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.

You can only wonder when the sins of the last decade will stop visiting themselves on the people of San Jose. We saw it again late last week when a jury awarded $851,000 to the three businessmen who were injured in a notorious email that originated from then-Mayor Ron Gonzales’ office in the middle of the failed attempt to take over the Tropicana Shopping Center some six years ago.

The last San Jose City Council meeting before the summer break has occurred and it was a very long one.  Many things happened in that session and there was an equally long list of items that seemed innocuous (some even incomprehensible), but progress was served. Yet, there were a few items that really should be highlighted.

We are getting ample proof that the “thugocracy” that has been created with the proliferation of nightclubs is finally destroying the hopes for a real downtown. With the closing time near-riot early last Sunday morning, it is becoming painfully clear that we cannot have a growing and prospering downtown of residents and small business entrepreneurs as long as these raucous nightclubs and out-of-control bars continue to operate. It is turning ugly and this ugliness is killing the hopes and dreams of generations of hard working San Joseans for their downtown.

Usually after elections, there must be the counting (and sometimes recounting), and the obligatory, if not always enlightening, analysis.  With the end of last week’s battles, there are two salient facts beyond debate. First, the fight over “Little Saigon” was traumatic for the city and more so for the hopes of Vietnamese-American candidates.  And second, the attempts of the Democratic establishment to boost and support candidates that would be solidly in their camp failed miserably with the crushing of Craig Mann in the Evergreen district.

The election is over and the citizens are safe for a brief respite before the clamor and cacophony of the General Election.  There are things even more important than the fate of professional football at stake—like the future direction of the City of San Jose and the County of Santa Clara—that will be set in some significant and perhaps unchangeable ways. 

As we commented at the founding of San Jose Inside, our modest effort to change and improve the political landscape in San Jose, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke, writing in eighteenth century England, did not have the need to say “people,” but I will, since our politics has been greatly improved by the advent of the many women in local political firmament. And I will further offer the thought that here in our city, women have often stepped forward and courageously changed the direction of our local government.

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is a favorite quote of many who discuss history. Most likely said first—and best—by poet and philosopher, George Santayana, we should remember it in San Jose.

It seems that this council, most of it anyway, means what it says; it held the line against the conversion of five acres of industrial land to housing. Nice job, team.  The war will never be won until developers believe that the council will not buckle under the joint pressure of too much money and too little staff backbone. It must be won battle by battle.

There is much to be concerned about in San Jose these days. We have seen this before in the early seventies, when the vaunted SJPD of today was not quite that organization. It was undertrained and poorly led. Its relationship with the minority community was fragile and the composition of the force did not reflect the makeup of our city. That all changed with the selection of Joe McNamara as chief in 1976, and his particular brand of leadership. 

We have traveled a long and winding road in the last fifty years—a very long way—and we are now on the verge of becoming a city of one million people. Wow! But does the size of San Jose really matter?

When you think of San Jose and its financial ability, its real strength, I wonder what comes to mind: downtown, and places like the TECH Museum, the beautiful Fairmont Hotel, or perhaps the Arena? I imagine it might be any of those. It might also be another place, that is, more a state of mind than a physical location, namely, Silicon Valley. But if those or similar sites leap to mind, I have one other location to conjure: North San Jose. Sometimes known as the “Golden Triangle,” it is one of the largest and richest pieces of real estate in the world. There are big plans for it still. These plans call for adding 83,000 jobs and 32,000 homes in the area north and west of Interstate 880 and south of Highway 237. About 8,000 residences are currently planned for this very special area.

We all love to be as little children: to see colorful animals and play with tinker toys. And if we have young kids or grandchildren, it can be a great joy to travel the city and see so many examples of toys, painted tigers, and kaleidoscopic shades and tints at our obvious points of interest. This is the state of our public art in San Jose: colorful, playful, and totally one dimensional. There has to be more in a city and its description of itself as evidenced in her adopted pubic art program. There is a pivotal question though: Are we mature and confident enough to reflect this as a statement of who we are?

In a postscript to the visit of former President Clinton to San Jose for the state Democratic Convention, I was surprised to learn that his rather haggard appearance had a reason. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Clinton had a “meltdown” before his rather calm address to the assembled delegates where he advised all to “chill out.”

For the first time in many years, I attended a Democratic State Convention last Sunday.  The fact that it was being held at our own Convention Center made it easy, but the real hook was the fact that an Irish parliamentarian friend of mine wanted to hear Bill Clinton’s speech and say hello to him. We did both as we listened to the 45-minute speech (pretty good) and then spoke to the former president for a few minutes.

Things often seem to have a new beginning around Easter. In some ways it is more rejuvenating than even New Year’s Day in the minds of many. I am one of those who feel this way. The idea of resurrection is, and should be, a fine chance to start again. It is in the center of my mind this week and presents us with a real opportunity.