Morning News Round-Up -- 1.21.10: Nazis, Tornadoes, and Parcel Taxes, OH MY!

It is no secret that Reverend Jethroe Moore II, the head of the Silicon Valley branch of the NAACP, has been vocal about his displeasure with the San Jose Police Officers' Association overall. It came to the forefront recently when Moore pulled the NAACP's support for the Freedom Train ride on Martin Luther King Day because the POA were sponsors. Well, it turns out Moore's colorful quotes about the POA may have been a little too colorful during a KCBS interview. He likened the POA's support of the Freedom Train to Nazis supporting Jewish causes. San Jose Inside nails the story. Watch Dog predicts that the NAACP Board may be trying to get Rick Callendar back soon... but for the sake of colorful future quotes, we hope Moore stays put.

It was (another) $20 million week for Meg Whitman... Can you just imagine the campaign

strategists sitting around plotting how to approach Ms. Whitman about plopping more money into the campaign? It must be sort of like siblings strategizing how to ask their parents for more money:

Campaign Staff/Kid 1: "Um Meg... can we get another $20 million?"

Whitman/Parent: "What did you do with the last $20 million I gave you?"

Campaign Staff/Kid 2: "Kid 1 spent it all on sports talk radio..."

Whitman/Parent: "Ok, here's $20 million more, but don't spend it all in one place.

Expect Poizner's staff/kids to be asking for a bigger allowance some as well... Meanwhile, in

Almaden Valley, Tom Campbell woke up today very pleased with his decision.

Those days of Councilmembers in San Jose furiously texting away in advance of their vote on important issues may be behind us. The Council is due to consider (and probably approve) some legislation that makes those texts more public -- and therefore less frequent. Rumors that both the South Bay Labor Council and the Chamber of Commerce leaders will be learning (and teaching the Council) sign language are apparently not true.

Santa Clara County's Superior Court Judge Lucy Koh is being nominated

for a Federal Judgeship in California's Northern District Court by President Obama. Senator Barbara Boxer recommended Ko. If confirmed, Ko will be the first Korean-American Federal Court judge in the country. Of course, the Senate just got a little less blue-state friendly...

Sunnyvale Town Center, the major project that is stalled "indefinitely" is still the center-piece of Sunnyvale's 5 year development plans... perhaps 5 years the economic double whammy (downtown Sunnyvale overall and the Recession) might be over... might...

While we are in Sunnyvale... (recently) former Mayor Tony Spitaleri spoke at a public protest of the sale of the preschool at the Congregational Community Church and it may have jeopardized the sale of the building, which kind of sucks. And that's why the Church is raising ethical questions about Spitaleri's actions. Intrigue in Sunnyvale...

And one more nugget from Sunnyvale... the City will be considering (again, again) publicly funding City Council campaigns. Just what the general fund of Sunnyvale needs, another line item...

We know the weather has been wacky the past few days -- hail,

thunder, lightening, wind -- but did you know that Dorothy Gale almost visited South County at around 2:30 p.m. yesterday?

While we are in South County... Politicon Valley gets in on the "make fun of misspellings" game as they watch Peter Arellano's "campaing" website go live...

In education news, the Foothill-DeAnza Community College District may ask voters for a parcel tax at some point soon. We often mention parcel taxes that School Districts are putting forward, but this would be the first Community College District is in the State to go for one. Which will certainly piss off the School Districts located in the Community College District. Why? Because voters generally won't support too many property taxes on the same ballot. Our guess is that there are a dozen or more School Districts in the same geography as Foothill-DeAnza, and some (or all) are thinking about going for a parcel tax or renewing one already in place...

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.19.10: A bankrupt Merc?

It has been a long, long weekend, so if you haven't had your coffee yet, go get it and come back to Watch Dog caffeinated...

This isn't good... the owner of the Mercury News are filing for bankruptcy. Is it possible that the paper could lose more reporters and more pages? The Mercury News Weekly perhaps? Watch Dog cannot fill the void, unfortunately, we just go Wii...

But remember, Merc. Columnist Cassidy says that they will succeed because they provide unique local content... or at least they used to...

In other stellar economic news, office vacancies may be through the roof (again) this year...

Here's one way to increase air traffic at SJC: have SFO-bound planes make emergency landings at SJC because of high wind gusts... "SJC, when the weather is too shitty for SFO..." That would be a hella cool ad campaign...

The Merc got into the weedily-witty headlines about local marijuana dispensaries this weekend with this: San Jose says pot clubs popping up like weeds; city starts cracking down. Is it fair to say that when the headlines aren't serious, neither is the actual issue? Of course, we often write Watch Dog stoned, so who are we to question anyone...

The County is finally helping folks who are facing misdemeanor charges by providing some with a public defender... which everyone should be shocked didn't happen before a Sean Webby news story last week. But remember, this is the same County that wants to do away with pre-trial services in order to get more business to bail bonds shops, so nothing should surprise you... Kudos to Supervisors Yeager and Cortese for realizing that having folks face charges without being represented by a lawyer is a horrible idea and is part of Criminal Justice 101.

Speaking of Criminal Justice 101, the good folks at Protect San Jose encourage you to be honest with police and tell them exactly what they want to hear when they pull you over. Of course, that flies directly in the face of "right to remain silent" and could find you in the County Courthouse without a lawyer (see above)... in case you believe (like Watch Dog) that incriminating yourself doesn't sound like such a hot idea when you get pulled over, here is some different advice about what to do when you get pulled over from a source other than police officers: "...Silence is not an admission of guilt and cannot be used against you in court..." So far, the advice on Protect San Jose is to respond to Police Officers like you were in kindergarten and provide them all the answers they ask for. Thank you Protect San Jose... The Fifth Amendment is still intact, right?

In an un(?)related note, the Chronicle gets in on the Freedom Train controversy between San Jose's NAACP, who pulled out of this year's Train, and the San Jose Police Officers' Association, who is one of the sponsors. In the Chronicle piece, we find another hard-hitting quote from Pastor Moore of the NAACP: "While Rev. Dr. King stood for nonviolence and against police brutality, we find ourselves honoring police, who talk to our community members in derogatory tones, who beat innocent citizens in our community, who unlawfully arrest people, and in extreme cases kill members who dare to speak up and stand up for their rights."

Update: It turns out the ride was well-traveled, even with the controversy and even without the NAACP... but a Freedom Ride without the NAACP is an issue that is not going away.

The Merc's Scott Herhold writes about Tom Campbell's running (again) for the Senate after dropping his bid for Governor. And ends with a prediction, of sorts, about whether Campbell, if unsuccessful this time in his third run for the Senate might look ahead to 2012: "Could Campbell try for a fourth time? If it happened, I wouldn't be surprised." Oh, and referring to previous races and other Republicans, Herhold assures us that: "...He [Campbell] wouldn't have been caught dead in a strip club..." Thank you.

Pete Constant is trying to up-end the plastic bag ban in San Jose by hitting up his misspelling cohorts (the Chamber of Commerce) for support -- or sopurt. He says the cost is too high. As usual, Constant was the lone vote against the plastic bag ban. Which brings up the question: What did Councilmember Constant think it meant when he voted for the Mayor's Green Vision which has this included in it:

5. Divert 100 percent of the waste from our landfill and convert waste to energy.

The good folks at Internal Affairs had a busy week writing for Sunday. First, they give us a "reversal of fortunes" of the highest order with Phil Angelides heading a serious, and newsworthy, Inquiry panel and Governor Schwarzenegger becoming the lamest of ducks. Next, they provide all of us more than we probably need to know about the dress code in the DA'soffice, and how it got relaxed an effort to help Dolores Carr politically. And finally, Larry "Boo" Stone calls the San Francisco Giant's efforts to fuck up the A's move to San Jose "...classic San Francisco politics..." We agree with Stone, but not for nothing: classic San Francisco politics launched the career of the Speaker of the House...

On a serious note: the post office is moving in downtown Los Altos.

If at first you don't succeed... the Fremont Union High School District to approve a parcel tax (again!) in May. They just packed up the stuff from their campaign office in November, but are going to give it another go. Desperate times, etc.

Aren't you glad you had your coffee? Stay safe out there folks...

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.