So now that we’ve all had a week to digest the events of last Tuesday, my question is: “Where do we go from here?”  As you know, I strongly supported David Pandori and his ideas of change and reform.  I thought (and still think) he would have been great for our city.  And many other citizens (those who actually took the time to vote) did too— unfortunately, just not enough of them.  But it’s all playing the game of “coulda-woulda-shoulda” at this point. 

There have been several instances of a distinct lack of ethics shown by some candidates and interest groups in this election.  Some glaring examples of “lapses” in ethical conduct are the unscrupulous actions of Manny Diaz, an ethically-challenged candidate for the District 3 San Jose City Council seat. (This is also the opinion of the Mercury News.) Diaz has used the names of neighborhood leader Elizabeth Mattson and respected politician Mike Honda for his campaign pieces, falsely saying they were endorsing him for the election.  This has become carpetbagger Diaz’s method of operation. So where has this unethical behavior gotten him?  In the past, it seems it got him elected. 

We are sitting exactly one week from the mayoral primary and now it’s time to start making some decisions on your vote.  Whether you want to know or not, my vote next week for mayor is going to David Pandori.  I have come to this decision because I feel we need a tough, yet principled leader who will take San Jose where it should have been years ago, and restore pride and trust in our city government.  This will not be an easy task—being that the Gonzales regime probably stripped most of the honor and trust out of the mayor’s office—but I feel that Pandori can restore that pride and trust for us, while also getting things done. 

I have not seen any TV commercials for any candidate for mayor.  Maybe it’s because I choose to get my information from the Mercury News or, more likely, because I have TiVo and hate commercials more than most anything in the world, I fast-forward through every TV program I watch. So this week I am asking for help from our readers in filling me in on what I might be missing. 

Over the weekend, the Mercury News came out with their first mayoral election poll and there were a few surprises as well as a few non-surprises.  I feel that the fact that 37 percent of voters are still undecided is a great sign.  That shows me that people really want to hear what all the candidates have to say and aren’t just voting for the name they know or the person from their district. I hope it is because they are reserving judgment until the end and it’s not a sign of apathy or disgust. And then, there is the question of how reliable these polls really are.

Just a few ramblings about the mayor’s race this week:

A few people who attended the Hyde Park Neighborhood’s Mayoral Forum last Thursday all had the same thing to say about the San Jose mayoral candidates—they all look tired, worn-out and “beat to a pulp.”  I think it’s fitting to liken running for mayor to the Sharks trying to win the Stanley Cup—it’s hard to do and you get a lot of nicks and bruises along the way.  But, how much weight do those forums really hold? Are the candidates burning the candle at both ends for nothing?

Much has been said about the Grand Prix lately, using words like “swindle” and “shameful” and talking about how it is a huge waste of money.  Now, rumblings have turned into accusations that there were some backroom deals made in order to make this event happen. What is really going on here?

I thought when everyone talked about San Jose and looked into its future, we all agreed that we didn’t want to become another Los Angeles.  Well, it looks like, yes folks, right before your eyes, we are.  The plan for Coyote Valley and the other new developments in the area are just leading us down the path of becoming another suburban-sprawled city like L.A., but does anyone in City Hall see it that way?

Will San Jose ever get a professional baseball team or are we holding onto a pipe dream?  I would love nothing more than the Oakland A’s to call San Jose their home, but honestly, we need to talk about the fact that this probably will never happen in this city.  Why do I bring this up now?  Because a few of my friends, who are strongly leaning towards voting for Michael Mulcahy in the mayor’s race, said that the things that were “important to them are important to Mulcahy.”  Amongst other things, this means they want a baseball team in San Jose (join the club) and they think Mulcahy is the man to get the deal done. 

As I drive around San Jose, it’s obvious that each of the five major candidates (not including Stanley the Modified Pig) has a chokehold on their neighborhoods; if you look around downtown near San Pedro, the place is littered with Pandori signs, over off First and Second Streets you see Chavez signs, and you cannot walk in Willow Glen without tripping over a Mulcahy sign.  The same can be said for Berryessa with Chuck Reed and Evergreen with David Cortese.  Each neighborhood resident either knows their current or former council member, or is going with the “familiarity” factor, almost saying, “____ is from my neighborhood, so I am supporting them.”  But who is going to bridge the gap to gain crossover appeal in neighborhoods they are not from?

I was present at the first mayoral debate at the California Theatre last Thursday because I was interested to see how each of the five candidates would cope with the pressure of having to stand up to one another while answering some potentially difficult questions. 

So all the hubbub lately is about how good ol’ Ronny G is trying to make his mark on San Jose before he goes out of office by sitting on committees he has been expressly told not to sit on and attempting to have an impact AFTER his censure. Wouldn’t we have been better off if the council had just removed the guy from office?  Why leave someone in office with just enough power to hold up every major decision facing the city right now? 

The single best hidden gem in San Jose has to be Japantown, our cluster of authentic Japanese restaurants and culture located right outside of downtown on Jackson Street.  I know the area well because I grew up downtown, but most residents of San Jose still haven’t discovered all that is great about this area.

I was on a bike ride with my friend the other day and we decided to take the path through the new Guadalupe River Park.  We rode our bikes to Coleman and got on the path to ride towards the Arena and on to Willow Glen, but were frustrated by what we encountered.  It turns out that we should have brought a compass, night-vision goggles and a periscope, because riding a mere 15 feet without a fork in the road was impossible.  The path is broken up by chain-linked fences that either force you to turn back, return you unwillingly back up to the street, or send you through a confusing maze in another direction.  On one turn, we ended up taking our bikes over a rickety railway crossing, only to be turned back on the other side, forcing us to go back over the tracks and retrace our steps. 

Why is it that during every Mardi Gras this city is overrun with troublemakers who scare anyone decent away? 

I was driving in my car last night and an advertisement came on the radio supporting Michael Mulcahy’s campaign for mayor.  It wasn’t his platform that struck me but his opening statement that he is “not a politician.”  Has politics gone so wrong that someone who is running for public office would state such a claim? Isn’t it a little like interviewing doctors to help with what ails you and one doctor saying, “And best of all, I am not even a doctor!”