Morning News Round-Up -- 5.24.10: 4 losses/4 games = Shark's tee times

On Friday night the Sharks lost in overtime. Sunday they gave up a two goal lead to lose by two goals. For those of you counting at home, that's 4 losses in 4 games against the Chicago Blackhawks. And 4 losses in 4 games means tee-times all around today...

We finally have all the Mercury News Editorial Board's recommendations for San Jose City Council... Previously they came out in favor of Magdalena Carrasco over Xavier Campos et al and Don Rocha over Jim Cogan, Larry Pegram et al. Today we get the incumbents, Pete Constant, Sam Liccardo, and Madison Nguyen -- Nguyen being the only one with a real race this time.

It took a few days and seven pages, but Deb Figone, the San Jose City Manager, responded to the City's unions' plans to fix the budget... they aren't enough, too many one-timers, leave me alone at Flame's, etc., etc.

Deb Figone's ongoing battle with the City's unions won't (apparently) prevent San Jose's pools from closing for the summer, which was the original plan. The City is going to contract with some private companies to run the pools for the summer, which is great news... if it ever stops raining. Too bad the same deal couldn't be worked out for Family Camp.

Increasing the VLF. Remember when it used to be considered a political hot potato? That seems quaint now, right? Gray Davis did it and it cost him his job. Governor Schwarzenegger undid, and it cost his budget-balancing billions. San Mateo County (SamTrans) is now considering a local VLF and so is Santa Clara County (VTA) to help with their projects. According to polling, 59 percent of County voters support VTA's VLF $10/ car fee.

Well, the long-awaited investigation into the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District's Chancellor's travel, spending, and general sloppiness has concluded... the results: "We are taking responsibility for not seeing that all policies and procedures were enforced. It will help us doing a better job going forward" -- that according to Ron Lind, who serves on the Community College District Board. Of course, unelecting the Board who is supposed to pay attention to such things would also work.

Dude, that is so uncool... a medical marijuana dispensary was robbed at gun point in San Jose on Thursday. The robbers took the weed and the money off the patients who were in the dispensary at the time. Now the Medical Cannabis Collectives Coalition -- the pot club lobby, if you will -- would like the City of San Jose to hurry the hell up to write an ordinance that would set some security guidelines for clubs...

Steve Johnson at the Merc asked the question that nobody was asking last week when Toyota and Tesla announced their plans for NUMMI: Will Tesla and Toyota create as many jobs as hoped? Well, if you ask San Jose, who was promised jobs from Tesla, they'll probably say OHN...

This must hurt Paul Krutko's ego more than the Tesla thing... the Merc had a story over the weekend about how all the (cool, high-paying) Web 2.0 jobs are going to San Francisco...

Vic Ajouny, the Mayor Chuck Reed's campaign guru (?) is in the Merc's Internal Affairs this weekend about a questionable mail piece he put out for Richard Calderon who is running a quixotic campaign to try to unseat Sheriff Laurie Smith... Are you surprised that people would question Ajlouny's mailers?

In other Internal Affairs news... Pete Constant isn't pedaling stories about his challengers' police records (and if you believe that...) and John Weis, the San Jose Redevelopment Agency's number 2 is leaving town... weird, considering he is the one in charge of putting together the MLB plan for downtown San Jose. Apparently Weis couldn't wait for Bud Selig any longer...

Scott Herhold's column on Sunday gives a glimpse into the legal system about the long-forgotten case of Avo Makdessian/City of San Jose versus Dennis Fong (Tropicana) and a silly (libelous) email that Makdessian sent from City Hall...

A woman driving her SUV on early Saturday morning in Palo Alto was kidnapped, driven to Santa Clara, and sexually assaulted... scary.

You may remember last week when the folks at the Gilroy Unified School District were considering finishing the beautiful new Christopher High School with portables as opposed to a new school wing that was promised when the school bond was passed in 2008... well 100+ folks showed up at a special meeting last week to protest the portables...

Finally, if you have any campaign stuff that you would like to share, we're here for you. Especially copies of mailers that may be interesting for folks to see. We have collected some, but we'd like more: email us.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.30.10: Rosen and Carr -- the saga continues...

We've said it before: When lawyers run against each other in politics, expect a litigious campaign -- especially when the folks are running for District Attorney. And the DA's race took another turn yesterday, and like most turns thus far, it doesn't turn in the incumbent's favor -- at least the way Watch Dog (and the Merc's headline editor) sees it. (Merc headline: DA challenger Rosen can keep flattering quotes in ballot statement. San Jose Inside had a different take: Carr v. Rosen split decision) Dolores Carr had sued to try to make Jeff Rosen change his ballot statement because it included quotes from the Mercury News and former DA George Kennedy and it compared the two candidates -- which is a no-no. The ruling: Rosen can keep in the quotes from the Merc and from former DA George Kennedy. He voluntarily changed the comparison part of the statement. Rosen's quote in the story sort of sums the whole thing up: "...Her ballot statement is about how she's a bureaucrat... My ballot statement is about how I'm a tough, ethical, experienced prosecutor who has prosecuted hundreds of cases and she has not." Anytime you do something that let's your opponent get that quote in the paper, you need to rethink your strategy.

The budget, the budget, the budget... San Jose is in trouble. The Merc Editorial Board is calling on employees to make concessions -- as it is the only way to get things more in line with reality...

More San Jose budget crap: If a city is a collection of neighborhoods and the neighborhoods are built around community centers, then San Jose is in even deeper shit... because "dozens of San Jose communiity centers" are about the get the axe. Expect a lot of folks to show up to speak at tonight's budget session, bring your No Doze.

Would you like to own a chunk of land in North San Jose? Well, if you are a government agency with extra cash on hand (and which government agency doesn't have a bunch of extra cash on hand) you could own the last bit of Agnews...

If you were looking forward to buying both the cause of hangovers (beer) and the cure (Advil) at Palo Alto Walgreens, you are going to have to wait longer. Neighbors filed complaints to the State Alcohol Beverage Control folks and things are on hold for a while.

Downtown Morgan Hill potential redevelopers have been narrowed to three: Barry Swenson Builders, City Ventures, and The Olson Company... and only one wears a hat all the time...

Christopher High School in the Gilroy Unified School District will get its aquatics center... but it will be two years later than expected.

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 -- 11.2.09: Change of Culture Edition...

Well, Sunday's paper had some more bad news for the embattled San Jose Police Department. Let's review: first it was drunk arrests, then it was attitude arrests, then it was a shooting of a mentally-ill man and the corresponding non-release of the 911 tapes, then it was the beating/ Tasing of the San Jose State student. All of this has kept the Merc's Sean Webby extremely busy. Sunday's expose on the San Jose Police Department was thorough -- and while we await Protest San Jose's response, you should read the story. In a nutshell, the San Jose Police Department uses force a lot in resisting-arrest cases, which comes as no surprise to some, but may surprise a few folks on the City Council...

The Sunday Merc also had some pretty shocking examples of use of force during fairly innocuous stuff... followed by today's paper with another story about a female San Jose State student who was roughed up during the evening of the 2006 Mardi Gras. (It isn't all bad news for San Jose PD however, a rookie Officer saved a toddler from choking on candy this weekend.)

And, of course, the corresponding Merc Editorial calling for a "culture change" for San Jose Police.

Ironically, it is the second call for a change in culture in the Merc Editorial pages this week. The first was for Wilcox High School after Teacher/Sex Gate and the Broom Closet Modeling Agency was uncovered...

And if that all wasn't enough news about the need for a change of culture, another one bites the dust in the East Side Union High School District. Superintendent Bob Nunez was finally sacked after 12 hours of hearings and lots and lots of expensive Starbucks coffees... (read that story, that is a pun...) Perhaps this is an an elaborate effort to get the seat warm again for Joe Coto when his stint in Sacramento is over...

You may have heard that these are tough economic times... well, VTA is feeling the tough economic times as hard, or harder, than anyone else. They have an operating deficit of $98 million over the next 2 years. That should be fun to deal with...

And if it is Monday, that means we read Internal Affairs this weekend. IA goes in depth about the Forbe's Magazine safe cities rankings... ironic, given what else was the in paper on Sunday (see top story above)... the Santa Clara Valley Water District passed The Dick Santos Project in Alviso, much to the delight of the opposition researchers in the Supervisor's race next year... and Deputy District Attorney is officially looking to remove the word Deputy from his name and is taking on embattled DA Dolores Carr.

Gilroy Unified has a new high school and by the accounts in the story in the Dispatch, it is one cool high school.

And could it be that the same golf course that gave headaches (both golf and political) to former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales could host a PGA Tour event? The Morgan Hill Times asks and answers the questions...

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.28.09: Political Impact

Today, we have several stories that may have long-term, political impacts...

There is another weird, but fascinating, turn in the DA Dolores Carr story. Remember, she recused herself from a murder prosecution because her husband was on contract with the victim's family for their civil trial. Now, a judge hearing motions in the case, Judge Joyce Allegro, is also backing away from the case as she, the DA, and the DA's husband are buddies. The most immediate implication of these shenanigans are that the DA may actually get the case taken away from her office and kicked to the State Attorney General... Oops.

Feeling the (not so good kind of) love from the Civil Grand Jury, East Side Union High School (unelected/ twice-appointed) Trustee Eddie Garcia has a whole bunch of questions for Superintendent Bob Nunez's vacation time pay (and probably why the Superintendent asks for reimbursements for coffee)... Watch Dog has to ask: Where was the oversight from Garcia (and his boss) during this spending-spree? Could it be for this exact reason that voters did not vote for an "incumbent" in this District.

The Merc's Scott Herhold rips into his least-favorite government agency today -- the Santa Clara Valley Water District. In the process, he provides a political Profile in Courage-scenario for Water District Board Member (Supervisorial wanna-be) Rosemary Kamei.

Palo Alto's College Terrace Centre took an important step forward yesterday when the City Council approved a requested zoning change for the site. Two "public benefits" that the neighbors were looking for were a JJ&F subsidy and affordable housing. The neighbors are likely to get both -- but also get more office space than they probably wanted.

And if neighbors are super-pissed (or super-happy) with the City Council in Palo Alto, they can let them know in November because Palo Alto's ever-growing list of folks that want to serve on the City Council is ever-growing still. Gregory Scharff (lawyer), Nancy Shepherd ("school activist"), and Brian Steen (land-use consultant) are all throwing their hats in the ring. They join Planning Commissioner Karen Holman, Gail Price, realtor Dan Dykwel, realtor Leon Leong, business-dude Tim Gray, and man-about-town Victor Frost. Oh yeah, current Councilmember Larry Klein is also running. They are all vying for five seats.

One issue these Palo Alto Council wanna-be's won't have to deal with is a big-mouth Police Chief. (In case you forgot why this is an issue in Palo Alto...) The three new Police Chief finalists have been announced: Interim Chief Dennis Burns, Fairfield Police Chief Kenton Rainey, and San Carlos Police Chief Gregory Rothaus.

Young folks in Mountain View are advocating on their own behalf to put a youth center into The Rock Church. Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga said discussions on how to use the City-owned church should start in the Fall. (The Rock Church: Is that where Black Sabbath plays?)

The Gilroy Dispatch just noticed the Civil Grand Jury report leaping in to discover Gilroy Unified Superintendent Deborah Flores is paid below most other Superintendent and doesn't get the $48,000 housing allowance that Saratoga Union dishes out.

Onto blogs...

• Blogwars continue (in the comment sections) regarding the (possible) revealing of Revealed by Inside. Revealed responded with a shot of its own... Mission City Lantern is still in the Revealed revealed game... but has plenty of free time to write a bunch of other stuff too... like the first chapter of a novel. In an interesting twist, Phil Bump recalls his conversation with Mr. Lantern/ James Rowen. In Bump's words, he "...fed the troll..." (Bump had Rowen's phone number? Weird.)
  
• Protect San Jose is stangely silent on the biggest public safety issue of the day -- the DA stepping aside in the prosecution of a high-profile murder because of her husband's (a former San Jose Police Officer) financial relationship with the victim's family. Instead, they open their blog up to Denelle Fedor for her Mounted Unit opinions... (If Fedor speaking up for the Mounted Unit sounds familiar, it's because she published a very, very similar piece in the Merc. in May...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.26.09: Ich bin ein Berliner Day...

Seriously, it is Ich bin ein Berliner Day...

The estranged wife of San Jose pension fund Trustee Patrick Skillsky has come to his defense calling him a wonderful man. The Mrs. blames booze and stress for her husband trying to kill her and beating the tar out of San Mateo Police Officers. Stress and booze leading to domestic violence, sounds like just the type of guy you want overseeing billions of public employee pensions...

Aspiring politicos love to be on the San Jose Planning Commission. Unless, of course, you are involved in a controversy just as you prepare to run for City Council. That's what's happening right now on the Planning Commissioners. At the center of the controversy seems to be Xavier Campos, who denies that he violated the Brown Act open government rules.

East Side Union High School District Trustees saved sports! The formal (one time) money shuffle is complete. The future of East Side Union sports is up to athletes and donors to find another $1 million. Now, onto the academics...

The dip in White Road was not your imagination, there’s a busted water pipe leaking thousands of gallons of water a day. Santa Clara Water District spokesperson Susan Siravo is hoping the pipe and road will be up and running in a week. Your shocks and struts may not be so lucky...

The Merc’s Editorial Board cheers the County’s decision to bring Lawyer/Former Supervisor/Dr. Jeffrey Smith on board as the new County Executive. The Editorial closes with a nudge for the Supervisors “…find the political will to back him up...”

After “VIGOROUSLY” objecting to Morgan Hill’s “low-ball” offer for their downtown home, Dwight and Linda Jungkeit asked the City Council to delay the decision on eminent domain. Next time the attorney is expected to be in the room for what promises to be a fun discussion.

The party is over (for now) in Gilroy. Officials from the Department of Justice along with Morgan Hill and Gilroy Police swept up a “bevy” of coke, shrooms, pot, and the “Love Drug” along with guns not meant for a deer hunt.

A little over a decade ago, Morgan Hill Unified School District was ordered to stop harassment of gay students and pay over $1 million in damages to six gay students. The settlement period is finished. Status reports to the ACLU will stop, as will training. Oh, by the way, complaints of discrimination are up, according to Board President Don Moody.

Gilroy Unified School District needs a new Superintendent and is giving themselves 16 weeks to find the new Super. Watch Dog San Mateo has an idea...

Checking in on the local blogosphere:

San Jose Revealed seems to be sticking to the "pneumonia" excuse for a long, long time. Not to sound unsympathetic, but Watch Dog is skeptical... they haven't posted since June 14th. According to WebMd:

For most people, pneumonia can be treated at home. It often clears up in 2 to 3 weeks.

San Jose Inside gets in on Mayor Reed's trip up to the Most Dysfunctional Place on Earth (a.k.a. Sacramento) to tell the Governor to keep his hands off local funds. Sounds like an awesome meeting. (Mission City Lantern likes this story too...)

Protect San Jose has some reader-generated ideas about how to solve the City's budget mess. Most interesting to Watch Dog is that Councilmember Pete Constant takes aim at the Mariachi Festival. He and Bobby Lopez must share talking points...

Morning News Round-Up – 6.16.09: Nerd Birds mixing it up with America's Pastime...

Still just a glimmer in the eyes of Santa Clara leaders… The Santa Clara 49er’s stadium hopes to be a dream mashup of green, Silicon Valley and Notre Dame ideas. Architectural project director Joe Diesko said direction from team owners, the York family, was to make this the first of a new generation of the football experience. Of course, that all depends on a March 2010 election…

Gubernatorial wannabe/San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom chows down at San Jose Rotary this week. No word if he’ll pitch the 49ers bad move line to Rotarians…

State and County investigations underway, allegations of embezzlement and a closed school have led Mexican American Community Services Agency CEO Olivia Soza Mendiola to resign. El Portal School in Gilroy lost its charter and San Jose’s Academia Calmecac headed down that path as the East Side Union High School District Board began charter revocation.

San Jose’s budget woes seem to grow worse by the hour. The perennial bearer of bad tidings, Mayor Chuck Reed, announced last night lower sales revenues would add millions to the deficit and next year pension fund losses would add $52 million. The Merc’s Editorial Board and Downtown Association Executive Director Scott Knies are pointing an accusatory finger at the city’s labor unions. Look for more fireworks today when the Council chimes in…

The economy adds more victims to its growing list.

• The original “Nerd Bird” geek filled flight between San Jose and Austin, Texas is being cancelled this summer.
• Morgan Hill roads to become “bumpier and narrower” with darkness descending on city streets.
• The Merc’s Scott Herhold weighs in on the VTA’s plans to cut expenses. Including the loss of San Jose’s own “Tweetsie Train.”
• State Senator Joe Simitian called the next few years of funding for public schools bad, unbelieveable, downright scary and said he doubts people understand how dire things are.
• From our Sister blog, Watch Dog San Mateo… Palo Alto passed their budget. The budget wasn't pretty... Neither is their proposed business license tax, but that's moving forward too...

Brilliant, but nerdy, scientists at Stanford keeping up with Moore’s Law have found a possible silicon replacement. That’s all well and geeky but, Bismuth Telluride Valley doesn’t have the same panache as Silicon Valley.

Gilroy’s City Council will stay out of the mix as the County’s first pot shop moves through bureaucratic channels. Dude…

Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes is getting ready to take Dwight Jungkeit’s Victorian home and replace it with 8 parking spaces. Mayor Steve Tate said the property was “instrumental in creating the type of parking we want downtown.” Several other properties will add to parking making surface parking all the rage in Morgan Hill.

Morgan Hill School District is hunting for a search firm, estimated cost to the district to find Superintendent Alan Nishino’s replacement is roughly $23,000. This time trustees promise to dig deeper, Board President Don Moody said the board would be more prepared and Google applicants.

The “Great American Food & Music Fest” left a sour taste and pissed off customers. Co-organizer Jim Lewi is apologizing profusely and handing out refunds.

Home invasion survivor Chris Cote stuck barbed wire on his fence, pissing off the city and garlic king Don Christopher. Cote heads to the planning commission to plead his case. Oh, and former/current sweetheart Joan Spencer is on the commission.

Watch Dog didn’t miss the Police Officers Association opinion piece, we’ll get back to that later…

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.7.09: Today's Round-Up...whether you like it or not...

San Jose has sports on the brain these days. Earthquakes/A’s owner Lew Wolff will get to take advantage of the cratering economy for the Earthquakes stadium land. San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo said, “...prices have come back to earth...” about the proposal to discount a smaller parcel of land for the proposed Earthquakes stadium. Council colleague Nora Campos was also supportive saying jobs would be created and an ongoing revenue stream created with the arrival of the Earthquakes.

San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo screwed up. In an email to constituents Liccardo said he wants to use “an abundance of caution” in moving forward. Apparently, Liccardo is the most newsworthy item in San Jose, the Merc can’t seem to get enough (re-writes) of this story. Watch Dog is about to point to something more newsworthy that the paper can focus on...here is a hint: It rhymes with Harry Seagram...

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, with community leaders, expressed concern over the data coming out of the San Jose Police Department. Rev. Jeff Moore, head of the NAACP said, “Chief Davis encourages strict enforcement with no apologies.” After other law enforcement experts suggested the data shows racial profiling and an overly aggressive policy towards minor street crimes, former Police Officer and Councilmember Pete Constant denied there was any problem saying the public expects a “standard of conduct.” (Watch Dog is sure that Police Officers wish Constant would have stood up for them when their contract was on the table...better late than never...) Drunk Task Force Member Pete Carrillo becomes the first (as far as Watch Dog can tell) to call for Davis' head...

San Jose Revealed asks if the Police Chief runs an (allegedly) overaggressive Police Department because of his religious beliefs. We'll let Revealed take the heat for even asking the question, and keep our snout shut.

The Merc’s Editorial Board says charter schools are coming “whether you like it or not.” (Newsom much?) They say that the best way for school districts to deal with it is accept the competition and step up their own efforts to educate children.

Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone sees a decline in property tax rolls – for only the second time since the Great Depression. The County, already struggling to make ends meet, will see lower revenues as a result by nearly $30 million. Supervisor Don Gage pulled out his crystal ball and said next year will be even worse. San Jose Insider/Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio calls on residents to pray “for the stock market to rise not just for your own 401k but for your City services.”

San Jose’s “villages” could see high-rises popping up in coming years. Planning Director Joe Horwedel said projects like the Ohlone planned for Midtown would ease San Jose’s anticipated growth spurt. Resident Dan Chapman worried that the tall buildings could create a mini-downtown.

The Morgan Hill Unified School District is seeing a growing rift between unions and administrators. The District proposed a one-day furlough, saying it could save over a quarter of a million dollars and could ask for another two furlough days. SEIU President Pam Torrisi wants reassurance that the furloughs will save jobs and that administrators are going to suffer as much as the custodians. Trust much?

Tempers flared in the usually mellow Palo Alto City Council chambers yesterday. Vice Mayor Jack Morton accused the Fire Department of "giving the City the finger" because it was refusing to figure out where to cut its own budget. This caused people to go ballistic, including Councilmember Larry Klein, who wants to keep Palo Alto mellow. Klein called Morton's choice words, "unprofessional and intemperate"...the gloves are coming off as the economic reality sets in.

Gilroy Unified School District Trustees want their money back. The District suffered a foul up when Measure J taxes were left off property owners tax bills but the District voted to tax residents at a higher rate for the last two years of the measure. Trustees had hoped the County Supervisors would be the bad guys but the County dropped it back in their laps – absent a court order.

Los Gatos normally looks down its nose at the mainstream chain store, but this month they’ll be welcoming J. Crew downtown. But, when the President’s wife and daughters are wearing J Crew…it must be good enough for Los Gatos...

Mountain View’s City Council is trying to deal with a $6 million shortfall this year. City Manager Kevin Duggan said the challenges are “so significant” they need more time to figure out how to cut the budget. First up, cutting maintenance in public parks and fees to residents to use sports fields. Lower on the list cuts to Police and Fire, which make up half the general fund operating budget.

The public has spoken and now it’s up to High Speed Rail officials to sift through all the comments to figure out the word. Dominic Spaethling, High-Speed Rail Project Manager, looks forward to digging through the mountains of comments saying cities provided “a wealth of information for things we should be aware of.”

Cupertino officials have been responding to complaints by neighbors upset with construction at the Villa Serra apartments. Seems residents can’t park at home and driveways are in a mess. Councilmember Mark Santoro said to residents “for having the fortitude to live there, I applaud you. No matter how good a job they do, it’s going to be a bad environment.” Construction won’t be completed for two years, in the meantime, if you live there good luck.

Sunnyvale City Manager Gary Luebbers will be talking with Councilmembers tonight about making “appropriate changes in the City’s business model,” and believes the changes are needed to address the global financial meltdown.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.3.09: "...a never-ending battle to limit their presence..."

“Judgment Day Comes for San Jose Councilwoman” so proclaims the Merc. as the brouhaha comes to a close for San Jose’s Madison Nguyen. Campaign workers on both sides are no doubt chugging the caffeine in preparation for a long day. Watch Dog will do live updates as soon as the polls close, check in here for the latest news. San Jose Revealed is also ready for the Little Saigon madness to end and shares a series of cranky email messages received since Friday’s post...

District Attorney Dolores Carr has jumped on the story about Mexican American Community Services Agency's (MACSA) serious financial irregularities related to a Charter school it runs. Carr said her office would investigate and that, "...the allegations appear very serious..." Yesterday, a story broke about MACSA's possibly illegal embezzlement (borrowing?) of funds from their teachers at a MACSA Charter School in Gilroy. Enrique Palacios, the Gilroy Unified School District Deputy Superintendent of Business Services, sounds pissed and called the financial irregularities "...a moral issue..." MACSA’s CEO, Olivia Soza-Mendiola, shot an angry Letter to the Editor of the Gilroy Dispatch saying it was the State's fault MACSA “borrowed” the funds. Ben Anderson shot right back in a Dispatch Editorial calling Soza-Mendiola’s ambivalence troubling and a poor example to the young people MACSA serves. Watch Dog will have more on this later...you will not want to miss the San Jose connections to this story...

If you need a day-worker, Mountain View is your town...at least that is the fear of those who oppose approval of the day-worker permit issued recently. “The Day Worker Center has to wait until the council takes action before they do any work on the site..." said City Zoning Administrator Peter Gilli.

The Merc’s Scott Herhold dedicates his column to his NIMBY Hanchett Park neighbors angst over the possible move to San Jose by Lew Wolff’s A’s and the high speed rail approved by voters in November.

Speaking of high-speed rail NIMBYs...

NIMBY negativism looms large in Palo Alto about high-speed rail. Rod Diridon, Sr. told Palo Alto’s City Council yesterday that it would have been helpful had they spoken up before the measure passed in November. You think? Normally cheerful Palo Altans marched on City Hall chanting and waving protest signs. It is untrue that the protest signs read: NIMBY's FOR SLOW TRAINS.... Councilmember Larry Klein, hopeful the state will undo what the voters did, said, "Laws do get changed. That's what our legislature is for, that's what the initiative process is for, and that's what the courts are for, in some cases." Really Larry, you are going to rely on the California State Legislature to help you out? Good luck...

On San Jose Inside's Fly cruises local habitat’s – after discovering City Hall’s resident falcons were unavailable on the Falcon Cam, Fly headed to Guadalupe River Park & Gardens for an Audubon Society lecture. While at the lecture, Fly notes the Police Department and Water District sweeps have cleaned out the Park's homeless encampments. “It’s a never-ending battle to limit their presence...” Park staffer Linda McCabe says. Ironically, San Jose Revealed says the same thing about San Jose Inside...

San Jose is getting into the energy business and hopes to install the largest solar power array on City lands and is looking for proposals. You have until March 23 to get your request in.

Watch Dog’s favorite cobbler, Paul Cruz, is retiring after 49 years of keeping San Joseans footwear in good working order. Chances are this workaholic will still be helping friends out with their leather needs. (Insert your leather needs/ball gag joke here: _____________)