The topic of bumping and staff reductions takes center stage at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the first of 2013. Other items on the agenda include loaded questions for police chief candidates, the city manager’s upcoming trip to Las Vegas, Curb Cafés, a dog park group getting its due and city property sales, one of which could benefit a local charter school group.
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Culture
San Jose Fire Dept. Slower than Reported
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![](https://www.sanjoseinside.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Screen_Shot_2013-01-04_at_4.12_.34_PM_-140x90.jpg)
Since 2009, the San Jose Fire Department has responded to emergency calls slower than previously reported. The question is by how much. In a memo sent out Friday by the city manager’s office, Fire Chief William McDonald explains that “data used in the calculation of the response-time measure were excluded in error.”
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Teen Murder Rate Skyrockets in 2012
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Culture
County Updates P-Card Policies; Alvarado Moves to Shirakawa’s District
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![](https://www.sanjoseinside.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/NEWS-Shirakawa_460-140x90.jpg)
While the District Attorney’s Office and Fair Political Practices Commission continue their investigations into Supervisor George Shirakawa, the county has moved forward with updated policies on P-Cards and expenditures. Also, sources have confirmed with San Jose Inside that Teresa Alvarado, a potential candidate to replace Shirakawa if he is forced out of office, is moving to District 2.
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Let’s Talk about Guns in America
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Culture
Shirakawa Mess Costs County $200,000, County Exec Figures
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Culture
Chavez Steps down as Labor Council’s CEO, Remains with Working Partnerships
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![](https://www.sanjoseinside.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Chavez_SBLC_460-140x90.jpg)
Cindy Chavez is out as CEO of the South Bay Labor Council. End of an era? Not quite. Chavez, who joined the SBLC in 2009 after an unsuccessful mayoral run and two terms on the San Jose City Council, will continue in the role of executive director of Working Partnerships, the think tank that helped organize the successful Measure D campaign and shares a building with SBLC.
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County Assessor Says Shirakawa, Smith Should be Held Accountable
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Politics
Pyle’s Audit Request Denied at Rules
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In one of her final requests as a San Jose councilmember, Nancy Pyle asked the Rules committee on Wednesday to let the council discuss an audit regarding staffing levels and employee bumping to different positions due to layoffs, resignations and retirements. The committee told her to kick rocks.
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Shirakawa’s Lobbyist Friends, Political Allies Reimburse County for Meals
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Culture
Shirakawa Wonders if People Dislike Him because He’s a Raider Fan
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![](https://www.sanjoseinside.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Raider_460-140x90.jpg)
The day after a county audit demanded George Shirakawa reimburse $12,772 in improper charges with his county-issued credit card, the president of the Board of Supervisors threw out a checklist of reasons why the media would make up “straight-up untrue” reports about his fraudulent expense reports, misuse of taxpayer money and missing campaign disclosure forms.
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IPA Takes Issue with Police Shirt Featuring Human Skull, Assault Rifles
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![](https://www.sanjoseinside.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/SJPD_shirt_logo_460-140x90.jpg)
A culture war is being waged between some San Jose police officers and Independent Police Auditor LaDoris Cordell. Judge Cordell has taken issue with a T-shirt that was designed for officers in an elite tactical unit that is equipped with assault rifles. Cordell, who called the shirt’s design “a thug logo,” features the acronym SJPD, a human skull with two assault rifles crossed in the background and the motto “Usus Ferocitas,” which in Latin can translate to several meanings.
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‘Embarrassed’ Shirakawa Admits Mistakes, Disputes Portions of Media Reports
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![](https://www.sanjoseinside.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/shirakawa_refrigerator-140x90.jpg)
County Supervisor George Shirakawa issued his first public comments regarding his reported misuse of taxpayer money in an email Wednesday to constituents. In the letter, Shirakawa uses a myth/fact juxtaposition to clear up “a complicated issue that can’t be explained with sensationalized headlines and scandalous printed ‘sound bites.’”
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Unland Still the Police Union President
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Jim Unland had his leadership of San Jose’s police union questioned internally as well as in the press the last couple weeks. But when the Police Officers Association’s election—held over the course of several days—came to a close Tuesday morning, Unland easily retained his position as president of the POA, defeating officer Jon Baker by a wide margin, according to a POA source.
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Protest Planned for School Board Meeting
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Parents of Alum Rock Union School District students, community members and Somos Mayfair plan to protest in advance of tonight’s school board meeting and the potential appointment of a new board member. The protest, which is scheduled to start 30 minutes before the 6pm board meeting, hopes to sway trustees Esau Herrera, Dolores Marquez and Andres Quintero from appointing a new board member before Karen Martinez joins the board in December. Martinez won a trustee seat in this month’s election and the county does not certify results until Dec. 4.
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