March 5, 2009

San Jose turns green, Nguyen beats recall: City notebook

By Carol Rosen
Editor

March came into San Jose like a lion, roaring with thunder and raining and hailing on us all. But the weather didn’t conquer all the news; there were lots of things going on.

First off, on March 3, at press time District 7 Councilmember Madison Nguyen appeared to be beating down the $500,000 recall election by nearly 10 percentage points in what appeared to be a vote count of more than 10,000 ballots. She graciously told reporters that she hoped the bad times were over and that she could finally work together with all of her constituents for the things her district needs.

Even though Mayor Chuck Reed was in Washington, D.C., he said in a statement that he is “delighted that the voters of Council District 7 have spoken and defeated the recall election. I am looking forward to Councilmember Madison Nguyen’s continued service on the City Council. She has done an excellent job of representing the interests of the people of her district. Now that the recall is over, I hope that the community will join together, put this matter behind us, and turn attention to addressing the critical issues facing District 7 and our city.”

Reed left for Washington, D.C. March 1 and spent the next five days meeting with members of the Obama Administration, Senate and Congress, as well as with think tanks and other organizations working on clean technology and other issues critical to San Jose’s agenda.

Reed joins bipartisan committee
Late last week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, co-chairs of Building America’s Future, announced that Reed has joined its bipartisan and national infrastructure coalition comprised of state and locally elected officials to help secure a renewed federal commitment to infrastructure.

The group is dedicated to smart infrastructure investment –energy systems, roads and bridges, mass transit, water and sewer systems, rail, ports, airports, levees and dams, schools and housing – to enhance the quality of life and safety of our communities, create jobs, and promote energy independence.

“We welcome Mayor Reed and look forward to working with him as we continue to ensure that infrastructure funding is treated like the national priority it should be,” said Schwarzenegger. “No one wants their child in portable classrooms, or stuck in traffic rather than at home with their families. Infrastructure has a direct link to our quality of life, and Americans deserve it to be safe, efficient and modern.”

Reed emphasized the need for high quality infrastructure in San Jose. “Every year San Jose commuters waste 54 hours in traffic[wasting on average 38 gallons of fuel]; time they would rather spend at home with their families,” he said. “Smart infrastructure investment, like the future BART to Silicon Valley connection that will provide 100,000 commuter trips per day, is so critical to our quality of life and economic vitality.”

San Jose currently has a backlog of over $500 million in unfunded road repairs and transportation infrastructure needs. San Jose’s Water Pollution Control Plant is over 50 years old and needs to be upgraded. Studies have identified $1 billion in infrastructure upgrade needs, of which about $250 million in critical items are moving forward in the next five years. The plant also is essential to meeting two other city goals: recycling or beneficially reusing its 100 million gallons per day of treated wastewater, and helping to achieve zero waste by turning biosolids to energy.

San Jose relies on the California Delta for a large portion of its drinking water. A 6.2-earthquake in the Delta could destroy levees and, within four to seven days, obliterate much of California’s fresh water supply. Providing 100 million gallons per day of recycled drinking water is critical to San Jose’s water independence.

San Jose turns green
For the week beginning March 4, San Jose is turning green to welcome Dublin Lord Mayor Councilor Eibhlin Byrne and her 11-member delegation of city officials and business representatives.

Each year, for the past 23 years, the lord mayor of Dublin has visited San Jose with a delegation to celebrate the important civic bond that San Jose and Dublin share through a formal sister city relationship.

Irish Week activities, coordinated by the San Jose -Dublin Sister City Program and Joseph Hedges, the international program manager for San Jose’s Office of Economic Development, include public and private events, tours and meetings that help to develop and strengthen civic, cultural, economic, artistic and sporting ties between San Jose and Dublin as well as between Silicon Valley and Ireland.

Irish Week activities, open to the public with a ticket purchase, include the Welcome Breakfast and San Jose Flag Raising Ceremony (free) on March 6 and the Spirit of Ireland Award Luncheon honoring T.J. Rodgers, founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, on March 8.

Other private planned events for the Irish delegation include meetings with San Jose City Manager Debra Figone, the San Jose Environmental Services Department and Hewlett Packard. Tours include San Jose City Hall, Elmwood Correctional Facility for Women and Sobrato House Youth Center. Leisure activities include a San Jose Sharks / Minnesota Wild hockey game, a visit to the Monterey Peninsula and a “Celebration of the Irish” dinner hosted by San Jose City Councilmember Nancy Pyle, at her home.