| Related Articles: News, All |
Top Stories: Jan. 27, 2010Yeager Speaks Out; Reed Tackles Unemployment; Obama vs. Jobs; Prop 8: Religious Crusadeby Danny Wool on Jan 27, 2010The State of the County Is … Better than Most Newly elected President of the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors Ken Yeager had some good news for his constituents yesterday. In his first State of the County speech, he said that Santa Clara County was in "a better position to weather the fiscal storm than almost any other place in America." Though he recognized that the county faced a $273 million budget deficit last year, and that unemployment was at 11.7 percent, he also noted that the county's budget, $4 billion, is larger than that of four states. Over the coming year, he plans to put that money to good use. Among his priorities are the improvement of transportation infrastructures and public health. He plans to restore $5 million to public health programs and another $3 million to local alcohol and drug services, areas that suffered from severe budget cuts in last year's effort to balance the budget. He also hopes to strengthen anti-smoking laws by introducing a ban on cigarettes in apartment buildings and public parks. All of this, he hopes, will help to reduce the $188 million that the county spends on medical costs for its employees. The environment was another major issue in Yeager's speech. He spoke of extending the ban on plastic bags to the county's unincorporated communities, of incorporating new green building standards, and the installation of solar panels on the roofs of county facilities. This could be coordinated by a new Office of Sustainability. Yeager also expressed interest in acquiring San Jose's old City Hall. He explained that having all county departments under a single (solar-paneled) roof would save money in the long run. All that was left for him to explain was how he hopes to pay for all this. Read More at NBC Bay Area. Read More at The Mercury News. Reed to Tackle Unemployment Mayor Chuck Reed is planning to tackle San Jose's 12.5 percent unemployment rate by providing incentives to new businesses here. He wants to "make it easier and cheaper for businesses to get started in San Jose," he says. His focus is high-growth tech companies, some of which can be lured to San Jose from other parts of the Bay Area if the right incentives are offered. And he wants to act fast. "Lots of cities are thinking about things that they can do," he admits, but San Jose is uniquely positioned "ahead of the curve. We want to stay there," he adds. There is plenty of room for new businesses. With office vacancies at 23 percent, all that is needed are the right incentives to bring business to the city. Some ideas were already suggested by Councilmember Sam Liccardo this week. Another idea is to have the city share any "net new" taxes or tax increments incurred in consequence of expanded business activity. These and other proposals will be studied by City Council at a February 8 study session. Read More at ABC 7. Read More at Politicon Valley. Religion ‘Critical’ in Determining Voters' Attitudes toward Proposition 8 Professor Kenneth Miller of Claremont McKenna College admitted under cross examination yesterday that religion played a critical role in determining voters' attitudes toward Proposition 8. In particular, he noted that the Catholic Church, Evangelicals, and the Mormons "supplied most of Proposition 8's institutional support," as he wrote in a scholarly article last year. Miller was followed in the witness stand by David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values, a conservative think-tank based in New York. Blankenhorn argued that acceptance of same-sex marriage would "in some respects culminate the process of deinstitutionalization of marriage," possibly even leading to polygamy. Blankenhorn is the last witness scheduled by the proponents of Prop 8. Justice Vaughn Walker has said that once the testimonies are completed, he plans to mull over the evidence before setting a date for closing arguments. Read More at CBS 5. Jobs v. Obama It's a big day for the media today. While Pres. Obama will inevitably be talking about new jobs in his State of the Union address, Steve Jobs will be talking about new technology in his State of the Apple address. Pundits say that this will be the President's "most important speech to date." Jobs reportedly says that Apple's new thingamajig (details unknown) will be "the most important thing I've ever done." Obama will be competing with manufacturing in China. Jobs is actually manufacturing in China … The list of comparisons goes on and on. So who's right? It's hard to say, since both men are keeping their content under wraps. Admittedly, there have been leaks, in D.C. and in Apple, but pundits—both political and geekical—will have to wait for each man's big announcement. Read More at TechCrunch. by Danny Wool on Jan 27, 2010 |
 Board of Supervisors president Ken Yeager predicts good things for Santa Clara County. |
|
|
