About the Author
Tom McEnery is an author, businessman and teacher. He was Mayor of San Jose and has lived in the city all his life—so far. His column appears on Wednesdays. He can be e-mailed at tom@sanjoseinside.com.
COLUMNISTS
- Tom McEnery
- Jack VanZandt
- Single Gal
- John McEnery
- The Fly
- Pierluigi Oliverio
- Steven DeCinzo
- Dan Pulcrano
- Eric Johnson
- Gary Singh
- Raj Jayadev
- Leonard McKay
BART: The Sequel
Posted by Tom McEnery on Tuesday, August 05, 2008
I thought that arenas and baseball stadiums brought out the most dramatic, intense, and even incendiary discussions, but I stand corrected—for now. It seems that currently in our valley, the mention of BART is enough to send many normally sane blokes to the ramparts, girded for battle.
CONTINUE READING . . . (24 Comments)
BART Or No BART?
Posted by Tom McEnery on Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Well, we are on the cusp of another big decision about the future of our valley and our region. Are we going to commit to the biggest transportation project in our history and vote to approve a one-eighth-cent sales tax to raise billions of dollars in a push for rail transit?
CONTINUE READING . . . (63 Comments)
North San Jose a Worthy Model for the City’s Future
Posted by Tom McEnery on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
As the city embarks on a very ambitious plan in North San Jose for jobs and housing, and a mini-debate is had on the wisdom of the city owning land, it will be instructive to look at the past. While we may not always learn from our history, it never hurts to look at it and glean a bit of knowledge and perhaps even some insight.
CONTINUE READING . . . (7 Comments)
Campaign Spending and a Modest Proposal
Posted by Tom McEnery on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Last week there was a very interesting report on spending in the last mayoral election. In it, consultants to the San Jose Elections Commission reported that independent spending in the election totaled over $3 million. Of the six groups that were mentioned, five were associated with the Democratic Party and organized labor (including the police and fire unions). The fifth, and perhaps most controversial and effective, was the Chamber of Commerce’s PAC that leveled some particularly pointed shots at the Cindy Chavez candidacy. By far the largest spender was the Santa Clara County Democratic Campaign, who spent over $1.7 million, ostensibly in support of Chavez’s failed campaign.
CONTINUE READING . . . (12 Comments)
The City We Were
Posted by Tom McEnery on Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Looking Back to 1988
It was another time when I first became mayor in 1983. There were no first run movie theatres. The finest hotel was the Holiday Inn. The DeAnza and Sainte Claire were shuttered. No shopping, no sports, no pleasant river walks. The parks were seedy and unused. Needless to say, there was no real reason to come downtown except the noble arts groups, a few hardy pioneers like Camera 3 and Eulipia, and our nascent San Jose Museum of Art, gallantly fighting a Dunkirk-like battle, trying to stay alive to win a war.
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