Why is it that during every Mardi Gras this city is overrun with troublemakers who scare anyone decent away?
Christmas, New Year, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo and the Fourth of July are all celebrated in some way in San Jose, but Mardi Gras and Cinco de Mayo stick out like two sore thumbs as the problems of the bunch. Mardi Gras, the sole point of which seems to be “party and get beads,” appears to attract only out-of-town hoodlums and teenagers that crowd our streets and cause trouble. (It will be interesting to see how the current crop of mayoral candidates tackles this problem.) These kids ruin important cultural celebrations and festive occasions, turning them into a joke. No respectable person wants to be caught out at night on Fat Tuesday. How can we keep taking steps forward to improve the reputation of downtown when these holidays just cause us to take 50 giant leaps backwards?
It is obvious that something needs to be done, so here are some ideas:
The Go-With-It Strategy: This strategy can be put into place with the idea that “they’re gonna come anyway, so we might as well have some fun with it.” This means that the city will sponsor a Mardi Gras celebration for everyone, organizing a parade with floats, food booths and stations with noisemakers. Maybe the hoodlums and out of-towners will find that they aren’t interested in the cultural significance of Mardi Gras and find some other city where there is room to roam the streets.
The Shut-It-Down Strategy: The city will impose a citywide blackout, requiring all bars and restaurants to shut down for the night. Buses and light rail trains will not stop anywhere downtown and the off-ramps of all freeways will be shut down. If they can’t get here, they can’t cause trouble.
The Check-Your-ID-at-the-Door Strategy: Similar to John McEnery’s proposal in his March 3 article (“Downtown Declared One Big Nightclub”), let’s make all of downtown exclusive during Mardi Gras. Check-in points will only allow of-age patrons to pass. Like when you have to show your passport to enter the United States, patrons will be asked where their final destination is. If they have one, let them in; if they don’t, send them away. Or institute a stiff cover charge and cut out the riff-raff.
Something has to be done because San Jose has done so much work to become a great city, and I hate to see it ruined by one night of “fun.”
As I understand the problem, it is mostly with teenagers who can’t get into bars and nightspots which sell liquor anyway. They’re on the street to party. There should be a 10:00 o’clock curfew for underage people on the street everynight. No exceptions for holidays and special occasions. The curfew law must be enforced. Violation of the curfew law would mean being rounded up and held at a central place and then being released only to parents or guardians along with a citation to appear in court. Getting the parents involved might go a long way towards solving the problem.
I guess I might be accused of being discriminatory, which I am, towards troublemakers.
Candidate washes hands of downtown violence
Now that the blood spilled from Tuesday’s Mardi Gras has been washed off of Second Street and the shattered windshield glass has been swept up from Fourth Street, IA thought it only timely to contact San Jose City Council candidate Joel Wyrick.
Wyrick, you may recall, once ran a Post Street restaurant that held Fat Tuesday block parties that drew hundreds of paying customers. Celebrants who left the 2001 affair flipped over a car and damaged a few storefronts. A year later, some folks who could not get into the party went on a bottle-and-rock throwing rampage against police. After that 2002 party, Wyrick stopped sponsoring the giant block affairs.
But memories of those fiascoes haven’t faded. A few downtown merchants, who asked for anonymity, blame Wyrick’s parties for creating the template for the ensuing Mardi Gras hooliganism over the years.
Wyrick’s response?
Well, he said, you can lay the responsibility on him for popularizing downtown San Jose as the place to go on the day before Ash Wednesday. But you can’t lay the violence card at his doorstep.
“Absolutely not,’’ he said. “The one thing I am not responsible for is someone’s actions.’‘
Might one of his rivals in the race for the city council District 3 seat—which includes downtown—be tempted to question his role in San Jose’s checkered Mardi Gras history?
“That’s a good one,’’ pondered Wyrick. “Yeah, if I was a jerk I’d use it as hit pieces. Yeah, why not?’’
Good idea re: 10pm curfew for those under 18. What these young people are doing out this late on Fat Tuesday is beyond me. Unless area high schools are on some break I don’t know about, Fat Tuesday is on a school night and these kids should be at home studying for school.
Clearly there is a lack of parental responsibility here. Another example of how this Valley – and this country – is going down a slippery slope due to lack of parental responsibility. Perhaps thei idea picking up their teen(s) from “juvy” with a municipal court summons will finally force some of these parents to take responsibility for their children.
I remember years ago, WNEW TV channel 5 in New York always asked the following question before its 10 O’Clock News broadcast:
“It’s 10:00pm. Do you know where your children are?”
I often wondered…who in their right mind wakes up on Fat Tuesday and states “I can’t wait to cause mayhem tonight in downtown San Jose”? I completely agree with E. Bradley…make the parents responsible for their kids actions (heavy fines, etc.), and punish these hoodlums to the fullest extent of the law.
Single Gal is really saying much of the same things FinFan says, but she does it much more nicely.
Dan: curfew for underage salamanders, too?
#4 Tony
I big reason why these kids come down on that night is the pre-news coverage.
Each year the news stations replay past years problems. Becomes a great advertising piece to the hoodlums; who are reminded it Fat Tuesday and they need to go downtown and cause trouble.
Perhaps the news stations could help downtown and not replay the past years issues before next years Fat Tuesday.
“appears to attract only out-of-town hoodlums and teenagers that crowd our streets and cause trouble.”—-Single Gal
“I can’t wait to cause mayhem tonight in downtown San Jose”?—- Tony D
Single Gal,
Being a local resident I do know that most of those hoods are not primary from out-of-town. They are from San Jose, they are san jose hoods who have nothing better to do then cause harm to others. Those are the hoods that make going to downtown a scary and uneasy mess. [The ones I am sure you see just hanging around]
Downtown SJ is not nice and should be called old town, and SJ should build a new downtown. Downtown SJ is a dump and I personally have no reason to go there.
Watching footage of the policeman on horseback coralling the kids out of the streets is quite a site when most of the kids are LAUGHING. They obviously aren’t scared of any consequences if they have big grins on their face….
JUVY them up!
” From the Mercury News” yes Wyrik should get some blame for starting this event but the violence can’t be totaly blamed on him. At least this gets some coverage from the Mercury News. During the three weeks of Chinese New Years, the Lion Plaza on Tully Road gets a huge crowd every weekend with fireworks being out of control. I’m also informed by the police dept that rampant gambling and prostitution being a major issue but vety few if any arrests were made during this event. This doesn’t make the headlines of the Mercury News. I guess it’s easier to show our politicians riding on floats during the yearly parade versus writting about the issues happening in our neighborhood. I’m also told this is a very sensitive and political issue. Image that, I guess money must be the issue.
Mr. Bradley (#3),
“Perhaps the idea picking up their teen(s) from “juvy” with a municipal court summons will finally force some of these parents to take responsibility for their children.”
Thanks to the efforts of Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, don’t count on the cops taking anyone to Juvenile Hall. The Juvenile Detention Reform she spirited through three years ago has pretty much put an end to the “Juvy” experience for all but the most heinous of offenders.
From the annual report of the Probation Department
(http://www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs/Probation Department (DEP)/attachments/Annual_Rprt_FY04Final.pdf)
the objectives of the Juvenile Detention Reform are:
1. To reduce the disproportionate confinement of minority youth;
2. To reduce the number of youths unnecessarily or inappropriately detained;
3. To minimize the number of youth who fail to appear in Court or who re-offend pending adjudication;
4. To redirect public funds toward successful reform strategies; and
5. To improve conditions of confinement.
Weigh the impact of each “reform” and you’ll see that reducing the confinement of minority youth was the real objective. That was Blanca’s target. “Unnecessarily or inappropriately detained” is a term all but devoid of meaning at the policy level. Likewise, everything else is just what George Orwell referred to as “sheer cloudy vagueness.”
When government is creating most of the problems, should we be surprised when it cannot find the solutions?
Just move the Mardi Gras ground zero to Story and King. Then those losers can trash their own neighborhood all they want and nobody would care, as that’s just business-as-usual irresponsible activity over there anyway.
As for parental responsibility being directly related to bailing their kid out of juvy, I’m afraid that for this group, making it into juvy is an accomplishment, a badge of honor and respect to be worn on the road to Pelican Bay, where so many of them are hell bent on ending up. Unfortunately it’s the cave man male element in this particular portion of society that heaps praise on their criminal kids for breaking the law. Until you can break that kind of backward behavior, you can’t even count on the parents to help solve this problem. They’re the cause, not the solution in this case.
Dan has a good point about a youth curfew for underage teenagers in downtown but the topic is very complex and needs additional community study to develop an effective response to downtown violence by all community groups in cooperation with our elected officials and city government to continue our highly successful community policing efforts and address our downtown and other area challenges –
Part of the solution for downtown events may be better curfew enforcement with large downtown district curfew fines $500 – $1000, greater community service or weekends in jail requirements
There is a question about where the actual troublemakers are coming from, why they are doing the behavior that is unacceptable.
If it is shown that they are from other cities the solutions maybe different than if they are local youths
1) San Jose has an existing Youth curfew SEE Youth Curfew
http://www.usmayors.org/uscm/news/publications/curfew.htm#havecurfews
”
Enforcement is always a problem especially when we have serious $ 20-70 million budget shortfall or as the article stated – ” San Jose: We had to add $1 million in new police payroll to enforce our curfew.”
2) ” Curfews have been widely-cited by policy makers as an effective tool for reducing youth crime. However, despite these assertions, virtually no comprehensive analysis of the effects of these laws has been completed. ”
http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/curfew/curfew.html
“The current available data provides no basis to the belief that curfew laws are an effective way for communities to prevent youth crime and keep young people safe.”
3) San Jose’s community policing supports the articles conclusion ” Based on the current evidence, a crime reduction strategy founded solely on law enforcement intervention has little effect and suggests that solutions are more complex and multifaceted. Future policy and research should focus on the potential crime reduction effects of prevention strategies that provide a comprehensive array of services, opportunities, and interventions. While this approach is likely to require a substantial infusion of public resources, the long term benefits may prove worth the investment. “
4) A Comparison of Curfew Policies in San Jose and San Francisco, 1985-1998
http://wcr.sonoma.edu/v1n2/appendix_b.html
” There is a significant racial/ethnic difference in curfew enforcement in San Jose that can not be explained by each group’s contribution to crime (Table B-2). More specifically, Hispanic youth are responsible for fifty-one percent of San Jose’s youth crime but they comprise seventy-two percent of its curfew arrests. Hispanic youth are twice as likely as white youth, and three times more likely than black or Asian youth, to be arrested for curfew violations than their contribution to the city’s other crime would lead one to expect. Hispanic youth are five times more likely to be arrested for curfew violations than their percentage of the youth population would predict. “
5) The older San Francisco and San Jose curfew studies need to be updated to 2005 or we need to find updated studies with the recent crime rates and ethic breakdowns which may change the study’s conclusions as to the effectiveness of curfews or proposed community solutions
We need a community task force that involves all parts of the community in developing a community solution.
A few ideas that should be studied are:
– Are the previous studies accurate and do they apply to today’s problems ?
– What are the real facts and do they support the community conclusions as to the source of the problems ?
– Do substantial fines, community service or weekends in jail actually deter violence and property damage ?
– Will a 2 Tier fine and community service penalty system – Regular and Special Enforcement Districts ( Double or more fines / Community service / Jail time ) for downtown or other identifiable and clearly marked problem areas ) system reducing the problems
– What other community policing or youth / gang diversion support services are necessary ?
– Are the problem people from San Jose or outside and what is the best way to prevent the problems?
– Can we easily identify the troublemakers or do we need more street / parking lot lighting and TV cameras to include in police car video cameras in special enforcement districts / problem areas to document what actually went on and by who ?
If the entire community will actually work together to identify the actual facts, proposed solutions and implement the best solutions, we can solve the challenges and continue to improve all areas of San Jose
Mark T and FinFan,
Both of you hit the nail on the head. There are no real consequences anymore for kids causing mayhem or “Acting a fool”…Thank you Blanca! So I agree that we should now hold massive Fat Tuesday events in the district of the bleeding heart. In closing, these hoodlums roaming Downtown make me yearn for Singapore-style justice! (again, for the record I am Latino)
Blanca wants to reduce the disproportionate confinement of minority youth?
Oakland’s Ignacio De La Fuente wants to reduce the number of illegal immigrants caught at DUI checkpoints?
Q. What do to?
A. Enforce immigration laws and secure US borders with Mexico and Canada.
Seems straightforward to me and would seemingly be a slam dunk given the homeland security rhetoric that we hear from Washington 13,000 times a day.
I couldn’t imagine that there is enough room at Juvenile Hall to keep the curfew violators corralled until they are picked up by their parents. I think we all feel that something serious needs to be done. It is probably obvious from my previous remarks that I am not in favor of profiling this by racial numbers. It won’t solve the problem to know how many, hispanic, black, caucasian, or asian are involved according to race. It is enough to say that these problems are being caused mostly by people under 21 years of age. I think some sort of facility could be used to keep the juveniles (under 18) corralled pending the arrival of parent or guardian. Young adults (18 – 21) could be handled like adults and if they are creating public disturbances then they should suffer the consequences. The Mercury-News won’t stop running the articles before Mardi Gras because it is the news. If one follows the “COPS” TV program, one will see that the New Orleans Police has their hands full with Mardis Gras and during Mardis Gras all police leave is cancelled.
Do not jail troublemakers – it costs us more money for courts, jails and county paid lawyers and court appeals wasting more tax money
Fine them $1,000 -2000 per offense for costs of arresting and processing them and hold them until their parents or a responsible adult comes and gets them – 8-12 hours in jail is not a fun night in San Jose
Hit them hard in the wallet or if they are underage their parents who have to pay the fine and pick them
It works except for the real dummys, it will take them a few times to get it
Out of town troblemakers will not come back to San Jose after expensive fine for troublemaking and a night in our city jail
FinFan #10 and MarkT # 11 have it part right.
The reason a disproportionate number of minorities get arrested is that a disproportionate number of minorities commit crimes. But that is not the real issue.
U wazn’t arrested ‘cuz U wuz black or brown, BRO, U wuz arrested ‘cuz you threw some sh*t through someone’s window while you were all jacked up wit’ yo Homies.
The parents of these losers don’t give a sh*t either, so it ain’t like us middle class folk who are angered and ashamed when our kids get popped and we go bail them out.
The common denominator is sometimes race, but more often economics.
Ain’t no black doctors’ kids raisin’ hell; ain’t no brown lawyers’ kids raisin’ hell (for the most part, because there are exceptions, like Berkeley doctors’ kids and Berkeley lawyers’ kids, but that’s another story).
The main problem is that Po’ folk raise more sh*t than middle class folk, and a lot more shi*t than rich folk do. Same is true all over the world, not just San Ohaze.
Same thing explains why so many minorities drop out of school. It’s not because they are black or brown. Asians are still a minority here, and they don’t drop out. The problem is with the parents of the po’ kids, who just don’t give a sh*t, or are on meth themselves and have their own criminal justice problems to deal with.
So, what does a po’ kid with no parents who are interested in him or her do? He/she joins a gang. His/her Homies understand their plight,(because it’s theirs, as well) sympathize, provide the only support group these kids ever have, with rare exception.
So, when there is a well-publicized event, those unable to conform to society’s rules congregate and raise hell.
Should we as a society tolerate this? NO! Should we understand that it’s not race-based, but economic situation based? I believe so. And we need to be all over the loser parents of these soon-to-be-loser kids, or our prisons won’t be able to hold them all.
Ed#12: Do you have a bureaucratic bullshi*t phrase book that you pulled all that nonsense out of?
Kids who have non-interested parents, and who have no hope of realizing the American dream they see on TV every day do not respond to this PC nonsense you spout.
We don’t need another study. We need a common set of rules that are enforced across the board; and the realization that if you disobey those rules, there will be an adverse consequence.
Prison should not be fun. It should be a place you never want to return to; so cut out the library, the TV, and the Johnny Cash concerts; no ethnic food suitable to your taste ( do you realize a group of Mexican national prisoners sued the Orange County Jail system because their food was too bland? And some Federal Judge actually sided with them!!)
No, this mollycodling has to stop.
But we do need “intervention”, as you suggest…and at an early age, in order to staunch the flkow of the problem of folks who just don’t understand that there must be rules in a civilized society.
Jeez, look at Iraq—where Dubya deploys our troops to do what—force democracy on a people who think nothing of bombing schoolchildren because they are of the wrong sect of Islam. BUt I digress.
We REALLY need to address the lack of hope of a better future that many of these kids live with.
But we do not need to surrender to the PC notion that all transgressions must be tolerated because the transgressor is not a white, middle-class person and that he/she robbed that store or killed that person because he/she was “disadvantaged”.
Fine Troublemakers # 16: What planet do you live on? Do you think any of these folks have the money to pay the fine you propose? The alternative—$50.00 fine is one day in jail, and so your $1,000.00 fine equals how many days? Think hard now.
Singapore has a very effective solution to vandals and rioters—swift painful justice.
Oh, but that would be considered “cruel and unusual punishment” here by our “Supremes”, even though the nuns and the priests did it to many of us, and so did our parents. But that was then and this is now.
NOT PC, but effective.
Ed#12 and Blanca: this disproportionate enforcement nonsense is just that—nonsense.
If you do the crime, you do the time, and shut up about it.
When my son was @ Harker a couple of decades ago, he got caught in some minor transgression and was punished appropriately. he came home whining to me that his cohort in crime was neither caught nor punished. My response to him was a question: “Did you do what they said you did?” to which he responded “Yes, but so did (name withhled to protect the other guy)” I rejoined, then since you broke a rule, you desrve the punishment. The fact that the other guy skated is irrelevant.
So, if black, brown, purple people do crimes, they should be arrested, prosecuted, and punished. End of story. If a white guy gets off, that doesn’t mean the black or brown or purple person should go free. What it means is that we have to nail the white guy, too. But even if we don’t, it doesn’t get the black or brown or purple guy a get out of jail free card.
But at the end of the day, crime statistics need not be kept by race or color or national origin. Believe me, the economic status of the offender is the prime indicia. People don’t commit crimes because they are black or brown or purple. It’s eceonomics. Are there exceptions? Of course. But if the majority of white people in the US of A were at the bottom of the economic spectrum, the majority of crimes would be committed by white people.
Tony D, your post #13 raised the “S” word that I’ve been hesitating to mention.
Bottom line is, if these thug types continue to thumb their noses at the responsible behavior required for a continued free society, they and everyone else is going to lose that freedom and we’re going to end up like Singapore. At least nobody will have gum stuck to their shoes ever again.
Norman Mailer has a great new book out that speaks to this fragile quality inherent in all democracies (along with the sad state of affairs in DC) and I’m gonna go buy it. I surfed onto him on of all channels, Fox News and he held his own against Sean Hannity.
Maybe we should hold the next Mardi Gras celebration at the ACLU headquaters and let them deal with the mess..
I have to agree with one recent post. There should be no such thing as a “fun” prison. Any prison should not be a considered a place where one can obtain free food, clothing, shelter, and health care. Was it not the lyrics from the 1970’s TV series “Baretta” that warned its viewers, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time”?
Speaking of which, does San Jose (or the County) run any “scared straight” program for youth that have been in trouble with the law?
LG #7 wants to place the blame solely on the local “hoods.” I agree that our local hoods are capable of wreaking plenty of havoc in downtown, weekend after weekend. But the swelling crowds on special event nights make it clear we have out-of-town visitors in our midst.
A young neighbor (who is legal drinking age and attends Mardi Gras to patronize local bars/restaurants) says large groups in the streets are literally shouting out where they’re from, “Salinas in the house!”, “Stockton!”, etc.
LG states, “Being a local resident I do know that most of those hoods are not primary from out-of-town. They are from San Jose”, but also admits “Downtown SJ is a dump and I personally have no reason to go there. “
So does LG KNOW they’re local by osmosis?
I suggest we synch up efforts with surrounding law enforcement and have checkpoints at all freeway entrances leading into downtown SJ. If you’re driving in from Livermore, Stockton, Modesto, Salinas, etc, have them redirected right back onto the freeway and keep on driving.
LG –
San Jose already built a new downtown – its called Santana Row. Oh, and they are building one in North San Jose and then probably in Coyote Valley. Don’t worry, you will get all your new downtowns before you know it….
Until then, have fun in LG…
Overheard at the debate for District 3 last night:
Someone asked how Joel Wyrick would make ammends for the Mardi Gras fiasco and he said, “Will someone please remove my mother from the crowd?”. A funny joke, but apparently there was no real response and a small apology from Wyrick.
I’ve known Joel Wyrick for some time now, use to beat him at darts for a beer! He is a fine upstanding San Jose man who did such a GREAT job of getting people down to the downtown area! He has a great love for the downtown area even if he doesn’t have a business down there!!! I think having Joel on the City Council would be a fabulous thing for all of San Jose! Blame the violence on the parents of these kids! Mine are home by 7pm!
Salamander-lover Dan # 22: No, I am not “campaigning” for anything. I tried that once, and lucky for me I was unsuccessful.
I just don’t buy all the race bullshit about troublemakers, despite the fact that the Ambassador, for instance, catered to a 90%+ crowd of black people. I remain convinced that economics and lack of parental supervision are the main problems. Bill Cosby got into that, and lotsa black folks called him an Uncle Tom. But he was right in his assessment when he said you can’t blame the condition of black people (and by extension, all minorities) on white people any longer.
When role models are thugs like Snoop Dog—now going mainstream—Dr Dre, Alan Iverson, Ricky Williams, many of The Portland Jailblazers—then why are we surprised when a volley of 40+ shots ring out @ The Ambasador on a weekend night?
If these guys couldn’t shoot a basketball, run a football, or make a record, they’d all either be in rpison, or on parole selling drugs and beating their girlfriends until they got poppoed again.
But it ain’t ‘cuz they black, or brown, or whatever. Very few of these clowns come from middle class, let alone privilege. Nobody taught them the rules we were taught. But since they excel at some form of entertainment, everyone gives them a free pass. Wrong way to deal widit.
So we have the debate between the Limousine Liberals, and the Singapore Supporters, and all of us in between about what to do about it. One of the many perils of a free society.
You Go, GirlFromTheNet: Or maybe @ Rick Callender’s house.
I believe that Joel Wyrick is no more to blame for Mardi Gras violence than any event organizer is to blame for the transgressions of the few…unless you can convince me that he knowingly catered to a violent crowd; e.g. the owner of the Amassador.
The Fight Nights At The Tank promote fights betwen southern California boxers and Northern California boxers. I have attended a few. I never see fights outside or other violence. So there is a clear difference in crowd attitude, even though most of the people I end up sitting around are Latinos with tattooed necks. In the Tank, we’re all just fight fans.
It is amazing how many rants and really dumb and illegal suggestions are make on San Jose Inside to solve our well known downtown problems
# 25 – checkpoints at all freeway entrances leading into downtown SJ – illegal stop and searches – How do you determine who to stop or is everyone ok with being stopped to prevent the few troblemakers getting to downtown – great opportunity for racial profiling and the resulting lawsuits
#18 rants on and on about PC but lacks workable solutions except to say – enforce the law which if if were that simple would have been done and – we need to be all over the loser parents of these soon-to-be-loser kids, or our prisons won
I’m sure San Jose has it’s fair share of home grown hoodlems, but that’s not to say that they don’t come down from other towns and cities. We already got people coming down from Oakland and Richmond to prostitute and sell drugs on streetcorners.
The thing that scares me is the 240 lowincome high rise HUD housing complex that is suppose to go up downtown. I can see it now, Oakland and Richmond hoodlems get tired of long commute and before long, we have our very own projects in the middle of downtown.
I hate to say this, but, downtown San Jose is already starting to look like downtown oakland.. or maybe I should say east oakland.
JohnMichael, sounds like you’re campaigning for something. Maybe the best solution for these social miscreants is to introduce them to salamanders, banana slugs, and tree huggers. Might change their view of the world. Then they should be steered towards an agricultural life helping with crop harvest and cow milking in Coyote Valley. My advice for all is to not go downtown next year during Mardis Gras.
I do think its easy to just point your blame at Joel for Mardi Gras and it is bigger than just him. But I think we all just wanted him to have something to say about it.
Re: #32, Girl, we already have a beehive of criminal activity ready to spring into action over at 875 Cinnabar St. not far from the arena. This project (a very appropriate term) never should have been allowed to happen so close to a quiet neighborhood off The Alameda and there is no question that this development is going to result in more crime in the immediate area and of course, more filth from low-lifes who refuse to pick up after themselves. Mardi Gras will be walking distance for the thugs of Cinnabar Commons, whose living situation will be subsidized by you and me, Girl.
We can thank our literary ace Larry Stone for pushing this project through. He’ll never get my vote for even dog catcher now.
Don’t forget to thank our favorite lame-duck, Gonzo, for this project as well. Thanks to his backroom dealings this project sailed through and we lost another historic building on the site.
It’s despicable the way you stereotype low-income housing, do you know what the average rent for low income is in San Jose? Around $1000, sorry low income is to support hard working people like teachers, fire fighters, and other respectable professions. You have to make over $30,000 a year just to qualify for most low-income housing.
Disgusted, you guarantee me that we’ll have gainfully employed people like teachers, cops and firefighters living there and I’ll shut up right now. And the stereotypes are validated on a regular basis by local or national news. What, have you been living under a rock?
History, don’t even get me started on the Murison Label factory that got pushed over for this project. This whole thing is an example of cronyism at work, mutual back-scratching by that pathetic pair of sandwich boarders who can’t even spell.
I would add my voice to those supporting Joel Wyrick. I have dealt with that bloke a number of times and can report he is not only a lover of San Jose history, but a stand up guy.
Blame needs to be placed on the heads of the perpetrators, not on those trying to put some life into downtown.
Eric Carlson
#37-Disgusted…..
So San Jose Firefighters need affordable housing? Better check your facts – the average firefighter makes 6 figures. More than enough to afford $1000 a month rent
Enough about Joel Wyrick. So what, he held a party, a lot of people came and caused a bunch of trouble. The Ambassador also did a great job of attracting a big crowd, and they brought their guns with them. What else has Joel done besides plan a party which he totally wipes his hands of now? I admire him getting off his ass (which no one else does) and running for office but he a lot more to prove to me.