City Desk
By Carolyn Schuk

County Grand Jury Reports Take Santa Clara to Task

At the August 20 Council Meeting, the City Council approved responses to three new reports issued by the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury.

The first, Rehiring of Pensioners: Bad Policy, Good Business or Both? addresses public perception that many retired public officials "double dipping" - retiring and returning to work with benefits. In fact, the Grand Jury found that while all cities in Santa Clara County - and the county itself - rehire retirees, the number is small - less than two percent - and they work an average of nine hours per week.

The report took Santa Clara to task for filling a fire chief position with its retired occupant on a "temporary" basis for six years. Council Members agreed that this should properly be called a "succession" issue.

"The term just doesn't fit in Santa Clara," City Manager Jennifer Sparacino explained to the City Council last Tuesday night. "When the city brings back a retired employee to work, there is a limited number of hours [20]...We do not put any additional money into their retirement program, we don't pay sick leave or vacations - what they get is an hourly rate."

The other reports - Can You Hear Me Now? Emergency Dispatch in Santa Clara County and Fighting Fire or Fighting Change? Rethinking Fire Department Response Protocol and Consolidation Opportunities - address local opportunities for reducing costs through consolidation. Santa Clara has already implemented many of the reports' recommendations, or never had the conditions the report criticizes such as contractual minimum staffing requirements.

The emergency dispatch report highlights the need for compatible radio systems across public safety agencies - a project which has been ongoing for several years and of which Santa Clara has been an active leader - and suggests that cities consider consolidating 911 dispatch to eliminate service duplication.

The reports are available at by visiting www.scscourt.org and selecting "Final Civil Grand Jury Reports" under "Court News & Notices" on the lower left of the main page.

Plenty of Open Seats on City Commissions

If you've ever wanted to serve on a city commission, now is your chance. Six of the city's public commissions/committees have an opening:

• Cultural Advisory Commission
• Historical and Landmarks Commission
• International Exchange Commission
• Parks and Recreation Commission (2 openings)
• Senior Advisory Commission
• Housing Rehabilitation Loan Committee

To apply,visit santaclaraca.gov/index.aspx?page=1158 to download the application form. Application deadlines and interview dates are: Oct. 19 for the Historical and Landmarks and International Exchange Commissions, Oct. 26 for Cultural Advisory and Parks and Recreation Commissions, and Nov. 9 for the Senior Advisory Commission and Housing & Rehabilitation Loan Committee.

San Jose Evicts Santa Clarans From Hamline Community Garden

Long-time members of San Jose's Hamline Community Garden members who live in Santa Clara say they're being shown the door as of February next year. Santa Clara residents make up 7 of the 26 members of the community garden, Santa Clara resident Ann Joseph told the City Council last week.

The garden is about a half mile from the Santa Clara border and the land has been part of San Jose for nearly 50 years, according to Santa Clara resident Margaret Harris.

"For 30 of those years a combination of our citizens from Santa Clara and San Jose have made a beautiful garden at this spot," Harris told the Council.

"Prior to that, it [was] a dump. It was a big problem for...San Jose. I was one of the founders of this garden and I can tell you the combination of citizens working in this garden has made a remarkable community there and it's a wonderful thing to see. We felt... we were adding to San Jose, we were helping to beautify that city, that we were helping the neighborhood, we were being good citizens of the area."

The Weekly contacted San Jose Councilman Sam Liccardo, who represents the area (District 3), but as of deadline there was no response from Liccardo. Meanwhile, Santa Clara City Council asked the City Manager to look into the issue.

Council Votes to Continue RDA Despite Added Cost

The City Council finalized its approval for Santa Clara to go forward with a reconstituted Redevelopment Agency, under California's new Alternative Voluntary Redevelopment Program (ABX1 27).

The required $11 initial million payment to the state will come from the Downtown Affordable Housing capital improvement project ($6 million), 2011-2012 RDA-diverted property taxes ($2 million), and allocated - but unspent - Housing Fund money ($3 million). Letting the RDA shut down risks losing control of RDA-owned property, as well as a potential loss of $15 million annually in RDA revenue.

In other August 30, 2011 City Council business:

• Santa Clara Convention Center revenue was up $1.4 million in 2010-11, delivering a $432,000 profit on $5.5 million in revenue.
• The Council voted unanimously to move ahead with the 0.8-acre Presidio El Camino RDA affordable/low income housing project slated for 1410-1456 El Camino Real. The city is offering the developer, Core Presidio, LLC, a 58-year ground lease for $2.6 million (the city's cost for acquiring the land) and an $8 million subsidy (paid for by writing down the land) for developing the 40-unit project.
• The Council also voted unanimously to approve a zoning change for 3355/3395 The Alameda from Thoroughfare Commercial (CT) to Planned Development (PD). This complies with the 2010-2025 General plan and allows conversion of a 60-room hotel to a Santa Clara University dormitory for 118 students. Despite a few concerns from near-by residents alarmed at the prospect of having student neighbors - perhaps they're worried about the neighborhood losing its charm - the change "is a good upgrade of property" on the Alameda, said Santa Clara Planning Director Kevin Riley.
• Santa Clara's city-owned and run electric utility, Silicon Valley Power, garnered second place in ESource Energy Business Intelligence's annual national customer satisfaction survey of large businesses. SVP received the highest score for overall utility satisfaction and utility value, and received high marks for emergency communications, proactive energy advisors, and customer account representatives.