City Hall Diary
As we know, San Jose is made up of council districts and, as a result, many of us have come to identify with these boundaries and/or borders. I know I have. I was raised in Willow Glen. My parents live in the same home they bought over 30 years ago. Most of my life experiences centered around my neighborhood; therefore, my view of the world was somewhat sheltered until I became an adult when I moved to downtown San Jose for 10 years and traveled to over 40 countries.
I often refer to my travels as my best learning experience. My travels taught me that the people of the world have many more similarities than differences. Other countries may have different food, geography and languages, but the need for love, a safe place to live and some kind of economic vitality was present in everywhere I visited.
When I look at the council districts in San Jose I compare them to the countries that I went to. Each district may have subtle differences based on geography, etc. However, for the most part, each district wants the city to provide the services it is expected to provide, such as street maintenance, slowing cars down on neighborhood streets, maintaining parks, code enforcement and public safety. I have chaired the Traffic Calming Meetings in which we had one meeting in each council district. Although the issue was traffic calming, many of the residents would speak to me afterwards about these other essential services.
I was a bit surprised to hear so many people in every district in San Jose sharing the same needs with me. In response, I encouraged them to attend and be part of the Mayors’ Community Budget Process which is open to everyone. It’s important for different groups to share their opinions regarding the finances of City Hall.
For example, Bob Brownstein, former budget director for Mayor Susan Hammer, recently told me that if you add up all property taxes from residential and commercial properties that the city of San Jose receives, it only pays for 60 percent of the annual police budget. Did you catch that? The other 40 percent of the police budget and the money needed for the salaries for the other approximately 5,000 city employees comes from sales tax and utility tax, among others. It is important to have basic information like this to fully appreciate the magnitude of the city’s revenues and costs.
Help put the San Jose puzzle together and become part of the budget process. Put these dates in your BlackBerry:
Mayors Budget Shortfall Advisory Group Thursday Jan 10th from 6:00-9:00 PM at City Hall. For more information go to this link.
Mayors Community Budget for Neighborhood Priorities meeting Saturday January 19 from 9:00 AM 12:00 PM at City Hall.
Strong Neighborhood Initiative areas have top-ten lists for action items in their specific areas.
What should San Jose’s top ten be?
#1 Gil,
While parents can keep leaded toys from their children, there is not anything they can do about the air their children breathe. Although leaded toys are dangerous, toys are only occasionally used, but children, and everyone else, breathe 24 hours a day, every day.
The EPA recently completed a study of air pollution generated by two general aviation (GA) airports in southern California, Santa Monica and Van Nuys. The data is showing that airborne lead levels are higher on the airport, and in communities surrounding the airport, than they are in areas not near the airport.
In other words, people on and near a general aviation airport are breathing higher levels of lead than people elsewhere.
“The study found elevated levels of lead near runway sites and surrounding communities” [1]
This is because GA aircraft continue to use leaded fuel. There are 2 grams of lead in every gallon of GA fuel. This is 4 times the amount of lead that used to be in car fuel before lead was banned in car fuel. Approximately 75% (1 ½ grams) of the lead is emitted into the air via the exhaust, and up to 70% of inhaled airborne lead is absorbed into the bloodstream. [2]
Obviously, if an individual breathes more lead particles then they have a better chance of having more lead in their blood. In the case of children, any amount of lead in their blood can result in permanent, measurable brain damage. [3]
So, in my mind, this is just one more reason why a recreational airport, such as Reid-Hillview, should not be in the middle of a residential neighborhood. [4]
[1] http://www.smmirror.com/MainPages/DisplayArticleDetails.asp?eid=6551
[2] http://www.reidhillview.com/#9
[3] http://www.reidhillview.com/bloodlead1.pdf
[4] http://www.reidhillview.com/RHV_brochure.pdf
Sorry to be a broken record again, but let’s review one part of the problem here.
Your parents are paying property taxes on a house they paid $45,000 for, while my generation pays property taxes on $750,000.
It’s California’s dirty little age discrimination secret.
The San Jose Mercury reported San Jose had it’s 39th traffic fatality, compared with 24 all of last year. http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_7623464
This is no coincidence since the city council slashed the traffic enforcement unit of the police department in half over the last few years, yet has managed to fund their pet projects. The city council has culpability in these traffic deaths for slashing enforcement. Each future traffic accident fatality will also bear the councils culpability. Mayor McEnery brought up the fact in his blog last week that our police department is operating at 1994 staffing levels. This is disgraceful that our city administrators and council has allowed this to happen. Now they are raiding the abond money that was suppose to be used to build a south valley police substation to instead rebuild fire houses around the city.
Pier, how about at least restoring some of the police department traffic enforcement unit staffing to bring down traffic fatalities? Also, try and lose the term “Traffic Calming”. It seems insulting to the 39 mangled victims from the traffic fatalities. Please quit asking the same questions and having the same meetings. You don’t need another focus group. Our traffic fatalities are approaching twice that of last year. All the meetings in the world aren’t going to stop the next speeding driver who kills a mother and toddler, such as what happened on Hedding a month ago.
The San Jose City Government should concentrate on paving streets, calming traffic, cleaning up graffiti, maintaining parks, libraries and community centers. Also, sweeping streets, arresting criminals, putting out fires, educating children and keeping the sky blue and the sun golden. Once these basic items are addressed, then companies will want to conduct business here and people will want to visit here.
1. Pave Roads
2. More Police that give out tickets
3. Libraries
4. Parks clean
5. Trails built
6. Code enforcement
7. RDA money split between economic development and Strong Neighborhoods
8. Gang Intervention
9. Homework Centers
10. Maintain sewers and sewage treatment plant
Pierluigi:
San Jose is the proverbial “Tale of two cities.” The council works to expand the city at the expense of its maintenance. Delivering basic city services is not a council priority. We have to put San Jose on the map…we have to have a 24 hour downtown…we have to bring the Earthquakes back…
#4 mentioned that traffic enforcement has been cut. But of course…don’t you know that we have to pay for the rotunda and crystal palace? (about $26 million/year).
Pete Campbell
#3, the huge imbalance on property tax burdens is gradually atriting its way out of existence. As the seniors who got their breaks from Howard Jarvis continue to die off, their homes become subject to a new assessment that brings them into parity with post-Prop 13 counterparts. At some point in the future there will be no more Prop 13 disparities.
I feel your pain. My next door neighbors bought their home new in 1957. I bought mine in 1990. I’m still way better off than my new neighbors across the street who just paid $800K for the same model of home, but it’s rather obscene that my next door neighbor is probably paying only about $1,000 or possibly $1,500 a year in property taxes.
On the other hand, my mom is on social security and has to dig into her equity line to pay her very low Prop 13 rate, so I can see where many people would have lost their homes otherwise.
Prop 13 is a temporary thing, and with each passing day the property tax revenues statewide increase as the Prop 13 homes change hands. Eventually Prop 13 will completely vaporize and the playing field will once again be entirely level.
Dear San Jose:
I would like to nominate #5’s comments for “Post of the Year.” Perfect!
Pete Campbell
City Manager’s “done deal” budget report will be presented at Thursday Jan 10th from 6:00-9:00 PM at City Hall but community has no opportunity to give input
No change in done deal city government so why waste time
Great idea Pierluigi,
But, I think it`s to late for neighborhood participation. The insiders are finished with the budget.
It`s the same old story,” say one thing, do something else”. The sun is missing in the sunshine laws!
#8
You say
I bought mine in 1990. I’m still way better off than my new neighbors across the street who just paid $800K for the same model of home
and later say
Eventually Prop 13 will completely vaporize and the playing field will once again be entirely level.
Your logic is flawed.
I also bought my home in 1990 and do not plan on moving for at least another 20 years. Why? So I will not have to pay higher property taxes. But others who buy homes in my neighborhood over the next 20 years will be paying higher property taxes.
As long all homes do not change hands every year, the playing field will never level.
#10, #11, Councilman,
Is it really a done deal?
Needless to say it’s well shaped by now; but are their any aspects of this next budget that can be tweaked as a result of community input?
Are there any tough choices left or on the table that the community can weigh in on?
#8 Mark T
I feel better already. I’ll ‘gradually’ and ‘eventually’ buy a house then, and ‘gradually’ and ‘eventually’ pay only my fair share of the city’s mounting structural deficit.
Billy Joel: You started the fire.
Business in 1978 paid majority of taxes and now middle class pays majority of taxes
Business property owners got most Prop 13 benefits as unintended consequence
Business property is way under market values with low property taxes and every time business slows down property values are reduced by Larry Stone and business pays even lower taxes
Many businesses can make more profits by not improving their property which will cost high fees and raise taxes
PLO-
Referring to Bob Brownstein simply as a former budget director is more than a little misleading. Sort of like calling Ron Gonzales “a former Sunnyvale city councilmember.”
Mr. Brownstein is a pro-labor political strategist, and a pretty good one.
Your description makes him sound like an career bean counter, which he is not. More importantly, by doing so you ignored a potential bias which you ought have disclosed.
Hey Prop 13 Bellyachers—You benefit greatly from one essential Prop 13 provision: your taxes can only go up 2%/yr. Before Prop 13 they could go up 20%/yr., and did. When you buy a house at any price you know what your taxes will be. Uneven distribution of tax burden? Few folks who bought a house 20 yrs. ago have stock options or anything like them. Fixed income retirement is something even you rich guys in $800K houses will face one day. The only way the early Prop 13ers could pony up more tax, ironically, would be to sell the house for the big equity they have in it. Then what? The bigger issue is just bitching about paying more tax when starting a hue and cry about the thievery in government on all levels, from schools to the very top should be your first thought every day. But, govt.
WASTE is acceptable to the great Silent Majority. The fury shouldn’t be directed at Prop 13 but at the reason for it. As Pete points out, who cares about the near 30 million down the toilet every year for an ugly and wasteful City Hall—or Pierluigi’s 2 million dollar golf ball net at the money-losing golf courses.
As for continuing money wasting building instead of attending to real needs, how about libraries built by prevailing wage labor, a Bob Brownstein delight—that have limited hours of use by the citizenry because there’s no money for staff and materials. And the Cindy Chavez and historic preservation crazies boondoggle on 3rd and William is about finished in District 3. There’ll be a gala ribbon cutting shortly for another prevailing wage project that does NOT benefit the citizenry, cost a lot of tax dollars, and removed infill housing from the tax rolls. I just wish that Powerful Tom could care just a little bit about govt. waste. If any voice could get the hue and cry going it would be his. George Green
Oops, PO—Forgot to menton that for many years before Prof Terry got his Class Districting Project going, there were no puffed up mini-mayor captive-of-their-neighborhood
Council members, just 5 folks representing the city of San Jose. Now we have no one representing just and only downtown. The SNI came about because redevelopment was an expensive disaster that robbed downtown and the neighborhoods too. I don’t think that getting neighbors to comment on the budget will produce a thing, except more meetings with the same old results. George Green
I don’t have any problem with the prop 13 reductions except the fact that they can be passed on to the heirs. So if your parents leave you a house, you get to keep the pre-13 reduction. Seem to me that it should reset when the owner changes regardless of the cause.
First and formost he should focus on the health of our newborns. In pockets of areas in our city there is a concentration of lead exposure. Keeping lead out of the bodies of hand to mouth stages in crawling babies. would give us a new generation of capable brain power.
The Chinese and the toy manufactures know these facts as do our leaders of the past, yet here we are allowing some profiteer to kill the brain power of our city, state and country. It starts right here. 60% drop out rates are no accident. Do not buy leaded toy for xmas. Code inforcement starts at city hall. I feel at times like a man screaming in the desert. Now Metro has started screaming as well. That was an excellant piece on Chinese toys. If you need proof, ask any mother in Sal Si Puedes. Have your 6 month olds to 6 years tested for high blood lead and report any levels of lead in your childs blood to the EPA Now.
The Village Black Smith
Hey George, I ‘do’ care about Gov. waste and government efficiency – that’s why I supported Chuck, Sam, Pier, & Pete – and have hopes for Madisen and Judy and Kansen – maybe others will surprise too. Let’s give them a chance to try and right the ship. You know a decade of problems is not solved w. some memos and a few committees, it is a yr. in yr. out effort. And it’s very tough w. so many special interests. Although you have a big pt. about “labor” concessions if you can’t even place a Starbuck’s in City Hall w. such requirements. Perhaps a revisit is possible. TMcE
#2 Bud,
Our screams are being heard. Class Action suits have a way of creating interest.
“Let’s Get The Lead Out”. Have your babies tested NOW! Tomorrow is too late!
The Village Black Smith
#4
Re: fatalities are up, speeding is up, traffic unit staff cut or moved to patrol
I agree, the term Traffic Calming sounds a little too gentle when someone is moving a few tons of steel though the streets at unsafe speeds. It is a relevant term and when applied does have an impact on slowing traffic; but it does sound like a “fuzzy enforcement” policy.
Was the Traffic Unit cut in part as a result of putting photo radar vans on the streets?
Didn’t those vans have an impact on slowing traffic and reducing accidents and fatalities?
And was it not a police officer or retired officer that challenged it and had them removed?
Sometimes the best laid plans just don’t work out. Where do we go from here?
How does the City spend the funds available to make our streets safer? And what can the PD and DOT do with the funds the have to change things?
Please do not think this rhetorical, but if you were Chief, what would you do? Better yet, if you were Mayor, Council and Chief all-in-one, how would you deal with the traffic issue in these financially challenging times? Any ideas?
George-
It’s possible to resent both Prop 13 and the waste that led to its passage.
I agree with you on waste, and even tried to repeal prevailing wage in my city. That doesn’t mean I want to pay ten times the property tax that my neighbor does.
If you are fearing big property taxes, it means you have an enormous asset. Fixed income or not, no man who owns an $800,000 asset deserves a special tax break for his poverty.
#22 Gil,
Unfortunately, testing a child’s blood for lead does not accomplish anything. All it does it let the parent know how much lead is in their child’s blood. We need to be doing things that will eliminate and reduce the amount of lead in a child’s blood.
Out of curiosity, I had my blood tested for lead while getting a cholesterol test. My blood lead level was 1.4ug. Even though that is below the Federal level, current research is showing a blood level of 1.4ug in a child younger than 6 can result in permanent, measurable, cognitive impairment in the child. Since I am not eating paint chips, soil, Mexican candy, or playing with Chinese toys, the lead in my blood more than likely came from breathing Santa Clara County air near Reid-Hillview.
So, while testing children is okay, let’s try doing something positive and proactive regarding the lead pollution from Reid-Hillview.
Let’s get one thing straight. I am not defending Proposition 13. It was short-sighted, exclusionary, full of flaws and has seen more legal challenges than probably any other initiative the electorate of this state has ever voted into law. My point was that time heals all wounds and eventually the obscenely low Prop 13 assessments will be gone.
I can’t do anything about the real estate market, the co-related property tax assessment arrangement and the imbalance it creates, but it’s all inclusive and not exclusive like Prop 13. As was stated above, if you can afford an $800K home, you likely have options to supplement your post-retirement fixed income. A home is an investment. It’s SUPPOSED to increase in value. The sooner you invest, the better off you are. How many of us wish we had forked over the bucks for the Google IPO now? I guess we should demand that they lower the share price for us late comers? Get real. You get on when you can and it’s never too late, but I will grant you that anymore, the Bay Area is not the place to try and get on if you’ve never been on the real estate merry-go-round before.
David, you are correct about the retired cop suing after being nabbed by photo-radar. I would gladly help with his drawing and quartering. His hypocritical behavior is not what the people expect from those who are charged with protecting and serving them. He should be ashamed, but I’m confident his bad-cop logic that was the source of much abusive behavior towards the general public in his line of duty most certainly makes him proud of his triumph of speeding’s violators over its victims.
Is it any wonder that so many people I know think all cops are a**holes? Maybe someday the voters will come to their senses and stop putting ex cops like Constant and hate group chief Pegram on the Council.
David D #23,
The traffic unit was not cut as a result of photo radar cameras. All investigative units at the police department have been cut to try and plug holes in the patrol division which is spread extremely thin.
The police department is working with 1994 staffing levels in the year 2007. San Jose’s population in 1994 was about 811,000. Today it is almost 1 million people. This is an increase of about 23%. Our police department has about 1,350 officers. If staffing at the police department had kept up with the population increase they should have another 300 officers. That is why the traffic enforcement unit was slashed in half. What is rather ominous is that many officers are slated to retire next year, and the department is having a very hard time finding qualified applicants.
Property crime investigative units such as auto theft and burglary have been especially hard hit. That is why the burglary rate and auto thefts have been way up.
A photo radar unit can’t take the place of an officer on a motorcyle with a radar gun. An officer is much more of a deterrent in slowing people down. How many of us have not passed a motor officer shooting radar or giving a ticket, and found ourself tapping on the brake and slowing down. A motor officer can make contact with the driver, make sure of their identity, find out if they are legally licensed and insured, have no warrants, are not drunk or on drugs, and impound their car for up to 30 days if they are not licensed. Removing a car from someone who is not legally licensed to drive or insured or drunk can greatly increase the safety of all of us and our loved ones. A radar van is at best just a tool and has no investigative use at all.
It is true that a retired police officer from another city contested his ticket and that was one of the reasons radar vans are not used. Every profession has its boneheads. I think you would find a vast majority of officers support the use of a radar camera as another tool.
How would I pay for this? In one of your prior post I remember you suggested the more tickets written would result in more money for increasing officers. I think this is a very valid point when speaking of traffic enforcement officers. A motor officer who writes 20 tickets a day at $200-400 a ticket would easily pay for him or herself.
Think of the vast amount of manpower hours that has gone into investigating 39 traffic fatalities so far this year. If this manpower had been used up front as a preventitive to write tickets and remove cars from bad drivers, it probably would have kept more people alive who died or were crippled in accidents. Think of the millions used in medical costs trying to save these people that may have been saved if that bad driver had been dealt with and the human misery caused to their families.
Not to beat a dead horse, but several years ago we approved a bond that was suppose to be used to build a south valley police substation. This would have allowed much more time for traffic enforcement and investigation rather than the manpower wasted now driving sometimes 20 miles just to get out to an officer’s assigned district. Apparently, according to a Mercury article last month, this police substation money has been used by our city council to rebuild or construct new fire stations. If I were “Mayor, Council and Chief all-in-one” I would make sure this money was used where the voters had originally wanted it used and follow their wishes. I would also close every city owned golf course that is losing money and hemorrhaging so a relatively few people can play golf, and put this money back into public safety, specifically the police department.
“If you can afford an $800K home, you can afford the taxes”
No one here is ‘bellyaching’ about home prices.
The point is simply the supreme irony of Pierluigi’s post, and most public debate on San Jose’s budget woes. The same people who wring their hands about San Jose’s inability to pay its debts (i.e., typically older residents more involved in their community) are the same ones who pay less than their fair share of property taxes. Remove the unfair tax law from thine own eye first.
When Schwarzenegger became Governor, he utilized Warren Buffet as an economic advisor. Buffet’s first response was obvious: “Repeal Proposition 13”.
Nope. Instead we get ‘Budget Shortfall Advisory Group’ meetings, and scratch our heads wondering where all the tax money is.
Peace on all the identified wasteful spending—that’s obviously the other half of the equation. No arguments there.
26 – Be sure to thank Nora for taking money that could have been used for the South Valley police substation—if she ever comes back to her office.
Here is an article that was in the Mercury yesterday regarding how the bond money approved in 2002 for a south valley police substation which was due to open in 2009 has been squandered. It is worth a look to read and see how our public safety has been compromised.
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_7630298
#26
You make a great case for safety first. A linchpin of democracy is order, civility and respect for the law, order and due process. Your points are well taken and I thank you.
Unfortunately our representative form of government and a master plan to support that have been subordinated by personal, political and whimsical wants of the moment.
The voters want safe streets but do not want tickets. They want clean parks and pools, open libraries, well maintained streets and things they have come to take for granted; but they vote for what sounds good, serves their interest or political bias and they forget the realities of running a financially sound and safe city.
Hopefully with this crisis we as a city are coming to realize there is no free lunch; and money does not grow on trees. We are as responsible for the financial health and safety of our city as we are for our selves and family; and the consequences for neglecting such are that that different.
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
#29 Gil,
I’m sorry if I have lost any credibility with you, but, as I said, all testing does is tell the parent what is the blood lead level of their child.
It does not remove lead from the child’s blood.
It does not prevent brain damage from occurring if lead is in a child’s blood.
It does not prevent the child from acquiring lead in their blood.
It does not prevent other children from acquiring lead in their blood.
It does not remove the sources of lead in the environment.
It does not remove existing lead from the environment.
If you want to prevent childhood lead poisoning you need to remove the sources of lead from the environment, and to remove a source you need to be aware of that source.
I agree that I have not done as much as I possibly could do, but as time goes on more will be done. Perhaps you could help.
While we are on this subject, as a side-note, the EPA ranks all of Santa Clara County as being in the “Highest in the US” category in regard to airborne lead pollution.
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/nata/mapemis.html
Also, they estimate that 85% of the airborne lead in Santa Clara County is from general aviation aircraft. Total lead in the air is 5.56 tons/year, non-road mobile sources (GA aircraft) contribute 4.7 tons/year.
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/nata/tablemis.html
Non-road mobile is defined as “Mobile sources not found on roads and highways (e.g., airplanes, trains, lawn mowers, construction vehicles, farm machinery). ”
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/nata1999/gloss1.html
Since in Santa Clara County only GA aircraft use leaded fuel this means that GA aircraft are the primary source of lead pollution in Santa Clara County.
Also, this is 1996 EPA data, and the amount of lead in the air is going to be dependent on the amount of annual aircraft operations. In other words, the more general aviation aircraft operations, the more lead that is in the air for everyone, young and old, to breathe.
These are the annual operations (takeoff/landing equals 2 operations), for the past 10 years, at Reid-Hillview.
1996 – 159,891
1997 – 188,817
1998 – 214,012
1999 – 215,327
2000 – 229,943
2001 – 235,213
2002 – 227,531
2003 – 215,389
2004 – 203,802
2005 – 191,390
2006 – 165,302
Additionally, FAA data has shown that each year between 60% to 70% of aircraft operations at Reid-Hillview are “local”. Local operations are from aircraft that never leave the pattern. Essentially, the aircraft simply fly in circles at the airport while the pilots practice takeoffs and landings.
This means the lead pollution from these local operations is distributed over the neighborhoods near Reid-Hillview versus being randomly distributed as if the aircraft actually fly to another destination.
#25
The one retired officer got NASCOP vans off the streets is just that: one retire officer. No more, no less. He does not speak for the City, SJPD or officers in general. I do not agree with your generalization.
I wonder how San Jose’s “green building” requirements (requiring LEED Silver certification for all new municipal buildings) affects the costs of new city facilities such as the police substation.
#24 Bud,
I’ve been waiting for this kind of reply, but had no idea it would come from an advocate on the negative effect of Lead expousure.
You are absolutly DEAD WRONG on the issues of testing babies or not testing Babies.
Your brain was developed when you were 6 years old. Any lead expouser you may have now does nothing but have it’s toxic effect on your body’s funtions. Your brain is formed
In a child of 6 months to 6 years old , the lead in the childs brain does not allow the brain development to proceed as with a normal child with no lead in the blood stream. Once thet brain has develpoed at the age of 6 years, This childs brain can NEVER be made right, and thus you have a whole generation of disfuntional teenagers with out the ability to funtion as normal human beings.
I’m sure any baby that was or is under the flight path of Reed Hillview has an elivated blood lead level.
Im very surprised you have not started a class action suit out there at Reed Hillview.
The Mothers at Sal Si Predes have done more that you , They stopped Bitching and started a Revolution.
Bud, Your issue is the airport not Childrens well being. Get off your pedestal and give the mothers of babies at risk of toxic blood lead the help they need. The politicions have not been responsible in cleaning up this issue . save for Mike Honda.
You’ve lost your credibility with me Bud. Good Luck.
The Village Black Smith
Bud,
To show what one concerned single mom can do. Look at “Allen Wong + EPA” Yahoo.
The politicians had their heads in the sand on this one. If you want to rid the lead from the flight path of Reed Hillview, I’d recommend trusting a concerned Mom do get it done for you. But it starts with a baby being tested, between 6 months and 6 years. After 6 years the brain is fully developed. There is nothing at this point that can be done for that child. The lead has already done it’s damage to the Brain. There are lots of web sites that can tell you what to expect when lead blocks the normal brain development of a BABY.
The whole world knows it’s effects. The whole world knows how to protect our babies from coming into immediate contact with lead partcles. So why the leaded toys from China? Who’s responsible for this horrible promotion?
I hope this helps you to see how effective a few Moms can be. Contact the EPA hot line if your child has tested positive with elevated blood lead levels. Any amount will impair your childs brain development.
Normal
Politicians! “GET THE LEAD OUT”
The Village Black Smith
Dave,
re your point “…A motor officer who writes 20 tickets a day at $200-400 a ticket would easily pay for him or herself.”
San Jose PD has a ‘no pursuit’ policy as it relates to clocking speeders. If a speeder happens to let a patrol car follow him/her while speeding I’m sure that driver will be pulled over.
Radar ticketing buy SJPD is possible on Local Streets and Roads listed on a Federal roads and streets map. Those not on the map are surveyed every seven years to validate use of radar on them. (I hope I have this correct.)
If correct, it appears there are three ways you can get a speeding ticket:
1) by a radar equipped team of the Traffic Unit usually working a specific location
2) by speeding with a patrol car on your tail
3) by any non-Traffic Unit patrol officer who has a radar gun and is certified to use it.
Given the Traffic Unit is under staffed; and citations by clocking are rare; then the question(s) are:
a) how many total units patrol the city all shifts?
b) of all those, what percentage are trained and certified to use a radar or laser speed gun?
c) what percentage of those are equipped with same?
d) what’s the general policy for their use by patrol? And why?
e) and what’s the reality out there out there on the streets? And why?
The opinions, misinformation and sound bites on this issue can be confusing. It’s hard to understand the dynamics of all this and keep from making incorrect assumptions or judgments. You never know what don’t know.
#35 Gil
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I have to admit that researching Reid-Hillview and the many negative effects it has on society has been difficult, time consuming, and complicated. There is a lot to study and learn about the economic, social, and environmental consequences of having a recreational airport in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
As such, it certainly is possible that I may have missed something, made a mistake, or provided some incorrect information. However, I have to admit that this research has been both interesting and educational, and I have learned quite a lot from this process.
If I have made any mistakes I certainly would appreciate being provided with accurate, correct, and relevant data to remedy that mistake. Inaccurate and incorrect information does not help anybody. In two posts (#29 , #35) you say that I am “DEAD WRONG”. That’s fine. However, you do bother to say what data is wrong.
If it is not too much trouble can you please provide some data, some links to data, or anything that I can use to correct whatever error you feel I have made.
Also, can you tell me what you have done to identify and eliminate lead pollution from society, and I can use your example as a model for future success.
#38 Gil
Thank you.
I agree that concerned citizens, such as mothers, are essential to getting the County Supervisors to finally do the right thing in regard to eliminating the lead pollution from Reid-Hillview.
Unfortunately, in the past the county has been telling these mother’s that their children’s blood lead is the result of lead based paint in their home. But that is only true if their home has not been painted in the last 30 years, since lead based paint was banned in the 1970s. Basically, the county is telling individuals that the lead poisoning of their children is their own fault.
The fact of the matter is this, for over 40 years Reid-Hillview has been polluting the air of East San Jose with lead particles, the residents of East San Jose have been breathing this lead pollution, and it is more than apparent that this pollution has not been beneficial for the residents of this area.
This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “Reid-Hillview inspires children”, and the results of over 40 years of inspiration are not exactly positive.
It is time Santa Clara County admitted they made a mistake by building Reid-Hillview in the middle of East San Jose during the 1960s, and take responsibility for all the lead pollution they have created since that time.
If I may, I would like to make one correction to your posts. Lead poisoning in children starts before 6 months of age. It begins with the fetus.
If a pregnant woman has lead in her blood, such as from breathing Santa Clara County air near Reid-Hillview, this lead can be passed to the fetus. At this stage of development, even the smallest amount of lead can result in the brain of the fetus being damaged, and result in permanent cognitive impairment.
Pierluigi,
You and your fellow council members have cut the police department’s traffic enforcement unit in half. This year’s traffic fatalities in San Jose are now approaching double that of last year. You have cut funding to the investigative units of the police department and gang violence is way up, along with the associated violent assaults and homicides. You cut funding to investigate units including burglary and auto theft, and both of those crimes are way up. You and your council members have disregarged voters wishes and raided bond money that was allocated for a south valley police precinct. The south valley station is now at best delayed for years or decades, and could never happen. The police department is woefully understaffed with 1994 staffing levels, compromising the safety of the officers and underserving the citizens of San Jose. Due to the low staffing only the most egregious of crimes are ever investigated. Now, according to the Mercury, you and the council are considering cutting from the police department the horse mounted unit, the canine unit, the bomb squad, and school crossing guards.
http://www.mercurynews.com/losgatos/ci_7648393.
I sure hope you and your fellow council members seriously consider the consequences of your actions. Public safety is the number one concern of the citizens. You and the rest of the city council need to have the fortitude to cut out the pet and feel good projects and quit gutting the police department. I would really like to see your response to this issue posted here.
Thanks Bud for that information on fetus brain damage. That is why the EPA hot line is so efficent. They do not deal in politics as is the norm. There are very good attorneys that know the system for change.
It’s still about children Bud. It’s still about children!!!!!
The Village Black Smith
#33 (Officer) David,
My generalization was hardly based on that one instance. I have relatives who are now retired from law enforcement, one of whom held the position of Chief in a neighboring town. He would have given his own mother a ticket. I base my generalization on first-hand experience as well as those of other people I know who have shared their own bad cop stories. And I am not, and do not hang with thugs. We see it all the time, men who have insecurities and jump at the chance to bully people by becoming a cop. It’s a global issue and denying it exists is the same as landing on an aircraft carrier and declaring “Mission accomplished.”
#40 “cutting from the police department the horse mounted unit, the canine unit, the bomb squad”
The City Council will probably have to have one of their dog and pony shows when they drop this bomb on us.
# 31 Bud,
You and I both Know that the Board of Supervisors is not going to shut down the Reed Hillview airport simply because a guy named BUD says it not good for us to breath the exhaust from those noisey freken would be pilots in those go nowhere recreational
airoplane.
The women that have had their babies tested to date have come about as Grizzly Bear Moms. Knowning that their babies will develop into sub human teenagers has driven the Moms to challenge the system.
Get off your ass and encourage all of the moms with children with babies under 6 years of age to test their children and report their findings, will unite hundreds of house wifes to form a class action suit to clean up any expousure that may exist anywhere in this county.
It’s about the children’s brain development. not your desire to rid us of an airport. Talk to Blanca, she was at district 5 for many years.
I trust a mother , I do not trust you BUD.
Your brain is already formed, You may have been one of those that did not have protection when your brain was forming at 2 years old.
You are DEAD WRONG, BUD. DEAD WRONG!
The Village Black Snith
#44 (Not sure if you are David since you typed in 3rd person), if I thought Mr. D. was for sure a cop I would not have used parentheses around the title “Officer.”
Nowhere did I suggest that your average cop would want to stop the photo radar program. Why on earth would any cop want to eliminate the opportunity to cite an unsafe and flagrant violator even if the citation is issued by a machine? Oh, I forgot. Because if you’re a retired cop caught speeding you need to save face by deflecting blame from the true violator in order to vindicate yourself. This is the same thing I’ve seen and heard over the years when people take an alleged traffic violation to court. The cop who issued a bogus ticket to meet his quota (don’t tell me there isn’t one) provides testimony that is full of outright lies about the situation, yet his word is golden to the judge. Until cops realize that they themselves are not above the law, active or retired, I will continue to make this generalization.
#42
1) what leads you to believe David D. is an officer? Fact? Impression? Or rush to judge?
2) all he said was; the retired officer was just that: one retired officer; nothing more, nothing less.
3) David D. is not, never was and never wanted to be an officer.
3) all he did was state the obvious: one retire officer challenged the ticket and won.
4) if the NASCOP units ticketed unsafe and flagrant violators, are you suggesting officers in general were against this and supported it’s removal?
Is there a point to any committee or group when there is no opportunity for input? When the group is appointed by council members and the mayor, when neighborhood associations aren’t involved in choosing representatives who actually represent them, when appointees are obviously chosen because they were big donors and only represent a small portion of a district, what’s the point? It’s so much window dressing. Doesn’t really matter what your ideas are if you aren’t connected to the elite.
# 40 Dave,
Pierluigi Oliverio was not on the Council when those cuts were made.
If PD staffing levels are at 1994 levels, why were they not increased to keep pace with the growth in housing during the Hammer / Gonzales terms when money grew on trees and the streets were lined with gold? Both were supported by SCCLC and I believe Fire and PD. Is this not true?
Housing is in the tank. Sales tax is flat-to-down. Bargaining units keep pressing for increased wage and benefits and the Gonzo loyalist continue to vote for pet district projects and supporter payback items. When does San Jose have a vote? Oh yes; when the till is empty.
Dave, you said it very well. Things are not looking good and it doesn’t appear that the current trend will correct in the near future. Question is: what can be done now?
Traffic citation quotas are against the law. An increased focus and crackdown on bad driving is not. The efficient and productive flow of traffic through the city is good thing, but we all know that personal injuries and fatalities are not; and therein lies the opportunity for SJPD to crank up the pressure, write more citations and put that 13% of citation revenue back in the Traffic Unit and street patrol. One catch: the Mayor and full council will have to take the lead on a Safety First policy and not siphon off that 13% into other uses.
Maybe this is already being done? Is it legal? Would it work? Or am I naïve to even suggest it? What else can be done given the current City revenue projections? Any ideas Dave?
Dave #26—Los Lagos Golf Course has an operating profit. The $$ being “lost” is the cost of servicing the the bond debt used to construct it. Another problem with bond financing of anything, including infrastructure.
Many bloggers here have expressed the sentiment in respons to PO’s posts that the mayor and council get back to basics. Do you think they’ll ever heed this message?
Dave #32: Hhhmmm, we passed a bond in 2002, and here it is nearly 2008 and the city hasn’t put a spade in the ground. Indeed, surprise, surprise, the geniuses @ city hall are perplexed that the cost estimate in 2007 is higher than it was in 2002. And they call the staff competent?! What took so long to get this project off the ground?? Five years, and they are still at the cost estimating stage!! Your tax $$ at rerst—business as usual—slow, inept, incompetent, and perplexed that inflation has increased the costs. No wonder we’re in such a fiscal mess.
Dave#40—yup this and prior mayors and councils have cut essential public safety and infrastructure maintenance; but we still have scads of managers and deputy managers who do little but push paper upstream and downstream, such as public art managers, all getting paid six figures for feel good crap we cannot afford while our cops are at 1994 staff levels and it takes six years for city staff to get out an RFP for the police station, which (surprise, surprise) will cost more than it would have if they’d gotten off their dead asses and started construction in 2003.
Dave #40
I hear what you are saying and must agree with you on most of your comments. But, I must say Pierluigi is the wrong person to single out. Pierluigi is the Chair for the Cities “traffic calming meetings” at which he has SJDOT exec`s and SJPD Officer at each of his meetings with residents in each district. Pierluigi is not only a good listner but has been very voal on enforcement issues. He has givem a lot of his time to this matter.
Again, I hear and agree with what you`re saying and you have a lot of residents with you and your thoughts and beliefs.
We need Pierluigi`s continued support.
Dave, keep the faith, Pierluigi will be behind us.
David D #47,
Thanks for your thoughtful remarks regarding this issue. You ask “When does San Jose have a vote?” in this matter. San Jose voters did have a vote in 2002 when they approved a bond specifically to fund a badly needed south valley police station. Pier and his fellow council members have taken money allocated for this and used it for other projects, primarily to rebuild firestations and construct new fire stations. This is in blatant disregard to the voters wishes. Not to be too cynical, but what is the purpose of suggesting other ways to fund our police department, when a mandate by our voters did not make a difference?
San Jose just had it’s 35th murder of the year. That is the highest murder total in 10 years, and the year is not done. http://origin.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_7660186
The city council and mayor needs to wake up. Our traffic unit has been slashed; traffic fatalities are way up. Property crime investigative units have been slashed; burglaries and auto thefts are way up. Gang and violent crime units have been cut; murders and violent assaults are way up. The patrol division is extremely understaffed; the community is underserved and patrol officers are getting burnt out or going out hurt.
Pier asked the question what we considered our top ten priorities. Considering the increase in violent crimes and traffic deaths, and the safety of the patrol officers, police staffing has to be one of the top ten.
#40 Dave,
—As I remember, Oliverio spoke on behalf of fiscal restraint and stood with Councilman Constant on this. Did he actually vote in support of Fire Station #2?
— Was is not a Labor/Developer supported council member that pushed this $9mil + through?
— Was it not Labor/Developer supported council members that said “we deserve” and “it’s not that much money“?
— Are these not the same council members that Fire and PD seek out and support for taking care of them?
— It seems that these same council members spend our limited resources on what they feel is import at the moment, and then lament there the lack of funds to take care for our city’s basic needs.
— Who owns these folks? (Council members that is.)
— Why is it not a surprise that things get a bit screwed up.
— A City Staff left without political and influence from special interest might just the interests of the whole city as their primary objective.
Dave… you’ve posted twice since I raised some questions about resources and equipment regarding ways to make our streets safer. As to your comments about funding and the political history, let’s deal with that as a separate (but no less important) issue, but for now can we deal with the problem of safe streets and what can be done over the next twelve months with available resources?
Back to my questions in post #36; are they worthy of discussion or response, and if so, what are your thoughts? If not, why not?
Respectfully. . .
David D #51,
I think your questions are all very valid and worthy of an answer. What can be done over the next twelve months with available resources? I really don’t know. All departments at the police department have been cut back, so to pull officers out of one unit to plug a hole in another unit is robbing Peter to pay Paul. I think this is one of the points Mayor McEnery was making in his blog a couple weeks ago when he wrote about our police departments staffing being at 1994 levels. My answer to your question is probably not adequate, but we need more patrol officers to go on calls for service and then investigate crimes. San Jose use to have a very proactive police department and nipped problems in the bud. It seems once San Jose was labeled as the “Safest Big City in America”
the city leaders over the past few years became complacent and funding for new officers has eroded. Our department is now a reactive rather than proactive department and we can see what has happened. How do we fund more officers? I honestly don’t know. If the police department has a council person in their back pocket they haven’t gotten them any additional officers for the past 13 years.
What suggestions do you have for funding new officers? If funding is ever found for new officers what do you think the department should do to attract more qualified applicants as there is a shortage of qualified applicants and competition is very stiff amongst other departments in our state? At what point do we stop expecting the men and women of our police department to be super cops and “do more with less”, as we have since 1994, and let them know is it ok to do “less with less”?
Has our city gotten to the point where we are willing to tolerate more violent crimes and accept that as the norm, as many other big cities have? Thanks again for the great questions and thoughts in your prior posts.
The conditions on our City streets are becoming dangerous. The idea was we would build Freeways and Interstates to move our people around quicker, then came the expressways and the parkways. It`s 2007 and these super highway systems have become Gridlocked. Just look at Interstate 280, and the Guadalupe 87, look at U.S. 101, and the new “85 state of the art” roadway. All cloged , becoming just like the LA freeway`s big parking lots, not super highways as intended. Everything northbound from San Jose to Palo Alto is a mess.
The results, local residents are speeding recklessly on intercity streets trying to avoid the freeway system. Now trucks trying to avoid the I-280/87 interchange are using our city streets as highway`s.
High density construction continues, look at the developments along the I 280 corridor on both sides in San Jose , both downtown SJ and in Willow Glen. Crazy maddness. All these developers believe people living in these new housing types are going to be able to jump onto the already croweded I-280 and go to work. Construction continues from the center of San Jose along the interstate all the way to the new planned BAREC project in Santa Clara and those new residents are going to told how close they are to the Winchester Blvd, on ramp to I-280 and the close proximity to the big interchange`s I280 and I 880 or the I280 & 85 interchange.
This is all MADNESS. And we have a shortage of SJPD to manage all this new traffic. Look at streets like Willow St that have become a highway, Lincoln Ave has become a main artery for Almaden Valley people to get downtown to work. Campbell people are using Hamilton, Meridian and Willow Street to get to jobs in downtown San Jose. Willow Glen has only 5 police officers per shift to manage all this madness. Crossing gards in Willow Glen may lose their jobs to the Budget axe.
There is no inforcement on City streets to manage traffic. Big Heavy Trucks are using city streets, big trucks that are usually managed by the Highway Patrol on Freeways. Our SJPD is not equipped to handle these big trucks. Our city roadways are to narrow to handle thses big trucks as their sheer weight is destroying our city streets and putting our children at risk in the neighborhoods.
Do we blame Mayor Reed for all this madness? I don`t think so. I think a lot of this is poor planning. I think our City planners, developers, lobbiest, and greedy land owners eager for profit should take most of the blame.
Pierluigi,
I have to say that Safety in our neighborhoods must become a major item in our city that should not become a victum of the Budget axe. After witnessing the two children on a bike struck down by a careless vehicle driver December 6th on Willow Street at Glen Brook near Willow Street Park was a good example of a desperate need of more Police Officers in our City, especiall enforcement officers. These two children returning from school were very lucky they didn`t become our second fatality on Willow St. next to the Park.
When I hear other people and leaders on San Jose Inside complaining about their pet projects being lost to the budget axe, it makes me sick.
This problem of a shortage of Police officers can`t just be blamed on the current administration as the problem goes back to 1994, another time when the current mayor had budget problems too.
Maybe it`s time to put all this crazy high density construction on hold, stop all this crazy talk and big spending on “BART” from San Jose to the east bay cities on hold and pay more attention to the serious problems in our neighborhoods.
When I think about how many poilce officers we could have hired with the $4million dollars we spent moving Palm Trees for the downtown races, I then realize we have some serious problems with our leaders running this city and I don`t mean just politicians either. At $150,000 cost to hire a police officer per year we could have hired 26 new police officers.
I think it`s time our leaders in this city stopped thinking so much about development profit dollars and began addressing the infrasturcture problems in this city. Our leaders need a “WAKE UP CALL”, this includes those lobbiest that are so geedy and profit driven.
#52 Dave,
You’ve raised a number of good questions and to respond to all would clog da blog. Off line I would be happy to respond to all. On line I will have to agree with you regarding the need for more officers. But for now, how about a response to these two questions:
1) << At what point do we stop expecting the men and women of our police department to be super cops and “do more with less”, as we have since 1994, and let them know is it ok to do “less with less”?>>
– Dave, it’s good question. But it’s not that simple. Advances in technology, systems and process engineering have significantly increased productivity in every field from house painter, doctor, programmer and law enforcement to do more with less. Management wants money for productivity improvement. Bargaining units wants higher pay and increased benefits. The public wants better more cost-effective service. And the cop on the beat wants to do a great job. And yes, we all want more police on patrol as the city grows. It’s not just a headcount issue.
2) <<What suggestions do you have for funding new officers?>>
– Under the current and forecasted budget constraints, it will take the collective effort of a number of initiatives to fund the growth of SJPD staffing. A few ideas might be:
—a) put officers on “light duty” in NASCOP vans in neighborhoods around the city to legally ticket flagrant or egregious speeders and use the 13% revenue to fund the next 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 recruits.
—b) put half of the new recruits in traffic to raise more money for next additions, for a while at least.
—c) press DOT to use or find money for those solar powered radar speed advisory signs and let good drivers bring traffic flow closer to lawful limits and thus reduce the accidents and fatalities by raising the awareness traffic safety around the city. (again taking some of the pressure off the Traffic Unit) This would be proactive, come out of a capital budget and not an ongoing staffing budget.
—d) let the City budget process set the balance between salary and benefit increases and more officers. (but I doubt if that will ever happen)
—e) recruit and use more volunteers for various non-sworn duties to free up experienced troops. Move more light-duty officers over to the Traffic Unit to use radar guns in the duck ponds or man NASCOP vans. There are 40 some officers in the Traffic Unit and not all have to ride motors and roam the city. And if a light-duty has to go to court to back up a ticket, it won’t take a roving patrol off the streets.
Just a few thoughts from here on the outside.
#52 Dave,
To another one of your other good questions… and this could be a blog topic all unto itself.
“Q” << If funding is ever found for new officers what do you think the department should do to attract more qualified applicants as there is a shortage of qualified applicants and competition is very stiff amongst other departments in our state? >>
You are right; here in our high cost of living valley it’s even more difficult. This is where SJ will have to be very creative and think outside the box.
I don’t have the answers, but if creative marketing can get this country to spend $billions on inefficient, expensive and wasteful bottled water, you’d think we could interest more folks in a profession of law enforcement and public safety here in the hub of high tech.
Outside the box thinking would have to include Working Partnerships or the POA as under the current contract terms there may not be much wiggle room for creative ideas, or changes that would attract this new generation to SJPD, (I may be wrong about this so please fill me in on the realities here.)
Thanks,
#56
San Jose should subsidize the home purchase by any SJPD officer, SJFD member, San Jose teacher, or San Jose medical professional who purchases, and lives in, a home East of 101, West of White Road, South of Alum Rock AV, and North of Tully Road.
Details can be worked out but they should live there for at least 10 years, or payback some amount, if not all, of the subsidy.
Please explain, #57, why that geographical area should get special preference?
Sworn peace officers hould not be in any clerical positions in the employ of any police dept. We need them on the streets.
Despite the occasional traffic officer homicide, I am not sure that traffic control should be staffed by sworn peace officers either; except perhaps for officers on light duty for medical reasons…and that light duty should never be pushing a pencil in an office environment.
We need every single sworn officer out there apprehending violent people, not dealing with traffic.
#58
The area described is referred to as “East San Jose”. Whether true or not, deserved or not, this area is generally considered to be the worst neighborhood in San Jose, maybe even the worst neighborhood in Santa Clara County.
For years, society has tried cleaning up the neighborhood with little success. For example, currently Poco Way is reverting back to the lowlifes, even though the residents profess to be against that type of behavior.
So, I was thinking, what better way to get rid of the lowlifes, and improve the neighborhood than to have residents who truly will not put up with lowlifes. However, the only way this is going to happen is to bribe, I mean encourage, individuals and families, who otherwise would rather commute to Stockton, to move into this area.
I know that is a fantasy, but I have yet to hear of a better idea to improve this area.
#61 BlueFox
Certainly an idea with exploring.
Every journey starts with the first step.
#59 Good point
Light duty, senior officers or any sworn officer not fit for a full out foot chase or physical confrontation would be a great asset out there on the street.
They have the experience, street savvy and gut feel to spot high risk bad actors and direct or give patrols critical information.
The paradigm that traffic is boring, not exciting and undesirable duty has to change. It has to have the same respect as any assignment in the force. Traffic is and moreover can be a very proactive tool. No one moves through or around in this city without using our roads and streets.
Traffic may not have the excitement of a chase or huge bust, but it can be the key ingredient to putting the hurt on anyone that does not respect the law, our neighborhoods and civil behavior. Add to that, Traffic can generate income for the rest of the force, (that is if the Mayor and Council really support the Department and their position on public safety.).
Add to that some the new surveillance technology that’s out there today and traffic could be on the forefront of making this city safer. Investigators, detectives, gang unit officers on light duty would add immensely to the intelligence gathered for patrol while doing a stint in Traffic; almost like undercover work.
Just a few thoughts from someone on the outside.
Interesting, I think you are using Stockton as a medaphor for the valley, but Stockton has the worst crime rate of all Northern crime rates of Northern California Cities.
Most of San Francisco`s murders/gang related, have happened along the BART line.The gangs after a hit escape on BART. The last Crime gang related murder assasins were caught because a person riding heard the two murderers
talking about the hit and were reported to the Police. This was reported in the Chronicle last month.
My understanding is one of our worst crime areas in San Jose was in the area along Almaden Street and Almaden road and Vine from Virginia to Willow Glen Way. Another Gang area where gangs from as far as LA have been caught.