January 11, 2007

‘No lying, no cheating, no stealing’

Mayor Reed, Council celebrate inauguration then get to work

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

The ceremony was short, but the message was clear: It’s a new day in San Jose politics and Chuck Reed is leading the way.

The crowd listens to the New San Jose City Mayor Chuck Reed as he delivers his inaugural address on Jan 9. Photos by Dan Miranda

The 38-minute inauguration began with two new and three incumbent council members taking the oath of office. The two new council members are Pete Constant for District 1 and Sam Liccardo for District 3, who were joined by incumbents Nora Campos for District 5, Madison Nguyen for District 7 and Judy Chirco for District 9.

They were followed by the new mayor, whose daughter Major Kim Campbell, read the oath while wife Paula held the family Bible. Major Campbell, who like her father led her class at the Air Force Academy, added six words to end of the oath “no lying, no cheating, no stealing,” which actually is Reed Reform number three. The addition brought a laugh from the audience.

Reed’s speech was short but to the point. After thanking the numerous people who had helped with the transition, including termed out former Mayor Ron Gonzales, he moved on to his first order of business, letting the Santa Clara County Supervisors in attendance know that the two governments serve the area’s citizens and that, “…I am looking forward to a strong and cooperative relationship that will help improve the lives of our people.”

He reiterated the message from his campaign stump that the city is now taking a different direction, “…we are going to get a government we can be proud of. The special interest groups, the lobbyists, the influence peddlers and the fixers will not run city hall. The Reed Reforms are just the first, but essential steps in creating a strong foundation on which to build San Jose into a great city.”

San Jose’s Mounted Unit watched as the crowd gathers to hear new San Jose City Mayor Chuck Reed deliver his inaugural address on Jan 9.

Reed called on San Jose citizens to get involved. He asked San Jose’s city employees to look back on the reasons they entered public service and to “take your work to a higher level.” He asked the city manager and senior staff to use their talents and be open to explaining the pros and cons of situations and let the city council make the hard decisions.

Finally he asked his fellow council members to “work together in collaboration to serve the people of San Jose.”

His also enthusiastically declared that “The best days of San Jose and the best days of Silicon Valley are ahead of us…We have an opportunity and an obligation here in San Jose to demonstrate to the world how people from different ethnicities, religions and cultures can live, work, play and prosper together…In a world full of ethnic and religious hatred and violence we have a chance to show the world a better way of life. We can do it and we will do it, just look around this city hall.”

Reed finished his speech by quoting part of the late President Gerald Ford’s inauguration speech, especially the last few lines, “’I promise to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best I can. God helping me, I will not let you down.”

Reed Reforms
He then took that promise to the evening’s City Council meeting where the first business item on the agenda was the Reed Reforms.

Mayor Chuck Reed waves to the crowd on the upper balcony of the city rotunda after his inauguration address on Jan 9.

And the first of the reforms to be voted on included changes toward a community-based budget process. These four items—numbers 29 through 32—include two items for January, a public survey and a Jan. 20 conference on priorities with neighborhood associations, with council hearings on Feb. 22 for new initiatives and unfunded programs where members will specify spending priorities and a March report on the above items’ results.

In a memo to the council he outlined the timeline for his community budget process. First on the list is a telephone poll to sample residents set for mid-to-late January. Next the Jan. 20 neighborhood association conference with results from both activities presented on Feb. 13. The council will set priorities on Feb. 20 with the budget message study session scheduled for March. The administration will integrate priorities into the budget process in March and April followed by the proposed operating and capital budget release in May. The mayor will present his budget message in June and the budget’s final adoption is set for June 12 or June 19. In August the council will hold meetings to review the status of priorities and council directives to staff.

Seven public speakers took to the floor, with all but one voicing support for the budget process. Then it went back to the council, which later voted unanimously to approve these four reforms.

Constant was the first to announce his support. “Over the years, I’ve noticed a significant disconnect between what the neighborhoods want and need and this will address that and serve the people’s needs,” he said.

Nancy Pyle of District 10 then questioned Reed about the survey. Conducted by Fairbanks, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, Inc. for $30,000, this will be a phone survey that will contact a sampling of San Jose residents and question them about their priorities for city services. Both City Manager Les White and his assistant Tom Manheim said the survey would not involve city employees.

When questioned about the timeline, Manheim indicated that if approved the survey will begin almost immediately. Respondents will be asked to prioritize services, where they think budget cuts are necessary and to rank the order of importance of cuts and services.

New San Jose City Mayor Chuck Reed takes the oath of office from his daughter Major Kim Campbell of the United States Air Force with his wife Paula holding the family Bible at his Inauguration.

“We worked to get ahead of the curve, so that if the motion passed, we could begin the survey as soon as possible,” White said.

Forrest Williams, from District 2, then asked how the council and staff can evaluate the success of these measures. “I’m hoping to generate information and input so that we can do our jobs understanding the needs and wants of the San Jose community,” answered Reed.

Finally, Dave Cortese, the District 8 representative who has been tapped by Reed to serve as vice mayor, noted that he was pleased to see these ideas added to the process at this time rather than waiting until crunch time in May. “It’s a better idea to do the work now instead of waiting until the staff has completed their work and it’s a done deal,” he said.

Other reforms
Next the group discussed the remaining reforms that were not already included such as numbers six and seven requiring the mayor and council members to disclose material facts before the council takes action and requiring them to disclose any political favors or other consideration they are to get in exchange for their votes.

Reed next outlined alterations he has made to some of the reforms. Regarding number 17, recording all closed session meetings, he deferred that until the Sunshine Task Force completes their work.

On number five, Reed directs staff to publish all reports and memos at least 10 days before the council meeting, with exceptions made known by the staff. He changed number 8 to direct the staff to publish information after the city contracts are ratified but before the City Council approves them because negotiations could be adversely affected in the bargaining process by publishing numbers prior to union/staff approvals.

District 9 Council member Judy Chirco along with her husband and son takes the oath of office from City Clerk Lee Price at the Inauguration. Photos by Dan Miranda

Various council members brought up questions about several of the disclosures requested in the Reed Reforms particularly the need to disclose all city employee’s salaries. Reed reiterated that it’s not legal to disclose bargaining numbers for union employees, but once the contracts have been ratified, it’s OK. The public, he said, would have a chance to know “before we spend their tax dollars just what we are spending them on.” That way, the city will know if the public is totally against something days before it’s voted on.

The reforms passed unanimously.

Other changes
While it appears changes are in the wind, one small unimportant change took place, with council members seated in a different manner than the previous council, which was by District. Obviously, there are two vacancies on the council, leaving the chairs at either end open.

However, it also appears that the open districts are still being taken care of. District 6 staff worked with Cortese to ensure that a conditional use permit for the Alano Club Alcoholics Anonymous facility in Willow Glen will be reopened soon.