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Actual headline:San Jose mayoral hopeful Dave Cortese is tough on crime, but will he spend too much?
Now you know why I call the Mercury News the "cat box liner". The sad thing is, back in the Gary Webb days, it was among the finest papers in the land.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_26731921/san-jose-mayoral-hopeful-dave-cortese-is-tough
But there are serious questions about whether Cortese can deliver on that promise, and at what cost to taxpayers....
Further unsettling his opponents, Cortese has strong support from unions, perhaps the most powerful and well-funded special interest group in San Jose. Unions have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying lunches for campaign volunteers and sending campaign mailers; retired firefighters routinely come in to the campaign headquarters and call undecided voters; and the police union pitches stories to journalists about how San Jose has turned into a crime-ravaged city under Liccardo's watch, even if he wasn't mayor. In reality, while the homicide rate remains higher than last decade, the overall rate of major violent and property crimes has started to fall in the past 18 months and is now 3 percent higher than when Liccardo took office.
Critics also argue Cortese would be beholden to interest groups such as the unions that are bankrolling his second attempt in eight years at winning the mayor's seat. Among those stumping for him are five retired city police chiefs, who get more than $1 million a year collectively in pension payments. Firefighters, who have driven around personal trucks with Cortese campaign signs, strongly agree with Cortese's plan to keep staffing levels up by maintaining three firefighters on emergency medical calls -- a higher staffing requirement than most other cities in the county, and one that critics have called needless. Developers, who seek to negotiate lucrative deals with the city, have written big checks to his campaign.
Further unsettling his opponents, Cortese has strong support from unions, perhaps the most powerful and well-funded special interest group in San Jose. Unions have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying lunches for campaign volunteers and sending campaign mailers; retired firefighters routinely come in to the campaign headquarters and call undecided voters; and the police union pitches stories to journalists about how San Jose has turned into a crime-ravaged city under Liccardo's watch, even if he wasn't mayor. In reality, while the homicide rate remains higher than last decade, the overall rate of major violent and property crimes has started to fall in the past 18 months and is now 3 percent higher than when Liccardo took office.
Critics also argue Cortese would be beholden to interest groups such as the unions that are bankrolling his second attempt in eight years at winning the mayor's seat. Among those stumping for him are five retired city police chiefs, who get more than $1 million a year collectively in pension payments. Firefighters, who have driven around personal trucks with Cortese campaign signs, strongly agree with Cortese's plan to keep staffing levels up by maintaining three firefighters on emergency medical calls -- a higher staffing requirement than most other cities in the county, and one that critics have called needless. Developers, who seek to negotiate lucrative deals with the city, have written big checks to his campaign.
Got bias?
They really should be required to report this claptrap as an in-kind contribution to the Liccardo campaign.
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