Message from Councilmember Pete Constant

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a fun and safe New Year's holiday with their friends and family. The beginning of every year is a great opportunity to look at the successes and missed opportunities of the previous year, while also setting goals and understanding potential challenges for the upcoming year. In 2011, the city faced a number of challenges, including a significant budget deficit coupled with a looming pension crisis that may threaten the solvency of our city. The city council responded to these challenges with some success, but also missed some key opportunities. The city's budget eliminated the deficit, but at the cost of further reducing city services including laying off police officers for the first time in the history of San Jose.

With the New Year comes a new opportunity to fix our city's problems, and my number one goal for this year remains the same – bring fiscal sanity back to San Jose.

Fortunately, there are others on the city council who share this goal with me, and who recognize the severity of our pension crisis as a driving factor in our continued budget deficits. They are willing to take the significant steps necessary to ensure the solvency of our city and ensure that the city is able to continue to pay its employees' pensions. I have spoken for several years about the need for pension reform in San Jose, and on December 6th the city council voted to put a pension reform measure on the June 2012 ballot. There are a number of proposed changes included in this ballot measure, and you can read more about them here.

The new calendar year means that the city will prepare for a new fiscal year at the beginning of July, and the city council will begin its budget process for 2012-2013. Although the exact number is uncertain at this point, there is an estimated $25 million budget deficit that will again threaten the level of service the city is able to provide to you, the resident. As in past years, the Mayor will host his Neighborhood Association and Youth Advisory Commission Budget Priority-Setting Session. This is a very important meeting where the leaders of our community come together to share their opinions in order to aid the city council in determining which city services are the most important. The input from this session is an essential tool that the city council can utilize as they move forward in the budget process. It is very important that District 1 is well represented at this event. This year's meeting will be held on Saturday, January 21st from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. You can read more about this event and its importance here. On February 9th, Mayor Reed will be delivering his State of the City Address at 6 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium. You can RSVP to this free event and find all of the details here.

District 1 has been fortunate to have several new businesses open this year. I hope that many more will soon follow, and I will do all that I can to encourage further economic development in San Jose and District 1. One business that has opened in the last month in District 1 is a new BevMo! store in the Westgate West Shopping Center, taking up part of a space that was vacated some time ago. Surprisingly, this exciting new store faced a number of challenges in opening due to some of the current city policies that I disagree with. Luckily, it all turned out okay in the end, and many of you can now shop at this great store. I'm also excite to let you know that there will be a Sunflower Farmers Market grocery store opening in the space adjacent to BevMo! in Westgate West. You can read more about the BevMo! store and the hurdles they
faced here.

There are some great events happening this month in District 1 and San Jose. You can scroll down further to find a complete list in the calendar section. Some highlights include the District 1 Skate Night at Downtown Ice on January 11th. Downtown Ice will be open through January, and on January 11th, District 1 residents with proof of address can get two tickets for the price of one. You can find out more about that here.

It's come to my attention that some of you might not be aware of a great tool provided by Santa Clara County called AlertSCC. This is the county's emergency alert system that can provide you and your family with up-to-date information on any emergency situation that might be happening in San Jose and even in your specific neighborhood. You can sign up at www.alertscc.com or send a text message to 32075 with the text "alertscc" plus your street name and zip code.

I’m sure that recently some of you were surprised to find out that stores in San Jose can no longer provide you with plastic bags. The city’s new plastic bag ban ordinance took affect on January 1st. I was the only member of the city council who did not support this ban, and I remained concerned with its impact on our local economy, especially in the current market. I was also disappointed that the policy did not allow for biodegradable plastic bags. Shoppers may decide to go elsewhere in the area to avoid the trouble of paying for paper bags or bringing their own. Under the new law, for the first two years stores will be allowed to sell paper bags for 10 cents to customers who do not bring their own reusable bags. You can find our more information about the plastic bag ordinance here.

If you're a pet owner you may have noticed that, due to the budget crisis, the city has stopped providing bags for dog waste at its parks. This decision occurred as a part of last year's budget process, and at the time I voiced my concerns with the bags elimination especially considering the plastic bag ban ordinance. However, we are fortunate that the San Jose Parks Foundation is leading the charge to help restore these bags to our parks. The Parks Foundation is currently seeking donations and volunteers to help with their program. You can find out more about their program here.

P.S.: My remaining community office hours for Janauary will be offered on Thursday, January 12^th, from 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., at the Cypress Senior Center. For a listing of my 2012 office hours in the district, click here.

PETE IN THE NEWS

December 27, 2011
KGOtv, San Jose Police Stop Responding to Some Alarms
"'I am disappointed that this is yet another service we are reducing in the city of San Jose, but it comes down to making those hard decisions of what can the city do given the resources we have,' San Jose City Councilmember Pete Constant said."

December 8, 2011
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, Team San Jose Avoids Getting Benched
"'Councilman Pete Constant says he wants to end the search process for a new operator. He says Sherry and Toeniskoetter have a 'strong work ethic' and eliminated bureaucracy at the group, making the situation a far cry from previous years. 'It really was the board’s leadership, or lack thereof, that led Team San Jose to where it was,' he says.'"

December 7, 2011
Examiner.com, City Council Votes Up Pension Ballot Measure, Unions Vow Legal Fight
"Voting in favor of the ballot measure and against a three month extension to refine and modify the pension proposal were Mayor Chuck Reed, Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, Pete Constant, Rose Herrera, Sam Liccardo and Perluigi Oliverio."

December 7, 2011
San Jose Mercury News, San Jose City Council Votes 6-5 to Place Pension Reform on June Ballot
"Over the loud objections of city workers and retirees, the San Jose City Council voted 6-5 Tuesday to approve language for a pension reform measure that could go before voters in June. Joining Reed were Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen and council members Pete Constant, Sam Liccardo, Pierluigi Oliverio and Rose Herrera."

December 7, 2011
NBC Bay Area, Pension Reform Makes June Ballot in San Jose
"'We know that if left unchecked, we'll continue to see rising pension costs,' Constant said. 'We have the opportunity to make structural changes, make savings we can count on going into the future.'"

December 1, 2011
San Jose Mercury News
Internal Affairs: Councilman Pete Constant goes with his gut on this proposal
"'I'll just be blunt about it, as the fattest guy on the council,' said Constant, a former cop who looked a bit egg-like after gaining back some of the weight he'd shed in a crash diet. 'Just saying that because I'm fat I make bad food choices ... is a bad, broad mischaracterization, because obesity isn't just about the food you eat. It's a complicated issue.'"

Councilmember Pete Constant
District 1, City of San José
200 East Santa Clara Street,
18th Floor
San José, CA 95113
Telephone: (408) 535-4901
Fax: (408) 292-6448
Pete.Constant@sanjoseca.gov
www.sjdistrict1.com

Inside this Issue:

• Pete's Message
• City Council Moves Forward on Pension Reform
• Setting Budget Priorities for the Coming Fiscal Year
• New BevMo! Location in District 1

Helpful Links for D1 Residents:

• Pete's Calendar
• Council Agenda
• Live and Archived Council Meetings
• District 1 Map
• Photos of District 1 Events
• District 1 Neighborhood Groups
• Pete and District 1 in the News
• Parks in District 1
• District 1 Staff
• Review permits in San José

Service Providers for D1 Residents:

Connecting to your government:

• Mayor and Council
• San José Charter
• San José Municipal Code
• San José Boards and Commissions
• Santa Clara County
• Registrar of Voters
• Guide to Government
• State of California
• U.S. Government

Important Phone Numbers:

Questions?
If you have any questions about the District 1 E- Newsletter, please contact our office at district1@sanjoseca.gov or call (408) 535-4901

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