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Council members snipe over East San Jose fire station
POLITICAL MELEE OVER REBUILDING PLAN'S COST
By Joshua Molina
Mercury News
On the surface, Fire Station 2 on San Jose's East Side is a nondescript, one-story, cinder-block building - a place where about a dozen firefighters respond to calls in the busiest service area of the city.
But behind the scenes, the aging firehouse at 2933 Alum Rock Ave. is emerging as an unlikely center of political controversy.
A recent surprise vote by the city council to spend $9.5 million to rebuild the station - $2.4 million more than city staff recommended - has raised questions about whether the council is wasting scarce dollars in its desire to compensate the largely Latino East Side for years of perceived neglect. It has also sparked a flurry of accusations and public sniping among council members that have taken on a markedly personal tone.
"They have a battle going on," said Fire Chief Darryl Von Raesfeld. "I think it will be interesting to watch."
The drama exposed a widening rift on the council, between Mayor Chuck Reed and his ally Councilman Pete Constant on one side and Councilwoman Nora Campos on the other. Campos, who represents East San Jose, managed to outfox the fiscally conservative mayor on the firehouse issue, delivering him one of his most stinging losses since he took office in January.
"We can't balance a budget at the expense of safety for our residents," Campos said. "It is important that we as a city start to show leadership to see that public safety is addressed."
Constant fired back that Campos is stealing money from other important public safety projects.
"When we are spending the public's money, we need to look at the best value in every purchase we make," Constant said. "It is every council member's job to be a shepherd of the public's money."
The debate centers on a $159 million public safety bond voters approved in 2002 to build or retrofit police and fire stations. Largely because of escalating construction costs, officials determined earlier this year that there would not be enough bond money left to pay for all of the projects that were promised voters. The fund was about $6.8 million short.
The city decided to whittle down the costs of some projects. Rather than rebuild Fire Station 2 for $9.5 million, staff members recommended only partially rebuilding the fire station - to save $2.4 million.
But at the Sept. 25 council meeting, Campos cobbled together a plan to pay for the total rebuilding of the fire station, which included spending $1.8 million from the public safety bond contingency reserve. Constant and the mayor said that money could help pay for other public safety projects - including the new 10.5-acre police substation, near Great Oaks Boulevard in San Jose.
Campos' plan also calls for pulling $1.3 million from the city's Strong Neighborhoods Initiative reserve funds and another $500,000 from a fund for maintaining and repairing fire stations.
Since the vote, a political melee has ensued.
Campos put out a charged press release touting her victory, saying that her "only regret is that the mayor did not participate in building a critical public safety project for our city."
Reed called her into his office the following day, saying that he expects professionalism from his colleagues and didn't appreciate being portrayed as unconcerned about public safety. For her part, Campos says she expressed her disappointment with the mayor for not supporting her plan.
That exchange was followed by dueling newspaper opinion pieces by Constant and Campos, with both attacking each other's motives and accusing the other of narrow-minded thinking and misplaced priorities.
Constant claimed Campos was guilty of grandstanding because rebuilding the firehouse would not result in faster response times or any improvement in service. The number of calls at the fire station - now 4,500 annually, the highest in the city - is expected to drop by 10 percent next July because the city is building the new Fire Station 34 nearby.
Councilwoman Campos acknowledged that service would not improve with a rebuilt station, but she said the reconstruction would meet "essential facility" earthquake safety standards, so the structure could withstand a major quake.
The East Side, she added, is often neglected by city decision makers, and residents deserved a top-notch facility.
"Not getting a total rebuild would have been just another example of how the East Side has been shortchanged," said Bob Dolci, a 16-year East San Jose resident, who believes a lack of political leadership prior to Campos resulted in East San Jose getting ignored.
He understands economic concerns about rebuilding the fire station but said something else more important is at stake.
"It's more than an economic issue," Dolci said, adding that residents need to be able to trust their elected leaders. "There's a fidelity issue."
Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University, said it can take years to overcome perceptions - even if they are no longer true - that East San Jose gets the short end of the stick.
"In many cases where some parts of the city have been ignored because of overlooked minorities, sometimes those things take a long time to be equalized in the mindset of those who live there," Gerston said. "Addressing an inequity sometimes takes several generations of activity. In politics, perception trumps reality almost every time."
Campos' recent power play has fueled speculation that she may be positioning herself for a run at higher office. While rumored to be considering a run for county supervisor next year, Campos says she is not running for that spot but did not rule out running for state Assembly in the future. Her term on the council ends in 2010.
Still, she insisted, "This is not a political issue for me. It is about public safety."
For Mayor Reed the issue is simple: It's economics.
"In these tough budget shortfall times, it is really important to save millions of dollars," Reed said. "In this particular instance, there is no significant operational difference between the two options, but there's millions of dollars difference in cost."
By Joshua Molina
Mercury News
On the surface, Fire Station 2 on San Jose's East Side is a nondescript, one-story, cinder-block building - a place where about a dozen firefighters respond to calls in the busiest service area of the city.
But behind the scenes, the aging firehouse at 2933 Alum Rock Ave. is emerging as an unlikely center of political controversy.
A recent surprise vote by the city council to spend $9.5 million to rebuild the station - $2.4 million more than city staff recommended - has raised questions about whether the council is wasting scarce dollars in its desire to compensate the largely Latino East Side for years of perceived neglect. It has also sparked a flurry of accusations and public sniping among council members that have taken on a markedly personal tone.
"They have a battle going on," said Fire Chief Darryl Von Raesfeld. "I think it will be interesting to watch."
The drama exposed a widening rift on the council, between Mayor Chuck Reed and his ally Councilman Pete Constant on one side and Councilwoman Nora Campos on the other. Campos, who represents East San Jose, managed to outfox the fiscally conservative mayor on the firehouse issue, delivering him one of his most stinging losses since he took office in January.
"We can't balance a budget at the expense of safety for our residents," Campos said. "It is important that we as a city start to show leadership to see that public safety is addressed."
Constant fired back that Campos is stealing money from other important public safety projects.
"When we are spending the public's money, we need to look at the best value in every purchase we make," Constant said. "It is every council member's job to be a shepherd of the public's money."
The debate centers on a $159 million public safety bond voters approved in 2002 to build or retrofit police and fire stations. Largely because of escalating construction costs, officials determined earlier this year that there would not be enough bond money left to pay for all of the projects that were promised voters. The fund was about $6.8 million short.
The city decided to whittle down the costs of some projects. Rather than rebuild Fire Station 2 for $9.5 million, staff members recommended only partially rebuilding the fire station - to save $2.4 million.
But at the Sept. 25 council meeting, Campos cobbled together a plan to pay for the total rebuilding of the fire station, which included spending $1.8 million from the public safety bond contingency reserve. Constant and the mayor said that money could help pay for other public safety projects - including the new 10.5-acre police substation, near Great Oaks Boulevard in San Jose.
Campos' plan also calls for pulling $1.3 million from the city's Strong Neighborhoods Initiative reserve funds and another $500,000 from a fund for maintaining and repairing fire stations.
Since the vote, a political melee has ensued.
Campos put out a charged press release touting her victory, saying that her "only regret is that the mayor did not participate in building a critical public safety project for our city."
Reed called her into his office the following day, saying that he expects professionalism from his colleagues and didn't appreciate being portrayed as unconcerned about public safety. For her part, Campos says she expressed her disappointment with the mayor for not supporting her plan.
That exchange was followed by dueling newspaper opinion pieces by Constant and Campos, with both attacking each other's motives and accusing the other of narrow-minded thinking and misplaced priorities.
Constant claimed Campos was guilty of grandstanding because rebuilding the firehouse would not result in faster response times or any improvement in service. The number of calls at the fire station - now 4,500 annually, the highest in the city - is expected to drop by 10 percent next July because the city is building the new Fire Station 34 nearby.
Councilwoman Campos acknowledged that service would not improve with a rebuilt station, but she said the reconstruction would meet "essential facility" earthquake safety standards, so the structure could withstand a major quake.
The East Side, she added, is often neglected by city decision makers, and residents deserved a top-notch facility.
"Not getting a total rebuild would have been just another example of how the East Side has been shortchanged," said Bob Dolci, a 16-year East San Jose resident, who believes a lack of political leadership prior to Campos resulted in East San Jose getting ignored.
He understands economic concerns about rebuilding the fire station but said something else more important is at stake.
"It's more than an economic issue," Dolci said, adding that residents need to be able to trust their elected leaders. "There's a fidelity issue."
Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University, said it can take years to overcome perceptions - even if they are no longer true - that East San Jose gets the short end of the stick.
"In many cases where some parts of the city have been ignored because of overlooked minorities, sometimes those things take a long time to be equalized in the mindset of those who live there," Gerston said. "Addressing an inequity sometimes takes several generations of activity. In politics, perception trumps reality almost every time."
Campos' recent power play has fueled speculation that she may be positioning herself for a run at higher office. While rumored to be considering a run for county supervisor next year, Campos says she is not running for that spot but did not rule out running for state Assembly in the future. Her term on the council ends in 2010.
Still, she insisted, "This is not a political issue for me. It is about public safety."
For Mayor Reed the issue is simple: It's economics.
"In these tough budget shortfall times, it is really important to save millions of dollars," Reed said. "In this particular instance, there is no significant operational difference between the two options, but there's millions of dollars difference in cost."
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