October 21, 2004

Passions ignite as De La Rosa and Pyle vie for City Council Seat

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

As Election Day draws near, San Jose City Council candidates Rich De La Rosa (R) and Nancy Pyle (D) have traded their kid gloves for boxing gloves and come out swinging.

Both candidates are vying for the District 10 council seat, replacing termed-out Vice Mayor Pat Dando, and are headed for a political knockout in the Nov. 2 run-off election. This week the Almaden Times Weekly offers in-depth interviews with the candidates on some of the issues affecting District 10 and the city of San Jose.

Representing Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley, and part of Santa Teresa, the candidates contend with issues ranging from creating jobs, developing the Almaden Youth Association’s (AYA) Sports Complex, to saving San Jose Medical Center. As they approach the final bell, acrimonious accusations have arisen from both parties regarding ethics and campaign conduct. Next week, we will have an in-depth report on these allegations.

Rich De La Rosa
De La Rosa, 52, entered the political ring after helping to win the fight against the city’s redevelopment designs on the Tropicana Shopping Center. “I got into politics for the right reasons,” says De La Rosa. “I wanted to make a difference in my community.”

An additional catalyst for De La Rosa’s dive into politics was Dando’s term ending, and with it, a city council member who represented business.

A San Jose native, De La Rosa grew up in the Valley Fair area when it was mostly prune orchards and cherry trees. “I had a real good childhood,” he says. De La Rosa learned his work ethic from his family. His grandparents owned a grocery store, barber shop and Latin American import store. Today, De La Rosa runs the import store, at the Tropicana, which has been in his family since 1939.

“Sometimes life is luck,” comments De La Rosa regarding the start of his career as an insurance agent. After earning an A.A. degree in business at West Valley College, he answered an ad to sell Electrolux vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Hoping to strike it rich, he chose Goldfield, and found a golden opportunity. Following his pitch and demo, a woman not only bought the vacuum, but also mentioned that her husband, an insurance agency manager, might want to speak with him. One week later, he was hired. Looking to expand his interests, De La Rosa joined Allstate Insurance in 1976, and he’s been with them ever since.

From his experience running a business, De La Rosa says that he has learned to make good choices. “When you make mistakes, you learn from them and never make them again,” he attests. “Fortunately, I haven’t made many mistakes.” De La Rosa enjoys solving issues. “That’s what insurance is all about—making sure there aren’t holes, that people are properly protected, and that they’re not spending money they don’t need to spend,” he says. “Every day, I’m the sole person who makes decisions that make things happen. I’m responsible for 10 employees, and also work with partners on a daily basis.”

De La Rosa considers himself the community’s best bet for guiding the AYA Sports Complex to fruition. “If Nancy’s elected, this project will not move forward,” he declares. “She’s said we need to look for alternate sites. Is she going to poof out of smoke this alternate field? They’ve been working on this for twelve years and haven’t found one, so how is she going to?”

De La Rosa’s supporters include the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber; San Jose Police Officers Association; San Jose Fire Fighters Association; former Congressman Tom Campbell; City Councilmember Chuck Reed; Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage; former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery; SJUSD President Gary Rummelhoff; and Vice Mayor Pat Dando.

Nancy Pyle
Pyle, Age 66, was raised on a 100-acre farm in upstate New York. Her resolve and determination came when she attended LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. Inspired by her teachers, she taught for 25 years at such schools as Erikson, Castillero, and Carson schools in the San Jose Unified School District. Yet, all the while, she retained an interest in politics.

“I’ve always been interested in politics, probably because my Uncle Bobby was very involved with the Syracuse government,” says Pyle. “I just loved to talk with him about what was going on in City Hall.” Pyle said she learned at an early age the connection between the government and people’s lives. “I remember my dad sending back checks from the government that paid him not to raise crops,” she recalls. “I was poor as a church mouse, struggling to get through college and would have liked those checks, but it’s the principal of the thing that counts.”

While teaching, Pyle also ran a real estate business. “I understand what it’s like to work hard, and provide for a family,” she attests. “I also understand the harm that over-regulation can cause to a small business.” In addition, with her husband Roger, she owned and operated Euro Chemical Control Systems. More recently, Pyle has served on the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District Board of Trustees, where she was instrumental in revitalizing the college. On the College District’s land use committees, she aided in balancing $100 million dollar budgets and helped to develop a revenue stream by leasing land to a shopping center.

Nancy Pyle’s endorsements include Congressional representatives Mike Honda and Zoe Lofgren; State Senators Liz Figueroa, Byron Sher, and John Vasconcellos; Assembly members John Laird, and Simon Salinas; eight of 10 City Council members; former San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer; former SJUSD Superintendent of Schools Linda Murray; Oak Grove School District Superintendent of Schools Manny Barbara; and the San Jose Teachers Association.

Both candidates recently visited the Times office separately to clarify their positions on some of the issues that are currently affecting District 10. The following is a summary of their interviews.

What are your current top priorities if elected?

De La Rosa: Jobs, jobs, jobs, traffic, and public safety. Half of our city’s problems could be solved if we could stimulate our economy. We also have to reduce the red tape. If someone’s going to do business in San Jose, we not only have to improve the process, but also change the subculture we have in our city government. We’re throwing up barriers and making people spend a lot more money than they need to in order to get their businesses open. Instead of being regulators, we have to be facilitators to bring business to San Jose and create the jobs we need for our community.

Pyle: Jobs, health and safety, education. Jobs are number one. As I’ve gone knocking on doors, I’ve realized how many people we have in this district who are unemployed or underemployed. We have to do whatever we can to work on that. Health and safety is also a concern. Regarding education, I’m interested in providing sports fields and homework centers and expanding places like ‘The Spot,’ which are positive places for kids to go and hang out.

What is the best way to improve the local economy and create jobs in San Jose?

De La Rosa: Getting additional housing downtown is essential to future growth. Where are we going to put people if corporations come to San Jose and have their headquarters here? It would help the environment and congestion if we can get people jobs near where they live, like downtown.

Pyle: We all need to start patronizing local businesses and to print a directory of them. If you need wood floors, for example, and don’t know that there’s someone in the district who can do that, you go somewhere else. We can do a promotion, spotlighting local businesses on our Web site.

How can we ensure that students receive the best possible education in SJUSD schools? How do you feel about the fact that due to the budget crisis, Castillero, Steinbeck and Almaden are on a list of schools that may be closed?

De La Rosa: In speaking with administrators, teachers, and principals, they all say the same thing: the system’s broken. Unfortunately, the city is powerless to fix it because that’s the state system. It’s a matter of over-regulation. We’re spending too much time trying to justify tests as opposed to teaching. I’m interested in continuing programs to keep teachers here like the housing program. The other things we need to contribute to are homework centers and after school programs like “The Spot.” We should have several of them throughout the district.

Pyle: I spoke with Superintendent Iglesias and yes, these schools are proposed. The problem always boils down to dollars. Our enrollment is declining. There’s been talk of closing Steinbeck Middle School and taking 250 of those students and putting them on the Gunderson High School campus. One of the problems is the result of panic-induced ‘bright flight.’ In the case of Steinbeck, for example, it happened so much so that in one year their test scores declined by 24 percent. Another complaint I’m hearing is that when people move to the Almaden area because they like the schools, they find out that their children can’t attend their local schools.

We need to figure out if we need to build another school, or increase the size of Leland, and how to help those who live there send their kids to these schools. Furthering the understanding of the communities with the schools would be number one. I would create a District 10 web site with educational components and links to local newspapers. Increasing parental involvement would also be helpful in increasing the educational opportunities for kids. I’ve seen firsthand what parenting courses can do for families and student success. We need these courses everywhere.

What are your thoughts regarding developing the AYA sports complex?

De La Rosa: I would do everything I could to push this forward. There is a tremendous need, not just in Almaden, but throughout the City of San Jose for this type of youth sports complex. It bothers me that people don’t see the need.

The McKean property is eventually going to be urbanized and I don’t call putting some playing fields on some school facilities development. The traffic situation has to be mitigated and the roads will have to be widened. We don’t water fields at the expense of drinking water. If we can safely water five acres of it, then fine, we do that.

Artificial fields should be out there. Everybody loves grass, but if you can’t water it, you don’t put it in. But the biggest issue of this whole thing is dollars. I don’t care if you have water, fix the street, and figure out the safety issues—where’s the money coming from for a $10 million project? To me, that’s obstacle number one. It would have to be raised through fundraising with corporations, and families paying more in fees to sign their kids up.

Pyle: If we don’t have county support, we have a huge problem. It’s been 12 years, and it hasn’t come to fruition.

The county made a charge that the AYA has not been broad enough in considering other sites. I think we need a task force dedicated to getting this off the ground as soon as possible. The first thing we need to do is define the problem. How many kids are not being served? How much of this could be solved if we were able to work out an agreement with SJUSD that kids could play on the fields over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday if damages were covered and they could make a little money on the deal? It’s gone on long enough and I think we need to come up with some solutions. But as long as we have the problems that we do, we need to be realistic and start looking at other venues so that these kids can play soccer.

What I’m not seeing here is a vision that meets the needs of all the kids in District 10 and the city. I think we need to consider whether we have enough swimming pools that kids could enjoy without families having to join clubs. We need to define what the needs are. Like swimming pools at community centers or sports complexes. I would like to get a dialogue going with corporations and with residents regarding a bond measure or something so that our kids could be better served.

How would you ensure community safety?

De La Rosa: The quality of life we have here is because of our public safety. We’re the safest big city—and we’re working with the smallest police force per capita of any large city in America. We haven’t graduated as many officers as we’ve needed to in the last several years because of budgetary concerns. I think we need to have a larger force to better meet our needs. We couldn’t have a better ambassador for the City of San Jose and the police department than Police Chief Davis. You talk about communication and transparency; I think Police Chief Davis is a tremendous example of that.

Pyle: I love what Police Chief Davis has been doing. He’s been putting an enormous effort into community outreach, listening to problems, and trying to increase cultural understanding with the police department and with communities in general. We need to find ways to bring diverse people together in meaningful ways—perhaps featuring different cultures at libraries or community centers.

What is your stance on the coyote debate in Almaden?

De La Rosa: We should remove the coyotes from the Villas. Any time wildlife and humans cross to the point where it’s a danger to people, especially children, we need to take definitive action. The residents also have to understand where they live. The Villas are gorgeous, but they encroach on the hillside. You can’t leave food out or it’s going to bring the wildlife in. They have to make sure they remove the food sources, protect the garbage cans, and protect their pets.

Pyle: From my perspective, family’s health and safety has to come first. People also have to take precautions to protect themselves. We need to look at all possible ways to solve the problem. By the same token, I have seen people leave pet food on their front porches, which is irresponsible.

What do you think about San Jose Medical Center closing?

De La Rosa: I think it’s an absolute shame. It’s where I was born. I can certainly understand when a company’s losing $16 million a year, why you have to make a change, but that’s something that really affects the community. My hope is that we keep the trauma center somehow…because it is so important to our community. I think we should keep it zoned as medical so they can’t just sell it for profit—that wouldn’t serve the community.

Pyle: I’m opposed to it because they have such a highly trained trauma center. I’d really hate to see that go away. Secondly, the time it’s going to take for a poor individual to get to another trauma center by bus, and then walking in an emergency situation, opens the door for potential litigation. They’re talking about $40 million to renovate, but that’s really not a lot in terms of litigation. We need to look for all possibilities to keep it open. It really does serve a need. I think the mayor would agree, as he went there when he had a stroke.

What do you think about the plans for the new airport? What are your thoughts about the 2 percent public art budget mandate and process?

De La Rosa: The airport is going to be an economic engine. How many cities have their airport virtually downtown?

That should be a huge bonus for companies that do a lot of traveling and entice them to come to San Jose. I have a problem with mandating art expenditures. I love art, but at the same time, when you have budgetary constraints, you’re still required to spend that two percent. The airport is a good example of this because it’s such a huge expenditure for art. Why should we be required to spend that kind of money when we have other needs like making sure we have the police and fire departments that we need?

To me, that’s just wrong. There should be flexibility with the art budget. On small projects, maybe 2 percent isn’t even enough. Why not give yourself some latitude?

Pyle: The airport is going to help us expand the job market. The easier and more seamless it is for people to go from point A to point B, the better it is for the economy. We’ve had a terrible airport for too long. Regarding the 2 percent art mandate, it needs to be resolved. I’m not upset about the mandate because the airlines rather than the taxpayers are going to pay for it, but I am concerned about the outsourcing of art that will be used there. Why do we have to go to Austria for the plasma screens when we’re in Silicon Valley? I remember as a teacher putting the children’s art on display at the airport. That’s a pride of ownership that I’d like to see. We have an abundance of local artists, but so many that are being chosen are out of the area and don’t know the city as well. We have to start thinking locally about the talents we have here.

Regarding Measure S, the library tax, why is this necessary when the library collects close to a million dollars in fines annually? Couldn’t the city shift these funds back from the general fund?

De La Rosa: It could, but with the budgetary problem, they’d have to come up with the money some place. I support Measure S not because I think it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the necessary thing to do.

Pyle: I think the city should do exactly that. The city is asking us once again to bail them out. The city needs to take its responsibilities seriously and not allow libraries to be damaged in any way. Libraries are mind openers that we can’t close.

Should the 911 tax be used specifically for emergencies rather than the general fund?

De La Rosa: Probably. One of the problems regarding our budget is the escalating operating costs throughout the city while our projected income is down. They had to raise the 911 phone fee to balance the general budget—the state took our money again.

Pyle: No. I don’t think it should go in the general fund. That’s an invitation for disaster. If we vote for it to go into a specific area, it should go there.

How would you balance environmental with developmental concerns?

De La Rosa: Very carefully. Protecting the green lines is very important. It’s part of the character of our valley. I bought a home by the Santa Teresa foothills for two reasons: for the Oak Grove school district, and those hills; I just love my backyard view of those hills and I don’t want to see anything on them. Under the general plan there are a lot of triggers and safeguards to prevent premature growth. We don’t want to develop an area while we still have other projects to finish.

Pyle: Planning is critical, as well as public input. There are only 3,400 developable acres left in San Jose. I have a strong commitment to working with the environment. We need to find ways to work with developers to be more caring of the environment.

What do you think of the plans to create a concert hall at the fairgrounds? What do you think about allegations that the county is not backing the AYA sports complex development as payback for the city not supporting the concert hall?

De La Rosa: Relationships between the city and the county are pretty bad. We have to work together. It bothers me that we have issues where we’re suing each other. We’re worrying about a venue that hopefully in time will happen, but they shouldn’t rush it and do it badly, not to mention the bad relationships this is causing.

Pyle: There is no yin and yang there. I would absolutely make an effort to have a better relationship with the county. Four of the five county supervisors have endorsed me. I have very good relations with them. Wouldn’t that be a great athletic place? I haven’t seen all the figures yet, but what I have seen concerns me. What’s going to happen when we don’t meet our projected budget and can’t keep the doors open?

What do you think of plans for bringing a Major League Baseball team to San Jose? Would you fight to keep the Earthquakes?

De La Rosa: Sports is such a wonderful community activity—it brings people together. The San Jose Earthquakes are a champion San Jose team. Anything we can do within reason to keep them here, we want to do. The Sharks have been a vitalizing organization for downtown. They mean a lot to everybody. There aren’t too many things more fun than going to a Shark’s game. I’d certainly like to see a Major League Baseball team here. We’ve had a couple of opportunities to get the Giants and we lost them. Not only does it bring a sense of community to an area when you have a major league club, but it also provides a lot of jobs, a destination spot, and a sense of identity.

Pyle: I’d like to see major league baseball here.

What lessons have you learned from Vice Mayor Pat Dando? What changes would you bring to the city council?

De La Rosa: Talking with Pat and drawing from her experience is very important to me. If I’m able to win this election, she’s going to let me know what projects she would like to see go forward, what has been successful, and what wasn’t. The biggest lesson I’ve learned from Pat is to be straightforward and try not to compromise your values. You have to do whatever you can for your district, while at the same time keeping the big picture in focus.

Pyle: One lesson I learned from the Vice Mayor is that she shows up and it really means a lot to the residents of District 10. She makes them feel special and that what they’re doing is important. I feel exactly the same way. I see this person as a voice for the community, someone who listens to what is being said, what is being felt, and what is happening. I’d be even more communicative. I’d try to judge situations before they become problems. I’d go to the homeowners association meetings, have an open-door policy, and answer calls within 24 hours. I’d let the residents know that they’re important, and that they’re being heard.

What changes would you make regarding City Hall, such as its transparency, building budget, and responsiveness to the community?

De La Rosa: Everybody’s lost confidence in City Hall. Unfortunately, the City Council has failed to do anything about it. There’s the over-budgeting of the new city hall, and the failure to follow the proper processes. The problem with many of our council members is that they have forgotten that they’re public servants. Sometimes there will be hard decisions to make, but I’m not going to compromise my values because someone contributed to my campaign. No one buys me—for $250 or for a million dollars.

Pyle: My big mantra is accountability, transparency of operations, and good business practices and I haven’t seen enough of any of those. When we compare our processes with those used by other cities, they’re much too cumbersome. We need to look at the whole picture and streamline the process. Businesses and developers will not go into a situation where it’s too hard to do business. Being on the San Jose/Evergreen Community College board for eight years, I know when line items are missing, like furniture and technology for City Hall. I plan on taking a look at the entire budget step-by-step. We need to take a new look at the way we do things.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

De La Rosa: I’m not beholden to anybody. I’m very independent. I make big decisions every day and don’t have to play politics to make those decisions. I think it’s my independence that sets me apart from Nancy Pyle more than anything else. The fact that she has the support of the same eight members of the city council who have put us in this position disturbs me, but it shows that she’s not independent. They feel they can work with her better than with me because I have a history of standing up to them. It’s a part of my character to stand up for what I think is right. She says she can come to consensus with council members, but that’s not her job. Your job is to defend your district. There’s a fine line between consensus and collusion. That’s the difference between us. I truly believe that I will represent my district first, but keep that city view. There’s also my perspective. I’m born and raised in this town. I knew what it was like when everything was downtown, and when we sprawled out and San Jose lost its identity. I want to see it become its own place, second to none.

Pyle: Experience. Experience. Experience. I have a proven track record. I’m very involved in the community. I’ve taught their children, sold them their homes, or helped to educate their college age kids. I’ve worked with nonprofit organizations, and because of my educational and experiential background, I am the best candidate for the job. One of the big reasons given for Rich being unique and somebody we need on the council is the fact that his group, the Tropicana, sued the city. I think that’s a tough sell—especially since there’s no plan for developing that center and it’s in deplorable condition.