Super-Sized Morning News Round-Up -- 5.17.10: Blood-Sport Monday - Hockey and Politics...

The Western Conference Finals started Sunday... Sharks lost... but at the end of the series, we are looking forward to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sending some of Chicago's finest (and fattiest) foods west to San Jose. He and Mayor Reed made a little wager. Chuck may receive a bunch of Vienna Beef soon. Yum.

But hockey was the mild sport over the weekend with politics being a little more dangerous... Especially in San Jose's City Council District 5...

Let's go chronologically:

The Mayor may be sharing some of Chicago's finest foods from Mayor Daley with his new BFF, Magdalena Carrasco. He endorsed her late last week, according to Watch Dog's email...

But that wasn't the only, or the most intriguing, part of that City Council race this weekend. Mailers were mailed out that took a big shot at Xavier Campos' role at MACSA courtesy of the Chamber. (Can you use the phrase "courtesy of" when you are talking about who paid for a hit piece?) Longtime readers of Watch Dog will not be surprised about the MACSA/Campos connection...

But that wasn't even the more intriging news out of that City Council race. It seems someone is (illegally) using Magdalena Carrasco's name to put out a fake mailer that has her standing with a communist Vietnamese flag... welcome to 1950... The Mayor is not pleased with this latest development and is calling on the DA, the Elections Commission, the post office, and the media to all do their job to identify who did this shady work... Watch Dog won't speculate, even though we'd love to...

As if there wasn't enough going on on San Jose's east side, there was an emergency landing at Reid-Hillview over the weekend... and a man was shot and killed in the Tropicana parking lot on Sunday morning.

Expect this story to also have political repurcussions: Dolores Carr's DA's office apparently stopped the forensic testing of some evidence in the De Anza rape case. This according to evidence in an ongoing civil trial... Jeff Rosen's team is no doubt reprinting this story and distributing it widely... Especially now that he has the support of some high-placed friends...

A big, long in-depth story was in Saturday's Mercury News about the new County Executive Jeff Smith. He has some fans, namely the County Board of Supervisors, who extended his contract through 2013. But the more interesting part of the story is the detractors: the County's unions do not like Jeff Smith. But that might be expected... but Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren? Apparently Smith pushed off a meeting with Lofgren for months. Here's what she said:

"His comments so far appear to be precipitous, haphazard and detrimental to the foundation of county government... People are calling to complain to me. I spent 14 years of my life making a good hospital and many of us are thinking, 'What is he doing?'"

Well, we know he isn't making friends with people in high places...

That isn't the only County employee in the news this week... there is a new County Counsel in the mix -- the acting County Counsel Miguel Marquez is getting the acting removed from his name...

The Merc's Internal Affairs shed some light into how the employee negotiations are going at the City of San Jose. It seems that City Manager Deb Figone had her lunch at Flames interupted by some city workers that were having a protest and started banging on Flames' windows yelling "Save our jobs!"... of course, Figone used to eat lunch at Morton's, but since the pay cut, she's now at Flames... We also learn from IA that the San Jose Redevelopment Agency forked over a $62 million check to the State Govenrment t his week. No word yet if the Governor has signed the thank you note...

Also in an attempt to get attention for their union plight, Jim Unland at the San Jose Police Officers' Association wrote a Memo to the Mayor on Friday... we're sorry we missed it then, but the Mayor probably isn't...

Perhaps this will help with the Figone/Employee and Police/Mayor relations: Measure K in San Jose got the deep dive in Sunday's paper as the Merc's Sandra Gonzales goes into the lovely Garden City Casino for some "man/woman on the street/at the table" interviews and looks at the pros and cons of relying on gambling to plug San Jose's budget holes...

The Water District reversed course and approved a new map for districts. Gilroy is no longer with Palo Alto... And that new Gilroy/Morgan Hill district is the one that the fast-food toy-loving Supervisor Don Gage will run for this fall... But the Mayors of Gilroy and Morgan Hill are still not pleased...

Sometimes it is good to have a reporter/columnist that is over 25 years old... such is the case with Scott Herhold. He gives a great perspective on Larry Pegram's first go'round on the San Jose City Council. If you read between the lines, Pegram left the Council with his three buddies on the heals of a bribery scandal... Pegram wasn't indicted or found to have done anything wrong...

File this story under D -- as in "Drive Cindy Chavez Crazy." Local political consultant Jude Barry is a founder of a technology firm that allows folks to register to vote and sign ballot petitions through iPhones, iPads, and other smart phones. It is the same company that landed Barry on the California Labor Federation's Do Not Patronize list... (This story should tell you how important that list is...) The Santa Clara County Registrar is accepting registrations that use Verafirma technology...

File this story under W for Weird... the Merc Editorial Board, generally a pro-education parcel tax bunch is "reserving judgement" on one parcel tax this June -- Measure I in Alum Rock Union Elementary School District because they are not including charter schools in their tax measure. The other parcel taxes in Milpitas, Oak Grove, and Mount Pleasant get the Merc Editorial nod...

Palo Alto may be getting some taller buildings... above 50 feet actually. Expect the NIMBYs to start the rebellion soon...

Ken Yeager and the rest of the Santa Clara County Supervisors (except Don Gage and George Shirakawa) get props from Dorothy Dimitre in the San Mateo Daily Journal for their fast food toy ban...

We didn't write about this last week, but it doesn't mean we missed it. Saratoga City Councilmember Susie Nagpal died last week. Very sad story.

And because sometimes important things happen outside of our regular sphere: Burlingame and its police department have started the long road toward pension reform. From the San Mateo County Times: "...Police sergeants and captains in Burlingame have agreed to pay freezes through the end of the year and are ready to cut retiree benefits, the first union contract that includes pension reform for a city struggling to deal with escalating employee costs..."

Morning News Round-Up -- 10.23.09: The slow death of plastic bags in Milpitas...

When the City of San Jose implemented its plastic bag ban, they said they wanted to be regional leaders. If San Jose's ban passed, the thinking was that other cities in Silicon Valley would follow. Well, other cities in Silicon Valley are following... Milpitas just voted to move forward with a study on banning plastic bags. Lucky for Watch Dog, the same (tired) arguments are being made by the pro-plastic, anti-environment lobby. The always eloquent former City Councilmember/ former Assemblymember/ unsuccessful State Senate/City Council candidate Manny Diaz said, "Sometimes when you try to do something good, you can have negative results." Right. Sort of like your campaigns Mr. Diaz. Another interesting tid-bit in this story: "Councilmember Armando Gomez was absent." We guess Mayor Reed's leadership on this issue isn't contagious in that office...

Employee unrest is set for Tuesday in Palo Alto. Earlier in the week both the City of Palo Alto and their largest workers' union hit an impasse. Just the kind of confusion Palo Alto needs as it asks voters to approve a new business license tax one week from Tuesday...

Speaking of elections in Palo Alto. There is a crowded City Council race up there... Greg Scharff out-fundraised his 13 (13?!) opponents. With issues like the previous story, are these folks sure they want to get on the Council?

Here is some good Palo Alto (ok, Stanford) related news. The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital is receiving a $100 million gift from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. With that kind of gift, they should think about naming the hospital after them...

These are horrible stories:

A Santa Clara kid who was at Sacramento State was beaten to death in his dorm room. The assailant was one of the kid's roommates who himself was shot to death when police arrived...

A "badly decomposed" body was found next to 101 in San Martin.

More sad news... Saratoga City Councilmember Susie Nagpal has been diagnosed with lung cancer. She has a pretty awesome attitude, which matters, "It'll be fine. I think a lot of this is just about attitude." Livestrong Susie...

Finally, there is a memorial scheduled for noon today for former Mt. View City Councilmember Rosemary Stasek. "The Kite Runner" author Khaled Hosseini will be on hand to remember a true hero.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.27.09: A Cause for NIMBY Celebration

High-Speed Rail foes have something, other than their never-ending NIMBYism, to hang their hats on today. A Judge questioned the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed route over Pacheco Pass (and into San Jose). This has NIMBYs pretty psyched. Not so fast, say High-Speed Rail advocates, because the Judge also called the other possible routes, over Altamont Pass and across the Bay, too expensive. Nonetheless, this means delay, and cost, and probably huge parties up and down the Caltrain corridor this weekend. Remember, if you drink at these parties NIMBYs, take the train home...

Speaking of High-Speed Rail, perhaps it is the only issue that could be less fun for local a member of Congress to hear about than healthcare at a Town Hall these days... And Congresswoman Eshoo heard all about it this week.

Speaking of Speaking...

The Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was in town yesterday greeted by San Jose's Rotary Club (and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren...) The Merc focused their coverage (and headline) of the story on the protesters outside the Rotary meeting while San Jose Inside focused on what the Speaker said...

And speaking of trains...

Diridon Station was closed for a period of time yesterday afternoon after a written bomb threat was found.

Prosecutors from the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office are in the news today, and (amazingly) the story doesn't involved the words "lack of ethics" or "Dolores Carr"... (They are supporting a bill that the Governor is expected to sign to crack down on fraudulent mortgage brokers.)

It seems access to public information isn't an issue only in San Jose (think text messages)... Saratoga is dealing with it too. Saratoga officials are complaining that they have received 20 requests so far this year. (San Jose's City Clerk Lee Price is ROFL at that HUGE number.)

Here are the scrolling headlines of the Gilroy Dispatch today.

• Police arrest man after high speed drunken chase.
• Murder suspect pleads guilty to unrelated drug charge.
• Wanted man adds stolen gun, stolen motorcycle charges to list.

Need we say more?

The Morgan Hill Times has a slightly different crime story: Skaters attack ice cream truck...

Your South County papers, all crime, all the time.

And finally, the Merc's Scott Herhold provides a local angle (Jude Barry) to the death of Senator Kennedy. The Editorial page also pays respects.

Morning News Round-Up -- 8.5.09: Really, no pressure but...

Paris in Palo Alto courtesy of developers “…getting up there” is the goal for a revamped Lytton Plaza. Goodby “flying saucer” benches, hello game tables. Donor/Developer Le Levy used his two minute council time to sing a happy tune.

No singing here on day one of post vacation meetings...

Accusations of fraud and deceit erupted while emotions ran high during San Jose’s City Council do-over discussion of the Education Park Library quagmire. Former Public Defender/Councilmember Ash Kalra espoused expertise on steel subcontractors while declaring he had not been pressured by any group. For your reading pleasure, a steel subcontractor expert/lobbyist report from folks not pressuring Kalra. San Jose Inside has a take on the do-over, this time not relying solely on the Merc’s rendition.



Speaking of San Jose’s City Council…

Former Independent Police Auditor Barbara Attard received a little more than the coffee & chocolate parting gift when San Jose’s City Council swapped her $250,000 loan for the condo deed yesterday. No word if they’re renting to the next IPA…

Liquid gold won’t be oil in the future, it’s water. Well under way to reusing wastewater is a $55 million pilot project with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, San Jose and Santa Clara hoping following in the footsteps of Orange County… Still, pretty high on the ick factor…

Really, Saratoga does want those Federal stimulus dollars… A documentation screw-up had Councilmember Howard Miller saying “Oops, we caused an ambiguity, let's throw this thing back out there,” talking about getting those shovel ready projects underway.

Gilroy’s City Council will be holding on to binding arbitration, for now. A contentious meeting ended with an unhappy Gilroy Chamber of Commerce CEO Susan Valenta sitting in the audience. Police Officer Association President Mitch Madruga previously accused the Chamber of “irrelevant flame-fanning.” Doubtful this battle is over…

Palo Alto’s homeless Council candidate had his (first) day in court fighting the city’s sit-lie ordinance. Victor Frost is hoping free speech and a heart condition let him keep his campaign on track.

Go green, save money and spend your travel bucks at home. HP and Cisco systems hope the crashing economy will help push video conferencing over the top.

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro bids a fond farewell to retiring Superior Court Judge Catherine Gallagher who’s now headed for a post-retirement mediation career at JAMS. Pizarro also dishes the Democratic glitterati were in full force at a fundraiser for Georgia Congressmember John Lewis hosted by his buddy Congressman Mike Honda.

A Silicon Valley staple since 1954, Lupretta’s Deli will be closing the doors in Saratoga’s Village. Daryle Lupretta is looking for new digs with a kitchen… and, lot’s of foot traffic. Watch Dog has paws crossed the ravioli’s reappear soon.

Around the blogosphere…

• Mission City Lantern lashes out against ‘Letters from Silicon Valley’
• San Jose Revealed remains incommunicado (complete with broken site – again), in spite of yesterday’s tempting San Jose City Council meeting…
• Kathleen Flynn issues a throwdown to advocates of open police records declaring on Protect San Jose “…read about the woman who murdered her child, ate her brain, tore her face off, and then tried to kill herself. I rest my case.” Watch Dog invites advocates on all sides to talk.
• San Jose Metblogger Matt Bruensteiner shares photos from his neighborhood National Night Out including cops as kiddy rockstars and tightrope walking Northsiders.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.15.09: What's $15 million between friends running for Governor?

Ready for business in 2014 and going for the green… From native plants on the roof to recycled water in the pipes, the 49er's proposed Santa Clara stadium would be the “greenest” NFL stadium ever. The York family is also shooting for a stadium able to host the Super Bowl or World Cup. (Of course, the stadium still needs voter-approval next year.)

Silicon Valley gubernatorial wannabe Meg Whitman plunked $15 million of her (anticipated) $150 million campaign loan. Her opponents didn’t seem to care much about the Whitman throw down. Whitman’s Silicon Valley neighbor Steve Poizner coughed up $4 million of his mega-bucks for the race (not to mention the money he put into previous races...)

The Merc’s Editorial Board offers props to the team assigned the unenviable task of making San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza live up to its promise.

Now joining (formerly) homeless Victor Frost (address: Telephone Pole No. 1139) in Palo Alto’s wide open council race will be past (failed) candidates Dan Dykwel and Tim Gray. This all on the heals of the current Mayor deciding not to run for reelection.

School District races in Los Altos, Palo Alto, and Foothill-DeAnza Community College so far turning out to be the most boring with only incumbents picking up papers. The chance for excitement lasts until August 7 when the filing period closes.

California IOU’s have started landing and the Merc’s Scott Herhold has one he’s shopping around. Herhold actively sought out the IOU offering 110% of face value, now just trying to unload it for the story…

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro shares an idea from Joe Boyer on keeping people in downtown San Jose: cheap parking. (Watch Dog can only assume that Joe has never parked in another downtown, if he thinks San Jose parking is expensive.) Pizarro also lends a hand to fundraising efforts for Christmas in July and KKUP – People’s Radio - which needs your help to relocate.

Los Gatos firefighters rescued Phoebe the Cat from a tree limb after nearly a week following failed attempts with a basket, tree service, police, animal control, a “creature catcher” and PG&E.

And, in Saratoga news… The Planning Commission narrowly averted disaster by approving plans for a (giant) new home complete with pool. Commissioner Manny Cappello was emphatic in over-riding city guidelines saying “...a home like this should have a pool in Saratoga...” Obviously...

The San Jose Police Officers Association blog, Protect San Jose, gives space to the 18th Floor's favorite Chief of Staff/ City Council Candidate Jim Cogan. Cogan is promoting National Night Out.

Morning News Round-Up – 7.2.09: Let the pre-holiday fireworks begin...

Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr won’t be putting away her dance shoes just yet. (now) Judge/(former) prosecutor Joyce Allegro is accused of withholding evidence that might have kept a defendant off death row…

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed took Santa Clara County Sheriff Lt. Jose Salcido out of the running for Sheriff (maybe). Reed pulled Salcido inside city hall to bridge the divide between police and the rest of the world. Mission City Lantern is also curious about the newly created position. San Jose Inside points out Salcido's buddy is SJPOA leader Bobby Lopez. Could Salcido be angling for another new gig…

Palo Alto’s plans for a new library are “woefully inadequate” according to Friends of Palo Alto Libraries. Library Advisory Commissioner Rajesh Mashruwala said downtowns unique demographic (seniors, daytime workers, homeless) causes special challenges. Right, because those folks don’t want books or computers in their libraries…

Los Altos police are on the look out for a San Jose crew of vandals/imbeciles who scratched graffiti on business windows.

It isn’t enough to get the County out of debt but Tax Assessor Larry Stone reported a (slight) increase in property values.

Mountain View’s City Council is ready to do battle with the Feds over Hangar One… Mountain View will (probably) look to Palo Alto and Sunnyvale to join the party.

Cupertino has an eye on the Fed’s stimulus money to find energy savings. For $526,000 Watch Dog has a few energy saving ideas available…

Los Gatos Union School District is likely to be out $1.5 million because of the State’s budget disaster. District CFO Leslie Paulides said it shouldn’t have a huge effect on the kids because they’ll draw on rainy day funds. Not like San Jose Unified which faces a $19 million shortfall and is increasing class sizes.

The Saratoga Planning Commission sympathized with neighbors worried about the “high density” proposal but bravely waded through terrified complaints to allow the proposal from Adel and Maria Khouja. The end result, two homes on a (newly) subdivided 50,000 square foot lot. Gives a whole new meaning to density…

The dish from San Jose inside, another victim of the economic downturn… San Jose landmark A.P. Stumps is packing those ginzo knives and pouring the last shaken, not stirred next week. Get your reservations in early for the week long farewell.

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.24.09: San Jose's lost lover is back...

Tesla Chronicles Continue... Tesla nailed a loan from the Feds to the tune of $465 million and has plans to announce where in the Bay Area a battery production plant will land. San Jose’s Nanci Klein is thrilled and confident San Jose will land the electric fish gushing “Tesla’s success is our success.” Really? Even though they left San Jose at the alter previously? Let's hope that the on-again/off-again San Jose/Tesla romance continues for a while. Or at least until they burn through taxpayers' $465 mill...

San Jose’s City Council moves closer to reforms for the beleaguered Employee Pension Funds. Consultant Cortex Applied Research said the existing Boards lack expertise and have little incentive to save taxpayer money. Perhaps that, coupled with the economic melt-down, explains the billion (plus) dollar losses...

San Jose’s Planning Commission landed in hot water last month with accusations of a Brown Act open government violation. City Attorney Rick Doyle lowered the temperature and is requiring a re-vote in the election of a new Commission Chair. Watch Dog prediction: one of the four alleged co-conspirators Xavier Campos, Chris Platten, Hope Cahan, or Thang Do lands in the center chair.

Santa Clara County Open Space Authority mails notices to hundreds of thousands of property owners fessing up to an illegal tax and offering a refund. Sierra Club’s Melissa Hippard suggests refusing, others suggest taking the $130 and donating it back (read tax deduction). The Open Space Authority loses $51 million for their screw-up. The winner is Tony Tanke, a Davis attorney, who walks away with $7.4 million in legal fees.

Former Los Altos Police Chief Bob Lacey may be “crude” and “inappropriate” but the Judge says porn on a flash drive, fat jokes for a pregnant lady, discussions of testicles, and photos of a naked transgender person did not make for a hostile workplace.

The Merc’s Scott Herhold likens the ongoing squabble between NASA and the Navy over who is responsible for Moffett’s Hangar One to an officious clerk making your life miserable. Herhold says it’s time to cut through the nonsense and call in White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Congressmember Anna Eshoo agreed it was “absolutely absurd” for the Navy to move forward without an end game but wasn’t so sure about calling Emanuel. (Watch Dog doesn't blame Eshoo... here's why.)

While the rest of the Valley is grilling and hanging out for the fireworks, three Monte Sereno Councilmembers have local fireworks to deal with. The recall effort over the (very badly timed) Council salary decision heads into high gear on the 4th of July. Recall proponent Fred Hawkes doesn’t want his Councilmembers wasting their time or money on Countywide groups like the Association of Bay Area Governments or the Santa Clara Cities Association.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is all over the news. He’ll get his dream mansion, Woodside keeps parts of an historic home, and Jobs ill health was confirmed when a Tennessee hospital confirmed Jobs’ liver transplant. We guess is that he'd rather be in the news discussing the latest and greatest iPod...

Saratoga Planning Commissioners approved plans to relocate a San Jose business (Demetri's the Hair People) onto Saratoga’s main drag. Commissioner David Reis was impressed with plans to update the exterior. Also approved, enlarging outdoor seating for Cinnabar Winery. Expensive hair cuts and expensive wine... perfect for Saratoga.

Sunnyvale’s newest City Manager, Gary Luebbers, says patience is his biggest challenge. Mayor Anthony Spitaleri likes that Luebbers isn’t “analyzing to death” and is hopeful this bodes well for Sunnyvale’s (Albatross) Town Center project.

What do Halle Berry, Paris, New York, Monte Carlo, and Palo Alto have in common? Doris Payne and It Takes a Thief, of course.

Busy times in South County: Gilroy had more gang problems, an “elaborate” car theft, and big robbery last week. Trustees for Gilroy Unified hired a new principal for Gilroy High and three new administrators to see them through tough times ahead.

Upscale Los Gatos hopes you’ll join them for Jazz on the Plazz but doesn’t want your crummy turf damaging blanket and has a slew of rules for those lawn chairs. Welcome to Los Gatos, don't leave a mark...

San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo weighs in on class size reduction standing firmly on the fence. DiSalvo also continues his push for increased teacher salaries. Thank you (?) Joe.

Bucking the trend towards cheap, Cisco Systems handed out $1.26 million in grants including to 53 local non-profits.

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.4.09: Close the Fence Gate...

49ers spokesperson Lisa Lang said there’s a long road ahead before Silicon Valley will be tail-gating. Environmental reports, voter approval, two cranky Santa Clara Councilmembers, and chatter of a Great America parking lot lawsuit lay ahead. Stepping up in support of tail-gating, Santa Clara County Tax Assessor Larry Stone with friends State Senator Elaine Alquist, Assemblymember Joe Coto, and San Jose Councilmembers Sam Liccardo and Pete Constant.

Here is your crime news for the week...

San Jose Police won’t be asked to release the 911 tape from the deadly shooting of Daniel Pham, yet. The Rules and Open Government Committee heard a plea from District Attorney Dolores Carr for secrecy. After a Grand Jury investigation they’ll reconsider unless Police Chief Rob Davis or District Attorney Dolores Carr object, again.

Fry’s former exec/Baccarat-loving/embezzler Ausaf “Omar” Siddiqui is generating a lot of business for local lawyers. No less than 5 lawsuits are filling the courthouse. Fry’s is suing Siddiqui, vendors are suing Fry’s, and casinos around the country are after Siddiqui for millions in unpaid gambling debt. Nonetheless, your best buys are always...

A would-be bank robber hit up a grocery bound Mountain View B of A. The robber left without the cash, or groceries, when he figured out the silent alarm was ringing. Begging the question, if a robber doesn't leave with any merchandise or money...?

It was not a good day for Ernest Latta. Dude busted the window of an auto body shop in Mountain View, cut himself, tried to hot wire a Volvo, and was hauled off to jail. Police Officer Liz Wylie said Latta , “...wasn’t in the right frame of mind...” She's probably right...

Early this year 5 twenty-something cretins from San Jose tried to kill a man taking an evening stroll. They are all behind bars and looking at possible charges from other crimes. SJPD Jermaine Thomas hopes you’ll share what you know and call 408-277-4166.

San Jose’s Officer Jermaine Thomas is a busy guy. Thomas reports a possible gang-related shooting ended with a man in the hospital.

This doesn't fit in "crime news" but... San Jose Inside’s Fly "stumbled across" the San Jose Police Officers Association/Bobby Lopez’ clumsy video making fun of De-Bug’s Raj Jayadev. Fly asks if Jayadev’s bald head was scary and suggests Councilmember Pete Constant has trouble with numbers.

For your trash protection needs… San Jose residents are offering the Merc’s Mr. Roadshow tips on keeping wild boars out of the garbage. Suggestions include the miraculous duct tape, mountain lion pee, and eating the boars…

Business owners are threatening to leave Palo Alto if a tax on gross-receipts becomes reality. Terry Conner with Thoits, Love, Hershberger and McLean wants the City to tax business by employee, not income. So do a group of business owners along with Councilmembers Larry Klein and Pat Burt. On the other side, Councilmembers Jack Morton and Greg Schmid say it’s just as easy to report receipts as employees. Not to mention a few lawyers generate more money than the local bookstore…

Former Mayor/lobbyist Tom McEnery teamed up with Mexican Heritage Plaza CEO Marcela Aviles to ask that money for the arts not suffer during the Great Recession. As an example of benefit they point to “40 million media impressions” coming from the Mariachi Festival. (We expect San Jose Revealed to go on an anti-McEnery tirade on this... just because.)

The Monte Sereno decades-old fence fiasco (Fence Gate?) made the list for the Merc’s Scott Herhold. Pointing out the big winner are the lawyers, Herhold suggests a loss for the City could result in covering $1 million in legal fees for the “litigious couple.” Would it be appropriate to call for the closing of the Fence Gate?

The battle for Los Gatos term limits and capital expenditure limits is heating up. Lunardi’s had Tim Smith with San Francisco’s Pacific Petition competing with volunteers from Friends of the Library over shopper signatures. Lunardi’s Manager Steve Pinney was pissed at the controversy and suggested Smith “go to Nob Hill.”

Developers David Rossi and Gary Naillon are pitching designs for the Village Shopping Center that some say fits in San Jose’s Santana Row – not Saratoga. Councilmember Jill Hunter wants a “new and improved design” before she supports the project. Oh yeah, and Not In My BackYard...

Saratoga Planning Commissioners were giddy at the prospect of a microbrewery in the Village and unanimously approved plans for St. Stan’s Brewing Company. Commissioner Manny Cappello said “it fills a need” for the Village and suggested the microbrewery would soon need a much larger location. Watch Dog likes that a brewery would fill a need in Saratoga. We guess beer has been hard to find over there...

Cupertino’s Bill Moody said the relationship between real estate prices and good schools is enough for him to contribute as much as $50,000 from his real estate sales to the Cupertino School District. Moody promises to track donations on his website.

The Sunnyvale City Council is looking at a proposal to upgrade their 50 year old water pollution control plant. At issue is finding the $380 million to do it and whether the plant is new or updated. No word if Sunnyvale hopes to turn their sewage facility into a tourist attraction like San Jose...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.6.09: Shading sunshine in San Jose...

Yawn, Watch Dog hopes this is the end of the Swine Flu updates. Yesterday was the last day of the Swine Flu vacation, today schools are open and expecting your kids at their desks. Santa Clara County Health Officer Marty Fenstersheib made the bold decision shortly after the Centers for Disease Control backed off rigid closing requirements. “This novel virus looks exactly like the seasonal flu...” except for the school closures and mass-hysteria... (or Mask Hysteria.)

On to the fun stuff -- yesterday's San Jose City Council meeting...

There’s a new gig up for grabs, again. The San Jose City Council agreed to reopen the hiring process for the Independent Police Auditor and keep the original applicants in the mix. Yep, that’s right, Chris Constantin has a second shot at being the guy to review his brother's (and his brother's brothers-in-blue) work. But this isn't the most interesting part of the City Council meeting yesterday... this is:

Mayor Chuck Reed was a little testy, trying hard to get colleagues to tell all of the closed door session discussion when the chose Constantin, who apparently wasn't Mayor Reed's first choice. Remember, Councilmember Nora Campos was spinning the tale that she didn't know about Constantin's police-relations when she voted to make him the new IPA. The Mayor (apparently) knows that Campos is not telling the truth -- and so do some Councilmembers. The Mayor tried, unsuccessfully, to get the Council to release the notes from the Closed Session meeting where Constantin was approved. But the majority on the City Council said, unbelievably, that they would like to decide in private whether to keep the private conversation private. (That sentence makes sense, read it again...) So much for sunshine...

San Jose Revealed weighs in on the new/old IPA hunt (Reed screwed up) and the Earthquakes land deal (the City lost money). Revealed also shares opinions on the Mayor’s biennial Ethics Review Memo.

San Jose Inside’s Fly dishes the news that members of the Elections Commission are hinting that Councilmember Nora Campos was the source of the anonymous complaint against Tom McEnery. Campos’ Chief of Staff Ryan Ford heard the hints and suggested the Elections Commission go ahead, try to find out saying, “we had nothing to do with that.” City Clerk Lee Price says the Commission doesn’t have the authority to investigate. Perhaps evidence would point to the (blo)sphere of influence between Campos and San Jose Revealed and the complaint...

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL! Is expected to be heard in San Jose. Tuesday the City Council unanimously approved sale of land to Earthquakes/A’s owner Lew Wolff to build a soccer stadium, a hotel, and some retail shops. Soccer Silicon Valley president Don Gagliardi expressed his inner soccer joy saying “...this is the culmination of five years of effort...”

Home value tracking site Zillow.com provided the news that the plunging housing market has slowed, a little. Wet blanket Santa Clara Assessor Larry Stone offered his thoughts that the home value losses were greater than the $57 billion estimated by Zillow.com. “I was surprised it was so low, there has been a serious erosion of equity,” said party pooper Stone.

Vahid Hosseini was a respected shopkeeper in a tough neighborhood with occasional gang violence. The Willow Market was the place where neighbors could cash their paychecks and get groceries. Police Chief Rob Davis announced Tuesday Alejandro Mendoza has been arrested for last years murder of Hosseini. Chief Davis said “the investigation is still ongoing – literally – as we speak,” and asked anyone with information call 408-277-5283.

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Liz Kniss is expecting unprecedented federal support and says without it “our financial boat would barely be afloat.” The President (Kniss) is referring to federal stimulus dollars coming from D.C. to provide support for some of the County’s mental health, alcohol/drug abuse programs, and those gentle Nightingales who poked a needle in your Swine Fluish arm. Not helped by the federal bucks will be seniors, the disabled, and unemployed families – all of whom can expect continued budget cuts. (While Kniss is making her case in the newspaper, Supervisors in San Mateo County were actually testifying on Capitol Hill...)

Lest we forget, yesterday was an Election Day in some parts of the County. Voters in the Moreland and Cupertino Union School Districts agreed to help schools and passed their parcel tax measures, in spite of the gloomy economy.

It was a geeks paradise where San Jose’s Harker Academy eighth-grader Sierra Lincoln proved herself the geekiest of all. Lincoln took three awards in all and won top awards for programming and robot skills at the international VEX Robotics championship competition in Omaha, Nebraska. Geek on, sister.

Saratoga wants more of those fed dollars and is fighting for more than the $851,580 street paving dollars guaranteed. Saratoga is hoping to move City offices completely off the electric grid and is banking on federal green bucks to help make that happen.

Monte Sereno’s City Council had the unenviable chore of voting itself a salary during the worst economic disaster in decades. Councilmember Marshall Anstandig vows to return the salary or donate it to charity. Monte Serenan Lon Allen wants the Council to delay the vote a month in order to mail a postcard to everyone in town letting them know about the $300/month proposal. Estimated cost of mailing postcards: $3,600.

Morgan Hill’s Chamber of Commerce decided to move the popular Friday Night Music Series out of the street and into the amphitheatre – against the wishes of downtown merchants who see revenue disappearing into the amphitheatre along with the music. As of press time it was not known how many Chamber members voted for the move.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District meets to vote on a proposal to raise South County water rates. Great Oaks attorney Tim Guster called the rate raising process “flawed” and plans to attend the Wednesday night meeting to say so.

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.1.09: "Size does matter..." according to Mayor Reed

Trying to catch up with Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio's use of inappropriate, sexual references in public, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed declared, “Size does matter” discussing San Jose's population (finally) hitting 1 million residents. (Rumors that Mayor Reed blushed and giggled after uttering the double entendre are unconfirmed...)

Swine Flu update: Four more Silicon Valley schools shut their doors for flu days. While Watch Dog is ready to ditch the Swine Flu mania it is nice to see all the kids wandering aimlessly, in public, with school doors shuttered.

San Jose City Manager Debra Figone put the budget axe to the grindstone. The result, no one is going to be happy. San Jose, trying to close a $77.5 million deficit, is losing nearly 150 people, closing libraries half the week, ditching the mounted police, and closing parks on slow days.

Fire Marshal David Schoonover isn’t a fan of San Jose restaurants’ tents and won’t be a welcome guest for garlic fries and Amber Ale. Visits from Schoonover to the Poor House Bistro, Gordon Biersch, and Smoke Tiki Lounge landed restaurant owners in hot water for their tents. Downtown Councilmember Sam Liccardo is hopeful the businesses and the Fire Marshal will work it out without costing businesses big bucks.

Former Mayor/lobbyist Tom McEnery hoisted a celebratory beer and danced a jig in the tent-free O’Flaherty’s when San Jose Elections Commissioners dismissed the anonymous complaint. Elections Commission Chairman Fred de Funiak was pissed saying the “commission was used,” to go after McEnery. Big guns Supervisor Dave Cortese and Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino showed up to tell the Commission not to accept anonymous complaints. Way to use the Rolodex, Tom. Yesterday, San Jose Revealed posted a scathing challenge to the Merc’s Editors to actually read the report...

Speaking of Dave Cortese... Supervisor Cortese hopes to prevent little kids from landing in the pokey and Silicon Valley from having the youngest child ever locked up.

Silicon Valley hookers will be happy to hear the news, Dean Rish from San Ramon was busted for robbing women in the world’s oldest profession. Public safety officials working with the District Attorney’s office used the internet to find hookers with information about the East Bay robber before busting him.

Alum Rock Union School District Trustees have renegotiated outgoing Superintendent Norma Martinez’ severance package. Gone (finally) are the half million in cash and monthly benefits over $1,500. Martinez’ revised deal of less than $200,000 and half the benefits will allow the District to “move forward” according to Board President Gustavo Gonzalez.

Earlier in the week we wrote about a development in Palo Alto that got shot down by the City's Planning and Transportation Committee... well, the developers had this to say: "This project has been in the works for five years, and this is the kind of dysfunctional process that drives business and tax revenue out of Palo Alto..." How do you really feel?

A grumpy Saratoga Planning Commission approved plans to expand the Inn at Saratoga but let owner Kwan Lee know they were pissed about his refusal to roll in improved handicap access. Commissioner Linda Rodgers said she was disappointed while Commissioner Mary-Lynne Bernald symbolically voted ‘no.’

Sunnyvale’s City Council is declaring Sunnyvale will be a safe place for bicycles and pedestrians at the same time and street parking will have to be sacrificed for the bicycle when needed. That’s putting the green vision where it counts…

Also insisting on going green… Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page is visiting each of his restaurants to ask they ditch the Styrofoam voluntarily. We understand that the American Chemistry Council is trying to track down Mayor Page...

Saratoga’s City Council has been working with Civica Software since November to update the website and settled on the new design this week. Mayor Chuck Page asked the background be white for easy reading while Councilmember Howard Miller said simply “it might be good to find out how to simplify this design to have less words and less clutter,” Miller continued with "one of the problems with websites for infrequent users ... is that they can get lost if there's too much going on." Apparently, this conversation about web-design is what constitutes hard-hitting news coverage in Saratoga...

The Merc’s Sal Pizarro can be found tonight ambling through San Jose’s SoFA district celebrating First Friday with music, art, and a little shopping. Pizarro also dishes former Mayor Ron Gonzales pouring a little red at a Silicon Valley Capital Club fundraiser and former Councilmember/Supervisorial wannabe Forrest Williams has declared himself green from his name to his business cards.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.10.09: Fiber Optic Vandal Edition...

In case you missed this week's San Jose Police Department news, check out our post from mid-day yesterday: "A Consortium and Task Force walk into a bar..."

You may have realized the phone craziness yesterday. Tens of thousands of folks had their phone lines screwed up all day. AT&T blamed the problem on vandals who cut fiber optic lines. The episode caused emergency response and public safety officials to declare a state of emergency because 911 lines were messed up.

The Merc’s Editorial Board has declared the arrival of detente for the City of San Jose and the County of Santa Clara. Crediting Mayor Reed and Supervisor Don Gage for starting the effort 2 years ago and former Councilmembers/Supervisors Dave Cortese and Ken Yeager, the breakthrough comes in the form of a plan for sharing Redevelopment monies.

San Jose’s financial woes seem to mount daily. Compared to San Diego, San Jose’s employee disability claims are triple that of San Diego. Mayor Chuck Reed says he’s disappointed the problem isn’t under control and perhaps San Jose should “subcontract all this out to Santa Clara County.” Disabled/Councilmember Pete Constant disagrees with proposed changes to make it harder to go out on disability saying in his experience the City waits too long to send employees out on disability. (If you are interested in Councilmember Constant's history of disability with the City, here is a little bit, it came up earlier this year...) On the plus side, at least this isn't another story about the Police Chief.

It’s not funny, really, but it does sound a lot more like Animal House than Stanford…Palo Alto’s downtown was the scene of a wet-noodle assault...

Mountain View Councilmembers saw a dizzying array of budget cutting ideas this week but weren’t sure they understood the trade-offs involved. Several Councilmembers admitted they didn’t understand the budget. Councilmembers Laura Macias and Ronit Bryant were frustrated by the process, Bryant said budget decisions in the past have been a very passive process but the current crisis requires Councilmembers to step it up. Y'think?

Los Altos managed to get their Standard & Poor’s credit rating headed up, unlike many of their Silicon Valley neighbors. City Finance Director Russell Morreale credits their “pay-as-you-go” attitude.

One year of dropouts from San Jose high schools lose hundreds of millions in potential earnings, are likely to be the source of over 500 violent crimes, and cost the State bundles. People Acting in Concert Together (PACT) is pissed off about that and managed to get a pledge out of two of East Side Union High School Trustees to reduce the dropout rate. Study director Russell Rumberger pointed to San Jose Unified as exemplary in fighting the dropout problem.

The Merc’s Editorial Board hopes voters in the Moreland School District read the news that dropouts can be prevented during the early years – and vote yes on Moreland’s Measure A parcel tax measure.

Students at Santa Clara’s Wilcox and New Valley High Schools staged a mock funeral at the end of two days of the grim reminders of drunk driving. Santa Clara Police Chief Steve Lodge hopes the training will help students think before driving after getting sloshed. Or, maybe he hopes they’ll hold off on getting sloshed until out of high school…

They’re not NIMBYs they’re YUMBYs say High-Speed Rail opponents on the Peninsula who banded together as a consortium and skipped right past the local meetings to meet with Assemblymember Ira Ruskin. Ruskin is glad they did and pulled the High-Speed Rail Authority officials into the office for a chat. They are still NIMBYs...

Los Gatos’ residents lost their emergency room at 1:00 this morning as Community Hospital closed its doors. New owners, El Camino Hospital, hope to re-open in July. Until then Good Samaritan hopes to serve your emergency needs.

Saratoga’s Chamber of Commerce, still reeling from revelations that Executive Director Elizabeth Borbolla made off with Chamber funds, is working furiously to keep the doors open. Van Nelson, Chamber President, voiced disappointment in his protege saying “she was rising to the challenge. She was teaching herself the skills she needed to do the job. And we could afford her.” And she was stealing your money...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.1.09: A Palo Alto Four-Pack...no joke

Here is your daily dose of Lew Wolff-related news...

The Merc’s Mark Purdy provides support to the A’s move to San Jose...so does the Merc’s Editorial Board saying Selig’s panel is the best sign yet that the move is serious. Meanwhile, Lew Wolff is going to meet with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums -- which, like everything Wolff does, will be widely covered (here and) everywhere.

Chalk up one silver lining for the down market: affordable housing could replace the old bordello on Ditto’s Lane in Los Gatos. The Los Gatos City Council hopes to replace it (and other locations) with affordable housing. Deputy Town Manager Bud Lortz said anyone in Los Gatos making less than $120,000 qualifies for the low income housing.

Here is a four-pack of Palo Alto news for all to enjoy:

1. The Palo Alto Unified School Board must have been feeling very optimistic, they’ve approved plans for $300 million in construction for Gunn and Palo Alto High Schools, math texts “from this millennium,” and new classes including computer animation.
2. Palo Alto’s City Council has joined neighbors Menlo Park and Atherton in a lawsuit to stop High Speed Rail before it breaks ground. Councilmember Larry Klein said they plan to send “very clear signal that we intend to be players and think we can make a contribution to making the process better…”
3. Attention Palo Alto residents and businesses: Your electricity rates are going up. Well, they are at least one step closer to that reality because the City Council's Finance Committee said so last night. I guess the legal fees are mounting and need payment..
4. If world domination weren't a big enough goal, Google-geek Larry Page wants to build a massive home in Old Palo Alto...don't worry though, it will be environmentally friendly. As environmentally friendly as a 6,000 square foot home can be, Watch Dog guesses. Probably not as environmentally friendly as a home half that size would be...Watch Dog San Mateo (and others) had this story last week...the Merc. is on it today...

The "Help Wanted" sign is out at the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce. (Soon-to-be-former) Executive Director Elizabeth Borbolla could be headed to jail. Borbolla was arrested for forgery and embezzlement – the accusation is that she tried to make off with checks for roughly $4,000. Chamber President Van Nelson said Borbolla had been doing “...a heck of a job promoting the Chamber.” "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job..."

The Environmental Protection Agency will be testing the air at the Stevens Creek Elementary School in Cupertino. The school is one of 62 selected across the nation for testing – in this case because it’s so close to a cement plant. Sandra James, spokesperson for the Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant said bring it on, “we do not have a chromium problem at all.” We'll see...

Dr. Winnie Lee is Cupertino’s newest Planning Commissioner and plans to put her experience as a business owner to work on the Commission. When asked if her next stop was City Council Lee said she just wanted to get a handle on the Commission. Which reminds Watch Dog of an old joke about 100 Senators in D.C. who look in the mirror and see the next President...

The tragic deaths of 6 in Santa Clara are a mystery, the killer is said to have been a good, quiet, and gentle man who started getting angry over the past weeks. Family members and neighbors remain stunned at the deaths. This story is getting a lot of coverage in the newspaper of record for the Northern Suburb of San Jose...

Sheriff Laurie Smith’s team is trying to figure out who the man is buried under a pile of boulders in a rock quarry and how he died…

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.12.09: More Former Mayors in the News...

Baseball is back in the news…Mayor Chuck Reed and Company settled on an April 7 public meeting about bringing the A’s to San Jose. The decision followed input from the A's to San Jose Study Group Co-Chair Michael Mulcahy...and residents for and against a little springtime action. Metro’s Erin Sherbert weighs in on the growing excitement about the A’s. So does the Baseball San Jose blog...

The Merc’s Scott Herhold dedicates his space to musings over the Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins/Cindy Chavez shuffle at the South Bay Labor Council -- the impact to the Labor movement, to City Hall, and to local politics overall. (Herhold also mentions another Former Mayor in his piece...bringing the week's total of San Jose's Former Mayors mentioned on Watch Dog to 2, Former Mayoral Candidates remain at 3, and Current Mayors at 1.)

San Jose Inside/Metro’s Fly has been cruising Facebook (again) and found San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant's Chief of Staff, Jim Cogan, once again expressing an opinion in opposition to his boss. High on the list of all time best lines, Fly accuses Cogan of “performing rhetorical backflips” to explain his support of an anti-Internet filter group ‘Books Not Filters’. (There is no truth to the rumor that Constant is searching for his ball gag for Jim...)

San Jose Inside blogger/Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio blogs that those who “choose to live outside” (i.e., homeless) are here because San Jose is unable to put a border around itself. Tough talk for a guy with a guaranteed job…

The Merc’s Editorial Board puzzles over the "layoffs" at San Jose’s City Hall. Expect a loud (obvious) response from San Jose Revealed...

The San Jose Medical Center closed its doors in 2004, with neighbors in an uproar over the loss of a downtown hospital. The Merc’s Editorial Board lends its support to a Gardner Family Health Network urgent care facility to replace at least some of the medical services for San Jose’s growing downtown. A few obstacles lay in the path of making this real – most notably the former SJMC owner HCA who is not likely to support a competitor. (HCA also runs/owns Regional Medical Center...)

San Jose’s Elections Commission is irritated by the anonymity of a complaint against former Mayor/lobbyist Tom McEnery. (Former Mayor count is now at 3 for the week...) Chairman Fred de Funiak is irked that Commission rules allow for anonymous sources but is unwilling to change those rules in the middle of the McEnery complaint. Attorney James McManis points out the complaint is based on public information...

McManis is busy these days...

James McManis is pleased to see the end of the decade long gambling lawsuit. His client, Bay 101 and San Jose’s other gambling paradise, Garden City, will be able to remain open 24 hours. Gamblers must, however take a mandatory 4 hour bet-free break. One wonders exactly how that will be enforced…

San Jose Revealed uncovers the insecurities that San Jose struggles with: does anyone know the way to San Jose, does anyone really care? Revealed poses questions about San Jose’s political relevance both State- and nation-wide while wondering when San Jose Mayors will get press for something other than being a stiff, a philanderer, a criminal, or all three.

Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page calls it a victory in the making. The Council has asked staff to examine Saratoga's permitting process with an eye towards decreasing the number of eyes that have to review. Will Saratoga NIMBYs still be allowed to oppose permits?

Warning to anyone living near a Caltrain line: an improvement project will be keeping you up at night, at least temporarily. Eventually the rail grinding project will decrease the noise but for now anyone hoping to sleep between 10 pm and 4:30 am better get earplugs.

A suspicious package in Palo Alto down the street from a Jewish day school caused the school's evacuation. The make-shift package was made to look like a bomb and carried with it a menacing note...That is a scary story...

So is this...Sunnyvale as beach front property? The Pacific Institute has released a report identifying Alviso, along with hazardous dump sites, power plants, sewer plants, and communities around the Bay as being in danger as sea levels rise. Jim Wunderman, CEO of the Bay Area Council, recommends moving at high speed to resolve the problem. (Watch Dog San Mateo laments the possible loss of a blog-buddy during the rising tides...)

The City of Palo Alto and Stanford University don't always get along. Although neighbors and inextricably linked, land-use and taxes and traffic and housing cause all kinds of disputes. Take the proposed new hospital Stanford would like to build. Palo Alto is concerned about the impacts to roads, housing, etc. The City of Palo Alto and Stanford officials are set to meet to discuss the hospital and other Stanford-expansion projects in 3 days...in a thinly-veiled move to make the hospital look better to residents (and perhaps to the Palo Alto City Council as well) -- Stanford released a report yesterday pointing out that the hospital expansion would add $18 million in revenue to the City of Palo Alto...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.10.09: Watch Dog in the News...

Watch Dog Silicon Valley is mentioned/criticized in the Mercury News by columnist Scott Herhold today. The way the Merc. is going however, more people may read this recap of Herhold's piece than the actual paper version...we will have more (much more) to say about this soon. (San Jose Revealed, also criticized, responded this morning...)

And while we are in a self-praise mode, the COWs (Citizens Of Woodside) love Watch Dog too...

An Atherton resident threw her hat in the ring for Governor...in case you missed it yesterday, Watch Dog wrote about it here and here.

San Jose’s airport will see Mayor Chuck Reed racing through tonight as he catches a red-eye to D.C. in order to meet up with Mayors Antonio Villaragosa (LA) and Jerry Sanders (San Diego). The three will lobby Congress for sending some of those stimulus dollars California's way. Reed hates to travel and says, "…this is my nightmare version of it," but "it's an important trip, or else I wouldn't be doing it." Pressing his Green Vision, Reed will ask for money for clean tech and green jobs, perhaps still hoping/praying to get Tesla into San Jose. As a reminder, you should probably check out this piece that ran in the Metro about the Mayor's D.C. plans. Judging from the timing, it looks like Reed is being dragged to D.C. as opposed to pulling others with him...Reed's original plans were to trek to D.C. in late February/early March...

In the final dramatic change to the County’s dependency courts, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s will no longer represent children. That job now belongs to LACY – Legal Advocates for Children and Youth. The Merc. published a series “Broken Families, Broken Courts” which put the juvenile court system under the spotlight. Judge Katherine Lucero said, “We were very, very impressed with LACY, and it was a unanimous decision. We felt that LACY had a very whole-child approach." That quote would suggest that the DA's office did not...

The Saratoga City Council talked for 30 minutes before approving a fence ordinance that their Planning Commission spent 16 months to hammer out during numerous community meetings. While Councilmember Kathleen King expressed frustration at the time involved she said, “…I can see how much time they put into this ordinance.” Councilmember Jill Hunter said she was nervous about approving the ordinance because fences are so contentious in her neighborhood and expressed surprise that only two community members appeared at the Council meeting to discuss the proposal. Perhaps community members were adding in a few last minute inches and feet on their fences...

What does former Los Gatos Councilmember Steve Glickman have against libraries? While on Council he repeatedly attempted to prevent the Council from moving forward according to Mayor Mike Wasserman who says, "I'm really disappointed. We've had so many public meetings — probably a dozen — and we've had surveys done, and in every case support for the library was high." Now Glickman is hoping to put a ballot measure that would limit Los Gatos’ ability to spend money on capital projects. Weird, since he supported this capital project...

Gilroy held the first public meeting on a Sunshine Ordinace and no one showed up, or almost no one. Councilmember Perry Woodward, who won his seat campaigning against secrecy was there along with Mayor Al Pinheiro. Their colleague, Councilmember Peter Arellano, was stuck in New Mexico. City Administrator Tom Haglund said, "We're working through implementing the ordinance consistent with all of its provisions and we'll continue to do that..." No one from the public was in attendance and the meeting ended 15 minutes after it began. Perhaps the sunshine was keeping people from Sunshine...

The entertaining line of the year may go to Morgan Hill Times reporter Natalie Everett who wrote, “Asking the city's Business Assistance and Housing Services Department how successful they are at attracting and retaining businesses in the current economy is like asking a tugboat captain how he fares in the high seas during a storm.” Department Director Garrett Toy laid out what they don’t control – demographics, population, developers, and property owners before saying the department is only a small factor. Toy accounts for their success in bringing (and keeping) business with an aggressive marketing and retention program combined with tweaking things in their control.

Sally Lieber gets good press in the Mountain View Voice with a very friendly story about the former Councilmember/former Assemblymember/former Speaker Pro Tem’s improbable rise to power. Councilmember Mike Kasperzak said, "Sally and I disagree politically on some things, But I would never accuse Sally of taking the safe way out." Hey Mike, Lieber not running for Supervisor seemed like the 'safe way out.'

Google is making good on its goal to push the green agenda. The Google PowerMeter will help residents watch their household energy usage. The goal is to create the “Prius effect” with homeowners striving to push consumption down once they see it in realtime. The software works with the smart meters being rolled out by PG&E. Googler Michael Terrell, an energy program manager has it at his house, he says, "I'm driving my friends crazy. I'm really into the data,” as he yanks incandescent bulbs that prove to be energy hogs.

Trying to buck the trend of the anonymous, chain coffeehouse, and the dreary economy, Frank and Carole Rast reconfigured her parents aging and unused gas station into a hopping Japantown meeting spot, Roy’s Station Coffee & Teas. Roy Murotsone’s family bought the gas station after being released from WWII internment camps in Arizona. The family ran the gas station and attached diner. Opened yesterday, the updated neighborhood roost saw San Jose Councilmember Sam Liccardo and attorney Daniel Mayfield enjoying coffee while 5 year-old Madeline Gorman celebrated her birthday.

Morning News Round-Up – 1.21.09: Inauguration Hang-Over Edition...

The San Jose Pension fund drama promises to continue in San Jose as the City Council appoints two pension fund veterans (a.k.a. two guys who were there during expense abuse). Yesterday, Edward Overton, who is the retired Fund Director and former Police Officer David Bacigalupi were both appointed to the pension boards. (Bacigalupi most famous vote from his last time on the Board was to deny Councilmember Constant's disability claim...only to support it later.) Mayor Reed along with Councilmembers Pete Constant and Sam Liccardo did not support either appointment. Councilmember Nora Campos joined the dissenters in voting against Overton. Making this one of very few things that Campos, Reed, and Constant agree on...Bob Leininger, President of the San Jose Retired Employees Association said, “We feel [Overton’s] the right man.” Watch Dog hopes the losses and questionable travel has proved a learning experience.

The McEnery/Peralta Plan brought the claws out for San Jose Councilmembers Nora Campos and Sam Liccardo who exchanged barbs in an afternoon Study Session yesterday. Accusations of staff lying by Campos caused Liccardo to leap to staff defense. The $6 million in loans and grants from the City is projected to generate $40,000 annually to San Jose’s general fund. Mayor Chuck Reed says his old pal Tom McEnery’s project is critical, adding “I’m anxious to get moving.” Anxious to get moving? Ironically Chuck, that's the way organized labor feels about you in the Mayor's seat...

Murderous driving update. Richard Delgado, the 19 who was pissed at neighbor Donna Fife so he ran her over, has been arrested. No license and a history of crime make it likely he’ll see his 21st birthday behind bars not at one. On a different road-rage note, Quy Tran, the elderly woman who was hit on the way to church passed away Tuesday afternoon. Her killer, believed to be an Asian man 25 to 35, was driving a green Honda. If you saw the accident, call SJPD at 408.277.4654.

Saratoga’s Dan Stoner started running and tracking his miles in 1978 -- proving that he did not live up to his last name. In the ensuing 30 years, he has racked up enough miles to circle the globe. Happy Birthday, Dan, now get to work on the next ‘round the world run.

The Saratoga Planning Commission normally struggles folks who want to add a second story, so when David Kerley and Kirsten Jensen asked for an addition of 1,028 square feet they may have expected a fight. Instead Commissioners supported the request. Commissioner Yan Zhao said “The elevation just looks like a one-story house.”

When Morgan Hill’s Joseph Amaral was told he needed to sign up as a narcotic registrant he must have be a little confused. Perhaps he thought he was registering his narcotics. Sure enough, Amaral showed up at the Morgan Hill PD with a pocket full of speed. Sgt. Jerry Neumayer enlightened Amaral, and lightened his pockets, while arresting him.

Mission City Lantern is looking at possible Mayoral candidates for Santa Clara’s 2010 election. On today’s list is Chamber of Commerce/former Councilmember/Niners fan Dave Tobkin. Watch Dog assumes the Lantern's query regarding Tobkins familiarity with development is a mere tease.

Morning News Round-Up – 1.8.09: The Blogosphere of Influence Battle

San Jose’s City Attorney, Rick Doyle, made an offhand comment last year that has erupted into a battle royale yesterday. Doyle said Councilmembers (Nora Campos) who wanted to review private legal documents created in his office for downtown's Peralta Plan (McEnery Plan) would need their colleagues’ approval. Using this (mis)information yesterday, San Jose’s Rules Committee told her to take a hike with her request to make those documents public. It turns out Doyle goofed. Campos does have a right to review those documents after all. Which is not nearly as interesting as the battle raging between San Jose Revealed and San Jose Inside about who 'won' and who 'lost' in yesterday's Rules Committee/Elections Commission/Reed-McEnery-Campos dust-up. (Since McEnery's project is getting $6 million, it is safe to say he thinks he won...) Watch Dog points out that (seemingly) Campos got the idea to push on this issue from reading Revealed. See Watch Dog's "blogosphere of influence"...

The Alum Rock School District quietly talked with East Side Union about a plan to swap Pala Middle School for East Side's Adult Ed. Independence. When news first leaked Alum Rock Trustee Gustavo Gonzalez expressed concern about a growing need for schools that could make existing crowding problems worse. In today’s news, Board President Gonzalez seems to switch gears, saying “We have to look at the whole District and how we are running all our schools. We have some work to do to shore up our budget.” Watch Dogs can join the now public fun tonight at the Alum Rock Board meeting -- and if you've never been to an Alum Rock Board meeting, you should go...

Ash Kalra, San Jose’s newest Councilmember, faces some trouble in his District from Day 1. His old alma mater, Oak Grove High (part of the East Side Union High School District), has been the site of two teen stabbings recently. This week a 12 year old was arrested for armed robbery after he and a friend attacked a 16 year old and stole a cell phone. Last year a 16 year old girl stabbed a student in a gang-related incident. Have fun Councilmember Kalra...

San Jose is (supposedly) a mecca for electric cars… Mayor Chuck Reed unveiled the City’s first public "Smartlet"charging stations for electric cars. While you can now park and charge your Tesla car at the Fourth Street garage, it is the parking of the Tesla company in San Jose that is in real danger.

Greg Larson took over as Los Gatos Town Manager last year, not knowing the economic disaster that loomed internationally. This week, Larson reported Los Gatos is sitting on a $3.7 million reserve with $4.4 million in revenue stabilization reserve. In something of a small world story, Larson started his career in San Jose and was (then Mayor) Tom McEnery’s Budget and Policy Director before a series of moves including San Jose (again), Sacramento, Arizona, and Santa Cruz before landing in Los Gatos. Oh yeah, he also famously served with his famous buddy as Stanford's student body co-president...

Saratogans still have time to apply for openings on the Planning and Heritage Preservation Commission (a.k.a. the NIMBY Commission of Saratoga...) Applications are due today as City Hall is closed Friday with the new “9/80” schedule.

Use of City facilities in Cupertino may soon be free if you’re a non-profit or promoting cultural ties. Councilmember Gilbert Wong worries about the loss of revenue, "I think that with the economic times not doing so well...You're just going to open up a huge can of worms."

Los Gatos pooches have a new/old hangout with the reopening of the elegantly named Los Gatos Creek County Dog Park. The park previously sported real turf which was torn up and turned to mud causing pooch people to stay away. (Watch Dog suspects pooches would have loved the mud but the good folks of The Town don't like dirty dogs in their homes...) The recent renovations to do away with the mud cost the County nearly $227,000, the original park ran $325,000.