Although the “Great Crusade” was won some ten years before and the boys came home, the economic traumas of the postwar era had just begun. Yet, the center was still holding. Car dealerships like Normandin and Coyle; major department stores like Harts, Hales, Pennys , Roos Adkins and Bonds; hotels like the Sainte Claire and the DeAnza; restaurants like the embryonic Original Joe’s and the venerable Oyster Loaf; “everything for the farm and garden” at the Farmers Union; and all our major sports and entertainment venues. They were all there.

And then came Valley Fair.

The vicissitudes of the tectonic national changes of the fifties, with highways and suburbs, and families moving west, changed the world and changed San Jose. It is well known how the Mitchell family broke their word to the new Macy’s store slated for Santa Clara Street and set in motion the beginning of the end for downtown retail. Even the most astute of political and administrative leaders could not have stemmed the flow of taxes, stores and energy from the center city, but the effort to understand and curtail the exodus and abandonment of downtown took on epic speed through sloth and mismanagement. The vitality was sucked away. Downtown soon became the center of card rooms, secondhand stores, and broken dreams.

From that decision in the mid-fifties followed the evolution of the economic juggernaut at Valley Fair. In the early eighties, the mega-shopping center magnate, Ernie Hahn, gave a head-fake of interest to the downtown, and then negotiated an expansion and consolidation of the two separate parts of the old open air mall. It was the beginning of today’s giant enclosed mall. The tiny, 80,000 square foot retail pavilion behind the Fairmont was a feeble effort and about 5 percent the size of the Stevens Creek behemoth. It was no contest.

Then, in 1998, the coup de grace was administered in the guise of Santana Row and a new expansion of the Valley Fair/Westfield Mall—a million square feet more. Santana Row provided quality retail, entertainment, and housing, all in a faux, but, let’s face it, quite beautiful environment, while across the street, more and more retail arrived. To add insult to injury, many leases, reputedly, have an exclusion clause to forbid even the prospect of one of their tenants having the temerity to go downtown.  And now the latest in the saga: there will be a $165 million expansion to Valley Fair with additions such as Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s, totaling four top-of-the-line department stores, 300 stores, and 2 million square feet of space.

And the hopes of downtown?

This is a case of Russia vs. Georgia. From the past to this prologue has been a long and unequal journey full of mistakes and misjudgments. We must try and learn a lesson and garner for the old tax base, the downtown, some wisdom as to what we can be. We must pursue the future, but it must be pursued in a realistic and practical fashion. Learn from the mistakes of the past; don’t repeat them. 

If passed, the law would target youth for adult incarceration. Deeming any youth 14 years or older who is convicted of a “gang-related” felony as unfit for trial in a juvenile court, it will mandate that recipients of public housing subsidies must submit to annual criminal background checks. The intention is to withdraw the housing subsidies and target undocumented immigrants by denying bail to those charged with violent or gang-related crimes. It requires local sheriffs to inform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the arrest of people who are undocumented. If California’s plan to get out of a financial, educational, and housing crisis is to lock up as many people as possible as fast as we can, this is the bill to do it.

But just as Senator George Runner is gaining support from the prison industry (who expects an obvious financial windfall from the law), the movement to oppose the initiative is also growing. Last week, elected officials, unions, and civil rights and faith-based organizations joined forces in opposition to Senator Runner, saying his initiative would bankrupt California by pumping billions of dollars into prisons and failed policing efforts. The public argument is a financial concern, but bills like the Runner Initiative don’t get decided by economic rationales. Rather, what the Runner Initiative is sure to create leading up to voting day is a battle of movements: those who believe California can incarcerate itself to prosperity, and those who feel there are likely deeper, systemic reasons for crime that need to be addressed.

I remember what happened the first go-round during Proposition 21. While the proposition passed statewide and became law, it lost in Northern California. The byproduct, other than the current overcrowded state prisons and county juvenile halls, was an entire generation of young people who became politicized, if only for their own survival.

The reason why Proposition 21—which was anticipated to breeze through—lost in many counties was because of the community organizing that was done by youth organizations. They educated other youths and their parents, researched and exposed the bills funders, and challenged the notion that youths are irredeemable.

The entire notion of “youth organizing,” which has since created an entire industry of nonprofits, after-schools programs, and even foundations, was born from the Proposition 21 battle. And today, these same young organizers who took over hotel lobbies, hung banners on overpasses, and canvassed neighborhoods, are ready for Runner. Battle tested, more resourced, and more seasoned, these young adults will certainly fight to ensure the next generation does not become fodder for the prison industry and convenient political scapegoats, as so many of their peers were.

So when I heard the news that Valley Fair was planning a large expansion in January 2009 and would be adding high-end stores Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s, my initial reaction was of both elation and fear, and then annoyance.  The elation comes from two stores that are usually reserved for “Shallow Alto” or San Francisco residents, and now they are coming to our Podunk, million-resident town?  Golly Gee!  Then fear immediately comes on elation’s heels as I realize I don’t have the income to back up my love of shopping and fashion items.  Ugh.

After those two emotions set in, I began to become annoyed that they are expanding in an area that is already too crowded.  Have you ever tried to park at Valley Fair or Santana Row on a weekend? Have you ever tried to exit Stevens Creek Boulevard from 880?  It’s probably easier entering downtown Beijing.

What about the fact that this is an area that has too much already?  How about spreading the wealth? All of the debate about downtown retail has centered on the fact that you need a department store anchor to start any new development.  How many shops do you think would locate downtown if they knew Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s were going to be the cornerstones of a new revitalized retail offering?  It seems everything is done the easy way around here instead of having foresight, vision and innovation.

So I am sure I will be there when these two stores open, but I will probably be a bit exasperated from the traffic and the prospect of spending money.  But I would be much happier spending those dollars downtown!

In an effort to save society and better the community, Councilmembers Campos, Williams, and Chu have taken it upon themselves to try and impose a one-year moratorium on the construction of fast food restaurants in San Jose.  “Obesity is a huge problem within our society and among children,” Campos was quoted as saying. 

Mayor Reed responded, “I don’t think this is the way to solve our obesity problem . . . I happen to like McDonald’s salads, and I don’t think we should be telling our residents where they can and cannot eat.” (Mercury News, 8/15/08)

The Kindergarten logic here is that if there are fewer fast food restaurants, people will suddenly become more self-interested, will consume less “unhealthy food,” and devote more attention to the wellbeing of their children.  Please.

If we want the members of the city council to legislate health initiatives, let’s get real about it, let’s go all the way!  Impose a $20 per-pack tax on cigarettes.  Fine bartenders $5,000 every time they serve a patron more than two drinks.  Require that everyone in the City of San Jose join a gym and prove that they work out at least three times a week.  Prohibit left turns on all San Jose city streets.

On the one hand, these sorts of attempts at legislation are just silly stuff.  On the other hand, they are serious and a bit alarming.  Elected officials are not supposed to freelance. They are supposed to take their instructions from the people.

What do you call people who take it upon themselves to discern and deliver what’s “best for you?” Nannies? Elitists? Pests? Dictators?

Rebuttals? No, not at the 2-minute public forum at council meetings but, rather, for ballot statements. 

This past Tuesday, the council decided to match the State of California in allowing rebuttal statements so that voters could hear more than one side of a ballot issue. The State of California ballot statements carry a full debate on the particular state propositions. However, San Jose (prior to last week’s vote) only allowed the options of arguments in favor of or against a measure, with no rebuttals. Mayor Reed drafted a memo that changed the “no rebuttal” rule, and that’s a good thing. 

Of course, nothing is free. There is an estimated $30,000 fiscal impact in this new policy (for printing costs) for each rebuttal statement per citywide measure—a small price to pay for democracy. Whoever prints the ballots for the county must make a decent margin for one extra black-and-white printed page. This is on top of the $250,000 the county charges the city to put a measure before the voters of San Jose.

When people or groups submit ballot statements they must be reviewed by the city attorney for accuracy and to ensure that nothing “disparaging” is said. In addition, full names must be listed and titles may be used.  Rebuttal statements are due one week after the initial pro and con statements have been published so they are true rebuttals.

This year we have a star-studded cast signing onto ballot arguments, including the mayor, vice mayor, council members, former mayor, county supervisor, the Libertarian Party and San Jose residents. 

Do you read ballot arguments, pro and/or con?
Do they influence your thought process about how you may vote?
Do you pay attention to who has signed ballot statements?
Do you like the addition of rebuttal statements?

The Milpitas Post reported late Thursday that San Jose’s Honor Guard, backed by thousands of City Team peacekeepers and a bevy of Taiko drummers, invaded the small hamlet of Milpitas, resulting in several dangerous clashes with their loyal and brutal band of Minutemen left over from the city’s War of Independence in 1954.

The initial conflagration took place at Carl’s Jr. on Mission Blvd., and although several burgers were hurled dangerously like greasy projectiles, no one was seriously injured.

Both sides deny culpability. Milpitas claims that the aggression is due to a deep-seated feeling of inadequacy, need for expansion and desire for regime change. San Jose claims that Milpitas is illegally capitalizing on their decades-old work on developing Silicon Valley by allowing high tech companies to locate within its city limits.

“They have always had neocolonial designs on our province,” said Milpitas mayor Jose “Joe” Esteves. “But they are acting irresponsibly and threatening the stability of an entire region, risking an unfathomable humanitarian catastrophe.”

After setting up headquarters in Newby Island landfill, San Jose troops pushed forward to downtown Milpitas, and with a small band of rebel Department of Transportation employees, wasted no time in securing Mission Blvd., thereby severing access between major highways and crippling their economy of feeding hungry travelers leaving town.

Thousands of former Milpitans have been forced to find refuge in neighboring Alviso, setting up makeshift camps by the salt marshes, living off planktonic micro-crustaceans from the sloughs, and leftover food particles salvaged from Vahl’s grease interceptor.

The VTA Board, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Elk’s club members from both territories agreed to step in at the behest of other Bay Area cities to serve as pseudo-UN Security Council mediators.

Milpitas, which is emerging as a tax increment and sales tax behemoth, has long been an expansion target for San Jose, which has been looking to annex more land for its uber-successful Rincon redevelopment area in the north.

The escalation has also raised tensions with San Jose’s former Cold War foe and Bay Area superpower, San Francisco, to levels not seen since State Senator John Burton’s jock strap comment.

“At this point, the reconciliation and repatriation will be a long, painful process,” said San Jose Office of Economic Development’s Paul Krutko “which could certainly be sped along with the gift of the Great Mall and their sales tax revenues.”

FREMONT resident Xavier Nuez specializes in urban blight photography. For 17 years now, he’s slithered into desolated wastelands across America and documented rundown shipyards, busted fire escapes, defunct ballparks and deserted alleyways. He makes photographic monuments out of ruins. “Long after dark, I venture into bleak urban settings, seeking out dramatic stories and elusive splendor,” he asserts on his website (http://www.nuez.com). Since Nuez shoots only in film and only at nighttime, the photos have a surreal, almost sinister look about them. When seen in large format, the details are staggering.

Fifteen of his photographs, each around 32 inches by 40 inches, will be featured at Stanford Art Spaces from Aug. 28 to Oct. 23. Throughout the rest of the year he will exhibit in Chicago, Portland, St. Louis, Beverly Hills and Louisville, Ky. Last week I caught up with him by phone from Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was on his way to the Gold Coast Art Fair in Chicago. We discussed what it’s like to discover beauty in the most hideous thrown-away blighted eyesores imaginable.

“I love these places because you get away from your structured life,” he said. “You step into chaos for a while. It’s a release. You just kind of abandon society. It’s like a little oasis in the city. At the same time, you’re getting away from the glossy surface of so many things, and step into a place with zero pretenses. These are places that nobody really cares about, they’re kind of utilitarian, but they’re hidden and they’re dark and out of the way.”

Nuez’s plight to capture the poetic splendor of dark blighted alleyways has not come without certain elements of danger, naturally. Thugs have pointed guns at him, police have questioned him and gangsters have chased him. But he says it’s all worth the profound thrill he gets from exploring forgotten, decimated locations. Time gives these old alleys and buildings a certain personality he says is far more interesting than any modern building.

“There’s something about old weathered buildings and ruins,” he explained. “They develop a character that you can’t find in anything that’s new. You look at them and you can sense the history. You can imagine the people that have come and gone and the hundreds of stories that have taken place in this dark corner of the city. When you’re in these places, you know there’s a lot of stories, but there’s no one to ask. All you can do is imagine.”

Nuez has a history of homelessness in his family and he often ponders if it’s all related, since he began exploring these places as a kid, which eventually led to photographing them for a living. 

“My dad spent time living on the street,” he said. “So did one of my brothers and an uncle. For a time, for a long time, I just assumed that was going to be my fate. So even while I would go through these places and be in awe of the chaos, I also looked at them as a future home. I had a very pessimistic outlook of my future, but at the same time, I tried to put a positive spin on it.”

And therein lies the success story. As of right now, Nuez is making a living by exploring rundown alleys and selling his photographs.

“When I started doing these shows, I really had little hope,” he recalled. “I guess I didn’t really have a lot of confidence in people’s ability to appreciate this kind of urban decay. But as it turns out, people are very curious about the seedy side of the city. They want to see it. Another thing is that when I started shooting these places at night, I assumed that every photographer did this. I just thought it was normal. You get a camera and you go into an alley at night and you take pictures. What else would you do?”