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Boy would I hate to be the city council tonight – here we go again having to show our true colors to the residents that vote for them. Hopefully, they will know that we are not small children who need to be ‘guided’ and ‘convinced’ that what they are doing is a good thing for us – but they will hear the words of the residents that go something like this regarding the proposed project at 900 Kiely, Gallery on Central, fairfield residential project in Santa Clara;
The current project is;
Too Dense – too many units proposed for this site – as it currently stands 806 units amounts to 2% of the local Santa Clara population
Traffic concerns – some of the local intersections have been deemed as failures by the vTA and this project will add more traffic to these interesection ans the surrounding streets
Trees – most of the trees at the current site will be cut down being replaced by saplings – how sad when those current trees add to the current feel of the area and blend in with what is already there. why cut down mature trees when we already know so much about global warming? Odd idea
Schools – do we have right numbers – it seems that we have conflicting reports on numbers – this is alarming. how can we get the right figures? is there some way to have this clarified.
Swim center – apparently there is mail out there from the developer attempting to have the local swim center swamp (excuse the pun) the meeting with supporters for the project. But unfortunately for the developer he does not realize that some of those swim center emails went out residents who are not in favor of the project as it now stands. Oxy Moron stuff don’t you think?
Also the developer has been talking to the chamber of commerce and local businesses attempting to have them speak in favor of the project because businesses need economic assistances and they are touting the idea that more residents will increase their business. Yes maybe some truth to that but perhaps many of these business need to reassess what it is their business does and what their service is like. Just a thought – rather than look to the potential new residents as ’saving grace’?
oh dear the list goes on and I pity the city council tonight – because I am sure like me in their heart of hearts they know that the project as it now stands is not ideal but we do need something there but not this. This developer has only talked to people who seem to benefit from the project such as the swim pool center and the local stores, they have continously refused to listen to local residents who share streets with this new developer. They have refused to be a part of the community but rather are waging a war of ‘hate’ behind the scenese by attempting to create a ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude. We are the old wiser parent who has done this many times before and we know what we are doing – but do they?
They are attempting to turn small Santa Clara with heart into a concrete jungle – just as was mentioned in the mission city lantern blog. Hopefully the council will stand up to this giant corporate America and say ‘Yes we hear our residents’ and ‘come back with something that is more in keeping with the area and have your project blend in’.
This developer has turned this project into a political debate – how sad – had they worked with the locals and heard their requests for less density, more parking, more open space, fewer units, more amenities for the general public, it might have been an enjoyable working relationship. However as it now stands we have disgruntled residents who look to their elected leaders for resolution.
So it’s been a while since I posted here – I’ve been busy with traveling, illness, Obama elections, Christmas (yes I still like to use that word rather than Holidays), family etc. I’ve had people ask me what is going on in Santa Clara regarding the old Kaiser site – the Fairfield Residential project or rather what’s the fancy name for it. “Gallery on Kiely” I think that’s its official name – the 900 Kiely Boulevard project.
You know the one – the one where 806 units are slated to be built of which 536 are to be rental properties. And ‘X’ amount of single family residents with those wonderful 10 x 12 backyards. Yes everyone needs a cell block for a back yard don’t you agree?
Anyway forget my tongue in cheek attitude to the project, what annoys me more is the wonderful report that the Santa Clara weekly did on the project. They made the project sound so glowing and so in line with what we need in this wonderful small city that hasn’t got enough housing to house the masses. And the fact that the weekly has never taken the time to sit and talk to residents or if they do they tend to argue how the city is right and they know what is best for us. I guess if I continually advertised in the Santa Clara weekly or had a stake in it they might hear my point of view, but I don’t so they continually show no understanding for the general public. I think this is why Blogging is called ‘freedom of the press’. Because it occurs to me that Freedom of the Press does not occur in the press. In fact I would say that freedom of the press is dictated by who advertises in the press. It’s like those special interest groups that ‘ear mark’ special projects. Sigh…….
This being said brings me to the point of my update on the 900 Kiely site – right now in the city of Santa Clara there are 329 units/apartments/homes/condos/townhomes/single family residents with big/small back yards FOR SALE at the time of writing this.
The average days on market for these properties are 112 days at the time of writing - that’s in effect three months worth of inventory. Wait till that new block town homes with the 10×12 backyards on Lawrence are on the market – and the ones by KB homes near the Scott.
Why not sell these before the city permits more building any more?
I don’t even know how many places are for rent in Santa Clara city but seems to me there is enough for sale. It also seems to me that there is a down turn in the economy – the city needs to be thinking about bringing business back to it rather than building more cell block homes.
I cannot help but think of George Orwell – and reflect on some of his quotes
“Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it. “Or this
“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. “Or this
” If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. “
I believe it’s time to put a hold on building or at the very least start to listen to what the residents would like. Let’s clean up El Camino, bring back small businesses, focus less on building, and give us Hope! Listen to the average Joe resident please.
Wow wouldn’t it be great to have a time machine. If only HG Wells had developed a Time Machine, wouldn’t it have been a money spinner. There might be also sorts of people who line up to use it on a weekly basis or a daily for that matter. Pick a day and go back and have it look like something else. Sure would be better than Ground Hog Day where you keep doing the same thing over and over. I hated that movie it sent me to sleep, it was more of the same thing over and over. Kind of reminds you of Santa Clara City Council line up, more of the same types over and over. The same faces keep popping up and showing their faces.
So last night just in case the city didn’t get it right the first time they voted on Caserta’s request to set the record straight that he had not voted nor would he vote again on the (oops that’s perhaps the wrong thing to say because he and a few others claim he never did original vote) on having his property classed Williamson Act Tax exempt or rather as I understand it very little tax exempt. The whole ‘rectification’ of the situation last night begs the question as to why do it in the first place – was there some feeling that things were not Kosher to start with. I bet an attorney could call this vote and admission of guilty. Whatever the case is it certainly makes an interesting read in the SJ Mercury News today – so one day when we all see the video make by a SC resident of the original vote on say something like YouTube we will know official what heck happened.
copyright Letters from Silicon Valley 2008
So last night was Halloween and though I was home late from work I missed many of the early trick or treaters, though I think the weather kep peole at bay. I hope the weather will not stop people voting on Tuesday or the unwillingness to take an hour out of their day to vote. I saw that Google is endorsing a plan for their employees to remember to vote. They will be sending mail out to their staff to remind them on Tuesday.
So as we go into the final days of this election it’s worth reflecting on the race and what I have observed:
The candidates that have dropped by personally and door knocked are: Mary Emerson, Brian Lowery and Jamie McLeod.
I have seen two mud slinging postcards against Jamie Mcleod which totally turned me off. The language on those cards were particularly disgusting.
I’ve not had a visit from: Bouza, Kennedy, Blair, O’donnell, Moore or Matthews – I guess they have been too busy elsewhere
I’ve had voicemail from the Mayor and someone else at city hall endorsing some candidates
I’ve seen ‘paid’ for endorsement from Blair and O’donnell
I’ve caught: Bouza, Blair and McLeod on comcast TV.
I’ve saw the San Jose Mercury News endorse Jamie McLeod, do an expose on the who called whom regarding the Bouza and Moore, and a article about Mr Lowery’s suit expense.
I’ve not heard from Moore but I have spoken to the Write in Candidate Karen Hardy that is running against Mr Moore.
I walked the gauntlet at the Wine and Art Festival: O’donnel, McLeod, Kennedy, Bouza, Lowery, Emerson – and saw them talking to locals.
I’ve seen the issues be: 49ers stadium and the more and more proposed high rise buildings. Though the Santa Clara weekly feels that the tight run closed ranks city council is not an issue the San Jose Mercury News did pick up that it is an issue and a concern that one family has for a number of years managed to control the Santa Clara City council. I too am alarmed that this has been the case and the fact that it is always pooh poohed as a non issue, which again then makes it an issue.
I noted that Kennedy was not endorsed by the Mayor – which surprises me but she didn’t endorse McLeod either. Why is that?
So if you have any questions outstanding and feel you haven’t touched base with a candidate and need to learn a little more about them before you vote remember Monday Night City Hall all the candidates will be gathered. You can hear them for the final say and if you have a concern about ethics you can have your say as well.
©Letters From Silicon Valley 2008
Oh dear oh dear, here we go the mud is getting thicker in the campaign races for Santa Clara city council. Most of the mud flinging seems to be at Ms Jamie McLeod for her supposed record on city council. Wow freedom of speech really can take a twist at election time. I think we could call it freedom of verbal abuse. If some of the written ’shouting’ were to be done in the streets of Santa Clara we could expect residence to call the police and complain about it. But here in this fine country we can only be told it’s our first amendment right to freedom of speech.
Never mind, it will all end soon and we can get back to ‘normality’. But before we do that I have to write about the latest laugh I saw. One of my neighbors shared the republicans voters guide as per the California Voter guide printed in Torrance. It gives the following notice to voters:
“This document was prepared by California Voter guide, not an official political party organization. APPEARANCE in this mail does not necessarily imply endorsement of other candidates or ballot measures in this mailer. Appearance is a PAID FOR and AUTHORIZED by EACH CANDIDATE and ballot measure which is designated by an * (astrix).”
So guess who paid to be on this guide? Mr Chuck Blair – paid for and supported by the firefighters & police officers. This means that firefighters paid for it – I thought Mr Blair was a registered Democrat – what will his party think of this – oh maybe it doesn’t matter after all it’s non-partisan running for local government. Or is it????
In any case this flier certainly a little nicer than the ‘hate’ campaign that has been going on out their against Jamie. Mr Blair has sent a few fliers criticizing Jamie but still we don’t really know what his qualifications are for being our Representative on council are? All we know is that he “hates” her more than he cares to tell us about why he would make a good council person? Oh and we know that he is pro the stadium because it would be a good thing for Santa Clara but not why it would be a good thing. Attacking and misconstruing someones record is not the nicest thing to do.
I love the piece that the San Jose Mercury News did yesterday “ignore sleazy hit pieces, vote for Independent McLeod” page 14a. Even the editorial piece says that normally they don’t come out and speak on how to vote on local candidates – they felt that there was a need to say something about Jamie McLeod and the fact that she is not part of the Santa Clara political in crowd.
©Letters From Silicon Valley 2008
So in reading the Santa Clara, the Mission City blog I caught up on the lies being spread on Jamie McLeod. Please read these stories being spread by one of Jamie’s opponents. It’s a shame because if its true that person seems like such a nice guy, I think he probably has a heart of gold. I bet he’d be the first to help out a family member in strife or be willing to pitch in at a school event.
On his free 5 minute comcast interview he said he had no endorsements from large organizations but only local people. What that means is he didn’t go to the parties to ask for endorsements like Jamie McLeod or Mary Emerson did. Why not? Well as I understand it having talked to Mary Emerson about how this works, you have a questionnaire you fill in that the party sends you and they ask for your feed back on how you stand on issues. I’m wondering if that person couldn’t align himself with a party because he just didn’t want to be held more accountable? Food for thought, or perhaps he’s just not a very politically minded person and doesn’t quite understand the whole depth of what’s really going on here.
Though I’m not one for endorsements and I’m certainly not swayed by them – I couldn’t give a rats tail if Mayor Mahan called me up and told me to vote for him. Which she actually did. It made me think why isn’t Ms Mahan more hands off when it comes to endorsing?? I’ve learnt that in politics and in any committee you run it’s always good to have some opposition. You might actually gain a new perspective to what it is you are trying to accomplish. It’s kind of boring have a committee of completely like minded people. I think that there is a name for that. It’s called stacking the odds. Sure the odds are in your favor, but what if your favor is biased. It certainly seems at times that the city council in Santa Clara is biased to one point of view on certain issues. They certainly haven’t heard the residents when it comes to high density, traffic concerns, clean up El Camino.
It’s time for a change, as I’ve said before and Jamie has been the forerunner in Santa Clara politics who emulates change. Let’s have Jamie McLeod, Mary Emerson, Brian Lowery and write in Candidate Karen Hardy on our ballots and in local government this year. Bring in the Change that Santa Clara city council needs.
So the word is out the 49ers issue is causing concern for some voters. Finally some people are starting to ask questions about why and how this affects them. They are asking candidates and wondering how the dollars and “sense” of having a stadium in our city works. What’s interesting as the campaign gets closer to election day the knives come out. Well isn’t that to be expected? Aren’t we seeing the same type of dirty tactics in the National news?
Haven’t you been reading the news about the Obama / McCleain election. That campaign is also starting to sling mud. I figured once they started flinging mud, it too, would start at a city level. So apparentlythe heavy hitters are out to sling mud at Jamie McLeod and her stand on ‘let’s know the numbers’ before we decide if it is financially a good idea for our city to have a stadium. My parents always told me ‘don’t spend more than you have’. So the question still remains: do we have the money to even build this stadium? And what do we as a city get out of it? Nothing probably, not that I expect anything from it but I do expect responsible decisions.
If there are sweet heart deals to be had out of this from developers could they please spend some money on cleaning up our part of El Camino – after our part looks like it got stuck in time – the 50’s, maybe the 60’s. Or perhaps we could get the developers to put into funding some of the elementary schools – after all we are gong to start bursting at the seams here. Or perhaps we could get a downtown that resembles a downtown and not a hotsh potch of something slapped together at the last moment. Maybe we could have an arts program for Grafitti artists? Maybe we could have a current 24/7 study of our traffic issues, needs and wants – especially on El Camino, Kiely & Lawrence. Maybe we could have a halt on all new development till we take stock of current developments and where they are in relation to filling the supposed need this city has for housing. Maybe we should reconsider how many people can live in a ‘confined’ space? Maybe we could stop trying to fix it – when we need to actually need to stop and assess ‘it’. Maybe we could consider that there is something not right with the current ‘majority’ run city council.
Make your vote count and think about the real issues: the stadium, the plan for more high density, the lack of a real downtown, the unwillingness of planning to hear residents issues about more housing in this area, the traffic concerns on Lawrence and El Camino. I’d love to tell you how to vote for but I won’t. I’ll suggest you think twice before casting a ballot for the ‘old regime’ and start thinking outside the box and consider voting for people that have been willing to be outside the favored officials. So if you feel you are willing to have a change consider anyone that has either spoken out against the majority stack holders of Santa Clara or is not affiliated with them. There are quite a few of them: Jamie McLeod, Mario Bouza, Mary Emerson, Brian Lowery, Cirian McDonnel, write in candidate Karen Hardy, – each of these candidates are not part of the anointed party. They all have their own twist on their different issues and some are perhaps not as strong as others but at the very least they are running against the ‘family and friends ticket’. It’s about time Santa Clara City Council looked like a real city council and had more Jamie McLeod’s sitting ‘up on stage’ listening to your average Plumber Joe.
©Letters From Silicon Valley 2008
So did you catch the article in the Valley today of the SJ Mercury News? It’s all about Mr Bouza and Mr Moore. Very interesting reading. If you hadn’t heard about this before you do now. I think you can make up your own mind as to who, what or whether it is true. One thing for sure that is disturbing is that there has been a history of this happening before in Santa Clara – which gives you cause to ask the question – is it not time for Change? A change from the majority share holders that have been around the Santa Clara city politics? Time for some fresh blood and thinkers – people who ask questions and listen to residents.
Here is a link to the article in the SJ Mercury News if you didn’t catch it. Rumors are that there were other people that made calls to Bouza not just the ones mentioned in the article. I guess there is nothing wrong in giving your opinion to a candidate where he/she decides to run but you just got to wonder WHY? Why do people care? Why are people so positional about city politics?
©Letters From Silicon Valley 2008
So as a country looks towards change is it not fair to say that cities should look towards change.
CNN (constant negative news) has done a survey of some of the States that were leaning toward the Republicans before the Wall Street Turmoil and found that those voters are now favoring Democrats.
There are certainly enough candidates in this Santa Clara election to give you reason to look towards change – unfortunately some candidates are either more of the same or been here done that type candidates and don’t necessarily give you the Change that you might be looking for.
Without endorsing any of them I would recommend asking them what is the change they see is needed in Santa Clara? Is it in housing, is it in having the 49ers, is it in cleaning up El Camino …
whatever the change does it warrant them representing you? I may not agree with Jamie McLeod on some of her view points but I rather a person like her that asks questions and thinks than someone who blindly votes as the ‘caucus’ recommends. There are other candidates like Jamie McLeod running who I feel will also ask questions, inquire, disagree and think for themselves rather than be the party ‘hack’.
And remember one vote can make a difference.
©Letters From Silicon Valley 2008
It’s interesting to read the article at Santa Clara The Mission City blog and here there perspective on Karen Hardy. I’ve never met the women but I’m fascinated that someone would take on the challenge of running for a seat without actually being on the formal ballot. She has requested to be on it as a ‘write in’ candidate. So what that means she and her followers are asking voters to write her name on the ballot against the unopposed Kevin Moore. I’m not sure how many people will do this – it is certainly a gutsy campaign and an interesting one. I’m not even sure why I understand someone would do this, but they have. I guess it’s a formal protest against the incumbent Mr Moore (seat 4). So I guess if you don’t like him or you feel he doesn’t represent you – here is your chance to do something different – you write Karen Hardy in the space provided. Perhaps this is how the dog from Sunol got voted in – but it does require some paperwork and nominations. Who in their right mind nominated a dog? and did the dog sign the required nominating forms - or rather did he leave his paw print?
I think Karen at least has a chance of leaving her mark! All good politicians, such as Mr Moore need to have a little wind put into their campaigns and Karen is doing that.
Though I highly suspect Ms Hardy is not a popular vote between the powers that be that seem to hold the balance of power in Santa Clara – I say good luck to her for taking on this somewhat odd way of running for council. She clearly has a more idealistic view of the world than most politicians and in reading what is out there on the web she is not one to be scared of a challenge. It’s a shame she didn’t run out right on the ballot but I’m sure she has her reasons for doing what she is doing.
©Letters From Silicon Valley 2008
