City Councilwoman Rose Herrera didn’t mince her words. “If we were the private sector we would be asking for resignations,” she said about Team San Jose, which runs the McEnery Convention Center and Visitors Bureau.
Councilman Sam Liccardo reported that when compared with six other similar-sized California cities, San Jose comes in dead last in the number of conventions booked. Meanwhile, special events like the Genghis Khan exhibition not only end up losing money—they have to be bailed out by the city. Yet shortly after CEO Dan Fenton informed the city that Team San Jose was $950,000 over budget, he went and gave bonuses to himself and his staff.
The oversight does not appear to be much better. At one point there was a 28 member board of directors that met once every quarter. The board now consists of fifteen members, though they now meet once a month.
Finally, the city has stepped in. At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, it was decided unanimously to put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to see if some other group might manage the Convention Center better. With $120 million worth of renovations in the works, the city does not want to see its money misused.
Mayor Chuck Reed said he is prepared to reconsider the agreement that lumps the Convention Center and Visitors Bureau under the same umbrella organization. He notes that this was a deal he worked out several years ago with Cindy Chavez of the South Bay Labor Council, but said the time has come to reconsider the packaging.
“Looking at the last couple of years it’s clear we were not on the right course,” Reed said.
Read More at the Business Journal.
The Mayor, and Council Members Herrera, and Liccardo should be commended for their actions on this. The money that has been wasted, and the lack of oversight are troubling. If this happened in the private sector, people would be fired the first time this kind of thing happened.
The really sad part of all this is that when employees who blog here tell us there is a problem that needs to be looked at, the media doesn’t follow up and investigate it.
It’s for reasons like this that I spend next to nothing within the SJ City limits. Other communities – Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Campbell – get my tax dollars. I refuse to let SJ waste perfectly good revenue on programs and mentally challenged slugs as described above.
“If we were the private sector we would be asking for resignations,”
Council should be asking for resignations from Team San Jose, city staff who oversees “Convention Center and Visitors Bureau.” ( or maybe they did from Paul Krupko or was it inappropriate behavior ? ) and entire Oversight Board
City governments has for years has had HORRIBLE oversight of taxpayer funds and property
City staff hides mistakes from Council and public and delays disclosure until requires 1/2 millions or more in bailouts
Short List of city oversight failures:
Team San Jose
Convention Center and Visitors Bureau
Golf courses
Mexican Heritage
Northside Community Center
Most of city Grants programs
Park Impact Funds
City Owned property leases
Has any city staff EVER been fired, demoted or laid ofd for poor oversight taxpayer funds or NOT telling Council about oversight problems – NO city staff PENALITY so horrible oversight continues year after year
There is NO Mismanagement or Non Disclosure PENALTY for organizations mismanaging city grant or tax subsidies – SanJose should have Requirement for any city bailout the resignation or firing of Executive Director or CEO and 50% Board of Directors
TIME TO FIRE – TEAM SAN JOSE, CITY STAFF and all Community organization CEO who are responsible or if City Manager is unwilling or unable – Fire City Manager
The city council could put another measure on the ballot to amend the city charter that would change the INDEPENDENT POLICE AUDITOR’S OFFICE to the Independent Team San Jose Auditor that would put some oversight on operations at the Convention Center that is APPARENTLY LACKING on the.part of the mayor and city council’s part.
This mayor and council has to rank as one of the all time most inept and.fiscally irresponsible groups of elected officials outside of the sitting US House and senate. More pathetic is the fact that they all aspire to reelection or higher office. It is time to rid the city of these bumbling a$$
Clowns.
> At one point there was a 28 member board of directors that met once every quarter.
> “Looking at the last couple of years it’s clear we were not on the right course,” Reed said.
My theory is that the operation suffered from a lack of community invovement and management oversight.
I’m sure that things would have been much better if they had had a 56 member board of directors that met three times a week, with a nice buffet before each meeting and an open bar apres soir.
You have no clue of how close you are to the truth other than the problem was all Dan Fenton.
Good Riddance to years poor management and one of many tax subsidies to South Bay Labor
Open bidding up to all qualified management organizations not another San Jose political insider run group where they make millions and city / taxpayers lose which is typical of city’s contracts and deals
Don’t make anymore deals with Cindy Chavez. She was an incompetent mayoral candidate. She is an incompetent labor leader. What makes you think she can manage anything other than a sock drawer?
http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/270911-macsa-investigation-charter-blues
At the center of the MACSA mess is Xavier Campos the newly elected and labor backed flunkee from MACSA. Chavez was a bulldog for him in his run for council. Makes you wonder why?
“Yet shortly after CEO Dan Fenton informed the city that Team San Jose was $950,000 over budget, he went and gave bonuses to himself and his staff.”
Geez, just a couple of weeks ago it was $750k. And then Dan authorized bonuses for himself and others? UNBELIEVABLE! Well, actually it is believable, it’s just completely unacceptable. The council should rescind those bonuses forthwith.
Rose Herrera didn’t mince her words. “If we were the private sector we would be asking for resignations,” So why can’t the public sector demand resignations?
“Finally, the city has stepped in. At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, it was decided unanimously to put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to see if some other group might manage the Convention Center better.” Oh, there they go with PROCESS again. It’ll take many, many months before a single thing happens, and if the City Team board has enough “relationships” with the councilmembers, not much may happen at all.
Once again the taxpayers take it up the kazoo, while overpaid bureaucrats keep giving themselves bonuses despite poor performance.
And folks wonder why we have a structural deficit????
Yet shortly after CEO Dan Fenton informed the city that Team San Jose was $950,000 over budget, he went and gave bonuses to himself and his staff.
Private industry does this all the time. It is Standard Operating Procedure for executives. Yet, when government agencies do what people demand by acting like a business people get upset.
Make up your mind people. Do you want government run corectly, or do you want it run like a business where those at the top benefit, and the employees suffer. In the case of government run like a business, the public is the one that suffers.
> Private industry does this all the time. It is Standard Operating Procedure for executives. Yet, when government agencies do what people demand by acting like a business people get upset.
Well, this may be what it says in your union comic book, but this is not the way the businesses in the real market economy work.
If a business executive gives himself a big bonus, the directors ask him to justify it.
If the jusification is unsatisfactory, the directors fire him, or the shareholders sell the stock and invest in a company where the executives deliver the results the shareholders want.
The “private industries” that pay executive big bonuses without accountability are mainly the “too big to fails” bailed out by the Obama regime.
“Too big to fail” is not a recognized principle of a market economy. It is an attribute assigned by politicians to certain businesses, typically businesses that make lots of campaign contributions, or that employ lots of union workers who vote Democrat.
Still living in Ayn Rand’s fantasy world are you Bronco?
You are obviously so close minded you cannot see reality, or you are just not very smart. Either way, your post is utter fantasy. The board approves these bonuses for executives. They do not care. It is all a giant “good old boys” club. And the Republican party is bending over backwards to make it even easier for these guys to continue to get their bonuses.
> You are obviously so close minded you cannot see reality, or you are just not very smart.
Probably, I’m not just very smart.
What comic books should I read to be as smart as you are?
Maybe, “Super KIM! Truth, Justice, and the North Korean Way”: The inspiring story of a boy dictator who ended business corruption by ending all business.
or
“Bat Socialist and Robbing”, crime fighting superheros who single handedly saved an entire society from capitalism, freedom, and prosperity.
We need to expand the exhibit space to 2.4 million from 150,000 today to make it enticing for convention to come to San Jose. Chicago has 2 million sq ft of exhibit space and Orlando also has 2 million. The same goes for Vegas. Let’s act our size and make San Jose be in the big league.
Chicago and Orlando are major vacation destinations.
Sears Tower, Magnificent Mile, Disney World, Sea World.
You know. Sights. The kind of things conventions put in their brochures.
What does SJ have? A minor mission and a turd statue?
Yep. Big leagues. That’s where we are. Right up there with Paris and Tokyo.
I worked at the convention center while Fenton was only at the CVB. He was all talk and “no walk” then. Finally SJC is figuring out they made a gross mistake in having Team San Jose manage the facilities. Turn to FACILITY MANAGERS to manage facilites working with the CVB, local arts and cultural orgs, established promoters and established consumer shows.
dur – If San Jose can’t manage properly 150,000 sg ft convention Center which lost almost $1 million taxpayers money – Why would anyone give the city management and Team San Jose incompetents 2 million sq ft to manage – So they can lost $5-10 million year ?
Pure BS and dumba** thinking Is that your sad attempt at a joke after city & TSJ lost millions ?
Agree wiyth other – people responsible at city and TSJ should be fired now
Well Team,
I am only going to say this….
—> I TOLD YOU SO!<—
Google all my prior posts over the years about these ass clowns.
Kathleen you are 100% Correct.
Old Frank
Mr. Licardo,
Which similar sized cities have more revenue? Are thier facilities as small as our convention center? Are the maintenance of the facilities as bad as the convention center?
Who owns our convention center? Isn’t that entity supposed to keep the property up to standards of the other small cities?
Hopefully some answers!
dur – If San Jose can’t manage properly 150,000 sg ft convention Center which lost almost $1 million taxpayers money – Why would anyone give the city management and Team San Jose incompetents 2 million sq ft to manage – So they can lost $5-10 million year ?
Pure BS and dumba** thinking Is that your sad attempt at a joke after city & TSJ lost millions ?
Agree with other – people responsible at city and TSJ should be fired now
> We need to expand the exhibit space to 2.4 million from 150,000 today to make it enticing for convention to come to San Jose.
Hmmmm.
Increasing the convention center by a factor of 16 would probably require increasing hotel space by 16 times, restaurants by 16 times, parking by 16 times, gambling casinos by 16 times, hookers by 16 times, expanding the capacity of San Jose Airport by 16 times, enlarging the Winchester Mystery House by 16 times to handle the increase in visitors.
I’m concerned that San Jose might lose its charming, small town ambience.
Team SJ has strong competition.
The New Jersey Turnpike Board was recently audited. They paid $30million in bonuses between 2007-2010 for shoveling snow, or working on hilidays or your birthday.
One employee who retired in 2008 with a base salary of $73,649.00 received $321,985.00 in bonuses and other payouts. Overall, the auditors found $43million in waste. Makes TSJ look like pikers. But then, NJ has always been way ahead of the West Coast when it comes to graft and waste.
They even spent $12k in toll funds to support an employee bowling League. Maybe Dan and his minions can get free passes to DT Ice.
Go Team, go. Literally!
I suspect the city is just putting a new wrapper on SBLC’s control of the convention center.
This is one reason to pin the failure on someone disposable. Blame some individuals, then give control to different union representatives. Claim it’s all different.
Repeat in 10 years.
You can’t beat a dead horse….but you have been. The solution is simple, rather than bid out to the black hole (keep in mind the economy), the city of san jose should take the convention center back, hire a competent GM that is honest, ethical, has business sense and also marketing knowledge. San Jose is a great city, a perfect convention destination which it pretty much was until 2 years ago. This isn’t rocket science, look at the history when the services were provided by the city employees. At least clients got return phone calls. This is toxicity at it’s finest, not to mention the discrimination cases (sexual orientation) that haven’t surfaced yet. There were also employees working under hazardous conditions with the civic rebirth…can you say asbestos? TSJ, wave the white flag and save the few that are left.
The Teflon Man of Team San Jose… Dan, where has all the money gone???????? I know. the money went to the charity known as Dan Fenton’s Jail & Bail Fund.
Attached is his booking photo.
http://www.facebook.com/profile/pic.php?oid=AQDIa_nLej6ESDQsLpN5I3zLHiuYlGHRjuGbbLksjDzSzIPxWfDhaZy6gxMBJkVb7fw&size=normal&usedef=1
Alos just out, Dan Fenton to step down from Team San Jose “Top Dog” spot! per SJ Merc.
Breaking News….. TEAM SAN JOSE Chairman & CEO Dan Fenton to step down from “Top Dog” position.
It only cost the City of San Jose taxpayers 6+ years,loss of business at the Convention Center,loss of revenue and were “bilked” out of more than $20+ Million dollars.
That money could have averted the layoff of hundreds of City employees. Waste Waste Waste…
More on Fenton Gate below;
Enjoy!
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16870266?nclick_check=1
solve problems without new problems