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.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.17.09: Tom Campbell for Governor (of Almaden)

Former Silicon Valley Congressman Tom Campbell tops a San Jose State University poll of Silicon Valley Republicans. That's good news for Campbell, but bad news for Whitman and Poizner. (It is good news for Almaden Valley too... imagine a Governor from Almaden?)

Team San Jose’s Dan Fenton is confident an expansion and face-lift at San Jose’s 20 year old Convention Center will help conventioneers find their way to San Jose, again. Matt DiNapoli and cousin Michael Mulcahey agree and don’t think the scaled down version is a problem. University of Texas public administration professor Heywood Sanders snorts when he hears Fenton argue San Jose has something special, saying San Francisco says “effectively the same thing.”

Who says your vote doesn’t count? The Orchard School District saw Trustee incumbent Ken Riley edged out by Bambi Ann Fleming by 2 votes. With less than 15% of registered voters showing up, the squeaker brought to mind other recent close races. Remember Gilroy’s School Board race last year decided by 6 votes and San Jose Councilmember Ash Kalra forced into a runoff with a candidate who beat out the 3rd place finisher by 12 votes.

The teens who killed Michael Russell have been outed, their MySpace pages scoured and friends chatted up by the press. In the week since Russell’s death the Santa Clara District Attorney’s office has decided to try the 15 and 16 year olds as adults.

(Former) Sunnyvale resident/Scout Leader/Mormon youth leader William Knox was called out as molester by his 3 step-sons. The Mormon Church is identified in lawsuits for ignoring the boy's pleas for help. If only there was another established church that had experience dealing with stuff like this...

It’s the high life in Gilroy as MediLeaf keeps the doors open. Councilmember/attorney Perry Woodward worries a legal battle over legitimacy could cost the City as much as $600,000. Mayor Al Pinheiro is pissed saying it’s about obeying a Council vote. Supervisorial wannabe/MediLeaf-friend Peter Arellano and colleagues Perry Woodward and Craig Gartman made history by boycotting a closed session discussion discussing possible litigation. Is everyone stoned in Gilroy?

Gilroy’s City Council is ready to renegotiate with firefighters. Councilmember Cat Tucker argues the union request for 4 firefighters to an engine is unreasonable, “we’re a small town. We can’t afford to have 4 (firefighters) on an engine.” Meanwhile, folks near the Sunrise fire station better ready their own hoses, Sunrise is open 3 days until the end of the year.

The blinding light on Palo Alto’s California Avenue will start to diminish this year. Following the unexpected removal of 63 trees, and the ensuing meetings with pissed off residents, a mix of 6 tree species was unanimously approved by the City Council. The California Avenue Area Development Association had hoped for selection of a single species for aesthetic purposes. Isn't it often about aesthetics in Palo Alto?

If you’re a South Bay cyclist, life is pretty good. San Jose’s City Council is prepared to double the number of bike lanes. The Valley Transportation Authority is ready to have loaner bikes waiting at the train. Thousands of bike lockers are on the way and multiple bike bridges, underpasses, and trail extensions opened this year. Bike commuter/ San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo says “obviously, we’re no Copenhagen…. but, that’s extraordinary progress…”

“...all children, irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity or religion...” should have access to success, according to San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo, hopeful his readers agree. That's really going out on a limb Trustee DiSalvo...

San Jose Police Officer Association President/Protect San Jose’s Bobby Lopez wants everyone to listen to the recently released 911 tapes from the shooting of Daniel Pham. Lopez argues the Merc didn’t do much fact checking before posting their story.

Morning News Round-Up – 1.5.09: Famous last words "...we don't forecast anything that dramatic..."

When elected officials take off for the holidays, it usually means that they want to hit the ground running in the New Year. Watch Dog suspects it is because they want folks to think that they work hard. The weird part is the City of San Jose doesn't have a Council meeting this week. I guess they work so hard in San Jose that they deserve to take an extra week off ;)...so the New Year begins with lots and lots of meetings (except the San Jose City Council)...here is a snap-shot...

• The Sunnyvale City Council will meet Tuesday to choose an interim Council member as bench warmer for Otto Lee, elect a Vice Mayor, and figure out how to make the budget work.
• In Mountain View, the City Council will elect their new Mayor on Tuesday.
• The Milpitas City Council will talk about land deals with the County for a new park.
• Monte Sereno residents will air their grievances about garbage and weeds in front of the Council on Tuesday.
• On Wednesday, San Jose’s Rules Committee will decide how much sunshine they want on meetings with McEnery et al about the new San Pedro Square Market.
• The Santa Clara Unified School District meets on Thursday to see how their schools did in 2008.

Saratoga’s new Mayor, Chuck Page, meets twice a month with the public, he says he’s often surprised by the scope of the conversations and even more surprised by how much he knows. He credits being second chair to Mayor Ann Waltonsmith for preparing him for the lively meetings. Looking forward Page says, "So if there's a way to create an environment for sustainability, a better world for our kids, that's a better thing. That’s the right thing to do.” Page hopes to build consensus with his colleagues (including incoming Councilmembers Susie Nagpal and Howard Miller) to discourage use of plastic bags.

San Jose’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, which contributes millions to San Jose’s financial health, is projecting little impact due to the economic meltdown. Dan Fenton, the CEO of both the ConVis Bureau and Team San Jose that runs the convention center, says "It's still too early but we don't forecast anything that dramatic at all. I think we're positioned much better than we were to be more resilient." Really Mr. Fenton? San Jose's convention business is immune to the economic downturn?

We love The Town: Los Gatos Observer Editor Alastair Dallas looks forward to the new police headquarters, as well as Smokey Market. Mayor Mike Wasserman has the honor of first shovel at the groundbreaking for a new library and Los Gatos Economic Vitality Manager Danielle Surdin has hightailed it to Santa Rosa, her seat to be replaced with a Community Development Director.

Watch Dog was going to launch into San Jose Revealed today about a weird bias in a post about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Not long after writing this anti-Revealed piece, Revealed disappeared...which caused some consternation on San Jose Inside but nothing compared to Mr. Rowen's consternation at Mission City Lantern. Watch Dog knows that it isn't Blogger's fault that Revealed is down because we run Blogger too...

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This affects a lot of folks locally, so I'll include it today. If you own Apple stock (and who doesn't) hold on to your hats. Steve Jobs announced that he has a "hormone imbalance" -- and not reoccurring cancer. Perhaps not since Fidel Castro has the world been so eagerly anticipated someone's health news. This will not end speculation about Jobs' health and stock jitters that come with it -- especially after Apple backed out of MacWorld.