The intent of San Jose voters (and Measure I) was clear: trade in the old city hall for a new one downtown. Are the citizens of San Jose to be governed by the expressions of the people, or by local politicians’ interpretation of that expression?

Dear Mr. Doyle:
Several weeks ago, it was reported that the old city hall property site will be turned over to the Santa Clara County Government as part of a negotiated debt settlement between the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and the Santa Clara County Government.

The San Jose Redevelopment Agency laid off over half of its staff on Wednesday, leaving just 31 people to oversee RDA projects.

Press reports indicate that San Jose’s old city hall property site, with an assigned value of $10 million, will be transferred to the Santa Clara County Government as part of a debt settlement between the county and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.  But the old city hall property belonged to the city, not the RDA.  Is the plan to transfer the old city hall complex to the county government a lawful action?

The future of professional sports in the nation’s 10th largest city is in limbo. In furious preparations for an opportunity that may never materialize—and to protect the land holdings that may one day house a ballpark—San Jose has taken extraordinary steps.

The battle over redevelopment agency dollars will now be confined to just the city and state here in San Jose. On Wednesday, a settlement was reached between the city and Santa Clara County, which was owed $62.9 million.

The San Jose McEnery Convention Center is in dire need of an upgrade to avoid losing business to rival venues in San Francisco and Santa Clara. The cost of just the most urgent improvement is $26.5 million. It’s money that the city doesn’t have—what the city does have is a $105 million deficit. On the other hand, the Convention Center brings in about $12.5 million to Downtown businesses, and this could be lost if no upgrade takes place.

Editor’s Note: The following was written by City Councilmember Nancy Pyle and included in her March newsletter. Pyle represents San Jose’s 10th District. On Wednesday, February 16th I traveled to Sacramento with Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, Councilmembers Ash Kalra and Donald Rocha and Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Harry Mavrogenes. Our mission was to discuss the governor’s plan to eliminate Redevelopment Agencies statewide.

Most of Mayor Chuck Reed’s State of the City Address, delivered at the Civic Center this evening, dealt—in sometimes painful detail—with the budget mess that the mayor has been forced to deal with since he took office.

He began by defending the city’s Redevelopment Agency, which, like RDA’s throughout the state, is under attack from Sacramento.

Last week, RDA director Harry Mavrogenes and the San Jose City Council said they would work to keep the Redevelopment Agency going despite Gov. Jerry Brown’s intention to shut down agencies statewide.

An article in the Mercury News closed with the following paragraph: “The governor’s finance office said Brown has not wavered on his position and cited a study released Tuesday by the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office. The report offers support for Brown’s plan to eliminate the agencies and replace them with other ‘tools to finance economic development.’”

The top salaries for city employees in 2010 were released Friday, and recently retired police chief Rob Davis topped the list at $534,576 in total cash compensation. Of the top 15 on the list of 624 full- and part-time City of San Jose workers, nine are members of the police department and five work for the fire department.

Last week I attended evening budget meetings in Districts 3 and 5. The center of our city (District 3) had a high turnout from residents who find great value in community centers. Particularly, the Gardner and Washington Community Centers. Both facilities provide a place to go and where residents can be positively impacted. Classmates and friends of mine from Willow Glen High grew up in the Gardner area, formerly known as “Barrio Horseshoe.” It was a problematic neighborhood with many gang issues.

San Francisco has its Ferry Building. San Jose will soon have its “Public Market.” Detailed plans of the project were unveiled last night in the adjacent Theatre. Among the attendees were potential tenants, local business owners, and neighbors who want to see how their neighborhood might change.

The New York Times report following the release of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget plan yesterday summarized the harsh facts succinctly: “Mr. Schwarzenegger … has proposed eliminating the state’s $1 billion welfare program for families with children, ending a $126 million health insurance program for children, reducing the state’s Medicaid eligibility to the minimum to save over $500 million, and ending the state’s network of subsidized home health care providers for the poor.”

While the San Jose Redevelopment Agency struggles to scrounge together enough money to expand and refurbish San Jose’s McEnery Convention Center, Team San Jose CEO Dan Fenton is on his way to Dallas to try and protect the convention center’s existing business.

At the heart of the problem is a contract that the convention center signed with San Jose Teamsters Local 287, granting them exclusive rights to set up trade shows at the Center. The contract is contested by Teamsters Local 85 of San Francisco, which argues that businesses should have the option of choosing who gets to set up their trade shows

Mayor Chuck Reed sent a letter to the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) today, asking that the group reconsider a decision regarding the route of the Sacramento/San Francisco/Los Angeles line, which may pass through San Jose’s Diridon station.
*UPDATED 3:40pm.