DeCinzo has a good cartoon this week.
Our thanks to him and to the people with the Community Newspapers for allowing us to re-print it.
Also, the Mercury News printed an editorial with a great headline:Rebuttal to grand jury laden with hypocrisy
The sub-heading is good also, but I’ll let you click through to discover that.
More importantly, many people have asked me what people working in the new City Hall should do when they need pho, since they’re no longer so close to my favorite place, Chez Croissant. Well, I’m happy to report that there is, mere steps from the new building, another fine establishment. New Tung Kee Noodle House will never replace Chez Croissant in my heart. The Merc took a look at restaurants near the new building recently, in a piece by Sheila Himmel. Only time will tell if it was a good trade to go from walking distance from one Chez Croissant, to walking distance from two outlets of Lee’s Sandwiches.
Perhaps most importantly, with the news coming out that in 2001, FEMA identified a terrorist attack on New York, a hurricane hitting New Orleans and an earthquake striking the Bay Area as the three likeliest catastrophies to befall the U.S., it’s always good to be prepared.Sheila Himmel
Kevin,
You did the recap one day too soon.
You missed the most fun article of the week.
Scott Herhold’s column today.
He describes, in great detail, why it is utterly silly for the Mayor to keep saying that he may run for statewide office.
Duh…
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/scott_herhold/12588945.htm
According to Herhold, Gonzo’s desire to maintain the appearance of a man with a political future may be a tactic simply to avoid being viewed as what he is, a lame duck. No argument with the analysis, but my question is this: With so many council members now circling confusedly in the pond—most too afraid to risk a quack, would anyone even notice the presence of one more duck?
So who in the private sector would consider hiring El Lameduckeo besides NorCal?
Would you do business with someone who hired a man who is so divorced from the truth and integrity?
Maybe he can take over Scott Peterson’s old job of selling fertilizer in Modesto—he has lots of experience peddling bullshit.
4 questions for San Jose Residents –
1) Have any of the 3 candidates for San Jose Mayor clearly demonstrated they have the leadership skills to be our next Mayor?
If “leadership” is defined simply as “influencing others to some purpose” and “followership” is defined simply as “being influenced by others to accept some purpose”,
Our entire City Council based on it’s past performance clearly looks like a group of followers NOT leaders.
The next few weeks will unfortunately again clearly demonstrate that our City Council lacks any individual who is willing to stand up to the Mayor and demonstrate that they can effectively lead when San Jose badly needs honest, open, responsible leadership.
The Gonzales-Guerra administration will be remembered for it’s many lies, back room deals, scandals, hostile work envirnoment , bullying and proud of it’s vindictiveness and hypocrisy which is well known by our City Council.
Vindictiveness: The quality or condition of being vindictive: revenge, spite, spitefulness, vengefulness.
2) Will our City Council be remembered as a group of ” Hear no evil, See no evil, Do no evil, Speak no evil ” followers that stood by wringing their hands, looking sad, and talking about doing better in the future while the Gonzales-Guerra administration has and continues to do a lot of evil to our city government?
Our City Council individually has numerous times FAILED in their responsibility to honestly, ethically and fiscally responsibility represent the residents of San Jose who elected them.
3) When is our City Council going to stop acting as a group of “spineless, let’s not rock the boat, ethically blind professional politicans ” and stand up and clearly ethically act to change our city government?
4) Are they too scared of Gonzales-Guerra?
5) Are they just incapable of demonstrating the leadership and ethical behavior to distingish between right and wrong and actually do the job for which they were elected? Will history remember them as members of the Gonzales-Guerra adminstration’s “doing nothing” City Council?
The San Jose City Council’s new motto based on their follower actions to date should be “Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil while we Do nothing to stop evil”.
No ethical leaders there.
Remember the words of #4 when it comes time to elect the next mayor. Shame on those who will vote to keep status quo. We cannot afford another day of a Gonzdorf adminstration, let alone another 4 years. Vote as if your city’s life depends on it—because it does.
Dear San Jose:
The trouble with the city council is that with a few exceptions, there is little intellectual firepower, and even less intestinal fortitude.
Cortese, LeZotte, and Reed at least said something about the latest installment of “As The Garbage Turns,” (Dave even asked for the city manager’s head) but you’ve got to wonder about the rest of them who said that they needed to read the report before they could make a determination.
Please…!
Corrupt leaders, an undedicated press, and apathetic citizenry is a recipe for disaster, which is exactly the state of affairs is today in our once fine city.
pete campbell
As I said, look carefully when you next vote for Mayor. Look at who has spoken out, even if only meekly, and who still has to read the report (primarily a work of fiction. If a mayoral candidate is relying on this report which spins more than a roomful of dervishes, then that person should be looking for a job other than being mayor.)
The continuing lack of leadership in San Jose is NOT restricted to our City Council members who have been elected to represent us, have the primary responsibility for our city government acting in a ethical manner, and as a group are responsible to be aware of and correcting our city’s government problems and scandals.
Why are the voices of San Jose’s and Silicon Valley’s other leaders silent?
– many former Mayors ( Susan, Tom and Janet ) and former City Council members who have experience with city government and did not have these ethical issues but have been silent
– Chamber of Commerce who always speaks up when their business interests are at risk and has been an advocate for better city government but has been silent
– Silicon Valley Leadership Group which addresses major public policy issues affecting the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley but have been silent
– South Bay Labor – who has been responsible for electing many of our City Council members and have been advocates for working people but has been unusually silent about the hostile work envirnoment that mant city union employees work in and have been silent
– Community and neighborhood leaders who advocate for better city governement but have been silent
– many but not all of our newspapers / televison / radio stations local have been silent
“The only way for evil to prevail, is when good people say nothing”
So far the good people of San Jose have said very little and have not demanded that their elected City Council members take effective action to correct the abuses and scandals of the Gonzales-Guerra administration
It will be interesting to see how the City Council responds to the Mayor/City Manager/City Attorney response to the grand jury report at next week’s Council meeting. One of the Gonzo stories going around at Silly Hall is that he may call the City Council next Tuesday from Sunnyvale and tell them he can’t attend the Counci meeting because he is in “Paris” (a la Scott Peterson).
#8: Isn’t it ironic that the local so-called “alternative” weekly, the Metro, has been among the “silent” media while the mainstream Mercury News has been leading the charge? The strongest statements to appear in the Community Newspapers have, as usual, been DiCinzo’s cartoons. KNTV…do they even cover San Jose anymore?
#2,4 & 6: Isn’t it ironic that this wounded, limping, lame duck Mayor still has the City Council wrapped around his finger with no Councilmember emerging as the Anti-Gonzo? (Dave tries, but nobody’s jumping onto the wagon which suggests something about his ability to build coalitions.) Maybe they will find time for leadership when they are done “reading the reports.”
In response to #4:
1) NO
2) YES & NO (Yes, if anyone even does remember them, and NO, because nobody likely will)
3) NEVER
4) APPARENTLY
5) ABSOLUTELY