90 proposed tax “is not a lot of money” and looks forward to a June 2010 ballot measure.

It’s a booze-free (not free-booze) day for the Los Altos Community Picnic after the City Council said no to the proposed sale of donated beer. Mayor Megan Satterlee called the “novel” idea “excellent, out-of-the-box thinking” but joined colleagues in saying drinking would contradict the “family-spirited thing.”

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.17.09: LOL edition...

It isn't just teenagers that are texting constantly, apparently so are San Jose Councilmembers and lobbyists... Accusations of dragging Sunshine into darkness follow San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed according to Sunshine Task Force Member/ Working Partnerships policy wonk Bob Brownstein. Councilmember Pete Constant, who mostly texts during Council meetings, declined providing text messages to the Merc. but Councilmember Sam Liccardo provided them. (un)Surprisingly, the Merc.’s Editorial Board weighs in calling for release of personal texts and emails.

Former Vice Mayor/Labor Chief Cindy Chavez goes ever more public. Pointing to a 2008 Fair Political Practices Commission report calling uncapped independent expenditures that thwart “the will of the people,” Chavez lends her support to a contentious San Jose City Council vote. Or in text, "wll o d ppl"

Expect a lot of finger pointing as the cost of San Jose’s first Police substation continues to head North. This week the San Jose City Council discusses adding more than $5 million (on top of March’s $4.5 million) to fix design flaws. Like the 15,000 gallon fuel tank listed at 1,500 gallons.

San Jose Firefighters couldn’t have been happy to see the San Francisco Chronicle’s City Insider calling them out as the highest paid of big California cities. Those pesky reporters...

During the State’s trying budget days it’s surprising to see local legislators handing out raises. Assemblymember Joe Coto gave 2 staffers raises, bumping salaries to $56,880. Assemblymember Anna Caballero bumped 6 staffers to a whopping $19,278 annually and Jim Beall increased pay for 4 staff members to $27,510. Actually, scratch that, nothing in Sacramento is surprising...

Following up on last week's news that San Jose State University is making it difficult for unprepared students… The Merc’s Editorial Board calls on high schools to prepare students for college. What a concept…

(un)Happy trails. Fremont’s Nummi plant is packing the bags and heading to Texas leaving nearly 5,000 newly unemployed in its wake. Perhaps a Fremont ballpark can actually happen now? Watch Dog sources say no...

Two groups of teenagers battled at the Alum Rock lightrail station in East San Jose. When the dust settled a 19 year old woman was dead while a 16 year old and 19 year old were hospitalized. The Sheriff’s office won’t (yet) declare this a gang related fight. If you have details, call detective Sgt. Herman Leon or detective Sgt. Ryan Elder at 408-808-4500.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs crew follows the confusing assortment of local legislators as they angle for higher office. (current and former) Assemblymembers Ira Ruskin, John Laird, and Jim Beall plan to duke it out with freshman Assemblymember Paul Fong for Senator Joe Simitian’s seat in 2010. Senator Elaine Alquist hopes to be your next Secretary of State while (current and former) Assemblymembers Joe Coto and Sally Lieber will go after Alquist’s Senate gig. Looming ahead, the inevitable redistricting after the 2010 census.

The fallout from Scott Herhold’s wishful list of District Attorney wannabe’s brought more than a little grief to Deputy District Attorney/”Most Respected” Jeff Rosen.

The Merc’s Internal Affairs also pokes fun at (former) Mayor Ron Gonzales email sign-off.

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro celebrates the opening of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce offices and Garden City Construction’s loving restoration of a 1941 bank, more restoration for San Jose’s Civic Center, bike building at Applied Micro, and Cadence employee’s blowing through a fundraising goal to triple the joy.

Local government in action around Silicon Valley…

• The County Board of Supervisors' Health and Hospital Committee discusses reports on County programs for uninsured children – now that the State wants to cut funds.
• Cupertino Union School District talks energy management.
• Fremont Union High School District gets an update on Measure B.
• East Side Union High School gets dollars for sports…
• San Jose Unified School District Superintendent Don Iglesias hopes for an agreement with the San Jose Teachers Association.
• San Jose City Council talks Sunshine and cost overruns. (Or in text: cst ovrrns)
• Santa Clara City Council tackles charter changes for football while a 49er stadium subcommittee recommends a 2nd ballot measure.

Mission City Lantern shares that (special) love with Berryessa Union School District Trustee David Cohen. Lantern is (apparently) pissed over Cohen’s San Jose Inside column remembering Woodstock on the 40th Anniversary.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.27.09: DA Conflicts and Blogwars Edition...

Poor District Attorney Dolores Carr. Even the Mercury News Editorial Board is slamming her poor judgement in having both sides of the marital bed working the case of Vahid Hosseini's murder... She as the DA, and her husband as a security consultant to the victim's family. DA Carr did respond on person via a Letter to the Editor... Watch Dog thinks it will take a bit more than a Letter to the Editor to get away from this controversy. (We also have to wonder whether this significant slip up has some folks thinking of unseating the incumbent...)

Blogwars that were launched on Friday created lots of blog-buzz over the weekend. The most recent chapter in this fun-fest started when San Jose Inside posted "Team Chavez, Revealed" 'outing' San Jose Revealed's author. San Jose Revealed responded (twice) over the weekend. Mission City Lantern continues its commentary on the subject... Phil Bump (fingered by Inside) denies the accusation on his own site. Commenters are busy typing away on all sites. (The Mercury News also found its way online to write a piece about the blogwar...)

On an (un)related topic -- it was all about the Chamber of Commerce this weekend in the local paper: Pat Dando, the Chamber CEO, called for a re-vote on a library project in San Jose. We also learned that another Pat (Sausedo) will be going "in-house" at the Chamber of Commerce as VP.

Former San Jose Planning Commissioner Randi Kinman is elated that the "blight"-inducing baseball safety net is coming down from San Jose City College's field. A tiny problem like violations to the Environmental Impact Report had Trustees voting unanimously to dump the project -- even after sinking $2 million into the project. Another quarter million is required to undo the safety net...

Campbell Union and Mountain View-Whisman are now entering the rarified air of "basic aid" schools districts. Even though they rely on their own property taxes to funds schools, the State loves their money just as much as it loves every other school districts' money...

The Merc's Patty Fisher toured an empty Santa Clara County Children's Shelter. 14 years after opening, the center changes its mission from destination to way station as children find temporary homes with friends and family.

The Merc's Scott Herhold takes a look at the Billy DeFrank Center's new interim CEO Paul Wysocki.

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 -- 4.29.09: Swine Flu Day 2

The national panic begins and Silicon Valley is not immune. San Jose’s Branham High School has one student out with the Swine flu. Campbell Union High School District website let's us know that Branham will be closed for a week, other updates on the Swine flu can be read on Twitter on @swineflunews...

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed starts to repair the damage after his Independent Police Auditor (IPA) mea culpa. He pronounced the initial process bad. Next time, he suggests, all candidates get reviewed by all Councilmembers. You may recall, the last time around Reed, along with Councilmembers Nora Campos and Pete Constant, selected the final four IPA candidates and the final two. The stress is making even the normally bland Reed a little snarky “My councilmembers usually have pretty good ears,” in reference to the brewing battle with Campos over who knew and when about the brotherly conflict.

At yesterday’s San Jose City Council meeting $4.8 million was approved for removing the toxic sludge in Watson Park and downtown club owners will share the cost of policing downtown on weekends. (These two things are unrelated, by the way... although, former Mayor Tom McEnery probably feels like the sludge and downtown club owners are pretty closely related.)

Los Altos School District hired four new Principals with none of the drama seen last year when parents and Trustees battled over the selection of Terri Stromfeld. Joining the Los Altos ranks are Wade Spenader, Kimberly Attell, Erin Green, and Amy Rettberg.

The Merc is celebrating as staff writer Karen de Sa takes home the Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association for her series on juvenile dependency courts – the same series that landed the District Attorney’s office in hot water. Merc Editor David J. Butler said the award “underscores the commitment of the Merc’s staff to continue its tradition of producing world-class journalism.”

It’s good to be green. When Silicon Valley gets there Watch Dog will let you know. Santa Clara County received an ‘F’ from the American Lung Association on the 10th annual “State of the Air” report card. Joining Silicon Valley were 37 other counties mostly in Southern California and the Central Valley.

What does Palo Alto have against plastic? Chemical lover Manny Diaz screwed up again as Palo Alto’s City Council joined the growing ranks of cities banning polystyrene, those foam boxes you call a doggie bag. Palo Alto estimates the foam box ban will affect only 30% of local restaurants, everyone else having moved away from the chemical killers before now.

The Koi donated to San Jose by Sister City Okayama are dying of herpes, no kidding. Mona Favorite-Hill, spokesperson for San Jose Parks, said chances are someone wanted their own herpes ridden fish to roam free among their Japanese cousins.

A teenager in Palo Alto kept a lot more than fireworks at home. The PA Police found explosive components when they went home with the kid.

Watch Dog enjoyed the celebration at Morgan Hill’s two year old dog park. Councilmember Marilyn Librers said it was paws up for the work done by MHDOG.

Morgan Hill revenues are down. With the crashing economy and no one hitting the stores it comes as no surprise sales and property taxes are in the toilet.

According to venture capitalist Peter Thiel, it’s the fairer sex that f’d up the world once they started voting. Yep, ladies, according to the Facebook backer/former Paypal CEO “the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women … have rendered the notion of "capitalist democracy" into an oxymoron.” Thiel also shares his opinion that the only ones not on drugs are idiots.

Watch Dog had to list this, blogger Will Wilson works with his pooch Dora the boxer on political blogging, among other things. San Jose’s recent adventure into porn filters caught Dora’s keen eye.

San Jose Insider/County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo worries about a brain drain from public schools as Charter Schools take off in popularity.

San Jose Revealed is hopping a plane to LA and leaves us with this question: Is the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce the leading voice in business in the Valley? Revealed’s snarky afterthought indicates the Chamber might be the leading party organizer.

In a related (?) story...

This note from the South Bay Labor Council, Steve Preminger, Director of Working Partnerships and Chair of the local Democratic Party, was honored by the Dalai Lama as one of the worlds “Unsung Heroes” for 2009.

former San Jose Chamber Chair in your mailbox...

"As a small business owner and a parent of a public school student..." former San Jose Chamber of Commerce Chair Nanci Williams got some political ink this week. (No, not this kind of ink San Jose Revealed...)

Williams was featured on a Bay Area political mailer supporting Propositions 1A and 1B.

(Thank you observant reader of both this blog and of political mailers...)

In case you are wondering, the mailer was put out by the California Teachers Association.