Morning News Round-Up -- 12.17.09: Going Rogue?

We hate to make this the top story today for fear that we'll hear from Kathleen about it... but a San Jose Police Lieutenant is suing the SJPD and Chief Davis for alleged racial discrimination. This is probably just what Chief Davis wants to deal with right now. On the positive side, it allows City Attorney Rick Doyle to answer media inquiries, which provided this gem of a quote:

"I think San Jose has a very good record of not having any racial discrimination in employment..." You think San Jose has a very good record? You don't know? We'll probably find out in the course of this lawsuit which will almost certainly end in a settlement...

To baseball:

We found this from an NBC Sports blog "Circling the Bases" about how Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums wants to not only use Oakland Revedevelopment dollars to keep the A's in Oakland, he wants to use some of your Federal tax dollars (stimulus) too. I'm sure that project will go over big in D.C.

On the same topic, there was a meeting about the neighborhood/traffic impacts of a new stadium downtown last night. But the best part of today's story about that meeting is what the Mayor had to say about the San Jose Giants involvement in opposing the MLB plans downtown: "Did they [the San Jose Giants] not notice the million dollars we spent on Muni Stadium? It's kind of funny... But I don't expect people to be consistent when it gets to these political issues." If I read that right, it seems the Mayor used sarcasm and humor...

And on the topic of stadiums... the Merc Editorial Board supports baseball, but with a "limited public investment." Watch Dog likes any Editorial where "beer batter" is referenced...

It is obvious today that reporters/editors at the Merc rely on Watch Dog to read "out of town" newspapers for them. Yesterday morning we spotted a Matier & Ross piece on sfgate.com that talked about a pretty unfavorable audit of Valley Medical Center doctors' travel. Then last night, (after reading Watch Dog?) the Merc got on the story... (We also kind of joked about it yesterday with this: It is a good thing that we have a local newspaper to cover local topics...

The Fly/San Jose Inside "has heard" that the Chamber of Commerce may be Going Rogue at their annual Legends and Leaders event... Which begs the question, is Sarah Palin a legend or a leader?

Morning News Round-Up -- 12.11.09: Oakland A's?

Oakland is getting around to realization that they might lose their baseball team... they are now putting together 3 sites that could house the A's. Perhaps that would have been a good thing for Oakland to do before the A's decided they wanted to move to Fremont... and perhaps it would have been an even better idea to do before the A's decided they really, really wanted to move to San Jose...

BART to San Jose, or at least to Berryessa, is looking promising following hints from the fed’s that there’s a big chunk of change heading West. Congressmember Mike Honda and San Jose Councilmember/(incoming) VTA Chair Sam Liccardo both breathed a sigh of relief and shared tears of joy with Carl Guardino... actually, nobody cried.

Now we know why San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant is missing so many meetings. He’s been busy building an iPhone app for blight. The Merc’s Editorial Board sends entrepreneurial props Constants way.

After colleagues on the Alum Rock School District Board decided to close Pala Middle School, Trustee Tanya Freudenberger said she was “sick to (her) heart.” Superintendent Jose Manzo said it was District solvency or school closure. Trustees are considering an extension of their parcel tax, which will no doubt go over well with Pala parents…

Can San Jose neighborhoods keep grocery stores in operation? You gotta wonder…

San Jose Rose Garden residents wondered why it took the San Jose Water Company 4 days to start fixing the gusher flooding their streets. Water Company spokesperson John Tang says it was a delay due to higher priority leaks and it wasn’t the media attention that bumped them up the list. Thank you for clarifying...

The story of the tragic death of a 15-year-old girl in Gilroy took a turn for the worse. Early information from the autopsy indicates she may have drowned. Mark Stanford with the County’s Department of Alcohol and Drug Services says “it’s a myth that you can sober up with… a shower.” But that may be where her friends put her...

Palo Alto Independent Police Auditors Mike Gennaco and Robert Miller want the new chief to put fresh eyes on the use of Tasers. Adding to the Taser woes, the Judge said police acted improperly when they zapped Joseph “Tony” Ciampi. Local attorney Aram James worries “it’s just a matter of time before we’re going to kill an unarmed person." Sound familiar?

Mountain View Whisman School District teachers are pissed at the way Trustees “handled the breach of professional conduct by the superintendent.” (former) Superintendent Maurice Ghysels’ is quick to point out his romance with a school principal is not the reason he’s resigning. It’s a timing thing…

San Jose Inside spent their Saturday with the NAACP for a “Courageous Conversation on Race.” District Attorney Dolores Carr, Police Chief Rob Davis, and La Raza Roundtable’s Victor Garza joined community groups for a confab on perception vs. reality over the challenges facing San Jose Police.

Mission City Lantern gets giddy over Santa Clara City Council’s approval of the 49ers environmental impact report.

Morning News Round-Up -- 11.30.09: Tryptophan Hang-Over Edition...

Grab a chair, this Round-Up is long and include some things that the powers-that-be probably wanted you to miss last week...

Over the long weekend we learned that San Jose Police have a written policy requiring a specially trained officer to be on the scene for “known or suspected” calls involving the mentally ill. Assistant Police Chief Daniel Katz dismissed the policy saying “a (trained) officer wouldn’t have made a difference" in the police shooting of Daniel Pham. Last week Police trainer Teresa Jeglum told reporters a “staffing shortage” kept specially trained officers away and no automatic trigger existed to send such officers. This was a good story to get out over the long weekend...

And here is a story that the newspaper buried over the weekend: San Jose Police Officer Steven Payne Tasered not only San Jose State student Phuong Ho but (apparently) Officer Payne’s Taser was busy zapping 3 others over a 10 week period. Use of force expert Mark Harrison says Payne’s zap-happiness “boils down to poor leadership.” Which brings us to this piece from Malcolm Gladwell about how a very few bad apples can affect a Police Department's stature in the community and account for a big number of use of force incidents. His example is LA and worth a read...

The Merc’s Editorial Board says police and community groups could be missing an opportunity to talk about how to do things differently the next time a mentally ill person stands in front of a loaded gun.

Also on the minds of the Merc’s Editorial Board -- sending kudos to San Jose Police for capturing the gang members shooting children on Halloween. The Editorial Board remembers gang violence runs in cycles and the meetings between Police and community groups is a good first step.

The Chronicle's Matier and Ross love writing stories about the 49ers and the A's moving to the South Bay... and the past few days have been no different. They got this piece about how there is "No O in A's"... And then this in today's paper: Senator Boxer and her (politically ambitious) son Doug are lobbying Major League Baseball to keep the A's in Oakland. Perhaps this would be a good time for Senate Candidate Fiorina to chime in on San Jose's behalf?...

Another story you may have missed over the long week: San Jose City Councilmember Pete Constant misses many, many, many meetings. More than Councilmember Nora Campos (who had a baby) and Vice Mayor Judy Chirco (who had cancer treatment)... For you Councilmember Constant:























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Owners of million (plus) dollar homes in San Jose’s Evergreen are pissed about plans for more neighbors. Count on Sateesh Lele to show up at San Jose’s City Council meeting this week to argue more neighbors will “degrade” the “investment (they) made in (their) quality of life.” Right, because there is currently no traffic in Evergreen that could possibly degrade anyone's quality of life...

It was 1998 when Congress approved millions to buy land for a new Federal courthouse in San Jose. The Feds will reportedly make a decision from the short list next year. San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo suggests the empty/new Sobrato building would keep the Feds happy by keeping the courthouse downtown. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel was (apparently) feeling snippy when he said “we want a courthouse and want to get this done.” The problem there is after selection, they need another $100 million from the Feds. Perhaps Mayor Reed's plea for stimulus money could include another $100 million?

The Merc’s Scott Herhold was amused to find San Jose Councilmember/ outsourcing champion/ tech geek Pierluigi Oliverio voting against a tech tool San Jose Libraries have been using (courtesy of a State grant). Head Librarian Jane Light offers “we know we have a need (for tutoring), and the use is quite high.” Herhold completes the thought with “…teaching kids might come to the top of the (spending) list.”

Thanksgiving weekends are all about the sports… Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese is spending time on the road convincing local City Councils to support the San Jose A’s. Former Santa Clara City Councilmember Lisa Gillmor hired political heavyweights Ed McGovern and Jude Barry to win voters over to the 49ers team...

Perhaps the 49ers political folks would like to know this: Willie Brown was lunching at a very fancy San Francisco establishment with Jed York, the 49ers President... hmmm...

GOP gubernatorial wannabe’s Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman are trading a lot more than barbs. Seems Poizner’s (former) consultant joined the Whitman team. Pissed off Poizner-ites leaked memos are hoping to discredit the consultant by showing off his calls for Poizner to learn Spanish, win over the right and bring on the policy wonks.

Keeping an eye on local government meetings will be easy this week, thanks to the Merc...

• The Campbell Union School District Measure H Oversight Committee will double check expenditures and construction.


• The Los Gatos Union School District gets an update on property tax revenues.


• Sunnyvale’s City Council hears about the possibility of using City funds to help combat graffiti on private property.


• In Monte Sereno, the City Council will consider joining the CaliforniaFIRST “clean energy” financing effort.
  

We Are Leaving Oakland...a Lew Wolff timeline

Remember E.F. Hutton? When he talked, people listened.

Well, Watch Dog has been keen to point out that Lew Wolff is the Bay Area's version of E.F. Hutton. And E.F. Hutton is talking.

Check out this recent timeline and progression of Lew Wolff's (obvious) goals...:

• March 13, 2009 - We Are Leaving Oakland: Wolff let folks know that he doesn't want to stay in Oakland, but he does want to stay in Northern California. (Remember his "shot across the Oakland bow" statement?)

• March 26, 2009 - We Are Leaving Oakland, and We Heart San Jose: Wolff speaks to a group in SF, and officially adds the word "San Jose" into the conversation.

• March 30, 2009 - We are Leaving Oakland, We Heart San Jose, and So Will MLB: Wolff got his friends at MLB to give him some breathing-room. Wolff is in the firing line with his current City, Oakland, because he doesn't want to be there anymore. And now, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had appointed a 3-person Commission to look at the A's options. This will sound like San Jose boosterism (which Watch Dog is generally not prone to), but San Jose is going to look really, really good for this MLB Commission, especially because Corey Busch is on the Commission and who had a love affair with San Jose when he worked for the SF Giants.

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.27.09: Practice, Practice, Practice...

Is there a more fun guy to watch operate than Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff? He is like a microphone magnet. A few weeks ago, he tells Oakland 'thanks, but no thanks' for their renewed interest in keeping the team. (It was quite a statement. If you haven't read it -- Ms. Heffner over at the Baseball San Jose blog has it.) Then yesterday, Wolff was the speaker at a San Francisco luncheon and moved the ball down the field a bit (sorry to mix sports metaphors): expressing his desire to move the team to San Jose, the City's efforts so far to get the land, and what Major League Baseball's role in the deal would be -- including dealing with those pesky Giants. (Like in Chicago's northside, hope springs eternal for baseball in San Jose...)

Congratulations Santa Clara County, you locked up a 10 year old. Judge Patrick Tondreau, who made the decision, is said to be fuming and felt forced to put the kid in the pokey. Supervisor Dave Cortese is really pissed he had to hear about it from a reporter.

San Jose’s Police Department continues cultivating its reputation as a bad boy. San Jose is offering $360,000 to schizophrenic Kenneth Grason to end a Federal lawsuit alleging San Jose Police beat him up for wandering around San Jose Airport. City Attorney Rick Doyle said that while the settlement was “fairly large” it was better (less costly) than the alternative if they lost...(The City prefers to pay huge legal settlements directly to the County...)

Morgan Hill’s City Council faced a dozen pissed off coaches and parents. The coaches and parents convinced the Council to put off raising field usage fees until after a public meeting. Councilmember Larry Carr reminded the crowd there were “implications for the City budget.” Field usage fees are and increasing challenge for cities and school districts.
Valuable Assets (fields) + Economic Crisis (now) = Increased Usage Fees therefore
Increased Usage Fees = Pissed Off Parents/Coaches

Gilroy’s unions are not happy about the wage freeze handed down by the City Council this week. Police Officer Association President Mitch Madruga said that while the economy stinks it would be “irresponsible of the union to give up” their automatic raises before members have the chance to hear what the Council wants. Councilmember Perry Woodward said he was “relieved” the Council voted to stop the automatic raises. It sounds like this fight is not over.

An un-named San Jose man hooked up with a woman in cyberspace using MocoSpace. When they hooked up in the real world the woman and her friends beat him, stole his clothes, and his money before leaving him naked and dying along the Bethany Reservoir. He’ll survive, thanks to the fishermen who rescued him.

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro has a series of interesting bits including a tip that songbird Linda Ronstadt is headed to D.C. to sing for the Silicon Valley Arts Advocacy Day supper in front of Congress.

Councilmember Peter Drekmeier promised a green Palo Alto future. Part of the green Palo Alto future is banning plastic bags at grocery stores (over the objections of anti-enviro/former Assemblymember Manny Diaz). They are also bringing in local farmers to provide fresh, organic produce through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

Speaking of green…Palo Alto and Mountain View (along with San Mateo and San Mateo County) are getting green-bucks from the Feds to implement green job growth projects. Vice President Joe Biden said the dollars are meant to put people to work and cut energy use.

Sunnyvale Councilmember Melinda Hamilton asked California High Speed Rail leader Rod Diridon, Sr. to stick a stop in Sunnyvale. So much for the "High Speed" part of "High Speed Rail"...

San Jose Revealed was (apparently) impressed with the disclosure of Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino’s salary. So impressed that they bought the new version of Photoshop...Revealed dug up photos of everyone he could think of to give us a visual on how Guardino’s daily dollars stack up.

Gilroy’s Chamber Choir answered the age-old question: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?". They are headed to the Big Apple for an all-star performance there. Basketball star/singer Dylan Jensen admitted he didn’t start getting nervous until they started learning about the big voices who’d hit the stage at Carnegie before them.

Morning News Round-Up -- 1.23.09: The NUMMI A's?

There is an update today on the Councilmember Madison Nguyen recall election. The story focused primarily on Nguyen and her efforts to stay in office -- raising lots of money, walking precincts, making phone calls, putting up signs, etc., etc., etc. One thing worries Watch Dog: she has underestimated the pro-Recall folks a number of times during this long nightmare. She underestimated how strongly people felt about Little Saigon initially. She didn't think the Little Saigon folks would get enough signatures on the ballot for a recall. In a recent Metro article, she admitted as much, saying, "I never thought it would get to this point..." In today's story, she may be making the same mistake saying, "I don't see anyone walking precincts for the other side...I don't see signs." Please, please, please Madison -- don't think that no signs and no precinct walkers on the other side mean you are going to skate through this. The Recall Madison folks have raised over $100,000. That is a huge sum of money and they are waiting to spend it...

Meanwhile, San Jose Revealed takes a shot at the folks who are building Vietnam Town and provide some context to those developers and Madison's recall...

The airport is building a cool new facility...but that's just about the only good news coming out the place. Airlines are cutting back...and apparently the airport wants to join in the fun by cutting staff. That means that when the new place opens up, there may be no planes and dirty bathrooms...

A serial bank robber struck in Saratoga on Inauguration Day. The robber is suspected of robbing 8 other banks in the Bay Area...he is described as a white guy, 5'9" to 6', 200 pounds, with gray hair -- which narrows down the search to just about every dude in Saratoga...

Oh no. Fremont's NUMMI manufacturing plant will stop giving tours in February. The actual manufacturing at NUMMI has already slowed down...but could the halting of public tours signal the beginning of the end for NUMMI? And if that is the case, are the A's licking their chops at that enormous piece of land?

State Senator Joe Simitian thinks the State budget crisis might be close to an end...according to his interview with the Palo Alto Weekly...don't bet on it...have you ever known the folks in Sacramento to do something on a timeline that is predictable?

We know that the Community Hospital of Los Gatos is closing in April as Tenet hastily leaves town. What we didn't know, until now, is when the new folks, El Camino Hospital of Mountain View, were going to re-open. It looks like it may be a while, perhaps until Fall, to get things up and running again.

Pete Campbell at San Jose Inside has a closer look at the Convention Center expansion idea. His best line about the expansion plans: "...the City of San Jose places itself in the tenuous position of placing a big, three-layered bet that the economy will recover, trade and convention shows will continue at healthy pace, and the bookings lost during 2009-2012 will return to San Jose..."

The Morgan Hill City Council will meet this weekend to discuss 2009 goals and review 2008 accomplishments. They will also meet in a joint session with the Gilroy City Council. If you think this sounds like garlic-infused fun, they head out Saturday morning to the El Toro Room at the Community and Cultural Center on Monterey Road. Please be sure to bring your own ideas and your own ephedrine, because Watch Dog will not share...

Morning News Round-Up – 12.04.08

Locate a ballpark near a rail station? The Merc. Editorial board thinks it might be a good idea while Lew Wolff, owner of both the A’s and the Earthquakes, is hoping to make it real. The recent passage of Measure B may be having positive economic benefits already, Wolff looks for a 2014 opening. "We're happy to sit down with them," said BART spokesman Linton Johnson, who noted team officials approached the transit agency about a week ago. "We'll see what they have to say."

Watch out - Watch Dogs (and potential employers) are sniffing around the Facebook, the Metro’s Fly this week highlights dissension in the ranks. In a move contrary to the time honored tradition of holding ones tongue, Councilmember Pete Constant’s Chief of Staff Jim Cogan declared his support for Measure B even while his boss blasted Measure B fan Carl Guardino at a fundraiser for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Could this explain Constants attitude problem on the dais?

The Metro also looks into Madison Nguyen's recall campaign and catches her admitting that she didn't foresee the ability of her foes to qualify a recall measure...oops...

Women’s sports also make the news – Brandi Chastain is confident the new soccer team FC Gold Pride will be knocking on her door. The Merc.’s Ann Killion, herself a trailblazer, hopes it’s true.

In a move that might signal support for “small schools,” the Alum Rock School Board voted 3-1 to allow Superintendent Norma Martinez to end her stormy relationship with nearly $300,000 in walk-away money. Trustee Tanya Fruedenberger missed the meeting and was “outraged” the Board was so generous. (Perhaps she could have shown up to vote and turned her outrage into action...) Then, in a confusing statement, Trustee Frank Chavez indicated he thought they saved money in the move while Trustee Gustavo Gonzalez voted against the generous package. Watch Dog notes that the hurried move took place before two new Trustees were seated.

San Jose City Council refers to it as the “Peralta Action Plan,” hoping to bring an open air version of the Pike Place Market to downtown San Jose. Others call it the Tom McEnery retirement package. Councilmembers Nora Campos and Forest Williams insisted this summer an economic analysis be part of the request for $5 million. Watch Dog thinks it sounds cool and hopes it’s more Pike Place than San Jose Pavilion. Any Watch Dog insiders who watch this at next weeks Council meeting are invited to dish.

In a sign of the times, the three towers on the Guadalupe River, affectionately known as Adobe, will see fewer folks as Adobe lets go 600 people. "The global economic crisis significantly impacted our revenue during the fourth quarter," said Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen.

Following the European tradition of B.Y.O., Los Gatos is hoping to make shoppers pay for bags if they’ve forgotten their own. County Recycling and Waste Reduction Commissioner Steve Glickman says plastic bags are the biggest concern.

Not keeping up with collecting money owed has cost the City of Gilroy and is now going to cost residents. Gilroy City Council decided this week to raise rates for drinking water and toilet flushes. Embarrassed Councilmember Perry Woodward said, "If you were doing a better job collecting what you're owed, you wouldn't need 5 percent more from residents," referring to the City’s forgetfulness in collecting more than $20 million from businesses that have not paid up. The largest debtor is West Coast Linens, they recently ditched employees and Gilroy so it’s not likely any payments will come from that quarter.

Mountain View will allow the ubiquitous big city cool toy on park trails but not sidewalks. Earlier this year Segway commuter Richard Roeder complained to Mayor Tom Means that he wasn’t being allowed to get to work and wanted changes. The Council agreed but doesn’t want them roaming around town.