Willow Glen Resident

Letters & Opinions

Chuck Reed, the choice to change city hall culture

We believe in the old adage--if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

By the same token, if it is broke, you need to make sure the person you put in place to fix it has a record that demonstrates he is not in lock-step with those who let it fall into disrepair in the first place.

There's no question San Jose City Hall, in spite of its sparkling new building, is undeniably broke. And we believe there's only one candidate running for the office of mayor who has the skills and the record to take on the job of putting city hall back together again. That candidate is Chuck Reed.

Certainly, Reed has taken principled positions on the hot-button issues, such as the mayor's secret garbage deal, the $4 million subsidy for the Grand Prix and the city's taking of the Tropicana Shopping Center by eminent domain. He referred the garbage deal to the district attorney even before the grand jury's first investigation; he opposed the Grand Prix subsidy after it was presented to the council as a rushed proposal leaving no time for council scrutiny--the norm at city hall for important votes--and he opposed the eminent domain procedures against the Tropicana Shopping Center--a city hall boondoggle that ended up costing the city $8 million.

Reed has shown he is not afraid to oppose the majority of council members, many of whom are in office because organized labor "got out the vote."

For too many years, the South Bay Labor AFL-CIO Council has had too strong a voice at city hall. Reed says: "No special interest group should have the influence labor has in San Jose." He cites the city's labor-backed demand for "labor peace" as the reason Starbucks has been prevented from opening a shop at city hall--and that's just one small example.

What sold us on Reed, however, isn't his ability to point out what's wrong with the city, but his plan for how to make things right.

While acknowledging the importance of neighborhoods and district representation to ensure all parts of the city have a voice, he believes--as we do--that many council members are not paying enough attention to the big picture.

The blame falls clearly on Mayor Ron Gonzales, who installed a city manager who was afraid to stand up to the mayor or assert his responsibility to manage city staff. And a council that ceded to the mayor authority over performance reviews for top managers.

Reed's plan is to return the city to the charter by which it is supposed to govern--and that means involving the council more in determining the job description for the new city manager.

He wants council members to spend more time setting city priorities and then demanding accountability from staff for meeting the priorities. He wants to see council committees organized around staffing areas. This should go a long way toward ensuring that council is not kept in the dark about what staff is doing and what important issues are headed its way.

Ideally, city leaders should strive to balance the interests of labor and the interests of business. That's a goal, however, that seems to have eluded our leaders for some time. Reed clearly comes down on the side of business, but because many current council members owe an allegiance to organized labor, Reed's election as mayor will help bring about a much-needed balance. His opponent, Cindy Chavez, once worked for the South Bay Labor Council and has consistently voted for labor even when the end result hurts business and job growth in the city.

We also like Reed because he didn't just jump on the open government bandwagon. He led the battle charge, proposing as early as 2002 that city staff reports be made public the Thursday before a council meeting, thus giving the public more time to review proposals. Often, staff reports aren't even available to council members that early. It's small wonder, this council often acts like it doesn't know what's going on.

Local newspapers are more than aware of the secrecy that permeates the current city hall; obtaining documents that would reveal the inner workings of local government often involves Freedom of Information Act requests that get stalled at every turn.

Finally, we endorse Chuck Reed because of his history of fiscal responsibility. From opposing eminent domain proceedings against Tropicana Shopping Center to his opposition to the ill-fated lawsuit against the county--a lawsuit that came back to bite the city to the tune of a $22.5 million, we think Reed is the clear choice to fix what is wrong at city hall.