April 10, 2008

Council members approve two key reports

Allow Whole Foods conditional use permit for liquor

By Carol Rosen
Editor

San Jose City Council members unanimously accepted reports on the 2007 community survey and a homicide report given by Police Chief Rob Davis during its regular Tuesday, April 9 meeting.

At its evening meeting, the council members agreed to provide a conditional use permit for liquor and the demolition and construction permits for the new Whole Foods Market, which is planning to open next year at the corner of Almaden Expressway and Blossom Hill Road where Rite Aid was located.

The measure had been deferred from the agenda several times in order for all of the information to become available before approving demolition the 78,409-square-foot old Rite Aid building and making way for construction of the new 122,584-square-foot commercial facility.

Councilmember Nancy Pyle, in whose district the store will be located, was solidly behind the measure, which she said will bring much-needed tax revenue along with new jobs to San Jose. She thanked the city staff that worked on the project to ensure that it went through in a timely manner. The Planning Department has to deny liquor permits in order to allow council members to determine whether to pass it or not.

"Tuesday night the city council approved both the conditional use permit and the demolition and construction permits for the Whole Foods at Blossom Hill and Almaden Expressway. Our city staff and the applicant did a wonderful job of working together to draft a comprehensive and thoughtful resolution  for this project.  I know that I am one of the many District 10 residents who is looking forward to shopping at the first Whole Foods in San Jose," Pyle told the Times.

Community survey
The 2007 community survey interviewed 1,000 adult residents of San Jose asking attitudes toward the city, life in San Jose, evaluation of services, residents’ impressions when dealing with city employees, ratings of individual aspects of life in the city, public safety and safety of neighborhoods and public amenities.

Not surprisingly, while 80 percent of respondents find San Jose as an excellent or good place to live, 22 percent say the most serious issue facing city government is crime, drugs, gangs and the need for more police. That figure jumped from 14 percent in 2005 and is up 13 percent from 2000 when just 9 percent saw it as most serious.

At the same time, traffic congestion, which was the most serious at 28 percent in 2000, fell to 11 percent two years ago, but grew 4 percent to 15 percent in 2007. The other most serious issue in 2000 was housing costs/affordable housing at 25 percent of respondents falling 16 percent in 2007 to 9 percent, which is 1 percent above the 2005 figure.

The 2007 survey also indicated that overall citizens think the local government “operates in a way that is open and accountable to the public.” The question, asked for the first time, has a high degree of ambivalence built in. Forty-six percent responded with somewhat confident; very confident received 27 percent and extremely confident 8 percent. While those compiling the survey felt the more than 81 percent answering on the positive side was somewhat ambivalent, those answering not too confident or not at all confident polled only 14 percent.

Eight out of 10 people or 80 percent of those surveyed feel that San Jose is an excellent or good place to live and that the quality of life is good. That compares with 69 percent in 2000 and 79 percent in 2005. The percent of residents that are satisfied or very satisfied with overall quality of city services was 78 percent, the highest level since the city began surveying residents.

“In the last seven years, we’ve cut $3 million from our budget,” said District 9 Councilmember Judy Chirco. “San Jose employees should take pride in their stellar work. They are great people doing great jobs.”

The single public speaker noted that he would like to see the city improve its lighting, especially downtown.
Homicide report

San Jose’s Police Chief, Rob Davis, noted that the city is actually doing well when comparing the rate of crime with other cities, however, it isn’t going as well as in past years. The homicide rate, at 13 for the year, compared with six a year ago at this time. Davis said seven of those murders are thought to be gang-related.

He added that social conditions, such as broken homes, high school dropouts, declining social programs due to declining economies and lost jobs are contributing to the problems and that the police department is doing what it can with its limited resources.

He said that addressing gang violence through San Jose’s current program of collaboration, intervention and prevention could reduce homicides. That means collaboration and teamwork with everyone involved from elected officials to neighborhood groups, from police to businessmen and social activists.

Davis was clear that he understands the city’s economic dilemma and he thanked the council for allowing the department to add 15 trainees last year along with Mayor Chuck Reed’s March budget report that suggests providing the department with and additional $1 million and possibly 15 more new officers.

In order to meet some of those suggestions, Reed has scheduled a series of four town meetings through April and May to find solutions to the gang problem. The forums will allow residents to share their concerns about gang activity and provide input on the city’s efforts to prevent and suppress local gangs.

“While San Jose has one of the lowest crime rates of any major city in America, we need to act now to stem the increase in homicides and gang violence,” Reed said in a press release. “We need to provide alternatives that prevent kids from joining gangs, and we must provide options for young people to leave the gang life and become productive members of society.”

The meeting results will provide the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force with priorities for a new work plan and future funding covering a three-year period from 2008-11, and serve as the guiding principles for gang prevention, suppression, and intervention for San Jose.

Besides local residents, the meetings will be attended by representatives from the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force along with representatives from the mayor’s office, the city council and relevant city departments. While the focus of each meeting will be on citywide issues, the discussion may vary to address the unique concerns raised by residents within a particular police division.

Each meeting is scheduled for 6 to 8:30 p.m. and will be held April 24 at Alum Rock Youth Center, 137 N. White Road; April 28 at Franklin-McKinley School District Administrative Offices, 645 Wool Creek Drive, May 1 at Southside Community Center, 5585 Cottle Road; and on May 19 at San Jose City Hall: Committee Rooms, 200 E. Santa Clara Street.