Although many were surprised when Ron Gonzales struck out at the Mercury News on KGO last week, calling the drive for more open government in San Jose “a bunch of nonsense,” I was neither shocked nor particularly interested. Most people have already formed their opinion of the mayor, as well as our local newspaper, and are not overly concerned with the former’s opinion of the latter.
I will leave it for others more versed in journalism and business to comment on the view that the Mercury’s drive for ethics and open government brought about the sale of the paper. (I call it the “if A=B and B =C, then C must be the square root of something” argument.) Following such logic, the Mercury’s dramatic push for more ethics at City Hall may also be the reason for Howard Stern’s exodus from commercial to satellite radio. This is what passes for logic and political discourse in San Jose at the present time. But before we get into the “party of the first part” and other esoterica, let me move to the local priesthood of experts that are regularly called upon to opine on the state of the city, our ethical climate, and whether it will rain tomorrow.
One such pundit, Terry Christensen, a political science professor at San Jose State University, was quoted in the Mercury last week in relation to the mayor’s assertion that the public isn’t interested in new sunshine laws. His statements often emerge from the pack of such commentary and he did not disappoint when he was quoted as saying that “to some extent he [the mayor] is speaking for the public and to some extent he’s speaking for himself.” Now, that’s a leap. Because people don’t march on City Hall like the last scene in “Frankenstein” means, according to the professor, that they lack interest in the topic and feel all is well. Ya think so? Perhaps, the lack of voters in Saddam’s Iraq showed a failure of interest in democracy. I appreciate that Professor Christensen has often spoken of me in nice terms. He is a smart guy and he sent me some great interns too—including my finest policy advisor, David Pandori—but his expressed view on this matter is far too naïve, or perhaps too cynical, to leave unchallenged.
Most citizens are too busy going to work and commuting back home—leaving few enough quality hours to share with their family at night—to attend evening council meetings. In the hallowed halls of academia and in some government offices, these are not concerns that are understood or faced directly by those that live in their hermetically-sealed dome of reports, meetings and rhetoric with little conclusion.
San Jose’s citizens have always had a very strong interest and desire for good, ethical government. They have often expressed their desire to have it—sometimes quite vigorously—and, consequently, they have often received it. To express or promote another point of view is a sop to the forces of special interests and insider decisions that too often pervade the politics of our city of late, giving those forces solace.
I find that the people in academia tend to have overblown egos and opinions that don’t have any connection to reality. Terry Christensen as far as I’m concerned has always felt like he knows the answers to everything in San Jose. Why doesn’t he run for Mayor and fix everything.
Good point Tom. The everyday citizen doesn’t have time to fit city politics into a busy work schedule and family. But the everyday citizen makes themselves heard at the ballot box. This will be evident in June and November. I wonder what Mr. G has in mind for the future. Elected office will be out of the question, especially here in California. Maybe Sunnyvale or Hewlitt Packard will take him back.
Did anyone expect Gonzales to support the Sunshine Law? The only flaw with the Mercury News is that some reporter wasted his time even asking the question as Gonzales’response hardly constitutes news.
I’m curious as the why Christensen thought that Gonzales’ comment were speaking for the public?
Does any part of the general public not want access to information about what decisions are made on our behalf and how? Did I miss something?
Don’t forget that Prof. Terry is also in Cindy’s camp so everything he says these days has to be taken with many grains of salt.
While Terry Christensen may not have much to say on this matter, you really should be questioning why the Mercury News reporter, Deborah Lohse, used the quote in her story.
Looks Like A Career Politician Reformer Award goes to Cindy –
for a few minor reforms while successfully delayed major reforms to
Gonzo just pounded the final nail in his political coffin…does that mean he’s going back to HP? The sooner the better.
I too was surprised at Prof. Christensen’s remarks. I thought them shallow and almost naive and wondered what he based his comments on. Though I think he’s quoted far too often, his comments frequently are at least thoughtful. What disturbs me most about this whole thing is how Chuck Reed was the only mayoral candidate who stood up for the Mercury News’ suggested Sunshine ordinance last night. Where were the other candidates? Why did each one choose to go with the watered down version? Too expensive? Too much extra work? Come on council people.This is troubling and indicative of our city council’s modus operandus.
dc
The Council wanted to give the impression they were doing a lot when actually they were doing as little as possible. You know there was not much going on when the Council mutes, Pyle and Chirco, were part of the memo. LeZotte has been the only one of the 4 who signed the memo who has shown some brain activity on the issue of open government. Chirco, at least once, objected to a late memo, don’t know of anything Pyle has done. Chavez has consistently dropped late memos on the Council and now she is stomping her feet about late memos? Cortese and Reed have been the only ones who have been pushing hard for real open government. As usual, a few things are being done for the wrong reasons and the real solutions are being ignored in place of cosmetic ones.
Wondering, that’s an excellent description of Pyle and Chirco. I think a crash test dummy could provide the same amount of brain activity as Chirco has devoted to district 9.
A new broom sweeps clean and that’s what the 18th floor needs, but am I wrong in thinking that Mr. Mulcahy will have to abstain from nearly every land use vote taken due to the proliferation of properties all over town that his family owns? His viability is in question already, and this issue only adds more.
Tom, I am with you. I was not surprised to hear RG’s remarks about the Mercury. Why wouldn’t a shady guy like him hate a paper that has exposed him for being the backroom dealer he is?
If you own HP stock…. SELL SELL SELL!
Hey, at least they didn’t ask Larry Stone for his comments on Gonzales’s remarks. It is so sad that our assessor is the one usually asked for a sound bite for the paper.
Chiro has been a disappointment since many of us voted for her since being from PACT would work to solve our community’s problems, be accountable and not be another politician
How is Mulcahy different than an other developer who want to be an political insider and reward family and friends with city tax money?
What are his political positions other than city government is baddd needs reform?
More weak people with questionable motives and no ability to make changes
Don’t be surprised if RG lands a lavish job at the Merc.
If it weren’t for the scandals du jour at CH, the Merc readership numbers would have hit the rocks long ago.
Chiro has been a disappointment Many voted for her since she was from PACT and should be working together to solve community’s problems
Expected better from her, not be another go along politician
How is Mulcahy different from any developer who wants to be political insider and reward family and friends with city tax money?
What are his political positions other than his simple city government is bad and needs reform speech?
Most candidates have questionable motives and no ability to make changes
Lets start a SJI lottery about Ron’s new job
My money is on HP, Cisco, or Norcal until he finds another politician’s job or appointment
Do not think Ron and Merc are friends lately
I agree with Terry Christensen. The public is tired of these ethics reforms. It is political non-nonsense and the city leaders are talking out of both sides of their mouths. Cindy Chavez led the discuss yesterday, but why was there so many developers and lobbyists at Cindy’s campaign kickoff a few weeks ago? Pandori and Mulcahy offer the only hope for real reform, a change in leadership. But still, what about the other issues in the race?
Take the budget for example, council wants to cut cost by using volunteers and youths to maintain parks yet we raise the RA director’s salary to $216K. Why, because he did such a fantastic job last year? Don’t we still have a considerable amount of vacancies downtown? Do we have a replacement for Albertsons yet? We are returning $339K in park fees because we can’t spend it, yet we are using park land for professional sports. Where are the new jobs to utilize all the transportation downtown? According to the Merc, a 17-story tower at 488 Almaden Blvd has been sitting vacant since 2002. And what is going on with the old city hall?
Let’s get the candidates to mix it up on this forum with something other ethics. How about Coyote Valley, North SJ development, rising gang problems, lack of jobs in San Jose city, lack of summer recreation programs for our kids, and our low scoring schools? Didn’t the Parks & Rec director recently quit, why?
With our long commutes to the real jobs north of San Jose, us working folks don’t have time to attend to council meetings, even if the city announces two weeks in advance that they want to spend $4 mill on a car race. We just wish the council actually knew what our priorities were before they make these silly decisions. We don’t need new laws, just common sense.
San Jose reforms are not over with and what passed last night were the immediate reform items that most everyone agreed on
The question is will we get additional actual strong San Jose city government reforms or a few weak reforms will be based on
1) How soon Les White can implement the first reform list, how they will be implemented and his participation in working with still to be appointed Task Force responsible for details of what additional reforms are necessary, how l they will be done and how / who will enforce the reforms
2) Who gets appointed to the Task Forces will determine the outcome of the reform proposals and recommendations
3) No reform proposal has adequately addressed main weakness of all reforms which is how to enforce the reforms. This is a shared responsibility between City Council possibly delegated to a committee or task force, City Attorney and SCC District Attorney
SEE Pages 1-4
http://www.lbbslaw.com/publications/BLRE Newsletter 7.05.pdf
Page 2
http://www.lbbslaw.com/publications/BLRE Newsletter Oct.pdf
We should not credit anyone with reforms that are delayed or never properly implemented.
An example is City Council 6-30 Public Outreach passed in Fall 2005 as a reform is still only a partial and incomplete reform
The need for reforms did not occur overnight so it is reasonable for Les to have a few (2) months to implement the passed reforms but a more comprehensive and complete strong reform package is generally agreed is necessary
Last night’s reform proposal was aboyt public meetings and access to public records not ethics which governs indidivual or group expectations of behavior
Gary – you have good points –
We need to have the candidates lead a community wide discusion on all the issues which they have not especially
– the development and traffic and
– most inportantly where are we going to get city revenues to pay for our basic city services and more city staff ( we are #10 but staffed as if we were #34 city ) since we have one of the lowest number of jobs per resident, job creation rates and taxes per residents in Northern California
I was at Monday’s mayoral forum. Clearly a political outsider will be needed to fix everything gone wrong at 200 E. Santa Clara Street. Question is who will that outsider be?
I can’t wait to see what Ronny G’s career looks like after office….
I think we need a crowd of our Alum Rock and Alviso Albinos to attend each city council meeting. We could probably include those from Coyote Valley. I think their presence in the holy chambers of the City Council might motivate our elected representatives to act in the best interests of the citizens and with logic and openess. Especially if they came in with Mr. Chew on roller skates.
Instead of Albinos, why not create the ability for San Jose residents to transfer their right for two minutes before the council to any other resident. This credit system could be used for local fillibusters to keep bad ideas from going forward.
If councilmembers saw an upcoming agenda item with William Garbett representing the P.U.B.L.I.C. having three hours of speaking credit, the matter would be dropped instantly.
Tom, Terry C. is not just a problem; tho he’s quiet as a mouse, he’s the most powerful man in SJ. Changing the Council from 5 at-large members to 10 districts, a class project for Terry, created the mini-mayor mess: twice as much office space, twice as much staff, and SJ divided up like the Balkans, no vision possible. Terry’s crap about “more representation for the neighborhoods” comes down to a cabal of two or three folks in each neighborhood who hold “their” council member hostage with promises of money and votes. MUCH easier for one group, the unions,
to swarm each district to elect servile nobodies. Like Cindy, a former, and present student of Terry’s. Tells you who he is that he’s 150% behind such a provincial, one who kills anyone’s housing project that doesn’t include stoops. She saw them somewhere. Ever seen a person on a stoop in SJ. They provide street access to burglars and rob floor space from every apt. at or above. That’s power, tiny minded type. A while ago Terry had a celebration at Lou’s village to celebrate the “success” of his districting project. Gives him a chance to send his students off to the Council where they can sit like mummies, say nothing, be important, and keep SJ screwed up and fragmented forever.
George Green, downtown property owner.
We just wish the council actually knew what our priorities were before they make these silly decisions. We don
Hey #16, I’ll go along with your lottery idea. Gonzo will wind up working in some government position where they put politicians until they die or retire at full pay.
He might wind up at SJSU as a political ethics professor emeritus under Terry C. You know the old “do as I say not as I do” spiel. One class per semester in person and the rest could be podcast. Sounds just about right for the do nothing herkimer-jerkimer mayor. He would provide a good role model also.
George
Sounds like another bad urban legend rather than labor’s hard work and Chamber failures
You work in downtown so name the
downtown cabal of two or three folks in each neighborhood who hold
DEAD MAN WINS ELECTION
Sierra Vista, AZ—Bisbee voters returned incumbent Bob Kasun to office Tuesday, even though he died nine days before the election.
Kasun easily defeated challenger Jeff Harris in a recall vote.
Kasun’s funeral was the day before the election.
The 79-year-old four-term councilman died March 6 of lymphoma and renal failure. Both Bob Kasun and Luche Giacomino were targets of a recall campaign that accused him, among other things, of failing to represent and be accountable to his constituents.
But voters decided overwhelmingly against the two candidates who opposed them.
Giacomino said she had been confident she would survive the recall attempt, but was especially pleased that Kasun was not voted from office.
Associated Press
Here’s a great example, if we just stick together and have the same vision we can put someone new as Mayor of San Jose.
If they can vote a dead man in office, why can’t we vote for a new candidate with a clean slate to be mayor? Wouldn’t we want a candidate that fills holes for a living instead of making holes for living?
Why does the merc insist that there is only a 35 million deficit, add what the county is suing the city for and that brings it up to 100 million, correct me if I’m wrong?
Why is San Jose getting littered by this vote for me lawn signs all over city properties?
Where’s the ethic in that?
GM
Gonzo got his hand caught in the cookie jar once too often. Wonder what his next career opportunity might be.
Notice how Cindy has greatly distanced herself from Gonzo lately… she fully recognizes the value of “looking different” than her boss.
Urban Legend—Not an urban legend that the SJ Council was once 5 members at large and is now 10,all just seat warmers who vote to protect the status quo, except Chuck Reed, David Cortese, and now and then, Ken Yeager. Ken Podgorsek, Linda Jensen, University Neighborhood Association, control all development in their area. Planners have 0 to say. Cindy would fire them if they did their job. Tom says he’s grateful for one of TC’s students, David Pandori, but on my one or two talks with DP, he made it clear that he was really the Mayor and Tom was the advisor. Don’t think so. Just another ego. I’d like to know more about “labor’s hard work” in SJ. No need to work hard to get everything you ask for with
Indeed an Urban Legend.
First, I believe you mean Lisa Jensen, that would be me. Second, I believe you are referring to the University Neighborhoods Coalition formed in 1996 to give a voice to an underserved community struggling with tremendous gang activity and blight.
Third, the Planners of San Jose have a great deal to say. Planners provide measured and thoughtful guidance to both developers and neighborhoods.
I’m terribly flattered that you believe I have so much control but I assure you this is not the case.
As in every good, well-thought out planning project which occurs within a neighborhood the neighborhood associations (SUN, CCA, HMNA, SJDRA, etc) and the neighborhood advisory committees (UNC, WACC, 13th St, etc) are asked for their input. The UNC has on numerous occasions worked with both developers and Planning to create new, well designed projects, as well as neighborhood benefitting permitting conditions.
This collective effort on the part of staff, developers and neighborhood residents creates neighborhoods that are desireable – thus increasing property values as well as the quality of life for residents and businesses.
George
Sounds like Council members listening to voters / local leaders about local voter issues / you do not think that is a good thing and why they are and will be elected?
is it status quo to build hundreds of new buildings with more to be built?
Why no comments on Chambers or you agree about many failures ?
more taxes to large corporations who send jobs out of San Jose, developer credits and not supporting local business and more jobs while cutting city services / staff / local transit get no votes / not smart about local issues
Chamber endorsement, dumb about local voter issues and no work loses elections
Labor endorsement, smart about local voter issues and hard work wins elections
Ron Gonzales strikes out at neighbors with a bat over ballpark project. Man he looks pissed. Check it out.
http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=25741
Perhaps the “handcuffs” that George believes that these neighborhood groups have over the city has to do with the eminent domain issues.
The city completely botched up so many SNI areas because they immediately came in and threw out the “eminent domain” to people and it scared them.
I believe the business and neighborhoods can coexist and thrive – they really can help each other. The current system pits them against one another though… we need a change of thinking to have a successful downtown and city.
SJ Downtowner,
I suspect Mr. Green is referring to a project of his that included placement of a large multi-story building in a neighborhood of one and two story homes. It would have destroyed several homes of merit and replaced them with a generic apartment complex.
The neighborhood heard about it for the most part after it had been rejected by planning – the neighborhood concurred with the rejection.
GM – We already have the equivalent of a dead man in office…a censured, lame duck Mayor on the losing end of a 10-1 ethics vote aimed at his track record. As political careers go, it doesn’t get much deader than that!
Ahh, thanks SJ Downtown. Can you tell me exactly where this was?
Lisa#32: Loved the arcane references to numerous acronymed things. What are they? Does anyone but you and a few other local cognoscenti know what they all mean?
How about a contest? The first person to accurately set forth the full name of all those acronyms you used gets a free dinner with Gonzo, Guerra, Vic Ajlouny, Richie Robinson, Rick Callender, AND Carl “The Soundbite” Guardino, hosted by finfan at either The Mexican Heritage Plaza or The Ambassador/Beehive, or whatever other name it will be known by.
Sorry, John Michael O’Conner – those were references to groups in the area in which George has a business interest.
I do apologize, as a downtown resident I sometimes forget that not everyone knows all the local neighborhoods, associations or Strong Neighborhoods Initiative Neighborhood Advisory Committees.
SNI – Strong Neighborhoods Initiative
UNC – University Neighborhoods Coalition (SNI)
WACC – Washington Area Community Coalition (SNI)
13th St NAC – 13th Street Neighborhood Advisory Committee (SNI)
CCA – Campus Community Association (home to the fabulous annual Bark in the Park)
SUN – South University Neighborhood (within the original part of San Jose)
HMNA – Horace Mann Neighborhood Association
SJDRA – San Jose Downtown Residents Association
In the merky news today they had a story regarding the RDA spending money to build a park over a freeway. At a cost of over 200 million.
A great and interesting idea if our city was rolling in money. But it’s not. Why waste so much time on a loser idea?
200 million could fund so much more.
Ballpark anyone?
JohnMichael O’Connor: The great success of the SNI experiment is precisely that it’s far more than a few “cognoscenti” who know about the acronyms Lisa Jensen described. Hundreds of residents in our City are taking on increasing roles of leadership in their neighborhoods as a result of the efforts to empower neighborhoods in recent years. That’s a great win for our communities, our city, and for the democratic process. SJDowntowner is on to something, but I’d go a step further: not only can businesses and neighborhoods “coexist,” but they positively need each other. A primary complaint I hear in neighborhood meetings and while knocking on doors focuses on the lack of retail services, e.g., grocery stores, pharmacies, bagel shops, and the like, in our communities. Retail business is a critical component of the “walkability” that many of us seek in our neighborhoods.
Attracting that business requires successful, stable residential communities that can create the foot traffic to sustain retail. The most sophisiticated neighborhood associations/ NAC’s have recognized this synergy and actively sought to promote both business and neighborhood-related objectives.
Finally, no one can dispute Tom McEnery’s fundamental premise that our citizens want (and deserve) open government and better ethics enforcement, I take issue with those readers who have launched ad hominem attacks on Terry Christensen, who is a dedicated educator and thoughtful commentator. Like Prof. Christensen, I’ve sensed a pervasive “scandal fatigue” in many neighborhood meetings and in conversations with voters. That doesn’t change the fact that we need to enact sunshine reforms, but people want to talk about the issues that most direcly affect their lives, e.g., balanced development, budget deficits, crime, declining city services, homelessness, and schools. David Pandori’s blog has it right: we need to move beyond the scandals and start talking about solutions.
Again, apologies, JohnMichael O’Connor – the typo was unintentional. If it makes you feel any better, I have been known to misspell my own name when my fingers hit the keyboard.
If you’re interested in n’hood associations, neighborhoods or the Neighborhood Advisory Committees in your area – assuming you’re not already involved in them I’d be happy to chat with you about getting more involved.
I confess, when I moved downtown I asked my next door neighbor if we had a n’hood association. I asked because I thought those were the groups who planted a few flowers, had bbq’s and were a social group. We didn’t have an association at the time but did have another group that he suggested I might be interested in working with.
Turns out n’hood associations and the NAC’s do plant flowers, have bbq’s and socialize but they also do a whole lot more. It was an educational and exciting lesson for me – one that remains educational and exciting even today.
Sam #40 is absolutely right, n’hoods and businesses can and do form happy and mutually beneficial relationships. A current example is the Luna Park business district along N 13th which is creating a beautiful area with substantial support and encouragement from both the n’hood association and the NAC.
It’s great to see fun, eclectic locally owned businesses thrive as a part of a growing, lively and interesting n’hood. I eagerly anticipate a thriving and lively downtown that I can walk to for gifts, clothing, and kitchenware.
Currently I go to the Opera, where some of my neighbors and friends perform; I go to the Camera Cinema where neighbors created a great venue; I go to OJ’s with its wonderful tuxedoed waiters, Eulipia where a neighbor has created a fabulous dining experience.
I saw recently a new clothing store under 101 San Fernando and I look forward to shopping there. I love being a downtown resident, love my own little n’hood where we are going to use the model provided by the Luna Park Business district and love San Jose.
Lisa #32: Thanks for the response. It is always beneficial to learn something new.
Please note: my surname is spelled O’ConnOr, not O’ConnEr, as you spelled it in your enlightening response. It is spelled correctly on my posting #37, thus easy to have copied correctly. It is also prominently displayed spelled correctly on a local hospital of which you might be aware.
I hope you are more careful in representing the causes you espouse.
Lisa,
Thanks for your participation in the blog – it is nice to hear from someone who knows the acronyms by heart. Not many community leaders who read the blog actually post. It’s quite a shame for the folks who are not on the “inside”.
Shelly
the entire group from mayor to the guy that sweeps the floor after hours should all be replaced ,quarantine the whole area and dont vote for no one that has anything to do with the mess that the ron g group has created, lingering council members are no longer allowed , if you added up the money that this group has wasted you would be able to fix about half the mess they created and what gives these people the right to spend taxpayers money on stupid ideas like car races and backroom deals with the trash collector and walk away without a scratch how much of this crap do we have to take , WE STEP OVER DOLLARS TO PICK UP DIMES