It’s a testimony to Jennifer Sparacino’s unpretentious manner that it’s only when you stop to reckon Santa Clara’s achievements during her 25 years as City Manager that you realize Sparacino’s accomplishments for any given year rival anyone else’s for a lifetime. Or as former Santa Clara Director of Public Works Steve Mashimo put it, “What … Read more
It looks like the County isn’t going to be buttering its bread with Santa Clara’s $30 million. Last week, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly blocked Santa Clara County from distributing $30 million in Santa Clara Redevelopment Agency money earmarked for stadium construction. Last month the Santa Clara Redevelopment Successor Agency Oversight Board voted … Read more
We Americans treat visual and performing arts as nice-to-haves – not necessities. The fire department is a necessity. If the town burns to rubble because there’s no fire department, tens of thousands of people will be homeless, out of work, and in dire physical peril. In other words, we’ll face a catastrophic social crisis. Avoiding … Read more
Someone once described democracy as “two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.” It’s an apt description for what’s going on with Santa Clara County Redevelopment Successor Agency Oversight Boards as they disallow RDA obligations and sit on revenues needed to pay the shuttered agencies’ obligations. The state law scrapping redevelopment … Read more
Last Friday while many Santa Clarans were preparing for a pleasant summer weekend, Santa Clara County officials were preparing to help themselves to $30 million of Santa Clara redevelopment tax revenue. In what the San Jose Mercury characterized as a “money grab,” the oversight board for the now-defunct Santa Clara Redevelopment Agency (RDA) voted, in … Read more
If I could only tell you one thing about young composer and pianist Benjamin Belew, it would about his improvisation of a fugue – a 500-year old musical form – on the 1946 Carmen Lombardo song “Seems Like Old Times.” The 30 year-old had never heard the song, so I hummed a few bars for … Read more
A month after breaking ground on the new Santa Clara stadium, the San Francisco 49ers are keeping the momentum going this month as the team nears its first construction milestone: placing over 3,000 “cast-in-place” piles for the structure’s foundation. The state-of-the art technique – auger pressure grouted displacement – keeps noise and vibration low; reduces … Read more
Once upon a time a city clerk’s role was reactive: keeping the town records. Today, it’s proactive, as city clerks are increasingly asked to drive good government programs and expand public engagement with local governance. It’s not an understatement to say that city clerks are town CDOs – Chief Democracy Officers. Last month the International … Read more
At the League of Women Voters Candidates Forum on May 3, 2012 at the Fremont Unified School District headquarters, the candidates vying to represent California’s new assembly District 25 – extending north to Fremont, south to Milpitas, and east the Santa Clara – were a fair representation of San Francisco Bay Area politics – in … Read more
The legislation closing down California’s redevelopment program refuses to recognize loans, suck as Santa Clara’s, between RDAs and their sponsoring cities. There’s a reason: These arrangements were key mechanisms for diverting public money to questionable uses. For example, L.A.’s RDA diverted buckets of money out of its affordable housing fund – about $900,000 in 2010 … Read more